We want action against those faulted in the national ID scandal

By Cissy Kagaba

The national ID scandal is one of those things that depict how deep corruption has become entrenched in our system. It exposes the levels to which our leaders will go to take the citizenry for granted.  The ID scandal had been on-going for some time without government taking any action.

The icing on the cake was when government shamelessly proposed that citizens pay for IDs. This action was a clear indication of government’s failure and acceptance of corruption. It demonstrated that monies can be stolen by a few “un-touchable” persons and the burden transferred to the already impoverished citizenry.

It was two weeks after the reading of this year’s budget, still with no government action, that Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda together with the African Parliamentary Network Against Corruption, chaired by Hon. Gerald Karuhanga, decided to take the bull by the horn and called upon government to stop its rhetoric and instead take action against those that were involved in stealing/misappropriating the ID money.

Since then a number of events have unfolded and names have been mentioned. We therefore call upon government to demonstrate its willingness to fight graft, not by rhetoric but by action taken against all those that have been faulted.

It would set a good precedent if any of those faulted do not contest for any public position until they have been cleared, otherwise it will defeat the graft fight and also contravene the zero tolerance policy against corruption.

We urge the members of parliament to use their mandate and follow through this issue to its logical conclusion. Party politicking should not be used as a basis of deciding this matter.

We pray that if the matter goes to court, then it should be heard and decided upon and not dropped for lack of evidence as the trend seems to be now days.

Cissy Kagaba is the Executive Director, Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda