Uganda’s war on corruption

The most successful country at fighting corruption in Africa today is post-genocide Rwanda. There, President Paul Kagame has looked at corruption not merely as a legal but most critically at a political problem. He sees it as a threat to the legitimacy of his government, a major stumbling block to the functioning of the state, especially its ability to deliver public goods and services to citizens. So he has created a political atmosphere so hostile to corruption that practically every public official in that country is scared.

The biggest threat Kagame has created around corruption is not that when you get caught stealing and/or abusing public funds you will be arrested, prosecuted and even jailed. That is only a small part of the punishment. And as we have seen with Uganda, thieves can be content with that process since they can steal billions, serve a jail term, and return home comfortably to enjoy their loot. What Kagame has done with corruption is that he has created an atmosphere of hostility within the society to socially ostracise the corrupt.

Today, if you are accused of stealing public funds in Rwanda, you may win the case in a judicial court but the court of public opinion will punish you more. People will shun you in public. No one will attend your children’s baptism or your birthday party. You will find few people willing to visit you at home, leave alone go out to dinner with you. Practically most people will see you as a dangerous person who tried to cheat the country. It is like being prosecuted as a child molester in Canada or Germany. People so prosecuted get socially alienated from the community.

This has been the most important element in Rwanda’s war against corruption – making those so accused suffer social costs over and above judicial ones. There is little shame on being corrupt in Uganda. In fact, public thieves are lionised in our country as it happens in many poor countries. After serving a jail term and returning to enjoy their billions, they surround themselves with a large entourage of hangers on, run and win seats in parliament and continue to enjoy their loot almost as celebrities.

The other lesson is that in Uganda, as in many poor countries, corruption is the way the system works, not the way it fails. It is the way governments build an electoral or a governing coalition. It is most typified by India; perhaps the most successful democracy in a poor country. In that country, the thieves have a license to rule. It is also the experience of today’s rich countries when they were still poor. In all these societies, corruption has been the instrument through which governments are able to placate the conflicting interests of their often divided, unruly and noisy elites.

Indeed, democracy tends to reinforce rather than reduce corruption in poor countries. I must admit even authoritarian governments like that of Mobutu Sese Seko in former Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) acted in similar ways with corruption acting as political currency for regime maintenance. This almost means that what we see in Rwanda is a unique and unprecedented experiment i.e. having a government in a poor country basing its legitimacy on public service as opposed to coopting powerful ethnic and religious elites using corruption and patronage.

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amwenda@independent.co.ug

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editor@independent.co.ug