HISTORY OF UGANDA (SHADOWS IN THE PEARL OF AFRICA)

HISTORY OF UGANDA (SHADOWS IN THE PEARL OF AFRICA)

Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala. The people of Uganda were hunter-gatherers until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago, when Bantu-speaking populations migrated to the southern parts of the country. The area was ruled by the British beginning in the late 1800s. Uganda gained independence from Britain on 9 October 1962. The period since then has been marked by intermittent conflicts, most recently a civil war against the Lord's Resistance Army.
The official languages are English and Swahili. Luganda, a southern language, is widely spoken across the country, although multiple other languages are spoken in the country. The current President of Uganda is Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

The last 50 years since Independence Uganda has witnessed the reign of a succession of tyrannical rulers and conflicts affected and caused by events in neighbouring countries in The Great Lakes region. In addition, conflict surrounding resources and influence from international actors has exacerbated the divides between different national, religious and ethnic groups.

Idi Amin was one of Uganda’s most notorious rulers, expelling the Indian population and being held accountable for up to 800,000 deaths. Currently, the Lord’s Resistance Army and other militia groups continue to cause terror in unstable areas in Uganda, which has led to the displacement of 1.6 million people. The LRA have been accused of the abduction of around 30,000 children, many of whom are forced into becoming child soldiers. A working peace agreement still remains elusive in Uganda, and its peace process has an important role to play in the realisation of peace and security in the region.

 THE HILARIOUS IDI AMIN DADA

IDI AMIN DADA

Idi Amin Dada, who became known as the 'Butcher of Uganda' for his brutal, despotic rule whilst president of Uganda in the 1970s, is possibly the most notorious of all Africa's post-independence dictators. Amin seized power in a military coup in 1971 and ruled over Uganda for 8 years. Estimates for the number of his opponents who were either killed, tortured, or imprisoned vary from 100,000 to half a million. He was ousted in 1979 by Ugandan nationalists, after which he fled into exile.
Date of birth: 1925, near Koboko, West Nile province, Uganda
Date of death: 16 August 2003, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
An Early Life
Idi Amin Dada was born in 1925 near Koboko, in the West Nile Province of what is now the Republic of Uganda. Deserted by his father at an early age, he was brought up by his mother, a herbalist and diviner. He was a member of the Kakwa ethnic group, a small Islamic tribe that was settled in the region.
Success in the King's African Rifles
Idi Amin received little formal education: sources are unclear whether or not he attended the local missionary school. However, in 1946 he joined the King's African Rifles, KAR (Britain's colonial African troops), and served in Burma, Somalia, Kenya (during the British suppression of the Mau Mau) and Uganda. Although he was considered a skilled, and somewhat overeager, soldier, Amin developed a reputation for cruelty - he was almost cashiered on several occasions for excessive brutality during interrogations. He rose through the ranks, reaching sergeant-major before finally being made an effendi, the highest rank possible for a Black African serving in the British army. Amin was also an accomplished sportsman, holding Uganda's light heavyweight boxing championship from 1951 to 1960.
A Hint of What was to Come?
As Uganda approached independence Idi Amin's close colleague Apolo Milton Obote, the leader of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), was made chief minister, and then prime minister. Obote had Amin, one of only two high ranking Africans in the KAR, appointed as First Lieutenant of the Ugandan army. Sent north to quell cattle stealing, Amin perpetrated such atrocities that the British government demanded he be prosecuted. Instead Obote arranged for him to receive further military training in the UK.
A Willing Soldier for the State
On his return to Uganda in 1964, Idi Amin was promoted to major and given the task of dealing with an army in mutiny. His success led to a further promotion to colonel. In 1965 Obote and Amin were implicated in a deal to smuggle gold, coffee, and ivory out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - the subsequent funds should have been channeled to troops loyal to the murdered DRC prime minister Patrice Lumumba, but according to their leader, General Olenga, never arrived. A parliamentary investigation demanded by President Edward Mutebi Mutesa II (who was also the King of Buganda, known colloquially as 'King Freddie') put Obote on the defensive - he promoted Amin to general and made him Chief-of-Staff, had five ministers arrested, suspended the 1962 constitution, and declared himself president. King Freddie was finally forced into exile in Britain in 1966 when government forces, under the command of Idi Amin, stormed the royal palace.
Coup d'Etat
Idi Amin began to strengthen his position within the army, using the funds obtained from smuggling and from supplying arms to rebels in southern Sudan. He also developed ties with British and Israeli agents in the country. President Obote first responded by putting Amin under house arrest, and when this failed to work, Amin was sidelined to a non-executive position in the army. On 25 January 1971, whilst Obote attended a Commonwealth meeting in Singapore, Amin led a coup d'etat and took control of the country, declaring himself president. Popular history recalls Amin's declared title to be: "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular."
The Hidden Side of a Popular President
Idi Amin was initially welcomed both within Uganda and by the international community. King Freddie had died in exile in 1969 and one of Amin's earliest acts was to have the body returned to Uganda for state burial. Political prisoners (many of whom were Amin followers) were freed and the Ugandan Secret Police was disbanded. However, at the same time Amin had 'killer squads' hunting down Obote's supporters.   Amin Becomes Increasingly Paranoid
Popular legend has Amin involved in Kakwa blood rituals and cannibalism. More authoritative sources suggest that he may have suffered from hypomania, a form of manic depression which is characterized by irrational behavior and emotional outbursts. As his paranoia became more pronounced he imported troops from Sudan and Zaire, until less than 25% of the army was Ugandan. As accounts of Amin's atrocities reached the international press, support for his regime faltered. (But only in 1978 did the United States shift its purchase of coffee from Uganda to neighboring states.) The Ugandan economy faltered and inflation reached an excess of 1,000 percent.

