Uganda’s president, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, has asked parliament to amend the constitution to provide for the military court martial to try corrupt government officials.
Delivering his annual State-of-the Nation Address at Parliament this week, Mr Museveni said corruption had affected investors' confidence in the country.
Mr Museveni observed that there are loopholes in the trial of corrupt officials in the civilian courts as they waste a lot of time seeking evidence. He said referring corrupt officials to the Court Martial is an idea, which the MPs should explore.
"One of the impediments to investment is officials asking for bribes and wanting to get free shares. You will hear of casualties if these shameless people do not stop their activities," the President warned.
Opposition MPs and journalists who were attending the address murmured in rejection of the proposal but the president made sure he was not mincing his words "There is no problem with the Court Martial because you can also appeal to other courts, but when you are already somewhere [in jail],”he said.
The Ugandan leader, 65, who became East Africa’s longest serving head of state, after marking 24 years in power this year, referred to corrupt officials as “a disgrace to the nation that could be easily handled through the military court martial.”
President Museveni has ruled Uganda longer than all the country’s former leaders combined. He used the fight against corruption to launch his five-year guerrilla war, which brought him to power in 1986.
The president’s proposal attracted mixed reaction from the public with some individuals supporting him while others described it as “a serious threat to rule of law’”
Uganda law society president, Bruce Kyerere, explained that the proposal is an indication of lack of trust in the judicial institutions by the President. He said the president was looking for an excuse over his government’s failure to fight corruption.
“You cannot subject civilians to the army court over issues that have nothing to do with the gun. This is militarising every aspect of the society,” Kyerere said.
The lawyers suggested that the Government should instead focus on addressing the challenges facing the civilian courts, such as lack of manpower, poor facilitation and its budget, as well as equipping the Police better to enable them investigate cases in time.
The World Bank estimates that Uganda looses over 500 billion shillings annually due to corruption.
For example, in the space of a few weeks; an undersecretary in the police force was arrested and hauled into jail for allegedly creating ghosts on the payroll; a permanent secretary in the health ministry was interdicted for disobeying instructions; an accountant in the same ministry is being investigated for under-declaring his wealth; and the head of the National Forestry Authority was sent to jail after he failed to explain the origins of Shs900 million that went missing from under his bed.
The president’s speech came at a time when most Ugandans are eagerly waiting to see the action he will take after a critical report of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the Special Audit Report of the Auditor General on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2007. The report reveals huge amounts of money lost in outright fraud, substandard or undone works, and recklessness on the part of the government negotiators during the contract talks.
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