Muhoozi’s anger at corruption

Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba. He has been tweeting his frustration with mass and endemic corruption in Uganda’s public sector

How the abuse of the public trust through looting of public funds is going to cause a terrible backlash at the perpetrators

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has been tweeting his frustration with mass and endemic corruption in Uganda’s public sector. Many people do not understand where this frustration is coming from, especially so because he is not just a son of the president but also a public official. Muhoozi’s frustrations are a result of his personal values. At a personal level, he has been leading by example. For instance, he has never indulged himself in business deals to accumulate money. On the contrary, he lives a simple lifestyle, wearing ordinary clothes, mostly military fatigues; lives in an ordinary house; drives official cars; and shuns ostentation and luxury.

Muhoozi believes that public officials should pursue the collective good of the country. This does not mean their private interests should have no consideration. Rather, he believes any such private interests should be served through the pursuit of collective goals, especially the delivery of public goods and services. For example, Muhoozi believes that the public sector should offer long-term career rewards. If a public official does a good job, they should be promoted. With such a step comes not only an increase in their salary and other material privileges but also enhanced status and prestige.

In an interview with The Independent after he was appointed CDF, he made this point clear. You join the army to serve the country. Once you perform your public duties with distinction and dedication, your country should reward you. He made it clear that he is hostile to the kind of material aggrandizement that many public officials have come to embrace and espouse in Uganda today. This aggrandizement has come at the price of serving the citizens and the country. Thus, today, public contracts are inflated by 40, 70 and in some outrageous cases, by 100%. Whether it is road, airport or railway construction or the procurement of services for public works and functions, the process is characterised by inflated prices.

The NRM revolution, as I have always emphasised, was born in a moment of great hope. People abandoned their families, others their education, and many their businesses and jobs. They joined the struggle to liberate Uganda from impunity – whether by the state security organs killing people indiscriminately or by public officials looting the state. Hence, democracy was first on NRM’s Ten Point Program, fighting corruption was the second. People sacrificed their careers, some their limbs, and others even their lives in pursuit of this vision. Therefore, in the early years of the Museveni administration, there were very many public-spirited individuals in government. People like Bidandi Ssali, Amanya Mushega, Kirunda Kivejinja, Eriya Ketegaya, Kintu Musoke, James Wapakhabulo etc. did not seek material aggrandizement. They served the public good.

Over the years, however, the NRM government, led by Muhoozi’s father, President Yoweri Museveni, has turned its back on the ideals that animated the revolution. As it consolidated power, it sunk to the lowest depth of corruption. The public sector lost its collective vision. Instead, it developed a pattern of behaviour in handling public affairs that is harmful to our country. People in both the public and the private sector do not see the state and its government as an arena where they go to serve the public good. Rather, they see it as a theatre where they go to make money. The desire to make money is, in and of itself, not necessarily a bad thing. It is making it at the expense of the public good that makes it detrimental to the national interest.

What led us to where we are is a subject for another article. But what we can observe for now is that over the years, NRM has progressively shaded most of the public-spirited individuals. In their places, crooks and conmen/women have gained ground. Part of the reason for this is the deepening of democratic participation and contestation. As electoral competition has gotten tight, winning has come to rely heavily on one’s ability to raise money. In a huge share of the cases, the person who wins an election is the one who spent the most money. Thus, politicians compete to raise money to be re-elected. This is one, certainly not the only, reason why corruption has become endemic. It has moved from the politicians to the civil service. Increasingly, it is civil servants who finance politicians.

Take the example of Museveni’s inauguration. The government requested Shs 60 billion to host the inauguration. NRM handlers claimed they needed all this money, among other things, to drive and transport 50,000 people from across the country to attend. First, they will not do as promised. Instead, they will get a few people from upcountry and the rest from Kampala. They promised to feed and house them. Only a few will get this privilege. After the event, most “guests” will be stranded at Kololo Independence Grounds. That has been the practice for a long time now.

Last month, we hosted 50,000 people at Kololo for the MK Run. We spent only Shs 950 million. Everyone was transported to the venue, provided a T-shirt or vest to run in, a bottle of water and a bottle of soda and lunch and later were all transported back to their homes. This is not to add the other service providers for the stage, musicians, trainers, ushers, protocol etc. The balance of the money raised will be given to charities to help the most vulnerable in our society. Please note that an event of less than half that size would have cost NRM or the government not less than Shs 20 billion. The level of abuse in NRM and the government has reached epic proportions. This is the source of Muhoozi’s frustration.

Gen Muhoozi has tweeted severally about the problems of roads in both Kampala City and the country generally. Road contracts are constantly inflated, road works are of very poor quality, and construction time lasts forever. The situation has reached such levels that many roads are costed at twice their actual price. If many roads are in a terrible state of disrepair, it is because both road reconstruction and road maintenance costs are grossly exaggerated. I have many actual examples of these abuses that make everyone sick to the stomach. Our country is getting to a level where interventions to correct these abuses may not follow the rule of law and due process. Public officials, please stand warned that the days of abuse cannot last forever.