Gerald's Blog (11)

Another member of the First Family has been implicated in attempts to persuade a key member of the Forum for Democratic Change to leave his party in an unfolding saga involving an alleged attempted Shs1.5 billion pay-off.

Mr Francis Atugonza, the incumbent Hoima Municipality mayor, told this newspaper yesterday that Mr Geoffrey Kamuntu, called him on phone three months ago and claimed that the President “wants to work with him and that he is willing to do anything to ensure that he…

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A member of the First Family has been named in an alleged attempt to offer Shs1.5 billion as an inducement to a key Forum for Democratic Change member to defect from his party and step down.

Mr Francis Atugonza, also the FDC Secretary for Trade and Industry and the incumbent Hoima Municipality mayor, told Daily Monitor yesterday that he was contacted six days ago by one of the President’s sons-in-law with the offer.

Quit and earn

Mr Atugonza says he was told that all he had…

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Close to 300 ghost workers have been discovered on the payroll of Mulago National Referral Hospital, according to preliminary information from an ongoing investigation into corruption in the health sector.

Investigators attached to the Medicine and Health Services Delivery Monitoring Unit, which was set up by President Museveni in October last year to scrutinise operations in the health sector, confirm that they have already confirmed a total of 289 ghost workers – even as they continue to… Continue

At least 43 legislators are still in possession of Chogm phones three years after they were asked to surrender them to the government. The MPs were asked to hand in the phones by end of April for disposal.

The Inspector General of government says the MPs must return the phones or face court over the matter.

The order followed an audit of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting expenses. An investigation by the IGG has revealed that out of 49 Chogm Blackberry phones given…

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Government officials digging their hand into the till to directly pull out public funds remains the top form of corruption, the Inspectorate of government has said in a new report. At 19.4 percent of complaints recorded at the IGG, mismanagement and misappropriation of public resources is the most reported form of corruption.

Ugandans also view and complain about non-payment of salaries at 18.7 per cent, followed by abuse of office at 17.8 per cent, delays in delivery of services, which…

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ZAMBIA’s efforts in fighting against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria may be under threat following the decision by the Global Fund to suspend funding to the health ministry citing strong evidence of fraudulent activities.

According to Zambia’s…

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By Gerald Bareebe

Though a serial problem, corruption lacks a universally accepted definition. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines corruption as an act of dishonesty especially using bribery or an immoral or wicked act. This definition focuses essentially on the moral aspects of corruption. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank define corruption as “the abuse of public office.”This is a very wide ranging definition which will make the understanding of the…

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What I found interesting today was the discussion about corruption in the education system. This is because the free Universal and Secondary Education in my country has not only failed because of corruption but is also putting the future generation at stake. In Uganda, education falls into the domain of local government units, which makes majority of the decisions during the transfer of resources earmarked for education from the central to the local government. But the local government…

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