The government last year recovered sh14b from corrupt public officials, the Inspector of General of Government (IGG), Beti Olive Kamya, has revealed.
This amount was an increment from sh2b recovered during the financial year 2023/2024.
She said they prosecuted and concluded 55 cases in court, resulting in 26 convictions (47.3%).
“Of the 55 concluded cases, nine were acquittals, 18 withdrawals for various reasons, such as settling the matter out of court; while two were dismissed,” Kamya said.
She noted that they got sh14b through recovery orders — sh6b cash was deposited into the Inspectorate of Government (IG) asset recovery account, while property worth sh8.7b was handed over to the institution in lieu of cash.
Kamya made the revelation during a media briefing at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala yesterday.
TRILLIONS LOST
Uganda loses sh2o trillion every year through corruption, according to a 2021 report released by the IG.
The haemorrhage is through lost taxation (sh131b), user fees on utilities (sh459b), forfeited revenue from natural resources (sh82ob), bungled enforcement leading to environmental degradation (sh15b), absenteeism in government departments (sh2b), corruption in provision of healthcare and education services (sh45113), graft in security provision (sh86b), as well as procurement and budgeting regulation (sh233b).
During the event, Kamya said they are now moving away from prosecution to prevention, especially through awareness campaigns.
She said this creates a more sensitised public and that is reflected in the number of cases being reported. Kamya said during the year under review (2023/2024), whistleblower complaints shot up to 2,377 from 500 cases, adding that 1,260 were registered from the head office, while 1,117 were registered across the 16 regional offices.
She noted that 91.8% of these were sanctioned for investigations and 2.7% were referred to other authorities, while 0.1% were declined because they did not meet the merit in investigable cases.
Kamya said they concluded 852 corruption-related cases of which 18 were high- n profile.
“From the investigations, the IGG recommended recovery of sh17b to the Consolidated Fund from persons found culpable in various corruption offences,” she said.
LEADERSHIP CODE COMPLIANCE
Kamya said the number of public officials declaring their wealth has also increased.
At the end of the declaration period, 26,541 out of an expected 32,617 leaders had declared their wealth, representing a compliance rate of 81.3%.
“During the same period, the IG verified declarations of 574 public officials out of a targeted 600 for the financial year. This represents a success rate of 95.6%,” she said.
Kamya said as a result of the verifications and investigations, 61 public officials were recommended for prosecution before the Leadership Code Tribunal.
She noted that the IG resolved 498 ombudsman complaints — 77 in ministries, departments and agencies and 421 in local governments.
Kamya said these complaints were majorly related to employment disputes, delayed services, nonpayment of salaries and pensions and mismanagement.
ACTIVIST WEIGHS IN
When contacted, the Anti-corruption Coalition Uganda executive director, Marlon Agaba, welcomed the development.
“If the Inspectorate of Government (IG) can only recover sh14b, that is not even 1%. We still need more effort to recover more money. We need to have a comprehensive law that empowers the IG to trace, freeze and confiscate assets,” Agaba said.
He noted that some of the recoveries are through plea bargains, after which the culpable public officials retain their jobs, which encourages them to steal even more.
“They are also given a grace period within which to pay the money, but some don’t pay,” Agaba said, adding that the IG should stop being lenient.
He asked the IG to increase the conviction rate, noting that 52% is low, compared to the Office of Director of Public Prosecution office of 75%.
