President Yoweri Museveni will appoint special judges to handle all forms of corruption most especially those involving high ranking officials in government. The state minister for ethics and integrity in the office of the president Dr. James Nsaba Buturo says the new judges will expeditiously handle the cases to avoid the current situation where cases take long, owing to not enough judges to handle them in time.

“We have also designed a tool for tracking high profile corruption cases on top of the anti corruption court” said the minister at a news conference in Kampala, while summing up the activities of the year and unfolding the new year’s plan.

A billboard decrying corruption in Uganda

Different agencies will have hot lines aimed at encouraging the public to report any cases of corruption without fear. Lack of public confidence has been one of the major challenges in government struggle to wipe out corruption, according to Dr. Nsaba Buturo.

But if this is to work, there must be the strengthening of the institutions fighting corruption like the Inspectorate of government, the Criminal Investigative Department and other civil society organizations.

Perhaps what will strengthen the public confidence is the concern that all those involved in the recently concluded CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting) funds should be investigated, an issue that has been taken up by parliament and the president.

In October this year the president announced a crack down on officials who had mishandled the NUSAF (Northern Uganda Social Action Fund) money, blaming the bad services provided in war affected regions like Teso Lango and Acholi. Museveni said what the officials did best was raising signposts. The president also scraped off the NAADS program saying it had brought more harm than good to the farmers.

Much as government is doing all these, Ugandans are still sceptical about hypocrites in government who talk against corruption but do the contrary. Major concerns have been on the 'Bona Bagagawale' (Prosperity for all program) and the three trillion shillings earmarked for the recovery of Northern Uganda. There are still many reports of commissions of enquiry that have not yet been released to the public.