“Join fight against Corruption” – Lt. Col. Nakalema urges Teachers

Friday, September 6, 2019

The Head of the Anti-Corruption Unit in State House, Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema, has urged teachers to join the fight against corruption and highlighted the various measures that the Government has taken to eliminate the vice.

“Corruption is defined as evil or a sin. A corrupt person is broken because morals and character do not tally with the expectations of society. The practice is an evil in the whole world. Teachers must lead exemplary lives  and be corruption free people,” she said.

She made the call yesterday at Muni University in Arua District, West Nile Sub-Region while addressing a gathering of nearly 3,000 Secondary School Head Teachers in Uganda at their 2-day annual general meeting.

Lt. Col. Nakalema reminded teachers of their duty of sensitizing the people as they spend a lot of time with children and have the opportunity of training the parents. She stressed that corrupt parents should be put to shame and embarrassment when their children bring up topics on corruption adding that culprits must be named and shamed. She further said that teachers have the cardinal role of exposing personalities that are involved in corruption. 

She reminded them of their duty to enlighten children on being accountable by making them appreciate the fact that young people ought to be assisted to work and earn thereafter. “We need to work together to eliminate the corruption vice. I encourage head teachers to form anti-corruption clubs in schools to enable the process of recruiting soldiers against corruption,” she added.

Lt. Col. Nakalema advised teachers to stop using such phrases like ‘misappropriation of funds’ to refer to corruption and apply forthright language by calling it stealing. She noted that there have been instances of collusion such as signing of secret agreements to increase profit margins of contractors. She observed that other corrupt elements have employed fraud methods to issue threats to those expected to expose the wrong doers. She, however, insisted that officers must be appointed on merit.

She informed the meeting that the effects of corruption are felt in all spheres. She disclosed that a total of Shs.2 trillion out of the Shs.40.4 trillion of the national budget is lost annually through corruption. She noted that the vice not only destroys the legitimacy of the State but it also causes insecurity, affects investments and reduces national revenue collection. She revealed that the medical, education and infrastructure sectors had been affected by corruption.

She expressed her conviction that all head teachers have the platform to fight corruption because they wield the capacity to help in building morals and integrity in society.

Lt. Col. Nakalema, on a happy note, informed the meeting that her unit has so far conducted 44 operations in 18 districts since it was launched 8 months ago leading to the recovery of Shs.700 million. She revealed that her unit, on average, receives 250 voice calls per day. She assured the meeting that every complaint is accorded due attention. ENDS