The Inspector General of Government (IGG), Ms Irene Mulyagonja, paid a courtesy call on the Katikkiro of Buganda, Ow’ekitiibwa Charles Peter Mayiga at his office in Bulange.

The IGG and the Katikkiro delved into matters of how Mengo through its media entities can form a formidable partnership in the fight against corruption.

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The Katikkiro pledged to support the Inspectorate of Government’s campaign against corruption, saying “the fight against corruption is very important to the development of our country; it is our duty as Ugandans to join this fight.”

He specifically cited Masengere building that was built using ettoffaali (public funds) as an example of being accountable to the people.

Ms Mulyagonja in her remarks talked about the on-going joint anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by the IG in partnership with Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) Office of the Auditor General (OAG) Directorate for Ethics and Integrity (DEI) and Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS), and sought more support especially from media houses.

The IGG later addressed a boardroom session that was attended by management and staff of CBS Radio and BBS Terefayina.

The media gurus made passionate contributions about how anti-corruption agencies can work with them to curb corruption in Uganda.

The Inspectorate of Government (IG) wishes all Ugandans a happy 56th Independence Anniversary.

IG Independence Message

The Deputy Inspector General of Government, Mr. George Bamugemereire has asked leaders at the local government level to resolve corruption scandals locally because the Inspectorate of Government (IG) has a lot of bigger issues to investigate.

Bamugemereire was speaking during the launch of the updated and self-registration modules of IG Online Declaration System (IG-ODS) to local leaders in Gulu district at the District Council Hall on Thursday, 6 September.

Bamugemereire argued that the IG receives very many complaints from within local governments that leaders can resolve without necessarily seeking the IGG's intervention.

“We have people who are not happy with recruitment, promotions, salaries, pensions and many others but we advise the ministry departments to ensure they address complaints locally. If the districts do not address problems within, the citizens run to the IGG and some of the problems are very small in nature.” he said.

“We don’t want to be bogged down by small problems which can be solved locally. We are asking local authorities to address complaints locally to give time to the IG to focus on bigger issues that the country is facing,” Bamugemereire emphasised.

He noted that the IG has investigated 1,449 corruption cases from local governments from a target of 500, prosecuted 47 out of the target of 60, convicted 31 cases out of 47 and 12 judicial cases among others.

He said leaders that declared their assets and liabilities this far are 22,662 Ugandans ( 90.6 percent) out of the targeted 25,000 people complied and declared their assets and liabilities during the first launch of the online system.

The Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity, Reverend Father Simon Lokodo who officially launched the updated and self-registration modules of the IG-ODS, appealed to local leaders to embrace the online declaration of assets, which he said is faster, cheaper and more efficient.

He advised leaders who can afford smart phones to use those to register their wealth or get access to the computers distributed by the Uganda Communication Commission to secondary schools in their communities to do that.

Lokodo also encouraged district leaders to sensitise public servants to register since it is a practice mandated by the law.

Clarifications from the Inspectorate of Government regarding the investigations of Justine Bagyenda, the former Director Supervision in Bank of Uganda (BOU) and Jolly Kaguhangire, the Executive Director of Uganda Investment Authority (UIA). View Press Release

Uganda marked Africa Day in commemoration of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on 25th May, 1963. The OAU was replaced by the African Union in 2002. The commemorations took place at the International University of East Africa (IUEA) on Friday, 25th May 2018.

This year’s theme was “winning the fight against corruption, a sustainable path to Africa’s transformation.”

The Inspector General of Government (IGG), Ms Irene Mulyagonja, was one of the panellists at the event. Other panellists included Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Hon. Kahinda Otafiire, Makerere University political economist, Prof. Julius Kiiza and Rwanda’s Ambassador to Uganda, Major Frank Mugambage. The event was moderated by Mr. Andrew Mwenda, the Managing Director of the Independent Publications.

In some of her remarks, the IGG said, “What we have in Uganda as corruption is the same as that in other countries. Theft is theft whether on the African continent or elsewhere. It’s morally wrong for one to enormously steal public resources.”

She added that it’s false to assert that nothing has been done about corruption in Uganda because several steps have been taken to curb it.

Africa Day is a public holiday in nine African nations which include Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Deputy IGG, Mr George Bamugemereire, opened a consultative meeting on the implementation the Discretionary Development Equalisation Grant (DDEG) in Moroto.

The two-day meeting that took place on 24th and 25th May at Mount Moroto Hotel, attracted participants from Abim, Amudat, Kaabong, Kotido, Moroto, Nakapiripirit and Napak in Karamoja sub-region.

Mr. Bamugemereire said Government has given a lot of power to the districts so that its impact is felt by people at the grassroots. “We must ensure effectiveness of government and the effectiveness is at the local government levels,” he emphasised.

He called for harmonised standards, adding that this cannot be achieved unless predictable reliable systems are built.

“We want the people of Karamoja to feel the same satisfaction as people from other parts of the country…We want even distribution of development and this should be the aspiration of all Ugandans,” said the Deputy IGG.

