President Yoweri Museveni has announced the establishment of two new units in the State House to investigate and prevent tax theft and corruption. The units, which will be responsible for probing tax evasion, under-declaration, and other financial crimes, are part of the government’s efforts to tackle corruption and ensure accountability in the country’s tax collection processes.
“Apart from the State House Anti- Corruption Unit, I am also setting up both a tax investigation Unit and an accountancy and audit unit. They will be able to investigate all tax evasions, under-declarations, money diverted by Parliament and stolen, etc,” the President announced while addressing leaders at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi.
He added: “The corruption we are facing now, has got two dimensions. One dimension is the stealing of Government money; taking bribes from the Public to provide Government Services; misusing the procurement procedures to cheat the state; and corruptly handling personnel issues- e.g. Nepotism and selling Government jobs. Professionally, constitutionally and logically, it is the following people that are in charge of Government money, procurement and personnel (administration): the Permanent Secretary in a Ministry; A CAO in a district; a Town Clerk in a City or Municipality; a Gombolola Chief in a Sub-County; a Managing Director in a Para-statal; and the Clerk of Parliament. In the Army, it is the Chief of Staff, the Division Admin Officer, etc. It is, initially, not the work of the Political leaders to fight corruption. However, ultimately, they are responsible for defending the interests of the people, if the Accounting officers, do not do their work.” “The other dimension of corruption, is employee disloyalty in a private company. The employees who steal from their employers, are also enemies of the Country. If the employers blacklist Uganda as a Country where employees steal money from their employers with impunity, Uganda’s economy will get stunted. Therefore, it is the work of the Police to ensure that those who steal from Companies, private or Government, are held fully accountable, including paying back the money they stole on top of prison sentences.”
The President reiterated the need for collective efforts in the fight against corruption, urging leaders to prioritize the welfare of Ugandans over personal interests. “In the meantime, I am linking directly with the victims of the corruption of the Government people and these are the people (the Wanainchi). They have all the information. Besides, we have the young people, the Kampala Parents and allied Products, who have a different attitude from the present accounting officers who are originally villagers with a careerist and mercenary mentality. The Kampala Parents group are moved more by “passion” than by “remuneration”.
President Museveni emphasized that corruption is a significant obstacle to Uganda’s development, and vowed to tackle it head-on. “Everybody knows why the salaries were low or there was even no pay. The only mistake, was by elements in the Parliament who distorted our historical movement by paying themselves high salaries. This distorted our strategy of voluntarism instead of careerism and mercenarism. They have now realized their mistakes. However, high you put the salary, it cannot run a constituency. Collective efforts are better – PDM, Emyooga, free education in Government schools, etc”.
The President also urged the Judiciary to support the fight against corruption by not granting bail to those accused of corruption, terrorism, rape, defilement, and murder, if the prosecution is ready for trial. “The Judiciary should not give bail to those accused of corruption, terrorism, rape, defilement, and murder, if the prosecution is ready for trial,” he emphasized.
President Museveni also announced that the government will establish a specialized court to handle corruption cases, and that all government agencies will be required to report corruption cases to the new units.
