A retired supreme court justice in Uganda has proposed anti-corruption training for citizens, starting with the school kids.
Professor George Kanyeihamba’s open letter to President Yoweri Museveni this week said the country’s Anti-Corruption Act of 2009 should be ‘compulsory reading for all Ugandans.’ That statute replaced a weaker 1970 law and strengthened the government’s hand.
‘Even if only half of [of the new law] were to be enforced,’ Professor Kanyeihambahe said, ‘Uganda would be on its way to eliminating corruption altogether.’
Uganda ranked 143 on the Corruption Perceptions Index, tied with Nigeria and Russia, among others. This year it fell to 123 on the World Bank’s Doing Business Index, which measures red tape. Per capita gross national income for Uganda’s thirty-four million people is US$490. The top-ranked country on the Doing Business Index is Singapore. Its per capita GNI is US$40,920.
Professor Kanyeihambahe said anyone in Uganda seeking a civil service job should know the definitions of corruption and embezzlement and understand the harsh penalties for those offenses.
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