Africa-Press – Uganda. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) is investigating over 5,000 cases of maladministration resulting from misconduct and dishonesty of civil servants in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
According to the IGG, Ms Beti Kamya, the cases under investigation were registered in the last financial year, 2022/2023. Most of them are related to employment disputes and non-payment of salaries.
“Under the Ombudsman function of the IGG, the Inspectorate of Government [IG] is supposed to investigate the grievances or complaints raised by the citizens regarding maladministration of the authority,” Ms Kamya said while addressing the media in Kampala on Wednesday.
“In just one financial year, 2022/2023, the IG received over 5,000 maladministration cases, this means that there is a lot of rot within government staff and bosses,” she added.
Statistics from the Inspectorate of Government indicate that out of the registered [over] 5, 000 cases of maladministration in government MDAs during 2022/2023, employment disputes and non-payment of salaries constituted the biggest portion with over 60 per cent.
Equally, the majority of the maladministration cases were registered by Local Governments with the female workers being the most affected compared to their male counterparts.
“During FY2022/2023, non-payment of salaries at Local Governments were at 33 per cent, employment disputes at 23 per cent, abuse of authority at 12 per cent while both mismanagement and victimization was at 7 per cent,” Ms Kamya said.
Adding that: “Out of the 5, 000 cases of mismanagement, the Inspectorate of Government has already investigated and handled 3, 260 cases.”
The IGG made the remarks ahead of the International Ombuds Day that will be marked today [Thursday], under the theme; ‘Raining Citizens Awareness of the Ombuds role for quality service delivery’.
Ms Kamya noted that Ugandans should use the day to fight against the commonest forms of maladministration which among others include, non-payment of salaries, victimization and discrimination at the workplace, misuse of property, reporting late for duty, absenteeism, drunkenness and indecent dressing.
“All the above cases of maladministration lead to poor and delayed public service delivery. The public should know that they are entitled and should demand quality service delivery and when they don’t receive it, they should report to the IGG who is the national Ombudsman,” she said.
Relatedly, the IGG also revealed that the Inspectorate earlier launched an investigation into allegations of fraud and abuse of office in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC) which led to the sacking of the ministry’s former Permanent Secretary, Ms Geraldine Ssali in a decision that was premised on the recommendation by Parliament.
“We have received communication from Parliament after their inquiry [into the irregularities in the trade ministry] and we have started an investigation in the ministry of trade issues. The inquiry is currently at its formative stages,” Ms Kamya said.
Since July 2023, Ms Ssali has been in the spotlight for allegedly inflating the cost of the ministers’ cars and that of renovating the ministry’s offices. She is also still under probe for spending Shs400m to transport documents from the ministry’s offices on Farmer’s house on Parliamentary Avenue in Kampala to Entebbe town in Wakiso District, which is 34 kilometres away.
Source: Monitor
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
