The Inspector General of Government (IGG), Hon. Beti Kamya Turwomwe has asked the middle and low-level staff in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to start rejecting unwritten financial requests from their bosses so as to avoid being prosecuted for the loss of public funds.

The IGG made the remarks to the officers at the Office of the President’s Conference Hall on November 28, 2023.

She explained that whereas some bosses in the MDAs steal public funds, they walk scot-free during prosecution because there is always no written proof of when they made the orders to their juniors to falsify accountabilities.

Usually, the IGG said, it is the junior officers who are prosecuted because they are the ones who initiate all the fake activities and thereafter falsify accountabilities on behalf of their bosses.

“So when we are investigating as the IG, we end up prosecuting the junior officers since they are the ones who signed for all the money yet in actual sense it was taken by the bosses. This is so because the bosses make verbal requests but do not sign anywhere. And even if we take them to court, it is hard to prove that it is actually them who took the money. That’s how the junior officers end up in jail,” she warned.

She assured the officers of the protection from the Inspectorate of Government (IG) just in case they are victimized by their bosses for rejecting their verbal financial requests.

One of the strategies of the IG is to engage all citizens at all levels to join the war against corruption since it affects everyone.

As such, the IGG has been engaging various groups of public officers on the dangers of corruption and how they can partner with the Inspectorate to eliminate the vice.

This is to inform applicants for the recently advertised vacancies at the Inspectorate of Government that the shortlisting process is still ongoing.

Details in the Public Notice below:

The Inspector General of Government (IGG), Hon. Beti Kamya Turwomwe, on November 8, 2023 met Permanent Secretaries, Accounting Officers, and Heads of Government Departments and Agencies.

The IGG invited the officials not only to rally them to join the Inspectorate of Government (IG) in the war against corruption, but also remind them of their responsibility as accounting officers to close all possible gaps in their institutions where corruption happens.

Hon. Kamya noted that as accounting officers they have the control over the budget and approve every money that is spent.

“You are the people in charge of the Ministries and Agencies and hold the key to every budget of your institution. This means that you are in a better position to control the money to ensure that it doesn’t go to waste. That’s why we called you here to remind you of that responsibility,” she said.

She told them that one of IG’s strategies is to engage the citizens and rally them to join the war against corruption since they are the victims and that the Inspectorate will involve everybody in the fight including the government officers.

The Head of Public Service who is also the Secretary to the Cabinet, Ms. Lucy Nakyobe warned the accounting officers against being intimidated by some people, whom she said, tend to order them on how to run their institutions.

She asked them to be in charge of their institutions and say no to instructions whose source is unknown.

“You are in charge of your Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Let nobody deceive you that there are orders from above. Those are the mafia. I was the State House Comptroller and the President was my boss but I never heard someone tell me that I should work on orders from above. So if the orders aren't from the President, then whose orders are they?” She asked.

Ms. Nakyobe challenged them to always be transparent, accountable and stick to the law while executing their duties to avoid making mistakes that could cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

The Inspectorate of Government (IG) joined the rest of the world on October 12, 2023 to commemorate the Ombuds Day for 2023.

The commemoration is meant to enhance the public awareness about the ombudsman function of the IG. Ombuds Day is commemorated on the second Thursday of October every year.

In Uganda, the day was commemorated under the theme, “Raising Citizens’ awareness of the Ombuds role for better service delivery”.

As part of the activities to commemorate the Ombuds Day, the IG held a half-day dialogue with various heads of public institutions to remind them of their role of ensuring efficient service delivery to the public.

Similarly, boardroom sessions were held across all the 16 IG regional offices in the country with an aim of enhancing awareness about the IG’s ombudsman function.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda, who was also the Chief Guest, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja thanked the IG for its effort in the promotion of the rule of law and the fight against corruption.

The Premier noted that the government has heavily invested in the public service with an aim of improving the livelihoods of the citizens.

She said it would be unfair for the public officers to deny the citizens their right to better services. “Why would you want the citizens to beg you to offer social services to them yet you’re paid to do so? Why must citizens suffer because of a public officer’s inefficiency to deliver services? We shall not accept that as the government and I would like to thank the IGG for coming up with a strategy of rallying the citizens to reject sub-standard services,” she said.

In her remarks, the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Beti Kamya Turwomwe re-echoed her call to public officers to serve the citizens with respect and integrity.

The IGG also implored the citizens to demand for quality services and stop settling for less, saying that it is their right to hold any person holding a public office accountable.

“Citizens need to know that they are entitled to good quality service that is served with respect because they are the bosses. When they don’t get quality services they should report to the IGG who is the National Ombudsman. They also need to know that whoever is holding any public office does so for the interest of the people and is paid by the people,” the IGG said.

She noted that there is need for a mind-set change by the public officers to appreciate the fact that when citizens pay their taxes they expect to be served diligently.

If the public officers do shoddy work, the IGG said, the citizens have a right to report them to the Inspectorate of Government because it has the constitutional powers to take action.

She challenged the duty bearers to be champions of the rule of law so as to avoid administrative injustices against their subordinates.

“In the FY2022/23 alone, the IG received over 5000 ombudsman complaints and successfully resolved 3500 cases. We want the public to understand that beyond the mandate of fighting corruption, the IG also has the Ombudsman mandate which in one way or the other links the citizens to the government but also helps in resolving administrative injustices among public officers,” she said.

An Ombudsman is a public official appointed by the government to investigate the grievances or complaints raised by citizens regarding maladministration of the authority but with a significant degree of independence.

Maladministration can be defined as inefficient and/or dishonest management or administration. It can also be referred to as the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing injustice. For the case of Uganda, the IGG is the National Ombudsman.

The functions of the Inspectorate of Government as an ombudsman office are spelt out under Article 225(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda.

The keynote address on the Alternative Dispute Resolution was delivered by Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, a judge of the Court of Appeal.

Clarification on recently advertised vacancies at the Inspectorate of Government following reports of fraudulent emails appointing people to some of the advertised positions.

The Inspector General of Government , Hon. Beti Kamya Turwomwe, on 20th September 2023 submitted the 47th, 48th and 49th Inspectorate of Government Bi-Annual Reports to Parliament to Commissioner of Parliament Hon. Esther Afoyochan on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Anita Annet Among.

This is in fulfilment of Article 231 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda.

Read the reports below: