The Speaker
of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has assured the nation of her commitment in
fighting corruption.
Kadaga said she will continue exposing the corrupt despite the threats she has
received.
“I did tell the Members last year when I talked about the harassment of the
fishermen by the army that there is a minister who came to my office and told
me to stop talking about the army,” said Kadaga.
The
Speaker said that she will not protect any corrupt officials irrespective of
the party they belong to. She added that, ‘there is no excuse for being
corrupt. Any individual who engages in corruption does it on their own
behalf and not that of the party’.
She said that as a country, Uganda has no common agenda to commit atrocities
and therefore individuals who are corrupt should be dealt with.
Kadaga was responding to a concern raised by Retired Bishop of North Kigezi,
Edward Muhima who said that Uganda has a very high degree of corruption which
he attributed to lack of faithfulness from the leadership.
This was during the ecumenical prayers to mark the start of the Third Annual
Parliament Week on Monday, 14 January 2018. The Week is being held under the
theme; ‘Championing accountability to improve service delivery’.
Bishop Muhima challenged Members of Parliament to lead by example and champion
the fight against corruption if the country is to achieve improved service
delivery.
“For us to champion accountability, we need to be stewards with values which we
can demonstrate, teach and instill in others,” Bishop Muhima said.
He called on leaders to uphold and promote values such as honesty,
faithfulness, transparency, accommodativeness, patience, time consciousness,
team work and integrity as they perform their duties.
“These values can only be upheld through believing in Christ but not religion,”
said Bishop Muhima.
Deputy Mufti, Sheikh Ali Mohammed Waiswa called on Ugandans to understand their
limits, so that they may not suffer the consequences of their failure.
“Prophet Mohammadsaid that grace upon a person who knows their limit. For that
matter we pray for his intercession that he helps us to accord our nation the
innermost of our best,” said Sheik Waiswa.
The Parliament Week runs from 13 to 19 January 2019. The week-long event
will be characterized by several activities aimed at bringing members of the
public closer to Parliament.
The activities include meet your MP sessions, a public
parliament and a panel discussion involving LC 5 chairpersons.
Over 20 departments of Parliament and selected ministries,
departments and agencies will be exhibiting and showcasing their work.
