Resumo de Nation Muzzled In Corruption, What Can Be Done? - Balaba Asuman,Makerere University-Kampala-Uganda, muuzy6@yahoo.com

The level of corruption in Uganda is warring despite the governments Endeavour to weep it out.

Recently former minister of heath Jim Muhwezi and his aides, Alex Kamugisha, Mike Mukula and former state house office Alice Kaboyo were arrested on the order of the IGG, Faith Mwondha for their involvement in mismanaging the Global Alliance Vaccine Immunization (GAVI) funds to a tune of 7.9 billions.

Corruption is a general concept describing any organized, interdependent system in which part of the system is not performing its duties originally intended to, or performing them in an improper way, detriment of the system''s original purpose. Corruption is of different types; Political, Police, Data, Temptation, and Language corruption. Other forms includes; Bribery, Forgery, Extortion, Fraud, among others.

Corruption is a result of poverty; peer group pressures; Political turbulence; weak institutional controls and supervision, moral decay, greed and excessive ambitions; inadequate remuneration to public servants among others.

Corruption hurts the poor with the diversion of funds intended for development, undermining a government''s ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice, discouraging foreign investment and aid hence putting life in danger.

Within 21 years (1986- 2007) of NRM''s reign, public corporations which are the backbone of Uganda''s monetary economy have gone bankrupt and sold by Museveni''s appointees with the most revealing bankruptcy of the Country''s largest and government owned firms.

President Museveni''s government has given away large chunks of prime land within Kampala city to mostly foreign investors at no cost despite allocating and reallocating national institutions to other places to its cost. For example former UTV/UBC land to AYA investment, Shimoni, Kitante primary school, Land accommodating Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence given to Sudhir Ruparelia, forest land in Kalangala district to the Bidco Palm Oil Project, and other local municipal forestry areas are to be given out to investors.

This is living government with no public property at the expense of investor?s exploitation.

Political corruption has undermined democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. For example, Corruption in Uganda presidential elections of 2006 and member of Parliament (MPS)i.e. The High Court on 23rd January 2007 deliver its judgment in an election petition by Betty Nambooze against Rev. Bakaluba Mukasa after Nambooze filed the petition last year challenging the election of Bakaluba for MP Mukono North Constituency.

The high court Lady Justice, Amoko Arach ruled Bakaluba to have committed several electoral offences which included bribery, mal practices among others and order for fresh elections. Such irregularities hinder people to elect commendable leaders willing to serve their interest. 1.3.2. Effect of Corruption on Public properties:

Police corruption can be broken down into two sections, internal and external corruption. Internal corruption being the illegal acts and agreements within a police department by more than one of the officers and External corruption; the illegal acts and agreements with the public by one or more officers in a department.

Police officers accept bribes in exchange for not reporting organized drug or prostitution rings or other illegal activities and in 1998, a Ugandan Government survey of citizen perceptions about corruption in public services; indicated that police was the most corrupt government institution with a wide margin.

63 percent individuals of those had come into direct bribe payment with the police officers during the interaction and 60 percent of the 18,412 households surveyed rated police among the three most corrupt government institutions.

Data corruption with thanscript forgery at Makerere University has undermined the educational system, while police corruption has leads to abuse of authority, encourages impunity, created an environment in which crime flourishes and respect for the rule of law key principle of democratic policing is eroded.

Transcript forgery by official at Makerere University is one of the data corruption reported, which recently led to suspension of 3 employees from the academic registrar?s office.

The committee to check on forgery ascertained that some officers in the transcripts office were involved in the extortion of money and the uncovered massive forgery, and extortion in the Academic Registrar?s office, instills fear that hundreds of forged transcripts are in circulation at University.
This situation gives doubt to the outside community on the credibility of the Certificate, Diploma, Degree, Master or PHD acquired by students at the University, hence loss of dignity.

There frauds in ministry of education and sports were contestants are nullified by electoral commission on the ground that their academic papers are not credible despite having documents earmarked from the Ministry of education.

The unrestricted rush into journalism by people who were neither trained nor employed as journalists seemed to have damaged the dream of high standards of professionalism and journalist are easily bribed to write a story in favor of the concerned person/ issue.

Many in Anglophone Africa see journalists to have maneuvered themselves into the enviable position of being powerful as to be immune to criticism.

However, African dictators, do not appear to share those views and those in authority had constantly put African journalism in the dock or on the psychiatrist''s sofa with the sole purpose of muzzling the press.
The lack of authentic and principled accountability of corporations, government, political processes, and the media provides irresistible opportunities for corruption.

Unless governments, community, development partners, Voluntary organization, and other stakeholders figure out effective ways to combat it, consequences of corruption are notoriously hard to measure despite a multitude of international anti-corruption agreements.

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