The 4th Annual National Anti-Corruption Convention Theme ‘Fighting Corruption and Promoting Integrity’ Summary of the Proceedings 3 rd December 2014 Hotel Africana, Kampala
The 4th Annual National Anti-Corruption
Convention
Theme ‘Fighting Corruption and Promoting Integrity’
Summary of the Proceedings
3rd December 2014 Hotel Africana, Kampala
2
Contents
LIST OF ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................................... 3
FOREWORD ........................................................................................................................................................ 4
1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Opening Remarks- Richard Ssewakiryanga, Executive Director Uganda National Ngo Forum ............. 6
1.2 The Meaning of the quest to reclaim Integrity- Father Gaetano Batayenda .................................... 6
2. HIGH LEVEL OPENING CEREMONY ............................................................................................................ 7
2.1 Statement by the Chief Guest- The Assistant Auditor General, Mrs. Keto Nyapendi Kayemba ....... 7
2.2 Plenary ............................................................................................................................................... 8
2.3 Key Note Address - Dr. Ngabirano Maximiano Director School of Diplomacy, Governance and
International Studies- Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi .............................................................................. 9
2.4 Plenary ............................................................................................................................................. 10
3. SHARING EXPERIENCES ON THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION AND BUILDING INTEGRITY. ................. 10
3.1 Community Participatory Integrity Campaign-Uganda National NGO Forum ................................ 10
3.2 Anti Corruption Caravan-Action Aid International Uganda ............................................................. 11
3.3 Access to Information-Africa Freedom of Information Centre ....................................................... 12
4. EMERGING ISSUES FROM THE PARALLEL SESSIONS .................................................................................... 13
4.1 Promoting Integrity in Communities ..................................................................................................... 13
4.2 Financing in the Accountability Sector in Uganda ................................................................................. 14
4.3 Social Accountability Models ................................................................................................................. 15
4.4 Access to Information through the use of ICT ....................................................................................... 15
5. CLOSING SESSION .................................................................................................................................... 16
5.1 Celebrating Icons of Integrity ................................................................................................................ 16
5.2 Presentation of Statement from the 4th Annual National Anti-Corruption Convention ...................... 17
5.3 Closing Remarks- Hon. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Judge-Court Of Appeal And Constitutional Court
Of Uganda .................................................................................................................................................... 17
5.4 Conclusion and Way Forward ................................................................................................................ 18
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LIST OF ACRONYMS
AFIC Africa Freedom of Information Centre
BMM Black Monday Movement
CSBAG Civil Society Budget Accountability Group
CSOs Civil Society Organizations
FOWODE Forum for Women in Democracy
GAPP Governance Accountability Participation and Performance programme
GOU Government of Uganda
ICTs Information and Communication Technologies
NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
OAG Office of the Auditor General
RDC Resident District Commissioner
RTI Right to Information
UGMP Uganda Governance Monitoring Platform (UGMP)
UNNGOF Uganda National NGO Forum
USAID United States Agency for International Development
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FOREWORD
I am delighted to share the report from the 4th National Annual Anti-Corruption Convention that was held on 3rd December 2014 under the theme Fighting Corruption and Building Integrity. As part of a wider civic action against the corruption vice in Uganda, Civil Society Organizations have for the past three years organized National Annual Anti-Corruption Conventions to celebrate the International Anti-Corruption day. The conventions are intended to provide a platform for all the citizens who want to put an end to graft and eliminate its pervasive impact on governance, the economy, the environment and most importantly on people’s everyday lives, especially the most vulnerable. The 2014 National Annual Anti-Corruption Convention that attracted over 500 citizens from all walks of life marked 100 weeks of the Black Monday Movement and publication of 24 newsletters. At the beginning of 2014, the Black Monday Movement, still focusing on fighting corruption, launched the integrity initiative dubbed the Community Participatory Campaign to promote integrity in the Ugandan Society. As part of the convention, 30 public servants that were voted as pillars of integrity in their communities were celebrated and recognized. During the Convention, we made deliberate effort to showcase the achievements of innovative initiatives that have promoted integrity in communities such as Ask Your Government an Information Communication Technology (ICT) developed by AFIC that seeks to advance the right to access to information. The Anti-Corruption Caravan by Action Aid International Uganda whose objective was to deepen grassroots outreach, identify Icons of Integrity at regional level and generate region specific issues to inform the national events. As part of the build-up activities to the Anti corruption convention, the Mirrors concert 2014,dubbed MIRRORS OF HOPE was held on …….to set the tone for increased Youth engagement with the anti corruption fight in 2015/2016 electoral process. I wish to recognize and appreciate the invaluable contributions made by Civil Society Organizations and Development Partners. Finally I would like to extend our appreciation to Mrs. Keto Nyapendi Kayemba the Assistant Auditor General and Dr. Ngabirano Maximiano Director School of Diplomacy, Governance and International Studies- Uganda Martyrs University for gracing the occasion.
