Africa-Press – Uganda. President Museveni has decried the low level of recovery of government funds which are given to the public.
Mr Museveni said some of the money is stolen but criminal justice agencies are not doing enough to recover the funds.
While lecturing police officers from the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) at State House Entebbe last Friday, the President blamed the issue on corruption and urged the police to ensure that such crimes are stopped and the funds recovered.
“CID is to ensure there’s no crime so that people can produce goods and services for prosperity. So, when you get a CID or police [officer] who is not doing his or her work, he’s undermining our prosperity,” he said.
He added: “Strategic security is one of the missions of the National Resistance Movement and CID officers should play a key role in protecting the people against internal and external threats like what’s happening in parts of West Africa where the political class do not know what to do”.
Mr Museveni said the continued theft of government funds and the limited efforts being made to recover the money is hindering the fight against poverty.
The President said prosperity in the country can be attained if people are involved in production rather than depending on donations.
“You cannot create prosperity by donations or handouts from the government but to enable the population to produce goods or services and sell them and in that way each family can get money to build a prosperous life,” he said.
The Director of CID, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Tom Magambo, promised to implement the President’s directive on strategic security for prosperity.
“We are going to reduce the excuses, especially when it comes to serving our people and we will be able to contribute immensely to the socio-economic transformation agenda,” AIGP Magambo said.
He said they would also implement the establishment of the sub-county policing model, which the President recently directed to be implemented.
Issue
According to the Inspector General of Government, the country loses more than Shs9.4 trillion a year to corruption. This is nearly 45 of the revenue collected by the government in the same period.
One of the recent cases is the theft and diversion of iron sheets meant for vulnerable communities in Karamoja where several ministers, legislators and their aides were implicated.
However, only three ministers were charged over the matter in the charged in courts of law but these still hold positions in government.
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