 

The President of Uganda, currently Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, is both head of state and head of government. The President appoints a Vice President, currently Edward Ssekandi, and a prime minister, currently Amama Mbabazi, who aid him in governing. The parliament is formed by the National Assembly, which has 332 members. 104 of these members are nominated by interest groups, including women and the army. The remaining members are elected for five-year terms during general elections.
Political parties in Uganda were restricted in their activities beginning in 1986, in a measure ostensibly designed to reduce sectarian violence. In the non-party "Movement" system instituted by Museveni, political parties continued to exist, but they could only operate a headquarters office. They could not open branches, hold rallies, or field candidates directly (although electoral candidates could belong to political parties). A constitutional referendum canceled this nineteen-year ban on multi-party politics in July 2005. Additionally, the constitutional term limit for the presidency was changed from the previous two-term limit, in order to enable the current president to continue in active politics.
Presidential elections were held in February 2006. Yoweri Museveni ran against several candidates, the most prominent of them being Dr. Kizza Besigye.
On Sunday, 20 February 2011, the Uganda Electoral Commission declared the 24-year reigning president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni the winning candidate of the 2011 elections that were held on the 18th of February 2011. The opposition were, however, not satisfied with the results, condemning them as full of sham and rigging. According to the results released, Museveni won with 68% of the votes, easily topping his nearest challenger Kizza Besigye. Besigye, who was formerly Museveni's physician, told reporters that he and his supporters 'downrightly snub' the outcome as well as the unremitting rule of Museveni or any person he may appoint. Besigye added that the rigged elections would definitely lead to an illegitimate lead and that it is up to Ugandans to critically analyse this.
The EU Election Observation Mission reported on improvements and flaws of the Ugandan electoral process: "The electoral campaign and polling day were conducted in a peaceful manner [...] However, the electoral process was marred by avoidable administrative and logistical failures that led to an unacceptable number of Ugandan citizens being disfranchised." Since August 2012, hacktivist group Anonymous has threatened Ugandan officials and hacked official government websites over its anti-gay bills. Some international donors have threatened to cut financial aid to the country if anti-gay bills continue.
Museveni will be heading Uganda for another 4 years, with the next elections anticipated to be held in 2016.
Uganda is rated among countries perceived as very corrupt by Transparency International. It is rated at 2.4 on a scale from 0 (perceived as most corrupt) to 10 (perceived as clean).

