The Inspectorate of Government (IG) Justice Irene Mulyagonja braved a difficult day on Wednesday as she attempted to defend whether her office is still relevant in graft fight in Uganda.
Ms. Mulyagonja was bombarded with volleys of questions from journalists at Media Center after she read a statement on the preparations on the Forthcoming Commonwealth Regional Conference of Anti- Corruption Agencies in Africa.
A number of journalists wondered whether the IG still has the audacity to address any gathering on anything related to fighting corruption after the appointing authority openly lambasted her for failing to fight graft and decided to create a parallel unit which has since placed the Inspectorate under investigations.
State House Anti- Corruption Unit headed by Lt Col Edith Nakalema was inaugurated by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni after he referred to Mulyagonja’s office as a “failure and “useless.”
However, Mulyagonja defended her entity saying it has been efficient in fighting graft only that her work isn’t documented in the media.
“Every after 6 months I send various reports to Parliament,” she told visibly inquisitive journalists at media center.
But the journalists wondered why Parliament has never picked interest in debating the so called reports her office submits every after 6 months.
As to whether she was trying to let herself off hook is something this website will investigate by establishing the number of reports she has handed over to Parliament.
On the same conference, IG was asked to substantiate why her office reluctantly didn’t pick interest in making broader investigations on the infamous Bank of Uganda officials who were implicated in illegal closure of seven commercial banks even when an investigative committee of Parliament COSASE completed its findings and made recommendations.
Ms. Mulyagonja simply termed Bank of Uganda probe as “escalated” insisting that her office found it wise to leave other investigative bodies to take up the matter.
“It doesn’t make sense for us to also investigate BoU after Parliament had finished its investigations. Other institutions can investigate if at all there are investigations,” she said.
Her remarks left many journalists questioning whether the IGG awaits to be first reminded to conduct investigations.
Statement on Upcoming Anti-Corruption Conference
I welcome you all to this press conference at Uganda Media Centre. I would also like to thank our partners in the media for always answering our call. Thank you for your unwavering support.
The Inspectorate of Government is a member of the Commonwealth Africa Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs). IG therefore participates in joint activities that are organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat, mostly training on anti-corruption efforts for both staff and heads of ACAs. The Association also hold a conference each year to share experiences and to strengthen coordination of efforts in the recovery of stolen assets and the prevention of illicit financial flows.
The 8th edition of the conference was held in Abuja, Nigeria last year where the Ag Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria, Mr Mustapha Ibrahim Magu was elected the President of the Association. Botswana was first country to host the Anti-Corruption Agencies and is home to the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre, which was established in 2013 as a joint project by the Government of Botswana, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa.
We are here this morning to announce that the Inspectorate of Government will from the 6th to 11th of May 2019 host the 9th Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa. It will be officially opened by H.E. President Yoweri Museveni Kaguta at Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa in Kigo.
The 9th Edition of the Conference in Uganda will attract over 100 participants from Anti-Corruption Agencies in the Commonwealth Countries in Africa. The theme for the Conference is Time to Act: Prevent Corruption for sustainable Development. This is part of the Commonwealth’s efforts to institutionalise the fight against corruption with the aim of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 16 – Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms.
The Conference will provide a unique platform for sharing emerging anti-corruption best practices and country innovations in the fight against corruption and the promotion of good governance in Commonwealth Africa.
By its nature, corruption is secretive and complex. It often transcends national boundaries, hence the need for international cooperation in combating it. It is also not unusual for corruption to be committed or proceeds of corruption to be remitted across boarders; it is therefore imperative that Anti-Corruption Agencies build appropriate structures and relationships to facilitate operational cooperation in fighting corruption. One such initiative is the annual Commonwealth Anti-Corruption Conference.
The key aim of the meeting is to enhance south-south learning and the sharing of country, regional and international experiences, by Experts and Heads of Anti-Corruption bodies in Commonwealth Africa.
The Conference, organized by the Inspectorate of Government (IG) will bring together former African Heads of State and Government, Government officials, high level representatives from the Commonwealth Secretariat, members of the Private Sector, Civil Society and Public Policy experts.
The Conference has come at a time the IG has introduced a number of measures to scale up the fight against corruption. To mention but a few:
We have increased the number of verification of leader’s declaration from 65 to 300. We still intend to start publishing lists of leaders whose declarations are to be verified to enable responsible citizens to give the Inspectorate information that they may have about suspicious asset acquisition and lifestyles.
We are stepping up our recovery of stolen funds through the Asset Recovery Unit which was established in 2017.
The role of the citizen in the fight against corruption is very important to IG. We are therefore working with Government to see that we roll out the Transparency Accountability and Anti-corruption Component of NUSAF III into other Government programs.
Management of the IG is also in the process of reorganizing the institution to make it more efficient and effective and more responsive to citizens’ demands. With the same goal, we are building the capacity of the MDA’s to manage internal and simple complaints in the process of service delivery at source.
We hope that the sharing of experiences across African institutions that are charged with fighting corruption will enhance the process of the IG through learning from the successes of others in this complicated field.
An exhibition will be held at the venue of the Conference, Serena at Kigo on the 6th May, 2019, in which the Uganda Tourist Board and other suitable bodies will showcase tourism attractions in the country to the visitors. We call upon Ugandans to welcome the visitors with us and to show them our internationally known warm hospitality wherever they go.
Thank you, again for attending this briefing and I wish you a good day, hoping to see you at Kigo when the conference begins on 6th May 2019.