KAMPALA. Chief Justice Bart Katureebe has warned that the failure by the public to report corrupt officials has fueled the rampant corrupt tendencies in the country.
Describing corruption as a cancer of sorts, Justice Katureebe also hit at government for not asking cabinet ministers who are implicated in corruption scandals to step aside but instead are allowed to participate in cabinet meetings; something the head of the Judiciary said is ridiculous.
The Chief Justice sounded the warning on Thursday at Anti-Corruption Court during the interface with the general public about the corruption challenges they face in search for justice which open day event was part of the activities to mark the national anti-corruption week.
“There is that wall of silence because it’s fashionable to say judges are corrupt, magistrates are corrupt, and police are corrupt. Sometimes being said by the very people who took the bribe to the judge but they never report this,” CJ Katureebe lamented.
He continued: “surely how can I be a minister for a long time and I am charged by the IGG not even by the police but by the IGG, I come here and I get bail and from here, I go and attend a cabinet meeting. Seriously we must ask ourselves these questions. Any other place, you will be asked to keep away until you are sorted.”
According to him, there must be administrative political decisions that can be made to show everyone that corruption is being fought.
Justice Katureebe's remarks come at a time when six people including former works minister Abraham Byandala are being prosecuted for causing financial loss of over Shs24.7 billion to government.
The money was meant for the upgrade of Mukono-Katosi road from gravel to bitumen standard. According to prosecution, Byandala disobeyed the directives of the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) in a letter dated August 27, 2014, when he confirmed that CICCO received Shs12 billion and started mobilizing equipment quickly on behalf of Eutaw.
This year’s theme for the anti-corruption division open court is: ‘Reject and Report Corruption: Your Responsibility.”
Speaking at the same open court day, Deputy IGG, Ms Mariam Wangadya urged the judiciary to be cautious with corrupt officials who run to courts to secure orders blocking their investigations or trial.
Ms Wangadya added that the courts are supposed to temples of justice and not sanctuaries for shielding corrupt officials from prosecution.
“There is a growing trend where the corrupt run to the courts to secure injunctions to stop investigations and prosecutions as a way of frustrating the work of the Inspectorate of Government. We urge the courts of law to send a strong message to the corrupt that courts cannot be manipulated to act as a shield for the corrupt to evade justice,” said Ms Wangadya.
The Judiciary which the third arm of state has always been ranked by different anti-corruption bodies among the five top most corrupt five government agencies.