Political divisions

Uganda is divided into districts, spread across four administrative regions: Northern, Eastern, Central (Kingdom of Buganda) and Western. The districts are subdivided into counties. A number of districts have been added in the past few years, and eight others were added on 1 July 2006 plus others added in 2010. There are now over 100 districts. Most districts are named after their main commercial and administrative towns. Each district is divided into sub-districts, counties, sub-counties, parishes and villages.
Parallel with the state administration, five traditional Bantu kingdoms have remained, enjoying some degrees of mainly cultural autonomy. The kingdoms are Toro, Busoga, Bunyoro, Buganda and Rwenzururu. Furthermore, some groups attempt to restore Ankole as one of the officially recognized traditional kingdoms, to no avail yet.

A clickable map of Uganda exhibiting its 111 districts and Kampala.

Uganda Civil War

Northern Uganda had suffered from civil unrest since the early 1980s. Hundreds of people were killed in the rebellion against the Ugandan government, and an estimated 400-thousand people were left homeless. Political violence increased in Kampala with the 1998 and 1999 bombings of several popular restaurants nightclubs, and other public places. Eight foreign tourists, including 2 Americans, were murdered by an Interehamwe guerilla group in Bwindi National Forest in March 1999. Rebels were active in the northern and western sections of Uganda.
President Yoweri Museveni used Uganda's military to battle the 2 main rebel groups, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). Thousands of children fell victim to the war, abducted by both the LRA and the ADF to serve as fighters or porters. As the conflict between the Government of Uganda (GOU) forces and armed insurgent groups intensified in late 1996, the GOU military began encouraging rural people in affected areas to move into protective camps. However, the military provided only a short period for the move and undertook little preparation for the influx of people to the protective camps. Uganda's economy also suffered, with billions of dollars of the government's budget going to the military. The instability from the civil war, and growing domestic and international pressure to find a way to stop the fighting, apparently prompted President Museveni to back away from the military option and look for a political solution.
People in the Uganda districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader continued to be terrorized by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army. They were victims of brutal attacks and kidnappings by the rebel group. The main victims of the LRA had been the Acholi people of northern Uganda. More than a million Acholi had moved to protected camps. As a result, they had not been able to plant their crops and hunger was widespread. After suffering for so many years, Acholi leaders had been at the forefront of efforts to open up a dialogue with the rebels. Ironically, the LRA claimed to be fighting the GOU forces because of their prejudice policies against the Acholi people.
Forty-eight people were hacked to death near the town of Kitgum in the far north of Uganda on 25 July 2002. Local newspaper reports said elderly people were killed with machetes and spears, and babies were flung against trees. Ugandans were shocked by the brutality of the latest attack by the rebel LRA.
The vicious rebel attack in northern Uganda raised questions about planned peace talks between the LRA and Uganda's government. President Yoweri Museveni had agreed to peace talks brokered by Ugandan religious leaders. The Ugandan army had been trying to crush the LRA rebellion for over 18 years without success. President Museveni gave his backing to peace talks to be brokered by religious leaders. Ugandan army spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza said he believed the talks to be a waste of time because the rebel leader, Joseph Kony, did not have any real agenda to discuss.
In February 2003, Sudan agreed to let troops from neighboring Uganda enter its territory to attack the LRA rebels who had been trying for years to overthrow the Ugandan government. The Ugandan army called on the LRA to surrender or be defeated. Ugandan officials said the agreement gave them what they had long been waiting for, the chance to eliminate the LRA. The agreement set the stage for a decisive blow against rebels.
By early 2003, optimism was growing that 16 years of fighting in northern Uganda may soon come to an end. The ADF had effectively ceased to be a major threat to the GOU. The LRA declared a cease-fire and said they wanted to hold talks with the government of Yoweri Museveni. The pledge by the LRA to cease all ambushes, abductions and attacks was welcomed by the Uganda government. The LRA was in a tight corner after its bases in southern Sudan, just over the border from northern Uganda, had been destroyed by Ugandan troops following an agreement with the Sudanese government. The rebels' main sources of food and military supplies were now back home in northern Uganda, which made them much more vulnerable to attacks by government troops. Then in June 2003, Kony told his fighters to destroy Catholic missions, kill priests and missionaries, and beat up nuns.
There were also reasons for the government to negotiate. Analysts were saying that President Museveni might have realized that, even with access to the rebel bases in Sudan, the military solution he once preferred was not going to succeed. He was under enormous public pressure to try the path of a negotiated settlement.
