PAC ignores VP Bukenya chogm pleas

I am very impressed with the members of parliament taking on not only Ministers and Permanent Secretaries but the Vice president of Uganda. The MPs are not listening to the excuses of the ministers that they cannot appear before the Public Accounts Committee because of travel commitments. They have ordered the respondents to appear or risk being arrested and their travel prohibited. They have threatened that they will contact the donars to have the visas revoked. I must say it is an amazing turn of events and it is refreshing to see that Ugandans are taking a stand againist corruption.

Governance, planning, engagement and learning the virtue of patience

As the course comes to the end; i am thinking more about the course title. Community Engagement, Planning and Governance. In the process of developing this project Governance played a major role in considering the involvement of the community in fighting corruption. I believe that good governance is initiated by the people because it is through them that leaders are elected. One of the participants on this blog made it clear that the people need to take responsibility for their actions by electing the right leaders to office who will be instrumental in protecting their rights and resources. It may be said that when the election is finished then there is nothing left to do, and no way to change the situation should the leaders turn bad. However, most constitutions and laws including Uganda's provides for the recall of leaders who the people feel are not perfoming as is expected. The purpose of this project is to build knowledge about the importance of the community in the fight aganist corruption; as well as to develop ways to educate the community about their role in ensuring good governance.

In endevouring to build knowledge on community involvement in governance there is a need to engage; and engage i did. It is important in planning for action to build a body of participants through different ways, and with that this blog was born. In addition to the blog i created a facebook group called CORRUPTION LETS FIGHT IT which i would encourage you to visit and drop me a line. In trying to engage with the community out there for the purpose of achieving the goal of this project i found that enagement takes a long time and may or may not occur as we would like or as we plan. In the initial stages there was a positive response to the idea; however, there was very little action. I was disappointed because i expected response and action to be immediate; boy was i wrong. What was interesting is that almost at the end of the project there was a great big huge response and thats when i realised that to initiate and implement action, especially community based action, there is a need for patience. And patience is a virtue i had to learn.

I am thankful to all those who have been involved in this project in various capacities. I am appreciate your advice, your words of wisdom and your encouragement through this journey. I would like to invite you to continue to take part in this blog, for us to take our country forward. Please read our friends responses on the news letter and i look forward to hearing from you.

We are part of a whole

As part of my course I am required to initiate action and participation in a community based approach against corruption in Uganda. I am considering the integration of the community, the people, in the fight against corruption. I believe that in the decentralisation system in Uganda has allowed access to services to the people down at the grass roots. I believe that the management of these services is better governed by those for whom they are intended, the community. In my work with the Inspectorate of Government I was privileged to have interacted with the community and with the public in the receipt of complaints, participation in community discussions and taking part in radio programs. I am appreciative of the efforts of government agencies to decentralise not just utilities but offices of authority like the Inspectorate of Government, Director of Public Prosecutions, Attorney General’s office, and Auditor General’s offices to ensure that
people have easy access to services.

I still feel that a lot can be done to improve people participation. The stake holders in the anti corruption war are part of a system. I believe that this system is made up of different components. These components need to work together to ensure success in achieving a corruption free environment. I am of the view that the community has not been well integrated in this process and yet they are a useful resource in the fight.

I would like to request for you participation in this exercise. I would like to inform you that it is a purely academic exercise at this point; however, I would like to hope that at a later date it would develop into a fully fledged program.

I would like to request your contribution to ideas on how we can involve or increase community participation in the fight against corruption in Uganda.

Your ideas are welcome and I really appreciate your input. If you have the time I would request that you visit my blog on http://ugandansandfriendsunite.blogspot.com/ as well as a facebook group called corruption lets fight it.

I realise you are very busy but I implore you to take out ten minutes of your time to draft two paragraphs with your thoughts and ideas.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as is convenient

VP GILBERT BUKENYA FINALLY FACES CHOGM PROBE:

what do you think

It is interesting that these are the kind of pictures i had in my mind, growing up, of someone who was corrupt. Someone in authority with the instruments of power abusing resources for their own personal gain. Ofcourse in a child's mind you doesnt really think in this way. I just thought 'that man/woman is eating money'. One of my classmates raised an interesting point that teaching children about corruption from an early stage in an start of building a nation with intergrity. A former collegue and a soldier in the fight aganist corruption started a project where book covers were distributed to students/pupils and on these covers children were ways to recognise good and bad practices in schools like cheating. The encouragement of early teaching aganist practices of corruption is a good strategy in ensuring that we have a clean community

Can anyone fight corruption?

One of my friends made this statement 'any one can take part in fighting corruption pliz rise and we fight together' and it got me thinking. I then gave this response ' thanks for bringing this up. When you say anyone can fight corruption it makes me think ig doesnt have to be people who are in power. It could start all the way from children to the elderly in communities. I would like to hear what groups of people would be instrumental in fighting corruption and what roles they can play. It would be ... See Moreinteresting to hear how contact can be made with these people and how they can be encouraged to take part in this noble cause. I look forward to hearing from you'
Your thoughts are appreciated

Spirituality in the fight

One of the participants of this forum, a former collegue at the Inspectorate of Government and a friend has raised a very interesting point in our fight aganist corruption. He suggests that the start of fighting wrong is realising that wrong is evil and when we learn to hate evil we are on the straight and narrow and heading towards the bright light at the end of the tunnel, a corruption free environment. This reminds me of the times when we were growing up and were taught right from wrong by parents, church leaders and elders in the community. It is these teachings that have raised honourable citizens. I would like to hear more from your thoughts on the role of spirituality in the fight aganist wrong in the community and in this case the fight aganist corruption.

Inter agency cooperation

Its interesting when i think about corruption and how to fight it i think Uganda is doing a good job however i still think that more can be done. The interdepartmental and inter organisational coordination can go a long way in getting good results. When different agencies have the same goals, working together is more efficient, time saving and resource concious. I am aware that Ugandan anti corruption and law enforcement organisations are working together to achieve a corruption free environment however more can be done. I would like your input on how inter agency cooperation can be encouraged and enhanced and which actors you feel would be better placed to participate in this endevour. I look forward to hearing from you.

The blog isnt working as it should

Its interesting that stating this blog was really exciting and making connections using the blog was a new and interesting prospect. But what do you do when it all falls through the roof. I thought blogging would be an interesting tool and my connections would find it as interactive as i did but no such luck. I have sent out several emails and messages to people to get involved and so far there has been an amazingly low response. But guess what; i am taking this all in good stride and trudging on. I am now looking for new ways to interact and engage. Considering the people i am interacting with are in Uganda and the time difference is seven hours i might be awake at odd hours nagging my way through a list of connections. I am thinking of using other social networks as connecting points. Fingers and toes crossed that this will work out. Anyone with alternative methods of interacting with overseas connections i would love to hear them.

Syl

The fish rots from the head

The power of the people is a very strong idea when it comes to battling and resolving issues in any community. The corrupt are usually at the top of the system and in power; this power is given to them by the people through elections. One of the contributors to this Blog Mr Twinomujuni rightly pointed out that the people need to realise that they have the power to ensure that the people they elect have integrity, and if they elect those who do not have the required integrity they still have the power to recall those political leaders and remove them from the healm. It requires an uprising of the people in acknowledgement of their responsibility to ensure that we remove the rotten head of the fish so as to save the whole fish from dying and replace those at the healm with people who value integrity.

The desire for power or personal attitudes what needs to change?

Corruption is seen as a major vice in our communities. Those in positions of power have been mandated to protect the resources, rights and freedoms of the entire nation; however, in most cases we find that it is these people in power who are corrupt and abuse the trust bestowed upon them by the people. The saying goes 'man eateth where he worketh' means that a man shall work hard and plough the land that is his source of lively hood; however, this saying has been taken to mean that man shall steal from where he works. Ethics are not respected in the work place and public servants have taken from the coffers of the people to enrich themselves and, as long as they are not caught they will continue to steal from the people. The desire for power is not something that is easy to change because human beings crave power, therefore to conquer corruption we need to develop a change of attitudes among the population. It is important to nurture a community that values intergrity from the time of childhood so that the next generation is built an an values, norms and beliefs that value intergrity. Therefore the desire for power is not one that is about to change, however, it is the attitudes towards power and corruption that can be changed. This may take decades or even generations however with time it is achievable.