The initiative started with the installation of signposts displaying anti-corruption messages at police stations across the Kampala Metropolitan Area.
Speaking during a meeting with Kampala Metropolitan Police (KMP) commandant Richard Echega and senior officers at the Central Police Station (CPS), deputy IGG Dr Patricia Achan Okiria explained that the signposts are part of a broader effort to ensure government services are free from corruption. She said the police is an institution with close public interactions and bears a reputation for high involvement in corrupt practices.
The objective, Okiria said is to extend this initiative to all government institutions, sensitizing and raising awareness that services are corruption-free. However similar campaigns at health centres did little to combat corruption in the health sector.
She also expressed concern over high-ranking police officers violating the Leadership Code Act by failing to declare their wealth or submitting false declarations. She stressed the importance of accountability at all levels of government.
Deputy police spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan, Luke Owoyesigyire, acknowledged the significance of raising anti-corruption awareness within the police force. However, he said he was unaware of officers failing to declare their assets.
“Everyone is supposed to behave and towards corruption. It is a vice that no one should entertain. On our side as police, we should not entertain getting money from members of the public to give them services. Likewise, the public should not give us money to get services from us. So it is basically to make sure that members of the public know that police services are free and failure to that we have put numbers so that the public can report any issue related to us and inform them about the corruption,” Owoyesigyire said.
According to the IGG’s 2023/24 report, Uganda lost over Shs 30 billion to corruption, and the office received 21,377 corruption-related complaints, with 1,260 originating from the Kampala Metropolitan area. The installation of anti-corruption signposts marks a significant step toward addressing this issue, promoting transparency, and enhancing accountability in both the police force and other government bodies.
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