5 November 2009
editorial
Kampala — THE way procurement rules were flouted and taxpayers' money was squandered during CHOGM is mind-boggling, and those identified should be brought to book. But lessons should be learned from this mess.
First among these is that it is time for transparency. In Uganda, politicians and civil servants are increasingly involved in business enterprises. That may be a good thing, but it is an invitation to corruption. More openness in the Government is a necessary answer.
Consider the Auditor General's CHOGM report. It shows three things:
First, foreign construction companies seemed to have formed a cartel, exploiting the lack of capacity and the "emergency situation" to hike prices - some 20-fold, by the engineer's estimate.
Second, an intricate network seems to exist between politicians, civil servants and businesses, where each serves the other's interests rather than the public interest.
Third, lack of transparency fuels corruption and mismanagement of public funds.
The Auditor General continuously indicates in his reports that he had problems gaining access to basic information. His auditors were not shown contracts, variations and progress reports of consultants on works involving billions of taxpayers' money. They were also not availed minutes of meetings of the CHOGM sub-committee where important decisions were taken.
In addition, it seems impossible for anyone to gain access to files of certain companies, mysteriously termed as 'sensitive,' from the registrar of companies. They are either "misplaced" or "misfiled," or kept behind lock and "the man with the key is gone."
Under the Leadership Code, Ugandan politicians and civil servants should declare their interests in whatever companies they, or their relatives, own shares. This information should be public knowledge, as should all information concerning Government tenders, contracts involving public funds, company profiles and even audit reports.
Computerisation of data and publishing information of public interest on the Internet could go a long way in enhancing transparency and reducing corruption. But none of these things are done and that is why problems like the CHOGM mess keep happening.
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