By Spy Uganda
Kampala: The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party’s founding president and four-time presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye has revealed that the escalating corruption in the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government started way back in the bush when the National Resistance Army (NRA) was fighting against the governments at the time.
Speaking on Monday, July 8 at their offices on Katonga road in Kampala on Monday, Besigye who is former bush war fighter noted that the corruption in the current government is deep rooted from way back and cannot be fought with just meagre words but rather with a fair and accountable system.
“I have talked about some of it right from the time I interfaced with him in the bush. There was corruption in the bush. People getting things in the operations or some people sending us some things to use, and a few people grab them. In the bush there was something called ‘size ya commander.’ If you come putting on a good trouser, you remove your trouser and give it to him. Whatever good you have, they grab it. “I would like to simply remind our country and especially Mr Museveni about his corruption. This corruption did not start in government, no” Besigye said.
According to Besigye, corruption escalated the war against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda for two decades leaving the population in a state of agony.
“That is how the war in the north lasted 20 years because it became an industry for self enrichment. On one hand there is what they call operation to fund, operation money for commanders, which is not accounted for, and in war, that keeps on being increased by creating all kinds of threats; oh this is going to happen, we need more money, and more money would be siphoned there and so on, and so forth,”Besigye said.
Besigye’s comments follows the worsening incidences of corruption leading to the arrest and trial of several Members of Parliament and government officials who have since been remanded to prison.
Their arrest came after President expressed his disbelief at the extent of the corruption confirming the existence of evidence pining Members of Parliament whom he said collude with officials from the Ministry of Finance to siphon off public funds.
“I have been hearing that from the Ministry of Finance, they collude with the accounting officers of ministries to come to Parliament working with some people there (Parliament) to provide certain funds, provided you take a share. I didn’t believe this but now I have proof,” the President said last month during the State of the Nation Address at Kololo.
In his address, President Museveni assured Ugandans that while the ruling National Resistance Movement is committed to fighting corruption, greedy government officials responsible for this task are failing in this agenda.
“Some People think that the NRM is soft on corruption. We insist on proof, and apparently proofs are abundant but the responsible People have not been looking for them. Who are the responsible officers for money? It is the Permanent Secretary in a Ministry, A Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in a district, a town clerk in a city or Municipality, a Gombolola Chief in a sub-county and a managing Director in a Parastatal. In the constitution, it is these that are responsible for government money, for personnel affairs, for procurement, etc,” Museveni said.
Meanwhile, Dr Besigye called upon the government to shift focus on things with great impact on people’s lives like healthcare in regards to the Abuja Declaration, which calls for African countries to allocate at least 15% of their budgets to health noting only two countries in Africa have hit that target.
“But it’s only two countries that have hit that target at some point; South Africa and Cape Verde. The rest of the African countries are wallowing in dire situations. Otherwise, Uganda usually spends 3% to 4%. Although we know we need to spend more on health care, education, and other sectors that affect our lives directly, we have no voice, the highest Uganda has spent on health care is about 7%.” Besigye noted.
According to Besigye, the government should now focus on people’s real problems like poverty alleviation, youth unemployment, inadequate healthcare, increasing school dropout rates, salaries for teachers and other civil servants.
“At least 30 per cent of Ugandans live below the poverty line, and even those above it are struggling. Our education system is in shambles, with less than 25 per cent of children completing primary school, and only 6 per cent finishing advanced level education,” he said.