Alluta Continua
Mr. Richard Ssewakiryanga Executive Director Uganda National NGO Forum
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1. INTRODUCTION A socio political and governance opinion poll conducted by the Uganda Governance Monitoring
Platform (UGMP)1 in 2014 revealed that despite a slump in Uganda’s economic growth rate since 2011
elections from 6.6% in FY 2010/11 to 5.5% in FY 2012/13, 53% of Ugandans believe the economy
has improved. However, the country remains poorly ranked in Transparency International’s 2014
Corruption Perceptions Index at 142 out of 175 countries and territories, with a score of 26 out of 100,
an indication of a high global perception of widespread and endemic corruption.
Despite repeated attempts by the Government of Uganda to strengthen the implementation of legal
structures aimed at curbing corruption, cases of political and administrative excesses continue to
prevail; particularly in the undue use of instruments of coercion such as police, the use of tax payers
money to run political party activities and the unnecessary creation of political jobs including numerous
presidential advisors and RDCs2 . This continues to increase public reservations about the overall
effectiveness of the current systems to successfully overhaul corruption from society.
The launch of the Black Monday Movement in 2012, a social movement spearheaded by Civil Society
to advocate for the elevation of dignity for all Ugandans by eliminating theft of public resources has
overtime built a strong network of citizens to take up widespread civic action against corruption in
Uganda. At the beginning of 2014, the Black Monday Movement, still focusing on fighting corruption,
launched an initiative to promote integrity in the Ugandan Society. The overall goal of the campaign
was to build a pool of ideas and perceptions on integrity that would lead to a collective national
discussion around integrity and actions to promote it at various levels. Specifically, the integrity
campaign initiated a community led process on building integrity in public life, recruited community
integrity agents, identified persons working with integrity and popularized discussions on integrity in
public life.
Therefore to commemorate the 2014 International Anti-Corruption Week, the Uganda National NGO
Forum coordinated a number of CSOs to organize the fourth Annual National Anti-Corruption
Convention to galvanize the citizens’ movement that has fostered a wide range of actions including
civic mobilization, citizen petitions, and other forms of civic action throughout the year. The 4th Annual
National Anti-Corruption Convention was held on 3rd December 2014 at Hotel Africana, Kampala,
Uganda under the theme ‘Fighting Corruption and Promoting Integrity’ to celebrate and profile
individuals that have led descent and honest lives. In attendance were over 500 citizens from the public
and private sectors, the youth, women, people with disabilities, media, activists, academia, religious
leaders, business community, political leaders and civil society among others.
The convention was presided over by Mrs. Keto Nyapendi Kayemba the Assistant Auditor General of
Uganda. The event was also marked with a Key Note Address by Dr. Ngabirano Maximiano Director
School of Diplomacy, Governance and International Studies- Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi. The
closing ceremony was officiated by Hon. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, a Judge from the Court of
Appeal and Constitutional Court of Uganda and 30 Icons of Integrity that have led decent and honest
lives were recognized.
