MBALE – A wise man Martin Luther once said “If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write. He only forgot to add that if you want to destroy the world, pick your ill-intentioned pen and write nonsense” He left the use of the word “change the world” open. It could be interpreted to mean changing the world in a negative way. Martin was obviously writing at a time before the coming computers, their key boards and mobile phones making everyone capable of writing as potential journalist.
In a paper presented by Veteran Journalist David Mafabi to mass communication students of a reknown university in Uganda, he had this to say “There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. That notwithstanding, a pen is but only a messenger, it speaks the mind of the holder without saying a word”
He went on and said, “Do not consider it proof just because it is written, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen.” That is the best introduction I could imagine when I read a story titled “Forgery rocks URA accounts as top boss manipulates ledger, deletes billions in VAT returns for juicy investor”. The focal person at the centre of these writings is a self made village boy Wodero Francis.
I happen to come from the same village with Wodero Francis and therefore I am better placed to come to his defense amidst the slanderous statements being written about him. There are not so many good people from my home area that I would burn my calories writing about but for Francis, I will without hesitation. I was personally taken aback when I read these disturbing stories in the inspector and the new vision.
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) employees at whatever rank are expected to adhere to the oath of secrecy which extends to the institution itself, the tax payers and of their employees. What has been circulating on social media falls short of that oath and is a sheer breach of that noble duty pitting the entire institution into disrepute. Whoever shared the privileged information regarding a perceived investigation into the allegations levied against Wodero Francis did so with ill will.
Investigations of such reputable organizations are not conducted in the press. If indeed there was any on-going investigation on Wodero Francis, that is normal everywhere but does not override the presumption of innocence enshrined under the constitution. Leaking such information to the public means the institution is hiding something or is too incompetent to keep its private information under key and lock.
I had known Wodero Francis since High school and only lost touch with him for a short spell. I was only re-united with him a few years ago when he lost his younger brother. Wodero Francis is a first born in a family of four children and hails from the ridges of Masaba hills in the current District of Sironko. He is not shy to talk about his poor background that saw him walk kilometers through the turbulence of bad roads to find a good school; a school that would propel him to get closer to his dream of becoming an Engineer.
As luck would have it, he emerged successful at every level until he joined university to study and qualified as a Telecom Engineer before acquiring two masters in other academic disciplines which saw him land himself a job at Uganda Revenue authority. I I wish to add that not so many people with the name Wodero can easily find job opportunities in many of these government institutions.
I have specifically given you that background to show you the far some people have come and the reasons why we must trade carefully before trying to bring them down with malicious writings. What could have been the underlying motive of the writer? Who could have been picking the bill for such unfounded slanderous statements? Did Wodero Francis take on a job that some people felt entitled to or is Francis a threat to somebody’s job?
Whenever defamatory statements are written about a defenseless person, the public interprets the same as gospel truth. Over the years, I have come to confirm that some writings in the media disseminated to damage people names, others are written to settle personal scores, others written by paid mercenaries while the majority are written for monetary gain from the affected persons.
Otherwise why would a blogger or a journalist write a story and then call their victim to get their side of the story after the article is circulated? Why do others call asking for some money so that the stop writing other stories. Why do they render some people guilty as accused in the eyes of the readers and then come up with suggestions of repairing the damage. I think now is the time the Uganda Communications Commission picked interest in regulating the activities of the online papers.
The story against Wodero Francis in one of the online papers and later in the new vision created the impression that the Uganda Revenue Authority was investigating one of its own for allegations of deleting and or manipulating the ledger and adjusting VAT returns for a tax payer and in so doing led to a loss of about 10B. Those who know Wodero will tell you that he is incapable of abusing his job given his born again background.
Secondly, there is virtually nothing to admire about this man who has worked with Uganda Revenue Authority for about five years. If he had amassed any wealth as the writers want us to believe, why is he still living in a rented house and why is he still driving the same old ram shackled vehicle six years down the road?
Can the writer present any evidence of properties that Wodero Francis has acquired as a resulting of occasioning URA a loss? If the tax collection system was as porous as the writers attempt to portray, URA would never have managed to collect even a half of their expectations. Deleting ledgers of a tax payer at a lower rank of Wodero Francis who does not even work with the IT department is the last thing that can happen at the tax body.
Roger Wadada Musaalo is a Lawyer, human rights activist, researcher, and politician
