Leaders of anti-corruption agencies in Africa have been urged to deeply involve victims of corruption in the fight against the vice because victims are the ones who most feel the pain and dont gain anything from the practice.
The call was made by President Yoweri Museveni today while opening the 9th Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa at Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa, Kigo near Kampala City.
When you are corrupt, the pain is felt by the masses. It is the victims who can help you to fight corruption better. They have nothing to lose, he observed.
The 5-day conference is running under the theme, Time to Act: Prevent Corruption for Sustainable Development’ and has attracted delegates from African countries that include Botswana, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Zambia and the host Uganda.
President Museveni, who at the same occasion launched a book titled Tackling Corruption in Commonwealth Africa: Case Studies of Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius Rwanda and Seychelles informed the delegates that corruption is an ideological issue that stems from lack of understanding the problems of society that are oppression of man by nature and of man by man.
The President further said that the solution to the two challenges is to delve much more into the development of science and technology to help human beings cope with problems presented by nature and to put in place democracy that is fortified by human resource through education to deal with man by man challenges.
President Museveni further pointed out that there is need to empower individuals to expose the corrupt as opposed to succumbing to their whims. He asserted that the corrupt cannot sustain their looted prosperity amidst a sea of the poor masses as resistance will certainly emerge particularly from the youth.
The President said the most crucial areas in the battle against corruption include experienced investigators and proper tools, prosecution, adjudication and also coordination.
In Uganda, the advantage we have is the two constituencies of the population and the Army that are not beneficiaries of corruption. That makes it a good starting point in the fight against corruption, he noted.
