How undemocratic practices breed corruption

Corruption paralyzing democracy

Transparency International says Sub-Saharan Africa remains a region of stark political and socio-economic contrasts and many longstanding challenges, with civil strife, weak institutions and unresponsive political systems continuing to undermine anti-corruption efforts.

The global anti-graft non-profit says while several countries have adopted democratic principles of governance, the same countries are still governed by “authoritarian and semi-authoritarian” leaders.

It is not surprising that countries like Seychelles and Botswana, which score higher on the CPI than other countries in the region, have relatively well-functioning democratic and governance systems.

Transparency International also named Ivory Coast and Senegal for the second year in a row, among the significant “improvers” on the CPI. These are countries that are said to be pushing back against corruption— with notable progress.

In the last six years, Ivory Coast has moved from 27 points in 2013 to 35 points in 2018, while Senegal has moved from 36 points in 2012 to 45 points in 2018.

Besides a raft of legal, policy and institutional reforms adopted in the two countries, political will is cited as being important in the fight against corruption demonstrated by their respective leaders.

In East Africa, Rwanda is the top performer with a score of 56. Rwanda is followed by Tanzania (36), Kenya (27), Uganda (26) and Burundi (17). But what is more interesting is that Rwanda’s score is twice that of Uganda. Many ask what Rwanda could be doing right that Uganda has failed.

John Mary Odoy, the Chairperson of the board of Transparency International Uganda who also doubles as the Executive Director of Citizen’s Platform for Democracy and Accountability says when one follows up countries that score highly in the CPI, it is clear they practice democracy and good governance.

“The same needs to happen here. We need to respect systems that have been put in place,” Odoy said shortly after the release of the 2018 corruption index in Kampala, “The participation of citizens is also important in the fight against corruption; everybody must participate in the fight against corruption.”

“We also realise that change of leadership seems to be helping in the fight against corruption,” he adds and points at the CPIs of Namibia, The Gambia, and South Africa which are improving.

Peter Kiwumulo Kabala, the Vice Chairperson, Transparency International Uganda Board says democracy goes beyond merely having elections; which is what Uganda is very good at. He says, instead, democracy is about empowering people.

According to him, Uganda is witnessing a rolling back of democracy through the recentralization of local governments. The decentralization process, he says, was aimed at empowering people at the grassroots to take decisions that are pertinent to the realities in their communities.

“When I was a local council councilor about 10 years ago, we used to enjoy a lot of power to take decisions,” he says, “This is changing and we are seeing many of the critical decisions have come back to the central government; this cannot be democracy.”

Kiwumulo says if there is political will to fight corruption, Uganda can become as clean as Denmark which scores 88 while Uganda has 26 on the CPI.

“What’s missing out?” he asks rhetorically, “They are human like us; we have the policies and other things that can enable us do a good job in this area.”

“We just need to change our attitudes, that of the common citizen, leaders and officers working in these institutions. It is only through these that we shall be able to score highly.”

Odoy adds that in Rwanda, for example, citizens are sensitized on issues of corruption and as a result, they understand the effects of corruption.

“So it is not only important to put the legal and policy frameworks in place but also put in the mechanisms that are going to ensure that the laws and policies are going to be enforced.”

Odoy appears to be referring to the ineffectiveness of the many anti-corruption legislations, policies, and institutions; including the Inspectorate of Government, the Auditor General and the anti-corruption court, that the government has come up with since President Yoweri Museveni assumed power 33 years ago.

Just last December, Museveni unveiled Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema to the Ugandan public as the newest anti-corruption captain in State House.

Museveni appointed Nakalema at the time Uganda was commemorating the Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated on Dec. 09 and said she was “additional fuel” in the fight against corruption in the country.

But Cissy Kagaba, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) told The Independent that Uganda might have the institutions in place but the question Ugandans should be asking is why these institutions are not working.

She says if the systems were working, we would not have scandals like the one in Bank of Uganda or the refugee numbers scandal in the Office of the Prime Minister. Kagaba noted that the Auditor General continuously releases reports with recommendations on how to handle issues related to corruption but these are never followed up.

“President Museveni has asked the public to be proactive when it comes to corruption but how empowered are the citizens?” she added.

Kagaba said in Rwanda, the President has regular engagement with citizens where he, government officials and citizens face–off, with citizens expressing their grievances openly as the President directs officials in charge of their dockets to respond.

In Uganda, the government has attempted to replicate the initiative by coming up with the “Barazas” but these are yet to come up with tangible results.

Going forward, Transparency International says political leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa; especially in Burundi, Mozambique and Congo need to ramp up their efforts by demonstrating visible commitments in the fight against corruption.

Political leaders must also show commitment in protecting human rights defenders, political analysts, anti-corruption crusaders and investigative journalists so they continue speaking out on corruption.

“They should further improve the health of democratic institutions. This includes supporting participation, transparency and trust, along with the necessary checks and balances.”

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