KAMPALA — President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has directed Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) and Resident City Commissioners (RCCs) to take timely action against suspected corruption, including causing arrests where credible evidence has been established and lawful grounds for arrest exist, Minister for the Presidency Milly Babalanda has said.
Babalanda said the directive marks a significant shift in the Government’s approach to fighting corruption, urging RDCs and RCCs to move beyond merely reporting cases and ensure that suspected wrongdoing is promptly brought to the attention of competent law-enforcement authorities.
“For a long time, Uganda’s fight against corruption has followed the same bureaucratic script. When corruption is uncovered, a report is written and forwarded to another office, which then starts its own process before any investigation begins,” Babalanda said.
She warned that prolonged bureaucratic processes can give suspects an opportunity to interfere with investigations by tampering with evidence, altering records or intimidating witnesses.
“This is partly why corruption cases drag on for years and why many never end in conviction,” she said.
Babalanda said President Museveni recently gave fresh impetus to the anti-corruption campaign through a directive supporting ongoing anti-corruption monitoring tours by Ministers of Local Government.
She said the President’s intervention followed criticism directed at Ministers Balaam Barugahara and Justine Nameere, who had been accused of kutomera after exposing alleged corruption and facilitating impromptu arrests outside established bureaucratic procedures.
According to Babalanda, the President’s position is that bureaucratic delays should not be allowed to become a shield for corruption.
“His message was unequivocal: bureaucratic delays must not become a shield for corruption,” she said.
Babalanda said President Museveni’s commitment to fighting corruption dates back to the NRM’s Ten-Point Programme, where elimination of corruption was listed as Point Seven.
She noted that successive NRM governments have established and strengthened institutions mandated to protect public resources, including the Inspectorate of Government, Office of the Auditor General, RDC structure and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit.
“These institutions have done commendable work. However, experience has shown that corrupt officials exploit loopholes and delays to frustrate accountability,” Babalanda said.
She cited concerns recently raised by Deputy Inspector General of Government Dr Patricia Ochan Okiria, State House Anti-Corruption Unit head Brig. Gen. Henry Isoke and former Inspector General of Government Beti Kamya about resistance, cover-ups and pushback encountered during anti-corruption operations.
Babalanda said the President’s latest guidance was therefore intended to address what she described as a persistent weakness in the fight against corruption.
“The President is therefore responding to a real and persistent challenge: corruption must be confronted at the point of discovery, not months later when evidence is gone,” she said.
RDCs TOLD TO GO BEYOND REPORTING
As the minister responsible for supervising RDCs and RCCs, Babalanda said the directive has particular significance for district-level administration.
She acknowledged public concerns that some RDCs have not done enough to combat corruption but said their traditional reporting procedures have sometimes limited the speed with which they can respond.
RDCs, she said, are the President’s representatives in districts and play a frontline role in monitoring Government programmes. They inspect projects and may be among the first officials to encounter suspected misuse of public resources in health centres, schools, markets and communities.
“Traditionally, an RDC who uncovers corruption documents it and files a report through established channels. The matter then enters a long process of scrutiny,” she said.
Babalanda said the new guidance is intended to close that gap.
“As Minister for the Presidency, I am therefore informing all RDCs and RCCs: your anti-corruption work must not end at reporting. Where credible evidence of corruption is established and lawful grounds for arrest exist, take timely action and hand the suspect to Police and other competent authorities for investigation and prosecution,” she said.
However, Babalanda stressed that the directive does not give RDCs powers to usurp the constitutional mandates of the Police, Inspectorate of Government, Directorate of Public Prosecutions or the Judiciary.
“This does not mean RDCs should become courts or usurp the constitutional mandates of Police, the Inspectorate of Government, DPP or Judiciary,” she said.
She explained that timely intervention is intended to prevent further wrongdoing, preserve evidence and facilitate investigations and prosecution by the institutions legally mandated to handle such cases.
“The purpose of arrest is not to convict. It is to stop further wrongdoing, preserve evidence and enable competent institutions to investigate and prosecute credibly,” Babalanda said.
CORRUPTION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Babalanda said corruption continues to manifest through various schemes, including alleged sale of Government jobs, manipulation of staffing figures to create ghost workers, inflation of school enrolment figures to create ghost learners and the creation of ghost beneficiaries in Government programmes.
She also cited complaints surrounding the Parish Development Model (PDM), where some beneficiaries have reportedly been asked to pay bribes before being listed for Government support.
Other concerns, she said, include the certification of shoddy or allegedly non-existent works for payment.
“These acts rob Ugandans twice. First, they steal public money. Second, they steal opportunities from the very citizens Government programmes are meant to empower,” she said.
“Every shilling lost to corruption is a shilling that cannot build a classroom, stock a health centre or transform a household.”
Babalanda urged RDCs and RCCs to be proactive in monitoring Government programmes and responding to credible reports of abuse of public resources.
“As the President’s eyes and ears in the districts, do not wait for corruption to make newspaper headlines before you act. A report must not become a refuge for inaction,” she said.
She called on RDCs and RCCs to monitor Government programmes, listen to citizens, follow public funds and preserve evidence while ensuring suspects are handed over to competent authorities.
Babalanda also urged members of the public to report corruption, reject bribery and provide credible evidence to support investigations.
“The President has provided political leadership, Government has built the institutions, and our dear CDF, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has reinforced that there should be no compromise with corruption,” she said.
“What Uganda needs now is speed, courage and results. Let us all act.”
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