Frustrated or Frustrating?: the inspector general of government and the question of political corruption in Uganda
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Human Rights and Peace Centre, Makerere University
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Copyright © Human Rights & Peace Centre, 2008. All rights reserved.
One of the main reasons the National Resistance Movement/ Army started a guerrilla movement, which subsequently over threw the so-called “bad” government of the day in 1986, was to eliminate corruption from the rubric of Ugandan society, and the office of Inspector General of Government (IGG) was created to achieve this goal. This study therefore examines the role of the IG in fighting corruption, with a special emphasis on political corruption. The paper recognises the critical role played by the IG in the promotion of the rule of law and of good governance and explores the main challenges frustrating the Inspectorate in achieving this goal. This is done by analysing the mandate of the IG and identifying the obligations of the Government and other actors in the fight against political corruption. It is against this background that this paper makes the following conclusions: • The rule of law and good governance are crucial ingredients of any democratic society and should therefore be encouraged and enforced by the state, public institutions, and private persons. All must join hands to ensure that the principles of good governance are upheld; • Corruption is a deadly cancer eating away at the soul of the nation and should therefore be fought with all available resources and mechanisms; • There are many serious challenges involved in fighting corruption— particular of the political variant—some of which are rooted in the decay of morality and of the ethical framework of society. The paper makes the following recommendations: • The government needs to show the political will to fight corruption by inter alia implementing the recommendations of the IG and improving the remuneration of the more experienced prosecutors and other professionals in the Inspectorate. • The jurisdiction of the Inspectorate of Government should be made explicitly clear to all stakeholders in order to avoid clashes among the different state organs involved in the fight against political corruption; • While, the role of the IG is crucial in the struggle against corruption, the mandate of the Inspectorate should be reduced in order to have more efficient results in the fight against corruption. This should be done by allocating the roles of Ombudsman and enforcing the leadership code to other institutions. • At the same time there is a need to guard against the excesses of the IG by encouraging more action from parliament to which the Inspector General of Government reports. • The IG Act also needs to be amended to coerce Parliament and the Executive to not only act, but to take appropriate action. • Parliament needs to constitute the leadership code tribunal provided for by Article 235A of the Constitution, in order to deal with those who are alleged to have breached the Leadership Code Act. • The judicial system and especially the recently created Anti-corruption Division of the High Court of Uganda should be well facilitated with the most recent technology for investigations and speedy trials.
One of the main reasons the National Resistance Movement/ Army started a guerrilla movement, which subsequently over threw the so-called “bad” government of the day in 1986, was to eliminate corruption from the rubric of Ugandan society, and the office of Inspector General of Government (IGG) was created to achieve this goal. This study therefore examines the role of the IG in fighting corruption, with a special emphasis on political corruption. The paper recognises the critical role played by the IG in the promotion of the rule of law and of good governance and explores the main challenges frustrating the Inspectorate in achieving this goal. This is done by analysing the mandate of the IG and identifying the obligations of the Government and other actors in the fight against political corruption. It is against this background that this paper makes the following conclusions: • The rule of law and good governance are crucial ingredients of any democratic society and should therefore be encouraged and enforced by the state, public institutions, and private persons. All must join hands to ensure that the principles of good governance are upheld; • Corruption is a deadly cancer eating away at the soul of the nation and should therefore be fought with all available resources and mechanisms; • There are many serious challenges involved in fighting corruption— particular of the political variant—some of which are rooted in the decay of morality and of the ethical framework of society. The paper makes the following recommendations: • The government needs to show the political will to fight corruption by inter alia implementing the recommendations of the IG and improving the remuneration of the more experienced prosecutors and other professionals in the Inspectorate. • The jurisdiction of the Inspectorate of Government should be made explicitly clear to all stakeholders in order to avoid clashes among the different state organs involved in the fight against political corruption; • While, the role of the IG is crucial in the struggle against corruption, the mandate of the Inspectorate should be reduced in order to have more efficient results in the fight against corruption. This should be done by allocating the roles of Ombudsman and enforcing the leadership code to other institutions. • At the same time there is a need to guard against the excesses of the IG by encouraging more action from parliament to which the Inspector General of Government reports. • The IG Act also needs to be amended to coerce Parliament and the Executive to not only act, but to take appropriate action. • Parliament needs to constitute the leadership code tribunal provided for by Article 235A of the Constitution, in order to deal with those who are alleged to have breached the Leadership Code Act. • The judicial system and especially the recently created Anti-corruption Division of the High Court of Uganda should be well facilitated with the most recent technology for investigations and speedy trials.
Keywords
Political corruption, Corruption