1 Three Years into the 4
th Term: What are the Citizens’ Perceptions of the NRM Performance? UGMP, May 2014
2 Is the 9
th Parliament Delivering to Citizens Expectations? A Mid Term Citizens’ Assessment of the 9
th Parliament-
UGMP, September 2014
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Richard Ssewakiryanga, Executive Director
UNNGOF
Through an enriching experience sharing session, citizens were availed with achievements of the Black
Monday Movement 2014. Also shared were innovative initiatives on fighting corruption and building
integrity such as the Action Aid Uganda-led Anti Corruption Caravan, UNNGOF Community
Participatory Integrity Campaign and the Ask your government ICT initiative by Africa Freedom of
Information Centre. Furthermore, the four parallel sessions facilitated by UNNGOF on Promoting
Integrity in Communities, AFIC on Access to Information, USAID GAPP Program on community
participation in governance and CSBAG/FOWODE on Financing in the accountability sector enabled
participants to collectively share, learn and devise new strategies for fighting corruption in Uganda,
come 2015. The Convention underscored the importance of cultivating integrity as a means of fighting
corruption in Uganda and hailed transparency and accountability of public administration as keystones
of good governance.
This report is a summary of proceedings from the plenary and parallel sessions at the 4th Annual
National Anti-Corruption Convention.
1.1 Opening Remarks- Richard Ssewakiryanga, Executive Director Uganda
National Ngo Forum
In his remarks, Mr Ssewakiryanga commended civil society organizations under the Black Monday
Movement for its consistent, concerted efforts throughout the year towards ending corruption of office
across sectors. He acknowledged the role played by the Office of the Auditor General in highlighting
the gross mismanagement of funds in public offices. Furthermore, he hailed the silent stand against
corruption by a million citizen that collectively wear black every Monday as a key catalyst for
conversations about the evil of corruption and the dire need for its eradication. He thus encouraged
more Ugandans to adopt the practice.
Mr. Ssewakiryanga also applauded the mass
media for steering the national agenda towards
the elimination of corruption, an action which he
accredited to the increased awareness among
citizens about the magnitude of corruption, and
their roles and responsibilities in kicking out the
vice from Uganda. Lastly, he urged organizations
to maintain the high prioritization of recognizing
individual and institutional integrity in 2015
saying, “The solutions to corruption are not
foreign but indeed are very local. If we allow
people to speak about INTEGRITY and exude
INTEGRITY then it will promote a new culture of INTEGRITY.”
1.2 The Meaning of the quest to reclaim Integrity- Father Gaetano
Batanyenda
“To show we are Ugandans we need to put side our political and religious affiliations and work together for a just cause.”
Fr. Batanyenda premised his intervention on the need to rally all Ugandans from all walks of life to play
their part from their areas of influence. He specifically called upon religious leaders to lead the nation in
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Mrs. Keto Nyapendi Kayemba, Assistant
Auditor General “until we see decisive and
more compelling action against corruption,
we shall not rest”
embracing patriotism. He urged them to use their strategic and influential placement in society to
inspire citizens to shun corruption and take all necessary legal measures to expose, combat and
eradicate it in all forms.
He stirred citizens towards the need for a daily, purposeful declaration of responsibility towards
restoring the dignity of Uganda. This was done through the pronouncement of a vibrant statement,
“Uganda my country, Uganda your country, Uganda our country and our duty!”
2. HIGH LEVEL OPENING CEREMONY
2.1 Statement by the Chief Guest- The Assistant Auditor General, Mrs. Keto
Nyapendi Kayemba
“Ethics are fundamental in delivering public
resources and handling responsibilities without
looking at personal gains and benefits,” remarked
Assistant Auditor General of Uganda Mrs. Keto
Nyapendi Kayemba, in her inaugural speech to
officially launch the 4th Annual National Anti
Corruption Convention 2014.
In her statement, Mrs. Kayemba assured
participants of the commitment to integrity at the
Office of the Auditor General (OAG). She
emphasized the need for outright action to restore
integrity to society despite the blatant challenge
being raised against it on a daily basis across
Uganda’s social, economic and political spheres.
She lauded the Government of Uganda for supporting the activities of the OAG throughout the year.
According to Ms. Nyapendi, the fact that 80% of special audit requests are made by government shines
a glimmer of hope in the willingness of the regime to address corruption internally. She cited the
provision of new premises for the OAG at the “Audit House” as a great sign of commitment to
accountability by the government and pledged the OAG’s dedication to exclusively use the facility to
streamline efforts to eradicate corruption in Uganda.
She stressed that the OAG has been keen on developing structures to facilitate the exposure and
eradication of corruption, starting with the Anti Corruption Strategy 2013. She informed the
participants that the strategy facilitated the installation of a functional Anti Corruption Court, which is
but one of the anti corruption agencies whose operations are fully supported by the formulation of
enabling laws and increased budgets.