The Director of Education and Prevention of Corruption, Mr Rwereeza Jossy Jules, explained the Ombudsman function of the Inspectorate to the participants, saying most of the complaints received by the IG are ombudsman-related.

He urged the participants to make a difference when they return to their communities as a form of personal accountability.

The Deputy IGG later paid a courtesy call on the Inspectorate of Government’s Moroto Regional Office where he had a dialogue with the staff.

The Inspectorate of Government (IG) charged Echenyu William, a former Intelligence Officer at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), on three counts of forgery and uttering false documents.

Her Worship Kamasanyu Gladys of Buganda road Chief Magistrate’s Court, while making her judgment convicted Echenyu William on all counts and was accordingly sentenced to two years imprisonment on each count to run concurrently.

The charges emanated from an investigation which the IG was conducting at UWA. While the investigations were on-going, Echenyu forged a letter purportedly written by the Inspector General of Government (IGG ) ordering UWA to reinstate and promote him, pay his school fees and also pay him all the retained salaries.

Suspecting the terms of the order to be fraudulent, the Executive Director of UWA immediately contacted the IGG who ascertained and concluded that she never issued such directives.

Mr. Echenyu had been on remand since 5th October, 2017 when he took plea following his unsuccessful bail applications.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Uganda, under the Institutional Effectiveness programme is supporting Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Anti-Corruption Institutions on facilitating dialogue with state and non-state actors on transparency and accountability policies and regulations. The initiative to engage communities and local authorities within the cross border areas fits well within the ongoing initiative. In addition, UNDP has been engaged in supporting peace dialogue in cross border peace and security committees that will be part of the key stakeholders in this initiative.

Objectives:

The overall objective of the project is to improve cross border accountability through creating awareness for the local communities and local authorities in tackling corruption in cross-border communities as a means of combating violent extremism. The specific objectives of the project are: 1) to improve awareness of accountability initiatives and develop strategies for cross border monitoring and community enforcement; 2) create cross border platforms for engagement on accountability issues and increase communication; 3)integrate cross border accountability issues to existing district plans.

The short-term objectives would be to increase communication between these stakeholders and their cross-border counterparts, with the goal of eventually developing strategies to address border corruption, which could include joint community/law enforcement monitoring, establishing cross-border reporting systems, or parallel advocacy campaigns to strengthen national government responses. Long-term objectives could include better cross-border engagement, increased trust between local communities/law enforcement and border authorities, and stronger national enforcement of border security.

The project will take an integrated approach engaging with UNDP Kenya, authorities of Kenya and boarder communities. Underpinning this approach, the project will support a gap analysis on the existing transparency and accountability frameworks and make recommendations to improve accountability and enforcement of cross-border security.

Read the Gap Analysis Report and Concept Note below:

Gap Analysis Concept Note

The Inspector General of Government (IGG), Ms. Irene Mulyagonja, presented the Policy Statement to the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament for financial year 2018/2019 on Thursday, April 12, 2018. The IGG was accompanied by the Deputy IGG, Mr. George Bamugemereire, the Secretary to the Inspectorate of Government, Mrs. Rose Kafeero, the Undersecretary and Directors.

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The Chairperson of the Committee Hon Oboth Oboth acknowledged the role of the Inspectorate of Government (IG) in the fight against corruption. He noted that the IG had become a household name and confirmed that the committee would always support the IG.

The Committee members called upon the IG to strengthen its regional offices in order to enhance the fight against corruption at the Local Government level. The Deputy IGG however, informed the Members of Parliament that some of the challenges of corruption especially in local governments were: lack of supervision, cultural issues, capacity issues and the need to solve the problems at the source.

The Secretary to the Inspectorate of Government ranked the unfunded priorities to be considered for IG for the financial year 2018/19 as: Staff training, payment of rent and payment of NSSF.

The Principal Policy Analyst, Mr. Joseph Pinycwa and his team were commended for making a good report to parliament.

A delegation from Zanzibar Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Authority (ZAECA) visited the Inspectorate of Government on a 5-day benchmarking sojourn.

The Deputy IGG, Mr George Bamugemereire, together with the Deputy IGG, Ms Mariam Wangadya and the Secretary to IG, Mrs Rose N. Kafeero welcomed the 3-person delegation to the Inspectorate and wished them a good stay in Uganda.

They explained some of the achievements of the Inspectorate to the visitors, and why the IG is a very important agency in the fight against corruption in Uganda.

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The Zanzibar delegation that included Mr Abubakar Mohammed Lunda, Hassan Bakar and Ms Zakiya Abdalla thanked the IG for hosting them.

They explained that their agency is only five years old and therefore have a lot to learn from the IG, which has fought corruption and maladministration for decades.

Presenters from different directorates took the delegation through the roles of the IG, its powers, its legal framework, the declaration of income, assets and liabilities using the IG Online Declaration System and asset recovery among others.

The delegation also visited the IG’s Kampala Regional Office and paid a courtesy call on the Auditor General, Mr John Muwanga and the Executive Director, Financial Intelligence Authority, Mr Sydney Asubo.