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Minister Barugahara’s drive unstoppable
For long, Uganda’s fight against corruption has suffered from a familiar problem: plenty of talk and discussion, alarm and anger over individual cases and little action. Ugandans are very loud about corruption, in an enabling environment for free public discourse on anything, but how come that corruption remains unchecked year in, year out?
Al-Haji Faruk Kirunda. (File)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By Al-Haji Faruk Kirunda
What exactly do Ugandans stand for, “NO!” or “YES!” to corruption? This is the question coming to the fore as the Minister of Local Government, Balaam Barugahara and his state minister, Justine Nameere, continue with their sting operation against corruption and mismanagement in various districts and cities.
Starting in eastern Uganda, they have unearthed and exposed pockets of corruption, outright theft and incompetence, winning public support in the process but also attracting alarm, condemnation and pushback from some quarters.
Uganda is an interesting country; there is seldom unanimity on anything even where facts are right in our faces. Everyone has an opinion on anything. We make a step forward and two back. We set out to fix something, but when sections of the public resist, we step back. The result has been back and forth in fighting the corruption monster despite strong political will and the means to do so.
But in this year of our Lord 2026, during the “no sleep, no corruption!” term, these half steps must be stopped.
For long, Uganda’s fight against corruption has suffered from a familiar problem: plenty of talk and discussion, alarm and anger over individual cases and little action. Ugandans are very loud about corruption, in an enabling environment for free public discourse on anything, but how come that corruption remains unchecked year in, year out?
Every year, audit reports expose abuse of public resources. Commissions of inquiry produce volumes of recommendations. Politicians make speeches. Technical investigations drag on for months or years. Files disappear into bureaucratic corridors. Cases collapse on technicalities. Roads remain impassable, health centres lack medicines, schools deteriorate, and the wananchi continue paying the price.
The result has been a dangerous public perception that corruption is discussed endlessly but rarely confronted decisively and that, perhaps, there is no political will to end it. That is why the hands-on actions by the ministers have generated such intense public interest. As if it is an oddity that no one expected. This is despite the clear directive of President Yoweri Museveni during the swearing-in ceremony that the current term is for no sleep and no corruption.
How did skeptics think that this directive was going to take effect? By magic or heavenly beings coming down first? The directive was for everyone to own and act upon, starting with officials directly under the command of the President and then everyone else in their respective capacities.
Why visibility matters
I know for sure that there have been previous sting operations by some commendable officials, but Barugahara has introduced something Uganda’s anti-corruption campaign has often lacked, and that is visibility.
For the first time in a long time, citizens are seeing senior government officials leave their offices, visit project sites, question those responsible and demand immediate accountability in full public view.
The significance of this should not be underestimated. Corruption thrives in obscurity. It flourishes where there is distance between decision-makers and ordinary citizens. It grows when technical reports remain inaccessible in filing cabinets while communities continue suffering from poor service delivery and unmet expectations with political and socio-economic implications. Barugahara’s approach has disrupted that comfort zone.
Every year, audit reports expose abuse of public resources. Commissions of inquiry produce volumes of recommendations. Politicians make speeches. Technical investigations drag on for months or years. Files disappear into bureaucratic corridors. Cases collapse on technicalities. Roads remain impassable, health centres lack medicines, schools deteriorate, and the wananchi continue paying the price.
The result has been a dangerous public perception that corruption is discussed endlessly but rarely confronted decisively and that, perhaps, there is no political will to end it. That is why the hands-on actions by the ministers have generated such intense public interest. As if it is an oddity that no one expected. This is despite the clear directive of President Yoweri Museveni during the swearing-in ceremony that the current term is for no sleep and no corruption.
How did skeptics think that this directive was going to take effect? By magic or heavenly beings coming down first? The directive was for everyone to own and act upon, starting with officials directly under the command of the President and then everyone else in their respective capacities.
Why visibility matters
I know for sure that there have been previous sting operations by some commendable officials, but Barugahara has introduced something Uganda’s anti-corruption campaign has often lacked, and that is visibility.
For the first time in a long time, citizens are seeing senior government officials leave their offices, visit project sites, question those responsible and demand immediate accountability in full public view.
The significance of this should not be underestimated. Corruption thrives in obscurity. It flourishes where there is distance between decision-makers and ordinary citizens. It grows when technical reports remain inaccessible in filing cabinets while communities continue suffering from poor service delivery and unmet expectations with political and socio-economic implications. Barugahara’s approach has disrupted that comfort zone.
