If you have lived long enough in
Uganda, at least for the past 15 years or so, you must have noticed an
unbelievable pattern of corruption scandals, bribery and patronage rings. From ministries
to the August house, government departments and agencies to state house. From
learning institutions to the smallest unit of administration, corruption has
really taken to the root in Uganda and is now a source of livelihood for many.
But this is no longer news.
As the president grabs the
opportunity of every state of the nation address for the past disturbingly many
years to rant about how his government will fight corruption, several political
analysts here and abroad suggest that this government lacks the political will
to get rid of the vice. In fact, they have absolutely no interest in fighting
corruption at all.
Corruption and patronage offer
the most vicious combination of evils that hold the lifeline of president
Museveni’s regime. The president and his government have allowed the patronage
ring to hold the regime with a tight noose that it cannot set it free. In a
recent unfortunate event of fire that broke out while people were siphoning
fuel from a tanker where more than forty people lost their lives, the president
visited the scene and decided to compensate the bereaved families with 5
million shillings. While some people argued that people were driven by poverty
and trying to find a means of survival, others including me, disagree with the
act of compensating thieves.
These people were stealing fuel
having overpowered the driver of the fuel tanker. The fact that they were
unfortunate to have a fire blow-out in their faces and some lost their lives
does not rule out the fact that someone’s fuel was being stolen illegally by
petty criminals. Therefore, for the president to come out and compensate such
criminals is clear patronage and a “gesture of sympathy” aimed at nothing else
but winning popular support by any means necessary. That money should have
served better being used by the government to sensitize people about the
dangers of dealing with flammable fuel. That way, the fire and the loss of
lives could have been avoided.
Last week, the secretary to the
treasury and other witnesses, told the Parliament Accounts Committee that the 10
Bn shillings that was allocated to the SACCO fund in 2010 was diverted by
politicians and used to bribe voters and buy elections the following year in
what seems like a carefully orchestrated scheme to siphon money from government
coffers to preserve the survival of the regime. Allegations of the leaders at
the Micro-finance Support Centre carrying sacks of money in their vehicles
during election campaigns had already made rounds before. And am sure a more
thorough forensic audit of so-called government projects would reveal even more
damning evidence of tax-payers money being channeled into activities that are
aimed at pure preservation of the regime. One wonders just how much does this
government care about the plight of the citizens. It seems to have degenerated
to fighting for pure regime survival regardless of whether the citizens are
dying of hunger or communicable diseases that should be cured with minimal
effort.
In my recent article, I wrote
about how parliamentarians are slowly but surely aiding and abetting the
emergence of a dictatorial regime in this country. Last week, in what is
arguably their most shameful act, a section of parliamentarians appealed to the
president to bail them out of their debts. These are fellows among the highest
paid class of Ugandans taking home about 20 million shillings per month. And
they have failed to put enough pressure on the government to increase salaries
of the teachers that taught them or the police men that escort them and provide
them with security.
It is very shameful that these “usual
suspects” are seeking a bail out from the president like they know he has a
bumper of cash stashed away somewhere. Maybe he has, who knows in this country?
But to realize that a section of these same parliamentarians want nomination
fees increased to 2Million from 200,000 shillings and fresh allegations that
they are employing unqualified relatives in their offices is just defeatist and
reflects how long they are willing to go in their shameless behavior. And these
are the kinds of actions that will make it even harder for Uganda to free
itself from the tight noose of patronage and entrenched corruption, even long
after this regime is gone.
By Pathias Klinn Akabanjuna
The writer is a socio-political commentator
Twitter: @PathyKlinn
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