Africa-Press – Uganda. Last week, the Anti-Corruption Court found the former State minister for Labour, Mr Herbert Kabafunzaki, guilty of soliciting Shs15m and eventually receiving a Shs5m bribe from businessman Muhammed Muhammed Hamid.
The kick-back to the former minister, was meant to clear Mr Hamid’s name in the media following sexual harassment allegations that had been brought against him by a female employee at Hilton Hotel.
The former minister was sentenced to a fine of Shs10m for the two counts of corruption cases he was facing or default, be imprisoned for three years.
Kabafunzaki was sentenced in absentia because he had run away to an unknown place mid his trial.
The Shs10m fine imposed on the former minister as a punishment has been looked at as a mere slap on his wrist.
Section 26 of the Anti Corruption Act, 2009, demands that a person convicted of soliciting and receiving a bribe, is liable for imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding 240 currency points (equivalent to Shs4.8m) or both.
Upon learning of the lean punishment, Kabafunzaki came out and paid the Shs10m.
The framers of the anti-corruption laws should understand that with lenient sentences the vice will continue to bite hard like a cancer. Imagine a suspect who abandons the trial half way is just fined Shs10m.
The gravity of the case should have been a reason to send the former minister to jail.
Therefore, going forward, courts should exercise their discretion and sentence the corrupt to tougher punishments if the vice is to be tamed.
For instance in the case of Kabafunzaki, although the law says a person is liable to a fine not exceeding Shs4.8m, it also gives an alternative of imposing a jail term even when one has paid the fine.
Considering the aggravating factors, the court should have sentenced Kabafunzaki to jail term punishment besides the fine in order to send a strong signal to those who run away halfway the trial.
The punishment handed to the former minister was not deterrent enough because the corrupt now know that they can serve a lenient sentence and return home to enjoy their loot.
The courts should heavily punish those who have been found guilty of corruption if we are to fight the vice.