She hailed efforts by other government Offices to fight corruption, and cited the Integrity Clubs set up
by the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity, as well as the Inspector General of Government as useful
platforms for integrated action against corruption between civil society organizations and the
government. She therefore urged CSOs to utilize the platforms fully in 2015.
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Mrs. Kayemba recognized the efforts of the Black Monday Movement in constantly utilizing the media
as a platform to turn the public agenda towards resolving the national problem of corruption and called
on citizens to identify and address the root causes of corruption in order to effectively eradicate the
vice from society.
She identified ‘lack of nationalism’ and ‘a seared moral conscience’ as the top tier reasons for
immorality in society and urged citizens to increase platforms of discussion about integrity across the
country in order to address these key issues. Mrs. Kayemba further challenged all Ugandans to play
their part through discussion and practice of a high level of integrity. This, she said, shall ensure that all
public funds are used for development.
She urged all citizens to instill godly principles of good ethics in children, arguing that in preparation
for the excavation of national oil resources in 2017, the nation must prioritize ethical behavior and
practice among the young people to ensure the sustainability of the resource and its benefit toward the
citizens of Uganda. In her words, “It is now that we have less that we need to prepare as many people
as possible to know the importance of doing away with the practice of corruption.”
She ended by reinforcing a plea for the NGO fraternity to work closely with the government in 2015 to
build strong systems based on integrity; and advised citizens at district levels to utilize the expanding
services of the OAG regional offices in Mbale, Soroti and Kabale districts to report all cases of
corruption and embrace a culture of zero tolerance for corruption.
.
2.2 Plenary
The following are recommendations to improve the performance of the OAG. These include;
Expedite Delayed Audit Reports
Participants expressed concerns about the apparent lack of urgency at the OAG in conducting audits
and disseminating reports from specific sectors of the economy such as the Agriculture and Works
sectors. Therefore OAG was charged with preparing and disseminating all pending audit reports on
agriculture and works related issues by 2017
Improve Partnership between the Parliament and the OAG
The support rendered to the OAG by the Uganda Parliament also came under scrutiny, with
participants decrying the evident lack of legal backing from the policy-making arm of the government
in the fight against corruption. The expedited enactment of a Public Finance Act was strongly
recommended as the way forward for establishing necessary, sustainable structures in the fight against
corruption.
Audit Classified Government Expenditures
In support of the Transparency initiative, participants highlighted the need for public awareness on
confidential expenses by the government, arguing that all tax-payers money ought to be accounted for.
The OAG was further charged with creating committees to audit classified expenditures in
government.
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Dr. Ngabirano Maximiano
condemned the act of privatizing
public properties as an inefficient
tool for eradicating corruption
2.3 Key Note Address - Dr. Ngabirano Maximiano Director School of
Diplomacy, Governance and International Studies- Uganda Martyrs
University Nkozi
"Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power." ― John Steinbeck, American author
In his key note address, Dr. Ngabirano held neo colonialism responsible for corruption in Uganda. He
mourned the loss of socialism in Uganda, which he hailed as a unifying factor that previously prevented
Ugandans from misusing communal resources and criticized the Ugandan governments for handing
down a legacy of capitalism from the colonialism era, which has promoted gross misuse of public
resources for individual gain.
He urged the current government to consult African nationalistic ideologies, which fostered the
establishment of strong economies in East Africa, in order to reinsert a sense of patriotism in both the
leadership and citizenry and cultivate a culture of integrity and zero tolerance for corruption in every
sector of the nation’s economy.
He informed participants that just as colonialism spread across the traditional kingdoms of Uganda
through bribes and divisive politics, the current under handed methods of governance spreading across
the leadership offices in Uganda seek to perpetuate the same principles, thus undermining the ultimate
principle of integrity in society. He thus urged Ugandans to fight the same mindset, which he said is
detrimental to the rights and needs of the common man.
Dr. Ngabirano called for citizens across Uganda to move
beyond simply discussing corruption towards the
elimination its root cause. In his opinion, the use of
intimidating, perpetual military rule by the government,
which is based on a gross desire for power, is the basis of a
weak accountability system that supports corruption. In this
regard, he urged Ugandans to advocate for the restoration
of Presidential term limits as an act of restoring equality,
and reducing the risk of corruption of office.