In January 2004, Ugandan Defense Minister Amama Mbabazi said that the government had killed 928 LRA rebels between 1 January 2003 and 16 January 2004. Speaking at a monthly press briefing in Bombo, a suburb of Kampala, Minister Mbabazi said 791 rebels were either captured by the army or surrendered during Operation Iron Fist. He said the army rescued 7,299 people abducted by the rebels. He also said 88 army soldiers died in the combat, 141 others were injured and 4 went missing during the period.
In May 2004, a report by the aid organisation, Christian Aid, condemned what it described as a shirking of the government's responsibilities to protect the people of the north "borne out of a lack of will." It accused the government of herding civilians into camps ostensibly to protect them from the LRA without offering those living in camps the protection they needed. The Ugandan government rejected the report, saying the report was "completely unfair."
Rebels of the LRA attacked a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in war-ravaged northern Uganda on 16 May 2004, killing scores of people and abducting others. A group of rebels attacked Pagak displaced people's camp in 3 prongs: one attacked the camp, a second one attacked the soldiers guarding it, and the third one concentrated on the patrol units. The group that attacked the camp set ablaze dozens of grass-thatched huts to create confusion, then looted food and abducted people whom they forced to carry their loot for a distance before they killed them along with their babies.
By November 2003, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Humanitarian Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland stated that he considered the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda to be among the worst on the planet. Several UN agencies, including UNICEF and the Food and Agricultural Organization, were expected to increase their presence in northern Uganda, provided the government was able to provide adequate security.
In October 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in the Hauge, announced arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and 4 of his top LRA deputies. The charges ranged from the mutilation of civilians to the forced abduction of and sexual abuse of children. Some Ugandans voiced concern over whether the warrants would undermine the peace process by forcing the LRA leaders into a situation where they had to either face trial at the Hauge or continue fighting.
In July 2006, LRA representatives were participating in a series of peace talks with the Ugandan government in neighboring Southern Sudan. The LRA representatives present did not include Joseph Kony, who was believed to be hiding in the Democratic Republic of Congo to avoid prosecution for war crimes. While the LRA representatives present wished to portray the group as freedom fighters against President Museveni's system of patronage and discrimination against the Acholi tribe, the LRA had largely alienated themselves from the Ugandan population through their use of brutal tactics, even against the members of the Acholi tribe. The Ugandan government seemed to have little interest in the LRA's demands of reconstituting the Ugandan military under foreign control and a quota for Acholi in government jobs and instead seemed focused on determining the LRA's terms of surrender.
Some international observers thought a peace deal was going to be reached in October 2006. LRA leaders (though not Kony) met with GOU negotiators in the town of Juba in Southern Sudan. However, the talks broke down relatively quickly as both sides violated their predetermined conditions of the negotiation. LRA forces moved from their designated area along the Sudanese-Ugandan border and GOU forces assembled in unauthorized portions of Northern Uganda. The talks were also at an impasse. The main discussion was about the charges brought on Kony and 4 LRA leaders by the ICC. The LRA claimed they would sign a peace deal after the charges were dropped, while GOU negotiators demanded that a peace deal be in place before they discussed dropping the charges.
Peace talks with the LRA throughout 2007 had failed due to the refusal of Kony to appear to sign the agreements. Kony had argued that until all ICC charges were dropped, there would be no peace agreement. The LRA then continued to increase attacks in 2008 mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This prompted a reaction by the Ugandan forces and DRC forces to perform a joint military operation in December 2008 called Operation Lightning Thunder. This military strike effectively destroyed Kony's main base in the DRC and pushed the LRA into the Central African Republic (CAR).
With the movement of the LRA into CAR, the Uganda Civil War had effectively escalated into a regional conflict that involved 4 countries: the DRC, the CAR, Sudan, and Uganda. The LRA, the last remaining anti-government organization from the Uganda Civil War, continued to remain a threat to the region in 2010 by attacking remote locations and they continued to evade capture of the Ugandan military. The goals of the LRA had become increasingly unclear and they did not appear to pose a threat to the governments of any of the countries they operated in, preferring to prey on civilians, killing, raping, and mutilating the people of central Africa; stealing and brutalizing their children; and displacing hundreds of thousands of people in the process. The United States government stated in 2010, that the Lord's Resistance Army had no agenda and no purpose other than its own survival.

