When young Ugandans organised anti-corruption marches in 2024, President Museveni warned them that they were “playing with fire”. Those who attempted to protest were arrested or abducted and, in some cases, subjected to torture and sexual violence.
That response, in my view, was a clear demonstration of how the regime has treated those who challenge corruption and abuse of public resources.
Today, however, we are seeing ministers of the same government moving from one institution to another, purportedly exposing massive and widespread corruption in ministries, departments, agencies and local governments.
At first glance, this may appear commendable. But it also confirms what many Ugandans have said for years: that corruption is deeply embedded in the way the state is run.
The scandals being exposed are staggering. We are told that public projects, including roads, hospitals and schools, often cost several times more than they should because of inflated contracts and other forms of abuse.
This explains, in part, why some officials who benefit from public resources will do everything possible to protect the system that sustains them. When public money becomes a source of personal wealth, those benefiting from the arrangement have every reason to resist political change.
Ugandans, therefore, should remain vigilant and avoid being distracted by what may amount to superficial anti-corruption campaigns. A government that has presided over such widespread abuse of public resources for decades should be asking much deeper questions about its own responsibility.
What ministers are currently exposing does not even begin to capture the full extent of the problem.
Corruption, in my view, cannot be treated as an isolated problem in a few ministries or local governments. It affects the entire system of governance. A former Inspector General of Government spoke of the difficulties encountered when efforts were made to pursue powerful individuals suspected of corruption.
Ugandans have also witnessed allegations of the misuse of public resources during elections, attempts to influence political actors through financial inducements, questionable procurement processes and the awarding of government opportunities to politically connected individuals.
We have seen Parliament, the Judiciary and other institutions of the state face repeated criticism over interference and weakening of their independence. We have also seen large sums of money allocated under classified expenditure, with limited public scrutiny of how such funds are used.
Year after year, supplementary budgets are presented, while the country continues to borrow heavily to finance government programmes and expenditure.
These are not merely isolated cases of individual misconduct. They point to a deeper crisis of accountability.
The same concerns extend to elections. Uganda has witnessed highly contested electoral processes, including local elections conducted through controversial voting methods and allegations of irregularities in the declaration of results.
The continued controversy surrounding the failure to release certain election documents has also fuelled questions about the transparency and credibility of the electoral process.
All these issues are part of the broader question of accountability. Public resources belong to citizens, and public institutions exist to serve them. When those institutions are compromised, corruption becomes more than the theft of money; it becomes an assault on democracy and public trust.
For that reason, the current anti-corruption rhetoric raises an important question: Can a system that has tolerated corruption for decades credibly reform itself without confronting its own political and institutional failures?
In my view, it cannot.
A government cannot effectively fight corruption while shielding powerful individuals from scrutiny. It cannot demand accountability from junior officials while failing to subject those at the top to the same standards.
Ugandans deserve more than periodic exposés and promises to fight corruption. They deserve institutions that are genuinely independent, transparent and accountable.
They deserve a government that citizens can scrutinise, challenge and ultimately replace through credible elections.
A government built on accountability must be accountable to the people. That is the kind of government Uganda needs: a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
The writer, Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi, is the president of the National Unity Platform (NUP).