He further sought for a national consensus to rebuild the
effectiveness of institutions that originally aimed to promote integrity across all sectors of the economy.
He urged the government and CSOs to monitor service providers in the education, health and other
service sectors in order to curb the corrupt practices, such as placing charges on free services and poor
education in public schools, among others.
Furthermore, he condemned the act of privatizing public properties as an inefficient tool for
eradicating corruption, which is based on a false theory that private institutions are unaffected by
corruption. He thus urged the government of Uganda to reinforce systems of monitoring corruption at
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both public and private levels in order to facilitate stronger cooperation between the two sectors, and
improved management of resources across the board.
He concluded his remarks by calling for individual citizens to pledge to rehabilitate the morals of every
sector of Uganda’s economy by refusing to take part in bribes or any other appearance of corruption.
He also urged Ugandan citizens to join the fight against corruption by pledging membership to just
causes across the nation in form of youth groups and CSOs.
2.4 Plenary
The following were the key actions proposed by participants in the fight against theft of public funds in
Uganda. These include;
Create Clear Whistle-blower Platforms
It was agreed that the judicial system in Uganda should be audited for corruption in order to establish
the effectiveness of “whistle blowing” platforms. This was in response to participant queries about the
existent institutional and legal structures in place to tackle corruption, with concerns being raised about
the effectiveness of platforms for ‘whistle blowers.’
Cultivate a Culture of Intolerance
A strong culture of intolerance needs to be nurtured among Ugandan citizens in order to provoke
necessary actions to permanently eradicate corruption from society. This was agreed upon as a result of
queries into the true purpose of the principle of intolerance, which though promoted by anti-
corruption activists, often appears to destabilize peace.
Constitutional Reform is Inadequate
Participants also agreed that Ugandans ought to shun military rule in order to rebuild confidence and
strengthen systems of accountability and punishment for corrupt behavior. Focus ought to shift from
constitutional reform to the reinforcement of systems for regime change if a sustainable solution is to
be established for the crime of corruption.
3. SHARING EXPERIENCES ON THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION AND BUILDING INTEGRITY.
3.1 Community Participatory Integrity Campaign-Uganda National NGO
Forum
The Community Participatory Integrity Campaign conducted by the UNNGOF in 2014 aimed to
celebrate the positive value of integrity in society and change the narrative from one highlighting
corrupt officials to one celebrating officials with high moral standing. Through community meetings in
both rural and peri urban communities across 10 districts in Uganda that included; Arua, Bushenyi,
Jinja, Kaberamaido, Kalangala, Lira, Luwero,Masindi, Pader and Soroti. Overall, 1800 Ugandan citizens
were reached through the campaign.
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Nickson Ogwal giving experience from the
anti-corruption caravan
“The young generation needs to grow up with a term that defines integrity; not corruption”-Ms. Sophie Kange, UNNGOF
The campaign identified a common thread binding
the definition of integrity across all communities.
The communities agreed on a number of key
integrity actions as criteria for selecting integrity
icons. These included: Trustworthy, God-fearing,
transparency, accountability, faithful and
caring.The discussions across the board
encouraged communities to focus on inculcating a
culture of celebrating good deeds instead of
magnifying negative behaviour.
3.2 Anti Corruption Caravan-Action Aid International Uganda
‘Only purposeful action by each Citizen shall effectively eradicate corruption.’ Mr. Nickson Ogwal, Action Aid Uganda
The Anti-Corruption Caravan transverse 10 districts in Eastern Uganda namely; Kotido, Abim, Soroti,
Katakwi, Kumi, Bukedea, Kapchorwa, Mbale, Tororo, Namutumba, Palisa and Iganga. The purpose of
the caravan was to deepen grassroots outreach, identify Icons of Integrity at regional level and generate
region specific issues to inform the national events.
Throughout its interactions with the Citizens,
Action Aid Uganda was able to identify a
number of issues on corruption highlighted by
the grassroots communities, namely:
• A collective frustration and discomfort
with the status quo, especially in regard
to lackluster interventions from
development partners in eradicating
corruption. Citizens from the regions
covered by the caravan expressed
dissatisfaction with partners who simply
engaged them in talks, and not actual
solutions to the issue. They pledged their support in 2015 to institutions which propose tangible
solutions to the problem.
