Uganda finds itself in a tight corner as it doesn’t have an Inspector General of Government (IGG).
Likewise, the country will soon find itself without a substantive Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should Justice Jane Frances Abodo, who was recently appointed the Principal Judge, take the judicial oath before the President.
Recently, the office of the ombudsman fell vacant after the contracts of Ms Beti Kamya expired alongside those of her two deputies, Patricia Achan Okiria and Anne Twinomugisha Muhairwe.
This means the government institution constitutionally mandated with fighting corruption is toothless, as it cannot sanction new corruption charges against suspected corrupt government officials.
The expiry of the four-year contracts of Ms Kamya and her two deputies did not come as an accident. This was known, but no action was taken. Article 223(7) of the Constitution says the IGG and Deputy IGG shall hold office for a term of four years, but shall be eligible for reappointment only once.
The powers that be should have either renewed the contracts of the trio, as they are eligible for another four-year term, or appointed new office bearers if their stint in the first term was not satisfactory.
Having a leadership gap in the office of the ombudsman has grave implications. It means corrupt government officials can freely move around, and yet we lose about Shs10 trillion annually to corruption schemes.
This is huge money that which, if put to proper use, can make a great difference, say in infrastructure development, an increase in salary for civil servants, among others. The IGG’s mandate is to eliminate corruption, promote and foster the rule of law and principles of natural justice in public offices, and enforce the Leadership Code of Conduct.
On the other hand, the office of the DPP could soon become vacant after the President recently appointed Justice Abodo as the new Principal Judge.
Justice Abodo has since been vetted by Parliament, and she is expected to be sworn in any time. Once she is sworn in, it means the office of the DPP will also be vacant.
For now, the DPP can sanction certain big corruption charges from the office of the IGG and have the suspects arraigned before courts.
However, this is dependent on how long Justice Abodo stays in that office. Given the high corruption rates and the amounts of money taxpayers lose to corruption, we appeal to the appointing authority to fill the positions if we are to fight the vice.