The office of the IGG headed by Justice Irene Mulyagonja has been rendered useless and incompetent in handling corruption related cases after President Yoweri Museveni naming a new unit to help fight corruption in Uganda despite the existence of official Government Ombudsman (IGG).
Museveni while delivering his 2018 State of Nation’s Address at the Serena Kampala Conference Center equated the IGG to a barking dog that never bites saying he “does not understand what happened to the office.”
As a matter of fact, the president announced a new Anti-Corruption Unit comprising of former Uganda National Teacher’s Union (UNATU) Secretary General, James Tweheyo, Capt. Martha Asiimwe and Rev. Sister Mary Grace Akiror.
In a rather disciplinarian tone, the president wondered why the public no longer finds the IGG’s office credible to trust it with information on corruption in public offices.
“Why don’t the victims of corruption report those incidents to the office of the IGG? That was the purpose of that office; to protect the public from corrupt officials; to protect the investors against corrupt officials. The IGG should reflect on this. Are her staff credible? Why does the public not trust that institution?” a perturbed Museveni wondered.
Over the years, government officials implicated in corruption scandals have continued to walk scot-free despite the fact that there has been glaring evidence against them, causing great financial loss to the government and greatly disadvantaging the population.
Optimistic in his new anti-corruption unit, Museveni encouraged Ugandans to report all cases of corruption through the yet-to-be communicated hotlines adding that “there is no criminal we (government) cannot handle.