HOW BAD IS CORRUPTION IN UGANDA?

How bad is corruption in Uganda.

Many times various non-governmental organizations have come out with research reports on the escalating problem of corruption in government bodies. Awareness conferences have been held many times all with aim to sensitize citizens on this problem of corruption, its effects on development, the economy, but mostly on our very existence as a Nation. The opposition political groups have always used the subject as leverage whenever they try to drive home their political ideas on governance in Uganda, but not in the sense of eliminating it from society. Actually, in Uganda when a politician comes out in public and exposes corruption in a government institution or local development project, chances are 90/100 that he didn’t just get his share/cut in the alleged corruption matter so he threatens to ruin the whole deal!!

            A fine example of this scenario is the on-going beef between the executive director of Kampala city, Madam Jennifer Musisi and the Kampala city lord mayor, al-haji Elias Lukwago that is nothing but wrangling between two thieves who have failed to share loot equally. Another example of this illusion is the opposition shadow cabinet in parliament, for instance, when Ugandans bitterly demanded to know how discovery of oil in the country was being handled, government through its trickery (mostly the executive) used its agents of confusion to divert parliament’s scrutiny into the oil matters with irresistible offer of 103million shillings to each member of parliament guised as a portion to accommodate their transportation needs!!?.... Then members of parliament backed the idea/offer with ridiculous excuses that actually they needed that money badly to buy themselves tough 4x4s that could handle the country’s impassible roads and bridges. Then, the local man who pays the taxes fails to locate logic in this idea. Is it good enough to purchase tough cars to run on broken roads and bridges or better to repair, construct new roads...? The big man of government only wanted to show them (the parliament) that they were not innocent as they liked to think on the matter.

            The NRM government created a system of governance that ran on fuels of secrecy, illusions, and confusion. (Why would a system run itself like this if it wasn’t a criminal organization?) They believed that if only people were kept under the dark constantly, it would give them equally long periods of time to figure out what was really going on. This ideology was designed as a defense mechanism to up-hold the NRM government from pit falls that had ensnared previous regimes with coup de tats, internal rebellions, e.t.c….they took advantage of the political infancy in the country, the still standing crippling colonial laws, past conflict experiences to perfect “their” regime, and ethnics divisions to rule with impunity. All is fair in politics, but the long term effects of this system was corruption at its zenith. Corruption that in itself became self aware with no one able to push a STOP button and put an end to this on-going fracas. In other words, getting rid of corruption meant that one had to erase the NRM ideology from all histories of Uganda, re-writing the constitution, and a long term program to positively reinforce the already crushed patriotic spirit of Ugandans. 

So, how bad is corruption in Uganda, you ask? This may answer the question.

Shanita Namuyimbwa and her ex-lover David Greenhalgh

            Once upon a time in Uganda, there came Eng. David Greenhalgh from Britain to a lovely city in East-Africa, Kampala. As usual many rich European flood these cities located along the equator during winter seasons in their home countries for a tropical holiday away from home (how nice you think?). As corrupt as Uganda is, that meant only two things any genius would interpret, poverty followed by moral decay in these third world yet industrial booming societies. Any entrepreneur would be tempted to invest their huge monies in these “ever” growing economies, right? So he got “in-touch” with Shanita Namuyimbwa a prostitute who used to conduct her disgusting business at Rock Gardens a favorite spot for loaded foreign holiday makers. The guy (David Greenhalgh) gets hooked by this sexy young illiterate lady (Shanita Namuyimbwa) and next thing he knows, they are planning to open a Property Management Company and invest his huge sums of money ($9millions) with, you guessed right, a whore!

One year later down that road, lady Shanita a then director of Daveshan development limited, swindles 10billion Uganda Shillings from “their” company only to spend it with reckless abandon in night clubs, fancy cars, and a multitude of boy friends that satisfied her huge sexual appetites!!!!...Mr. Greenhalgh learns about her mis-conducts and flies back to Uganda to seek accountability of the funds he keeps pumping into a Barclays bank account where “their” company funds were kept, and what he later gets to find out, stuns the hell out of him. He had been played by an illiterate prostitute. Then to even seal his fate permanently, he seeks justice in the already crippled, rotten judicial system in the country. Shanita Namuyimbwa gets a blanket sentence of 4years in jail, minus remission that comes to only 2years and six months, but the most annoying part is, she doesn’t get to pay back her loot!

            As I had always said, judiciary arm of government in this country is nothing but a sick toothless Tiger that only works to the benefit of smart thugs.

Oh, motherland Uganda, I mourn you my dearest.