Uganda: Child Soldiers

Marley Melchiorre

Hjelmgren – 7

May 19, 2009

          Uganda: Child Soldiers:

 


            The abduction of child soldiers is affecting the economy and the people of Uganda significantly.  A group called the Lord’s Resistance Army or LRA has fought a twenty-two year old rebellion against the government. Most of the LRA soldiers are believed to be a part of the Acholi tribe from the North (World Geography). When Museveni, a member of the Ankole tribe from southern Uganda, came to power in 1986, the Acholi people lost their previous dominance. Museveni and the LRA continue to be unsuccessful in overpowering one another (World Geography). The Lord’s Resistance Army must be captured to eliminate child abductions and killings.

According to a top United Nations official, the conditions in Uganda are worse than anywhere else in the world (Talwar, Namrita). Thousands of children have been abducted and forced to kill, burn or raid houses, and often are raped. Once kidnapped, they are given military training to be in the LRA. These children are threatened to be killed if they attempt escaping. Girls are raped and are likely to get HIV/AIDS or unwanted pregnancies.  Night commuters are children that are trying to avoid being kidnapped and are seeking refuge in local hospitals and churches at night, while returning home in the morning (Human Rights Watch). Some say that the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, wants to rule the country according to the Ten Commandments  (World Geography).  How could one believe this when his soldiers are responsible for abducting more than fourteen thousand children? The LRA has been accountable for brutal attacks on villages, kidnapping, thievery, and creating land mines.  Anyone who attempts to run away or slows down the troops is killed (Ryu Nairobi, Alisha).   Due to these violent attacks, Ugandans are forced into safety camps, leaving behind their farmland and their livelihood. These camps are overcrowded and depend on foreign aid (Talwar, Namrita).

The economy of Uganda is at risk. This country is very dependent on their cash crops, their main export. LRA rebel attacks have drastically affected the planting season creating food shortages and malnutrition. Ugandans are unable to work on the fields, due to the government’s orders to flee to safety camps (Global Issues in Context). A vast number of refugees have decreased the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and created a humanitarian crisis that has diminished any progress in the country, after suffering through previous violence (Global Issues in Context).

            The LRA leaders need to be captured, so Uganda can begin rebuilding their economy. Museveni and his troops must continue rescuing the child soldiers, but they should focus on capturing their leader, Joseph Kony. If the use of child soldiers doesn’t cease then we will continue to take the precious childhood of these children and the LRA could gain control. The people of Uganda desperately need our foreign aid to sustain the food and supplies in their safety camps. Ugandans continue to lose lives and live in fear of the LRA.  

