Corruption is by far the biggest obstacle to Uganda’s economic growth and development. But in a bid to cab this vice, the Uganda Death Network committed to raising public awareness of corruption, its effects and what the citizens can do. The alarming corruption levels in government institutions subjected the population to suffrage as those charged with the responsibility of delivering justice divert the money for personal use. But as Uganda marked the World Anti – Corruption week, the Uganda Death Network took the fight to Kayabwe in Mpigi district advocating for a corrupt free Uganda to save the country’s resources. “And so equally, the effect is huge.” The residents were skilled on how they could fight corruption so as to save the country’s resources being wasted on a few people. “So we pray that this is a start of a long journey if you are to fight corruption; it is each of our responsibility to think twice and see the dangers.”
“And we think that perhaps somebody today may not act but tomorrow, now that there is documentation, many acts.” “Everybody has to say NO to corruption.” But as the fight intensifies Uganda is faced with profile cases that rarely come to a logical conclusion because of unknown reasons. This clearly indicates the absence of political will. Although these cases are prominent in high offices, political leaders asked locals to fight corruption from bottom to top. “We must all fight corruption, corruption must not eat this country. We must and everybody should fight corruption. Corruption is cancer, is a disease which must be cured, which must be fought by every Ugandan.”
Patrick Tumwebaze the Executive Director of Uganda Death Network said that this year they were focused on the health sector since corruption continued to impact on access to health services. “Because maybe if there was no corruption, maybe the government would be able to cater for the requirements of what these people are requiring. So health, as I said, is a lifeblood of any nation because you need healthy people to go to work and then they produce that you have the growth.”
Activists have in the recent years asked the government to strengthen measures so that there is full asset recovery from those who are said to have obtained them from corruption. The local leaders in Kayabwe decried the worsening situation in the health sector and advised on how the vice could be mitigated for better service delivery. “When we join hands; you, them and I, corruption can end. Especially, I thank this organization because they have started with the local person. If the local persons are sensitized slowly by slowly, it will go on changing slowly by slowly maybe it will end.” With the consistent kinds of corruption from petty to grand corruption, where highly placed individuals in the public arena established syndicates to facilitate theft of sums of money, the fight against graft now required long and laborious processes as well as discipline and commitment to ending it.
