James Onying Penywii, the Head of Directorate of Research, Education and Advocacy (DREA at the Inspectorate of Government-IG has rallied residents in the Greater Masaka districts to embrace the fight against corruption by rejecting corrupt leaders.
He asked them to vote out of office for whoever is involved in corrupt tendencies in the next general elections.
Penywii sounded the alarm during the series of community sensitization meetings held in town councils in the Masaka region.
According to him, citizens have the responsibility of fighting corruption at all levels.
“Take up the responsibility and join the fight against corruption instead of leaving all the responsibility to government agencies put in place to fight corruption such as the Inspectorate of Government.”
Penywii says corruption is almost embedded in almost every sector in the country, citing a recent survey that indicated that every year corruption stands at Shillings 10 trillion, an equivalence of 20 percent of the national budget.
“Citizens bear the biggest burden of corruption since it affects services delivery and this has left members of the public frustrated and angry waiting to see something done on corrupt leaders, though this is difficult to achieve since the corrupt leaders don’t usually sign documents that can easily link them to corruption, so it’s high time the citizens take it upon the selves to punish these leaders that are implicated in corruption.”
In the message he read out on behalf of the Inspector General of Government, Betty Olive Namisango Kamya, the IGG’s office has embarked on sensitizing residents in the country about their responsibility in the fight against corruption since they are greatly affected by corruption.
Kamya says that empowered communities can ask the right questions and they can easily ask the duty bearers why they don’t get the services they require which are in most cases compromised because of corruption tendencies of public officials.
Sam Agaba, the Masaka Region Inspectorate of Government officer believes that empowering the community will help the fight because people witness the corruption tendencies and some even take part in issuing bribes.
“Citizens can take on this tough role of fighting corruption when they stand on their principles and say no to corruption.”
Residents of Bukomansimbi Kalungu, and Lyantonde town councils where the meetings took place asked the government to consider strong measures and implementation of strict laws against corrupt officers.
Residents say properties for corrupt officers should be sold off to compensate the swindled money to deter others from taking part in similar evil.
“We have realized that it’s our responsibility to fight corruption but it would be better if the fight starts from the top to bottom. But if we still have corrupt top government officials it becomes challenging to stop low-ranking officers with little pay from being corrupt,” Ssekitto Waswa, a resident of Kalungu noted.
Lukaya Town Council Deputy Chairperson Hajj Edrisa Kigozi said there is a need to have a mindset change of citizens in line with patriotism.
“People still have a mentality that corruption benefits two parties, the one who solicits and those who offer it,” he said before asking residents to report the corrupt people.
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