CHILD SOLDIER

CHILD SOLDIER

CHILD SOLDIER

LORD'S RESIATANCE ARMY(LRA) LEADER JOSEPH KONY

 

 

''CORRUPTION'' UGANDA'S UN-ENDING EVIL?

‘Corruption increases’

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA
KAMPALA (Monitor Newspaper) September 27, 2007

CORRUPTION in Ugandan has escalated and is stifling the nation's struggle to eradicate poverty, according to a report released yesterday by Transparency International, the Berlin-based global anti corruption body.

The country's ranking in the world Corruption Perception Index, CPI, has taken a fresh, disconcerting plunge, dropping 12 positions within one year. With a CPI of 2.8, Uganda is the 117th most corrupt nation in 2007 in a ranking of 178 countries.

Notably, the sharp decline in accountability appears to mock efforts both of the government and its donors who have devoted ever-increasing amounts of scarce resources purportedly to fight corruption in public offices.

The finance minister, Dr Ezra Suruma announced during his 2007/08 budget speech that the US government had granted Uganda $10.2 million (more than Shs18 billion) to strengthen "investigation, documentation and prosecution of corruption cases."

New Zealand and Denmark occupied the first and second places on the CPI, both scoring 9.4 while Somalia and Myanmar tailed the list as the worst and second worst corrupt nations in the world.

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Govt pays ghosts Shs21b per year

YASIIN MUGERWA
Kampala (Monitor) October 18, 2007

PARLIAMENT

DEAD, retired, and sacked civil servants are on average paid Shs1.7 billion a month or approximately Shs20.8 billion a year, according to findings by the Auditor General.

The latest AG's report for the year ended June 30, 2006, indicates that the ghosts on the payroll were maintained and managed by a racket of corrupt but organised government officials.

The report says the payments have been handed out for many years. However, an audit sample of salary payments for July 2005 and March 2006 --for ministries/departments, local governments/ referral hospitals and educational institutions--showed that on average a whopping Shs1.7 billion was paid out to ghosts.

In August 2005, President Museveni directed all accounting officers to clean and remove invalid records (ghosts) from the government payroll. Following this directive, an inter-ministerial task force comprising Ministry of Public Service and the Ministry of Education and Finance conducted a payroll cleaning exercise.
Among the key findings, the AG says, was the existence of invalid records or ghosts on the payroll.

"A total of 9,199 invalid records were deleted from the payroll leading to a saving [loss to government] of Shs1.734, 170,984 in salary costs," the report reads in part.

A computation sample for one month shows that at least over Shs1.7 billion is paid to ghost government workers per month. But MPs are saying this has been going on for long and that attempts to expose culprits have either been too sluggish or pending.

The shocking revelations were made yesterday during a meeting between the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee and officials from the Ministry of Public Service, who manage the government payroll. Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi, told Daily Monitor that the Shs20.8 billion could have been used to pay pension arrears for over 1,000 former government employees.

"It's a shame that ghosts are being paid yet we have over 40,000 people struggling to get their pensions. Many of our senior citizens have died without getting their money," Mr Nandala said.

According to MPs, for the five years the ghosts have so far received Shs100 billion. Statistics from the report show that the 26473 invalid records (ghosts) comprised of delayed transfers (65.25%), retired (10.26), absconded (10.03%), died (4.62%), resigned (1.37%), left (0.37%) and others (7.69).

Aswa MP Reagan Okumu accuses officials in the Ministry of Finance and Public Service of 'connivance' to defraud the government. "We are disappointed; How can Shs1.7 billion vanish per month? In fact, officials in Finance and Public service should be investigated. Our people are suffering and these officials are just enjoying themselves," Mr Okumu said.

In the report, the AG found out that of 229,901 records verified, 26,473 were invalid (ghosts), 78 percent of which were from educational institutions, 20 percent from local governments and referral hospitals, and 2 percent from ministries and other government departments.

