The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s civil society organizations have organized the Integrity Awards in honour of public servants who have exhibited good governance in their service.
The awards to be held on Dec.16 are also aimed at building and breeding the culture of transparency, accountability and integrity among civil and public servants, the private sector and the public in general.
“It is anticipated that the event shall serve as a motivation to promote good practices and recognize outstanding persons in service to the society,” the CSOs said in a joint statement.
“The award will at the same time help public servants aspiring to become good governors to identify mentors or role models that attract young cadres into public service with honour.”
The 2020 awards to be held under the theme “Promoting Social Accountability through active citizenry,” have been organized by the Uganda Debt Network, Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, Transparency International Uganda and Action Aid.
Similarly, the CSOs called upon government to publish all received donations, grants and loans and show how they have been used.
Christine Byiringiro, Program Manager at Uganda Debt Network said the government has since March this year borrowed approximately Shs 6 trillion. This she said, is in addition to another Shs 6 trillion that the government had acquired through supplementary budgets. “We all need to know how the money was spent…this information can be published in newspaper or any other government online platform,” she said.
The CSOs also said funds were released in the fight against the invasion of locusts in January this year as well as floods that struck parts of the country including Kasese but it is coming to a year and the accountabilities for these emergency situations are yet to be shared with the public.
Cissy Kagaba, Executive Director at the ACCU said the population is seeking for answers on how the resources that were mobilized at the height of COVID-19 were used.
“There were reports of procurement of bad foods, substandard face masks and the people need to know who the suppliers were,” she said.
Peter Wandera, Executive Director at the Transparency International Uganda said there’s need for the public to continue demanding for accountability and transparency in the public resources even as the government shows little interest.
He called upon government to appoint a substantive Inspectorate of Government to effectively work on investigating corruption cases.
