This East African country, ranked 141st out of 180 countries in the ranking of the NGO Transparency International, regularly experiences corruption scandals, despite the promises of President Yoweri Museveni who runs the country with a hand of iron since 1986.
«The country loses 9.144 trillion shillings (nearly 2.3 billion euros) annually, enough money to cover 23% of this year’s national budget“, declared the head of the General Inspectorate of Government (IGG), Beti Kamya Turwomwe.
«The loss of such colossal sums of money that would have been devoted to providing services to citizens is a wake-up call for all citizens.she added.
Ms Turwomwe said her department had only recovered 1.8 million euros, due, she said, to a lack of funding and staff.
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His comments follow the IGG’s annual report presented to parliament last week, which is based on research by the think tank Government Transparency Institute.
This report found that the environmental protection sector was the most affected by corruption, with losses estimated at more than €630 million.
A summary of the report published online states that the figures are based on “various methods and data sources”, without specifying them.
The estimates are further considered “lower than reality in Uganda as some costs are in-kind while others are not measurable due to lack of data”, according to the document.
The costs generated by the corruption of civil servants for access to water and electricity led to a total loss of nearly 119 million euros, he also estimates.
Last week, Uganda’s president pardoned a government official who had served five of a 10-year prison sentence for defrauding government coffers of more than a million euros, sparking societal outrage civil.
The United Kingdom and Washington sanctioned politicians in April and May, including the speaker of parliament Anita Among, due to acts of “corruption significative».
Par Le360 Africa (with AFP)
07/10/2024 at 3:19 p.m.