• An immense gap in leadership, which facilitates the continued operation of corrupt systems of
management at the district level. Communities requested for the design of interventions to
address corruption spanning the most basic unit of society (family) to the highest office in the
land (President).
• Increased awareness about corruption. Communities throughout the areas of focus were aware
of most of the cases of corruption that the Black Monday Movement identified in their midst.
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Justus Ashaba from Africa Freedom of
Information Centre
Heightened confidence among the local communities. Whereas the caravan uncovered corrupt
systems that were heavily laced with intimidation practice across the board, the communities
that were recipients of the underhand politicking were found to be more zealous for change
than prone to cowardice and fear.
Action Aid Uganda therefore recommends a number of interventions in 2015, in light of the new
developments throughout the communities in Uganda, that shall aid in the reinforcement of the goals
of the Black Monday Movement across the nation. These include:
• Increased individual responsibility to follow up tax payers’ money. All citizens are encouraged
to meet their obligations by following up the use of their taxes by the government.
• Further mobilization of people to conduct specific actions to eradicate corruption in their
communities. Initiatives to increase awareness among a broader spectrum of the population
ought to support the building of a consensus around the issues to follow up on.
Elevation of the citizen’s voices across the nation. The naturalization of platforms to name and
shame corrupt officials will help to rebirth the element of ‘People Power’, which is the true
backbone of a functional democratic system of governance.
3.3 Access to Information-Africa Freedom of Information Centre
The right to information is a guiding principle for
participatory democracies since only an informed
Population can effectively contribute to the
construction of governments and political
institutions. People need information to be able to
adequately express themselves on matters of
governance, holding leaders accountable, influencing
service delivery and decision–making and to
promote and protect their human rights.
AFIC through its interventions focused on the promotion of access to information on public projects
in the districts of Bushenyi, Iganga and Masaka. Some of the key successes of the project included;
In Bushenyi district, an information request filed by a community group resulted in the exposure of huge corruption in which the district had allegedly spent a billion shillings to build a “ghost” stadium. Following this exposure, the District Chairperson lost elections.
In Iganga district, a request for information about construction of a VIP latrine at a public school that had stalled for two years resulted in the work restarting immediately following the request.
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“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet”- Mahatma Gandhi,
Indian freedom fighter
The participant submitting that a system of free and fair elections should be instituted at district level
In Masaka district, an information request filed at Mpugwe Health Centre led to disclosure of information about medicine delivery and resolved the long standing problem of lack of medicines at the health centre.
4. EMERGING ISSUES FROM THE PARALLEL SESSIONS This section focused on the key resolutions from the different parallel sessions as these informed the communiqué.
4.1 Promoting Integrity in Communities
In January 2014, UNNGOF and ACTIONAID INTERNATIONAL UGANDA and other partners in
civil society initiated the integrity campaign as a step towards a collective national discussion around
integrity and actions to promote it at various levels.
As part of the campaign, Uganda National NGO Forum and Action Aid International Uganda
convened a session that fostered discussions around understanding the importance of community
participation in fighting corruption in Uganda through their own forums at district level and building a
network of honest communities to protect public resources for their common benefit.
The Participants in the session agreed to the
following as critical actions in promoting
integrity in communities;
The media should be used widely as a
tool to train citizens to identify and
report corrupt activities; and to prepare
them to elect uncorrupt leaders, in
preparation for the 2016 presidential
elections.
Religious and cultural leaders should
spearhead the process of mentoring
society in integrity so as to highlight the social and cultural norms that enrich the process of
attaining a society steeped in integrity.
A system of free and fair elections should be instituted at district level to govern the
appointment of members of the District Integrity Forums. This will go a long way in ensuring
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Mr. Lawrence Ssemakula from Ministry of
Finance
the constitution of an independent commission to address issues of corruption in public offices
at community level.
As part of the session, Senior Citizens had an opportunity to share perspectives on the virtue of
integrity and corruption in society; Mr. Segujja George, a retired headteacher from Luwero asserted
that “People seem to be forgetting about culture and pushing it to the background, yet it has always helped us to learn
about mutual respect for both people and property. We must consult our cultural roots if we want to revive the virtue of
integrity!”