The debate over due process
His critics, particularly technocrats, say investigations should precede public action. They raise legitimate concerns about due process, technical evaluations and the rights of public officers. Those concerns deserve consideration. However, there is another side to this debate.
For years, Uganda has relied almost exclusively on procedure. We have trusted systems, investigations, committees and reports. Yet, corruption remains one of the greatest obstacles to national development. Clearly, the problem has metastasised with this old approach. To solve it, another approach had to be applied. An approach that involves “boots on the ground” and demonstrating practically how audit and public accountability is done. While care must be taken to act based on facts and to respect the rights of the officials in the respective administrative units, some things are visible even to the naked eye. It doesn’t require documents to see that there is no value-for-money.
How the corrupt think and thrive is that they take everyone else for fools; that the ordinary citizens are not enlightened enough to audit and see for themselves that funds allocated do not correspond with work done. Take the case of that bridge constructed with timber and said to have cost sh60m in Bulambuli district. Was the timber shipped from Mars to cost that much? You look at a road, and it is lined with soil where there should be murram. Do you need a report and boardroom discussions to see that?
Conveniently, engineers and district officials are not doing enough to inform the public about works and projects being undertaken in their areas. This is done deliberately to keep people from asking questions. The bigger problem is that district leaders (not all of them) are in cahoots with the technical branch whom they appoint and who are not transferable and are answerable to them. In the end, because of the immense power that the elected leaders have over these technocrats, they exert pressure on them for kickbacks and irregular allowances that eat into contract sums allocated for works.
The result is substandard work and a populace desperate for services. For such officials, this a normal routine that they don’t want to be disrupted as long as their own pockets are full and they have four-wheel drive cars and are getting treatment at the Government’s expense. It is impossible to bet on such officials to do something about the grand theft and inefficiency from which they benefit, hence the need for radical measures that will awaken everybody and make all unserious officials reconsider their priorities in office. I saw political leaders from the western region opposing Barugahara’s work. Can they assure the world that there is nothing wrong in their areas that requires attention? What are they hiding?
Bad news for the saboteur networks! Barugahara’s operation has the full blessing of President Museveni and is, therefore, unstoppable!
The writer is the special presidential assistant - press and mobilisation/deputy press secretary at State House. faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug
His critics, particularly technocrats, say investigations should precede public action. They raise legitimate concerns about due process, technical evaluations and the rights of public officers. Those concerns deserve consideration. However, there is another side to this debate.
For years, Uganda has relied almost exclusively on procedure. We have trusted systems, investigations, committees and reports. Yet, corruption remains one of the greatest obstacles to national development. Clearly, the problem has metastasised with this old approach. To solve it, another approach had to be applied. An approach that involves “boots on the ground” and demonstrating practically how audit and public accountability is done. While care must be taken to act based on facts and to respect the rights of the officials in the respective administrative units, some things are visible even to the naked eye. It doesn’t require documents to see that there is no value-for-money.
How the corrupt think and thrive is that they take everyone else for fools; that the ordinary citizens are not enlightened enough to audit and see for themselves that funds allocated do not correspond with work done. Take the case of that bridge constructed with timber and said to have cost sh60m in Bulambuli district. Was the timber shipped from Mars to cost that much? You look at a road, and it is lined with soil where there should be murram. Do you need a report and boardroom discussions to see that?
Conveniently, engineers and district officials are not doing enough to inform the public about works and projects being undertaken in their areas. This is done deliberately to keep people from asking questions. The bigger problem is that district leaders (not all of them) are in cahoots with the technical branch whom they appoint and who are not transferable and are answerable to them. In the end, because of the immense power that the elected leaders have over these technocrats, they exert pressure on them for kickbacks and irregular allowances that eat into contract sums allocated for works.
The result is substandard work and a populace desperate for services. For such officials, this a normal routine that they don’t want to be disrupted as long as their own pockets are full and they have four-wheel drive cars and are getting treatment at the Government’s expense. It is impossible to bet on such officials to do something about the grand theft and inefficiency from which they benefit, hence the need for radical measures that will awaken everybody and make all unserious officials reconsider their priorities in office. I saw political leaders from the western region opposing Barugahara’s work. Can they assure the world that there is nothing wrong in their areas that requires attention? What are they hiding?
Bad news for the saboteur networks! Barugahara’s operation has the full blessing of President Museveni and is, therefore, unstoppable!
The writer is the special presidential assistant - press and mobilisation/deputy press secretary at State House. faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug