Inspector General of Government Beti Olive Kamya has nothing but praise for Ugandans who are stepping up to expose corruption.
Speaking at the Uganda Media Centre on Monday, Kamya celebrated the public’s increased involvement, calling it “a game-changer” in the country’s anti-corruption efforts.
“We are here to celebrate the amazing public participation. The public is taking ownership of the war against corruption and getting involved themselves.” she said
She pointed out that more Ugandans are using media, social platforms, and whistleblower accounts to expose crooked officials.
“Through conventional media channels, through social media, through whistleblower accounts and through court proceedings where the public are willing to come and give testimony or testify of what they know.” she added
Kamya dropped some shocking statistics recorded in the financial year 2023/24, linking them directly to increased public awareness.
“We have seen in the recent past there are unprecedented statistics in the number of complaints received in the financial year 2023 stroke 24 alone. We received 2,377 complaints or whistleblower accounts from the public. They came out to say I see that something is wrong with the management of this country in this aspect and that is precisely because of raised public awareness.” she asserted
Kamya has also revealed a massive leap in the declaration of assets, income, and liabilities by public officials, with compliance reaching 88.8% in March 2023.
Kamya adds that UGX 30 billion in embezzled or misappropriated public funds was identified for recovery during the financial year 2023, a substantial increase from the UGX 2 billion typically recovered in earlier years.
“Though not fully recovered yet, the process is ongoing, thanks to public vigilance and the Inspectorate of Government,” she stated.
The IGP also praised the enhanced performance of the IG’s Ombudsman function, which recorded 498 complaints in 2023/24. This department, previously little known, handles issues such as employment disputes, delayed services, and pension grievances from government workers.
“We received 498 complaints from government employees. Issues ranged from delayed salaries to pensioners being tossed around by corrupt officials.” Kamya revealed.
Kamya shared a touching moment: “Imagine someone working for the government for 40 years, only to be denied their pension! But now, thanks to the public, we’ve been able to fast-track nearly UGX 400 billion in pension payments.”
She said the IG has concluded 852 corruption cases in FY 2023/2024, including 18 high-profile ones and has recommended recovering UGX 17 billion. It has also issued 251 administrative actions against public officials, with 26 set for prosecution.
Kamya also explained that the IG prosecuted 55 cases, achieving a 47.3% conviction rate with 26 convictions. Of the concluded cases, 9 were acquitted, 18 were withdrawn (with UGX 912M committed for refund), and 2 were dismissed.
Furthermore, at the Leadership Code Tribunal, the IGG concluded 28 cases with 24 convictions (85.7%). And recovered UGX 14B, including UGX 6B in cash and property worth UGX 8.7B.
In just 10 days, the IG will mark its 38th anniversary by opening their doors to the public. Kamya announced that Layibi Grounds will be the venue for this special day.
“Come and share your grievances with us from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. no appointments needed. We shall set up tents there with all our departments including, department of education which is here an advocacy and research a department of anti-corruption, department of monitoring government projects, legal department that takes on the prosecution cases in a court the department of administration deals with contracts and contracts award and human resource ” she declared.
Kamya noted that this is a celebration of what has been collectively achieved.