The committee's vice chairperson, Mr Ssebuliba Mutumba (Kawempe South), said: "This is fraud and this money must be refunded and all officers involved will be arrested." He said this signified the decay in many government institutions.

In her response, Ms Gorret Sendyona, the assistant commissioner in charge of the payroll in the Ministry of Public Service, said the government has embarked on a rigorous cleaning exercise to overcome the problem.

Mr Jimmy Lwamafa, the PS in the Ministry of Public Service, said some unnamed officials have started returning the money.

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Officials steal interest on banked govt money

CHARLES MWANGUHYA M KAMPALA (Monitor) October 15, 2007

A BIZARRE racket in which officials with access to huge deposits of public money hold the cash in special accounts and reap from it in interest can now be exposed.
The officials transfer the cash to fixed deposit accounts for at least a month and end up reaping millions off it in interest.

Mr Ssebuliba Mutumba, the Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary watchdog - the Public Accounts Committee - told Daily Monitor yesterday that the scheme is a "big and complex syndicate" involving mainly the Ministry of Finance which originates most of the funds, Ministry of Defence which is one of the biggest spenders, Bank of Uganda, which does the bulk cash releases and other project-heavy ministries like the Ministry of Health.

"Even if the money stays for two or three days (on fixed deposit accounts), because it is a huge amount, it is still able to make for them millions in interest. It is a complicated syndicate, in fact and the Auditor General only captures just a few," said Mr Mutumba, who is also MP Kawempe South. These government workers with access to the large sums of money, especially those managing project funds, are thus able to make the millions by colluding with top banks in town to hold the money as fixed deposits. The interest that accrues is later pocketed.

The discovery could go a long way in explaining the magic that modestly paid government workers use to be able to live splendid lives, send their children to schools where their monthly salary cannot cover a term's school fees and build plush mansions without the risk of facing court bailiffs over loans.

Top commercial banks in the city are key in the scheme. The money, according to documents available to Daily Monitor, is normally held for anything between one month, three to six months;- during which period it accumulates millions in interest. Now, Parliament watchdog committees are gunning for the heads of those behind the scam and are launching a full investigation. The Local Government Accounts Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Bodies, State Enterprises and Commissions, are teaming up with the Auditor General to demand that the interest is deposited in the government's coffers.

"We are getting very close to them," Mr Mutumba said. "We shall get their (financial) statements, bank reconciliation and we shall track the money." The interest is usually switched to a separate account to make more money or is pocketed, Daily Monitor has learnt. Meanwhile, the principal sum could either be withdrawn-depending on how much pressure a particular government official could be under to pay off the bonafide beneficiaries or in the absence of such pressure, the fixed deposit period may be renewed.

Because the government does not demand accountability on funds beyond what it disbursed, officials can safely make and keep the difference for themselves.
In one case discovered by the Auditor General, a key government body deposited Shs1.446 billion and at the expiry of the fixed deposit, the project manager wrote to the bank; "the above mentioned fixed deposit matures today 28th June 2001.

We have received your offer to renew the same on 30 days term deposit at an interest rate of 4 per cent and decide to instruct you as follows; 1) Convert Uganda Shillings 867, 500, 000 to US$500, 000 at agreed exchange rate of Uganda Shillings 1,735 and credit that amount into our dollar account. Renew the balance of Uganda Shillings 578, 589, 033 on the fixed deposit account for 30 days at an interest rate of four per cent per annum."

According to audit queries by the Auditor General, in many incidents, only part of the project money is credited to official accounts while larger balances are kept on different accounts which are not official, an indication, officials noted, that some government staff are colluding with either banks or staff members to divert project funds.

Although Daily Monitor's investigations concentrated on bigger project monies, the chairman of the Local Government's Accounts Committee, MP Geoffrey Ekanya, said the problem is bigger.

"It has been going on for the last many years. In fact, it used to be worse under the old system because cheques used to be delayed in Kampala (where they were invested on fixed deposit accounts) and when they are released to the districts, the districts also deposit them on a general account where it of course makes interest," he said, adding that "this interest is never declared."