Mr. Ssuuna Moses Richard, a retired teacher from luwero added the element of respect.
“The problem is that people don’t respect one another. If we all respected each other then we wouldn’t be here discussing the
absence of integrity as a societal problem. Every Ugandan needs to learn to love others just as much as they love themselves
before we can expect corruption to exit our nation.”
4.2 Financing in the Accountability Sector in Uganda
The session was convened by the Forum for Women in Democracy and the Civil Society Budget
Accountability Group and reflected on financing the accountability sector in Uganda.
In his presentation, Mr. Lawrence Ssemakula, the
Accountant General -Ministry of Finance noted
that, over the recent past, a number of legal,
institutional and operational reforms have been
undertaken to enhance accountability systems,
strengthen the oversight functions and streamline
public financial management processes. Despite
this commendable progress, there are a number of
challenges and these include; inadequate planning,
low revenue mobilization, low levels of
compliance, inadequate monitoring and
supervision, laxity in implementation of
recommendation of over sight agencies, inadequate resource allocation, low levels of service delivery
deterioration in budget credibility and predictability, low public demand for accountability and high
levels of corruption. Nevertheless he noted that the current environment coupled with renewed
commitment by government to good governance presents opportunities for the accountability sector to
operate more efficiently and effectively to meet its objectives. He commended the Black Monday
Movement for increasing information and exposing corruption vice in the country.
In his remarks, the representative from CSBAG highlighted their success in enhancing citizen’s public
budget literacy and increasing public access to budget-related information. Furthermore Civil Society
Organizations also highlighted some challenges facing their efforts in budget advocacy throughout
2014 including; an ever narrowing CSO space for sharing findings from the grassroots; limited capacity
to conduct widespread advocacy initiatives and; limited membership to the accountability sector
working group.
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Participants agreed on the following steps forward for 2015 in ensuring the promotion of accountability
throughout all sectors of the economy;
The NGO sector should place emphasis on improving its credibility in the public eye by
“walking the talk” in terms of accountability at organizational levels.
Activities aimed at promoting integrity at all levels of society should be coordinated better in
order to include a greater section of the public in recognizing icons of integrity across the
nation.
In order to promote accountability in the government, the quality of parliamentary reports
should be enhanced by including information that is relevant to the public and helpful for civil
society in improving its advocacy initiatives.
4.3 Social Accountability Models
The Governance, Accountability, Participation and Performance (GAPP) Program of USAID led a
group of participants from the NGO sector, local government representatives, schools, icons of
integrity and
the general
public in
discussions
about
challenges in
corruption at
district level.
The session
aimed to develop acceptable way forward for improving service delivery at local levels.
Participants in the session agreed to the following key resolutions;
Local leader’s performance should be assessed regularly and relevant capacity building initiatives
arranged and implemented in order to strengthen their ability to respond to demands for
service delivery raised by citizens.
The qualification requirements for District Local Council membership should be revised in
order to improve the efficiency of District Local Councils in fulfilling their roles and
responsibilities to the grassroots citizens of Uganda.
Finally, the use of a social accountability approach to involve members of the community in
monitoring and supporting leaders in the implementation of activities at various levels should
be promoted.
4.4 Access to Information through the use of ICT
A group of participants from the media fraternity, government officials, representatives from civil
society and the general public were hosted by the Africa Freedom of Information Centre to a session
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Integrity Icons from different districts being
recognized and celebrated
aimed at introducing them to the portal www.askyourgov.ug. This Information Communication
Technology (ICT) developed by AFIC aims to advance the right to access to information and seeks to
fight corruption by promoting transparency, accountability and good governance.
Participants urged AFIC to simplify the platform and promote inclusiveness of every Ugandan citizen
from every level of society and pointed out the fact that the limited internet coverage across the
country would potentially limit access to essential information by citizens in remote locations.
The discussion culminated in a consensus on particular actions to promote wider spread information
sharing about relevant topics of accountability and integrity as follows;
Journalists should utilize the space allocated to them through mainstream media platforms such
as print and broadcast media to develop informative programmes that increase public
knowledge and understanding of national accountability issues.
The media should enforce their constitutional right and obligation to access all necessary public
information and regularly share it with the citizens of the country in a bid to foster public
participation in accountability.
