Fellow Countrymen and Women,
RE: ABUSE OF TAXPAYERS’ MONEY AND WASTAGE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BY GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA AND 6 ACTIONS YOU
CAN TAKE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
As you read this letter, just remember that your primary loyalty is to our country and our flag. Also remember that almost 10 million of our 33 million citizens live in abject poverty, can’t afford to have a decent meal, can’t afford basic healthcare or afford to give their children a quality education. Think of a generation of children that can’t access quality education, an army of educated and uneducated youth that are losing confidence in themselves as a result of massive unemployment – all this because of bad leadership across the board!
Because of the love for our country and the respect for our flag, you will think that our president as the custodian of our sovereignty and resources, our government as the ultimate planning authority for our country and our Members of Parliament as protectors of our collective public trust should, every single day and night be working on how to fix the above and many other problems that confront our country. Every single shilling that comes out of the sweat of toiling Ugandan farmers, teachers, doctors, artisans, fishermen, public servants, and our gallant women and men who have the honour to put on our military and police uniforms and who sacrifice everything to protect our country, would be spent fixing the above problems.
It is only when you see what is happening around us that you begin to ask: where did our leaders put their conscience; when did we lose the decency that made each one of us brothers and sisters during our darkest times of the 1970s and 1980s? How did corruption become the virtue that defines our political and economic culture? As you are aware, within a space of a few years, our country has witnessed gross abuses and open theft of public funds from the Ushs 5 million that bought out our democracy by removing presidential term limits to the Global and GAVI Funds, the Temangalo and CHOGM Scandal, the Ushs 20 Million questionably deposited on the Accounts of all Members of Parliament and many others.
In many ways, financial tyranny and daylight robbery is being passed on Ugandan Tax Payers who struggle day and night for only modest returns. And it is these moneys that are stolen by political leaders and public officials who are in constant collusion to defraud Ugandans through open theft or misallocation of tax payer’s money to support a growing and increasingly burdensome political bureaucracy that includes over 330 MPs, over 70 Ministers, 112 RDCs and over 100 Presidential Advisors, among others.
In the latest rip off, without shame Parliament unreasonably approved a Supplementary Budget of over 602.648 Billion. Following this infamous act, 6.5 Billion widely believed to be a bribe was deposited on the accounts of all MPs, with each getting about 20 million, officially meant to facilitate them to “monitor” government programmes. Already MPs get all kinds of allowances to do the same and the 20 million this time like never before is a big amount and with no guidelines on how the money is to be spent.
Without a shame, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) quickly entered into this scandal to collect tax from taxpayers’ money that was being siphoned from the consolidated fund.
Fellow Ugandans, the time has come for all of us to condemn and reject official and unofficial corruption. This is the time to say ENOUGH and to reclaim our country from greed and political patronage that have become the hallmark of our governance. If there was any decency left in Government, in political leaders, they would know that the 6.5 Billion fraudulently paid to MPs would:
l Increase access to safe water especially in the rural areas by constructing over 2,500 boreholes;
l It would promote science education in secondary school by constructing and equipping at least 350 secondary schools with science laboratories;
l Improve sanitation in schools and communities by constructing at least 50,000 latrines across the country;
l Provide lunch meals for at least 200,000 pupils who go hungry, for a complete academic year!
l Improve farmers’ access to improved varieties of crops by giving 10,0000 coffee seedlings;
l Promote agriculture by providing 3.600,000 hand hoes to small scale farmers;
l Reduce youth unemployment and promote the growth of small scale businesses by providing micro credit to at least 300,000 entrepreneurs;
l Provide 6 years of funding, at the current funding levels to Gulu University, which is facing financial difficulties and may not open for the next semester.
l And, many more worthy undertakings for our people in urban and rural areas.
As Ugandans, we MUST reject the cosmetic anti-corruption reforms that have only produced anti-corruption institutions, policies and action plans that only postpone action, decieve Ugandans and create comfort zones for political leaders, while shameless corruption continues. We implore you to play your part and take the following 6 actions:
1. Thank, recognise and associate with those Members of Parliament who have done the honorable act by refusing to steal from the Ugandan tax payer and returned the money to parliament. So far twelve (12) MPs have done so, and several shown willingness to return it.
2. Demand, at any forum and through whatever medium is available to you, that our President immediately takes action against corrupt ministers and restores his personal credibility as a crusader against corruption and also restores honor to the Office of the President.
3. Demand that all MPs, including the Speaker of Parliament return the 20 million fraudulently deposited on their accounts. As long as they don’t do this, they don’t deserve the tag honorable and must be treated as such in public places.
4. Reject any form of bribes during this election as this could be part of the stolen money that our leaders are dishing to the electorate and most importantly DON’T VOTE FOR ANY MP OR LEADER INVOLVED IN CORRUPTION.
5. AND before you cast your vote on February 18, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THAT IF THAT CANDIDATE IS AN INCUMBENT MP, HE/SHE HAS FULLY PAID BACK OUR MONEY.
6. Finally, pass this letter on to atleast 10 other Ugandans you meet with in your neighborhood, at the work place, in your church, hospital and restaurant, and tell them to do the same.
Fellow Ugandan, it is in our power to change the fortunes of OUR country. No where in the world has collective and sustained citizen action for good failed – play your part and do what you can, however modest it seems. Collectively, we will save our country from anarchy in the short and long term.
IT IS OUR COUNTRY. IT IS OUR MONEY. LET US BE PROUD TO BE UGANDANS. FIGHTING AGAINST CORRUPT LEADERS IS AN HONOR WE GIVE TO OUR COUNTRY.
BE PART OF THE ACTION IN THE “RETURN OUR MONEY CAMPAIGN”
This letter comes to you from Leaders of Civil Society in Uganda spearheading the Return Our Money Campaign