Mr Ekanya said some affected areas included civil servant's salaries and cited the example of teachers who have often faced the brunt of delayed wage payments. "It is criminal because people who are supposed to be paid suffer and it also leads to creation of domestic arrears," he said.

Sharing the bounty
Because the money is big and has to follow a given trail, which requires many along the ladder to know about it, a well worked-out sharing plan is also in place.

In some projects or ministries, the accruing interest may be given to staff through internal salary loan schemes, Mr Mutumba said, adding: "There is a tendency to lend it internally. It is a very a big game. It is a big, big cancer because at the end of day, projects suffer."

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African leaders steal $ 148 billion a year

AGNES ASIIMWE & ANGELO IZAMA

NEW YORK/KAMPALA (Monitor) September 21, 2007

A QUARTER of the gross domestic product of African States - or $148 billion is lost to corruption annually, the United Nations has said.

Most of this money is stolen by African leaders and kept in banks overseas. The UN and the World Bank estimate that the value of criminal businesses is between $1 to 2 trillion.
The revelations were made during a press conference by the UN Secretary general, Mr Ban ki Moon, and the World Bank President, Mr Robert Zoelick in New York on Monday.

To check this practice, the two bodies announced a partnership to recover billions of dollars stolen by corrupt leaders from the developing world and which monies are lying in foreign banks while the countries from which it originated wallow in poverty.
A partner in the recovery effort will be the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

The launch of Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative (STAR) in New York is a warning shot especially in Africa- where leaders like the late Congolese (Zairean) President Mobutu Sese Seko and Gen Sani Abacha of Nigeria- built obscene fortunes abroad.

However, neither Mr Ban nor Mr Zoelick mentioned the culpability of the banks that accept deposits from corrupt African leaders -and the support given to some of these leaders by powerful western governments.

"The theft of public assets from developing countries is a grave and growing concern, said Mr Ban, adding that stolen assets amounted to US$ 1 trillion every year.
Mr Zoellick on his part said the money being stolen was at the expense of social programmes that would target the poor in society.

"There should be no haven for those who steal from the poor," Mr Zoellick added. STAR is also intended to tighten the noose on illegal money used by criminal groups including international terrorists.

Corruption
The Bank also says officials in developing countries pocket between US$ 20 to 40 billion in bribes- equivalent to almost 40 percent of the money they receive from development partners. The new initiative intends to re-invest recovered money in social programmes.
"Every 100 million recovered could fund full immunisations for 4 million children, provide water connections for some 250,000 households or fund treatment for over 600,000 people with HIV/Aids for a full year," Mr Zoellick said.

The World Bank president was optimistic that assets could be recovered citing cases from three countries - Phillipines, Peru, Nigeria. In 2004, the Phillipines was able to repatriate $624 million of former President Ferdinand Marcos' money held in Swiss Bank accounts.

Marcos, a staunch ally of America, was President from 1965 to 1986, and was reported to have stolen billions of dollars while his wife Imelda lived a lavish lifestyle- filling her house with thousands of pairs of expensive shoes.

Nigeria also recovered $505 million of the Sani Abacha money from Swiss banks but this is just a small slice of the money he is reported to have stolen.
The chairperson of Transparency International Huguette Labelle described the initiative as "a wake up call to those who steal and to those who facilitate or harbour stolen assets" but little pressure has come to bear on western banks and governments who are complicit in the thefts.

In May 2004 for example, Christian Aid, a United Kingdom-based charity organisation, accused the Uganda government of "wrongly" diverting aid money with the knowledge of the British government. Uganda, an aid-dependant country, is also notoriously corrupt.

This year the government has said fighting corruption is a priority but a 2004 report for the World Bank, which gives millions of dollars worth of aid and loans to the country, noted that corruption was key to the survival of the regime in Kampala.