The media should utilize the AFIC portal www.askyourgov.ug to regularly access various
government offices and initiate key discussions on accountability in order to improve the
quality of information regularly shared with the general public.
The feedback period for government which currently stands at 21 days ought to be reduced in
the coming year to speed up access to information and relevant records by the media, on
corruption.
5. CLOSING SESSION
5.1 Celebrating Icons of Integrity
From Wobulenzi, Bushenyi, Iganga, Bujagali, Kumi districts, hard working public servants were
unanimously voted as pillars of integrity by communities for exhibiting high levels of integrity in the
execution of their daily duties; these local heroes were popularly tagged as ‘Icons of Integrity’ and
throughout the year, they served as a benchmark for effective public service at local level, influencing
other public servants to strive for positive recognition through proper work ethics.
The Icons of Integrity hailed the virtues of
loyalty; love; interpersonal skills; transparency;
accountability; honesty; goodness and; honesty as
the benchmarks for their high standing in society.
An Icon from Kumi informed the convention
that she was honored above other professionals
in her field because she was a “good nurse.”
Through this session, it was evident that the
17
Hon. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire giving closing
remarks
citizens of Uganda place more value on reliability in service provision than the mere appearance of
impenetrable structures at all levels of society.
5.2 Presentation of Statement from the 4th Annual National Anti-Corruption
Convention
A Statement iterating citizens’ roles in the 2015 anti-corruption movement was compiled from key
issues raised during the plenary and parallel session discussions. The document summarized the roles of
individuals and groups alike into key action areas including; the need to continue to promote integrity at
all levels as a strategic intervention to eliminate corruption through celebrating and recognizing public
officials serving with integrity right from the grassroots levels to act as role models with a view to
inspiring the younger generation; Demand that Parliament fast –tracks the enactment of the Anti-
Corruption (Amendment) Bill; Advocate for a society that promotes citizen participation and action
where the ‘Citizen is Central’; Continue to advocate that the District Integrity Forums are prioritized in
the district budgets; Promote common values as a nation that will contribute to the reversal of moral
degeneration among others. The communiqué was presented to the convention participants, who
provided feedback, before it was unanimously adopted.3
5.3 Closing Remarks- Hon. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Judge-Court Of
Appeal And Constitutional Court Of Uganda
“The preservation of a good name is the hallmark of integrity”
The convention was officially closed by Hon. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, a Judge from the Court of
Appeal and Constitutional Court of Uganda. In his remarks, he congratulated the Black Monday
Movement for its commitment and consistency in charting a way forward against corruption in
Uganda. He however noted the need to constantly reevaluate mechanisms for combating corruption in
order to keep them relevant and sustainable.
He pledged the support of the judiciary system in fighting corruption, and urged the Black Monday
Movement to enrich the discussions of Court User Committees, which were installed to facilitate
improved service delivery by the judiciary to Ugandan citizens, by promoting citizen participation
during the Committee meetings. He also called upon all CSOs to revise their programming to include
activities aimed at teaching individuals and institutions across the country about their roles and
responsibilities in ridding society of corruption.
He highlighted the rise of businesses based
solely on profit instead of service delivery as an
imminent threat to the integrity of society. He
labeled such unscrupulous traders ‘professional
conmen’ and called for urgent action to be
taken towards raising the national standard for
identifying cases of corruption. He urged civil
society to focus efforts on exposing the
corruption embedded in particular sections of
3 Detailed Statement attached
18
society, which are associated with wealth and therefore would be forced to maintain their status at the
cost of integrity. In his concluding remarks, Justice Kiryabwire called upon the citizens of Uganda to
shun corruption at all costs, saying, “The cause should urge the nation not to praise the corrupt simply
because they are yet to be caught.”
5.4 Conclusion and Way Forward
The 4th National Anti-Corruption Convention presented an occasion to take stock of civil society
progress in fighting corruption as well as celebrate the achievements of innovative initiatives that have
been implemented in the last year such as the Community Participatory Integrity Campaign; Ask Your
Government; and the Anti-Corruption Caravan. Participants were therefore spurred on towards a
renewed commitment to reinforce the existing strategies and structures in place to establish a new
culture of uprightness at all levels of individual and institutional service across the nation.