“People are very fast to come and report. They report to us, even call the radio stations, they give scenarios and names. But then when you (ant-corruption agencies) call them in person and say we need you to come and give the same testimony, you will hear someone say; you know I have five children, the oldest is two and the youngest is one. So, I’m not coming anywhere near your courts,” Acio revealed.

Statistics from government show an increase in public confidence across the country to freely discuss or report corruption, as well as considerable growth in number of cases received by the anti-corruption agencies in Uganda over the years, however amidst, growing concerns of low prosecution rates attributed to public reluctancy to offer testimonies in courts on corruption allegations.

The Inspectorate of Government (IG), which is the lead anti-corruption agency in Uganda, has voiced fears that hesitancy by key witnesses to testify on the numerous complaints received by the different agencies affects their vigorous investigations and expeditious prosecutions, hence undermining efforts to stave the social vice of corruption in Uganda.  

Daizy Acio, the IG’s Senior Inspectorate Officer, while conducting media training organized by Wizarts Foundation in collaboration with development partners and other anti-corruption agencies under the Listen to Uganda (LTU) flagship project, expressed need to demystify courts to enable for more public trust, participation and willingness to share testimonies, that’s relevant to successful prosecution of corruption cases;

“People are very fast to come and report. They report to us, even call the radio stations, they give scenarios and names. But then when you (ant-corruption agencies) call them in person and say we need you to come and give the same testimony, you will hear someone say; you know I have five children, the oldest is two and the youngest is one. So, I’m not coming anywhere near your courts,” Acio revealed.

Reporting corruption remains a key component of community response to combat corruption, however, there’s currently a growing evidence of public disengagement in providing witness testimonies and evidence that would lead to successful trial of the cases reported. A case in point is Uganda Police Force (UPF), who within a period of a year had only one conviction made in 2020, out of over 32 cases of corruption received by the agency from 2019.  

Since 2017, there has also been a sharp decline in number of cases handled by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA), one of the leading anti-corruption agencies in Uganda – with mandate to investigate and resolve complaints arising from procurements and the disposal processes. From a total of 188 complaints received by the Authority in 2017 worth UGX 1.291 trillion, 94 were resolved, 35 found without evidence and 59 dismissed for lack of merit. The number of cases resolved by PPDA shrunk from 94 to just 54 in 2020, worth about UGX 81 billion.

Ronald Muhairwe, Manager Capacity building at PPDA attributes the sharp decline in complaints to the adverse effects of COVID-19 that limited public access to the anti-corruption agency, however increasingly, he says compared to previous years PPDA is getting more complaints from whistle-blowers that currently stands at over 55% of total complaints. Although there’s public willingness to report, the Authority last year failed to investigate or resolve at least 19 cases, due to lack of documentary evidence to support claims by whistle blowers.

Acio Daizy opines that the public is key, not just in reporting corruption, but also facilitating evidence gathering for successful prosecutions to happen. However, part of the problem is when witnesses do not want to go on record to testify or when whistle blowers prefer to remain anonymous, therefore disabling the anti-corruption agencies from making inquiries or proceedings in court.

“Witnesses are either intimidated by the courts or fear victimisation by those they wish to testify against. Yes, there’s witness protection, but when I stand in there to testify, as a witness, I’m outside my comfort zone. Therefore, the first thing we need to do is to demystify appearing in court; the judges are human beings; the lawyers are also human beings, most especially when you are saying the truth,” Acio said.

She noted during the Listen to Uganda media training that a prosecution is as good as an investigation, arguing that cases are won during investigations, which are built based on information and evidence obtained from the public. The media training brought together over 30 journalists from all regions in Uganda, with an objective to strengthen media’s role around mobilizing citizens to fight corruption around the country.

Through the Listen To Uganda (LTU) Project, which is intended at reducing corrupt practices in Uganda through innovative community-led radio drama code named Usalama; Wizarts Foundation – a Media based NGO specialized in Development Support Communication, seeks to increase awareness, accountability and change public attitudes about corruption and its negative consequences.

Diana Kabenge, the Executive Director (ED) of Wizarts Foundation said on the side-lines of the training that Media is key for community empowerment to cause positive change, which the organisation is already doing in producing innovative content in over 9 local languages in Uganda and the purpose of the training was to equip these journalists from partner stations with this much needed knowledge to effectively disseminate public information on corruption:

Under the current law protecting whistle blowers in Uganda that came into force in 2010, a person may disclose information only where they reasonably believe the information is likely to expose corrupt, criminal or otherwise unlawful act already committed, being committed or likely to be committed. The disclosure of impropriety must also indicate that an officer or employee has refused to comply with legal obligations for which they are subject to and that the matter is likely to be concealed.

However, to be afforded protection, the law requires a whistle blower to have made substantially truthful disclosure in good faith and written format to an authorized officer, maintaining the confidentiality of his or her identity as well as taking reasonable steps to avoid its discovery. Additionally, the whistle blower must keep the information contained in the disclosure confidential.

The ACT also stipulates that where a whistle blower reveals their own identity, they shall seize to have protection by government: It’s this stringent requirement and intimidation discouraging the public to disclose and testify against known perpetrators of corruption in Uganda.

Here are voices of Journalists that participated in the two day media training to effectively report on corruption: