There is so much brouhaha today around confronting public sector corruption in Uganda. For someone unfamiliar with the workings of the ruling system, it is easy to mistakenly conclude that there is a revolution underway. Far from it. Let me explain. Abuse of public resources, of which swindling or diverting finances meant for critical public goods and services is the most pronounced, has become so endemic and systemic. We have become numb.
But it is not just stealing money; it is everything that is possible – putting public property and assets to private use and benefit, ranging from vehicles and machinery to houses and land. Even public human resources are freely diverted to wholly private use. And with impunity and reckless abandon.
The extent of abuse in Uganda’s public sector is hard to define, difficult to map, and its normalisation is bewildering to anyone who believes in ethics and probity in public management.
For those who have closely followed the trajectory of the last 40 years, the seeds of today’s tragedy of corruption that is now so entrenched were sowed in earnest after the 1986 takeover by an armed guerrilla group.
When the new ‘liberators’ arrived in town, there was a frenzy of commandeering government property driven by a sense of entitlement for the supposed sacrifices made in fighting the Bush War. That entitlement provided the licence for impunity.
Consider this. Appearing before a commission of inquiry into one of the biggest past corruption scandals, and when pressed to do a patriotic act and apologise to the public for his role in the loss of billions, a prominent member of the 1986 class instead pointedly wondered where the probe chair, Justice James Ogoola, was when the call to liberate Uganda was made to which he promptly responded as a true patriot!
This line of reasoning, both loudly expressed and often unspoken, became the basis for flagrant individual self-enrichment at the expense of the public.
The point is not that abuse of office and theft of public funds started in 1986, of course not! Rather, it is that the culture and attitude of ‘we fought’ introduced a whole new culture and tenor of impunity that spread from some of the powerful at the top, their acolytes and acquaintances who could count on godfathers for protection, then down to mid-rank technocrats all the way to local governments.
Corruption at Local Government levels is so pervasive and brazen. Yet, to be sure, it is hardly the most egregious. It pales in comparison to the staggering amounts swindled at the centre and the seat of national power, including, ironically, the Legislature, which otherwise is supposed to fight the vice and whose constitutional remit includes assuring prudent utilisation of State funds.
This has been a great part of the paradox of political corruption in Uganda: the more agencies and institutions established that are meant to curb the vice, the worse the problem became. Precisely because the problem is systemic, those very institutions of accountability and anti-corruption agencies are equally susceptible to the same corruption malady they are up against.
Today, we see a great deal of what realistically is little more than symbolism – going after local government workers largely over minuscule and mundane acts of corruption. There is a case to be made that abuse of public resources at all levels of government and regardless of amounts involved must be vigorously fought to create a corruption-free society.
But when there is little done at the centre where grand political corruption is so deep-seated, there is reason to remain sceptical. Not too long ago, President Museveni cautioned then Inspector General of Government, Ms Beti Kamya, to go slow on a stated ambitious goal of pursuing what she characterised as a ‘lifestyle audit,’ by which she meant an evaluation of one’s possessions and the extent of spending compared to official income.
The President reasoned that such an audit would push people underground, into dispatching their ill-gotten wealth to foreign locations rather than investing in Uganda for the benefit of the country.
The reality, though, is that a methodical and thorough audit of every wealthy individual who is either a government technocrat or holds political office, current or former, would most likely expose a large majority to a scrutiny they can’t stand: they wouldn’t account for what they own. This extends to individuals and companies in the private sector, either fronts for the politically powerful or those that have in some way benefited from illicit business dealings with the government.
Such an audit would be logistically impossible as it would loop in nearly everyone who matters, but it would also be politically imprudent because grand corruption is deeply intertwined with the system of rule. To tackle it head on is to pursue a revolution that ultimately overthrows the entire system.