Stakeholders in the fight against corruption, have called for concerted efforts in the fight against corruption.
The call was made at this year’s (2023) Anti-Corruption Convention, organized by the Anti-Corruption Coalition at Golf Course Hotel in Kampala.
Speaking at the event, Colonel Edith Nakalema, the Head of State House Investors Protection Unit, said both state and non-state actors need to collaborate if corruption is to be defeated.
“Corruption is an evil that requires people of integrity and high moral values to stem the vice, we should also come together to fight this vice,” she said.
She urged parents to impact good moral values to their children at an early age.
Amos Ngolobe, a representative from State House Anti-Corruption Unit said some of the challenges in the fight against corruption include; limited investigators, lack of adequate forensic auditors and inadequate audit reports among others.
He called for harsh penalties to corrupt public officials, saying the 14-year jail term for those convicted of corruption after stealing billions of taxpayers’ money is such a short sentence.
In a panel discussion that included officials from Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Office of the Auditor General and Inspector General of Government among others, panelist observed that senior corrupt officials in public offices are in the habit of using their juniors to execute “dirty” deals that result in the Government losing lots of money in shoddy and dubious contracts and in procurement of public goods among others.