OPINION :Corruption is a Kick, not a Horse. The horse is the systems usually set up by the advanced modern corrupt people to avoid detection. The reason fighting corruption which is now enshrined and even inculcated in Ugandan culture (if we even have one anymore) due to, and also caused by economics and politics in Uganda is because ours is a harder Kick than most critics seem to know.
Even so, I would proudly love to announce a remarkable success of first phase of the Parish Development Model program. Though with a few “pockets of resistance”, the Uganda Government of the People Liberation organization that I serve has for the first time in History succeeded to achieve what has never been attained even in Japan; reaching Cash money (fiat) of the National money from the National Reserves to all the targeted People as planned. Its not easy.
Ugandan technocrats who manage National resources from LC 1 to the one who guards Kampala City Toilets to the Headmaster and even the Treasurer of the most powerful churches had mastered the Science of SIPHONING any Money or value in Money intended to help a beneficiary. The current necessary activity of “cleansing the payroll has again revealed several ‘ghost’ public servants 38 years after the Movement came to Power. This is not caused by the laxity of the Party but rather by the daily advancement and sophistication of the corruption guru. Corruption is also one of the skills and talents used by Humans to survive overtime. Which makes me wonder why MAN of all animals evolved to be corrupt, cheats, murderers, rapists. We shall come to the Science of Crime in my next write up.
Some Civil servants had never even seen a Black board but have been “working”. Some have been eating Pensions but they have never worked for the govt. That is soon history with the new computerized Finance, Human Resource and Management database, the IFMS. IFMS means an Integrated System for Management of all Financial Matters of the public administration system. This means that a Crook who has no TIN number but somehow manages to bypass the Public Service Human Resource Computer to get onto a payroll shall be ‘caught” by the URA computers., or the one of NIRA,,, or when she goes to Mulago for treatment and the Hospital demands a Birth Certificate etc etc
However as they say, when the going gets tough,,,,,,,,. When PDM money was released, the whole Planet expected NONE of it to Reach even the District level. They cried Doom. So the GIANT Thieves were aware that all hands were awaiting them. They Backed off from Direct involvement. Even if they wanted, the Govt had blocked all loophole if SIPHONING as will be elucidated later shortly.
Corruption in Uganda is enshrined at all levels of any point that involves CASH payments and transactions. If the money survives one Hyena, it will not survive the Nkuyege (termites) at another level. And the LOOTING proceeds till the target beneficiaries, the tax payers gets MAKOMBO (bukunkumuka/crumbs) like Lazarus with his Rich man.
We may now proceed. The PDM is the First ever such attempt, which yielded 99.9999% success for all set targets. The 0.1% is now work of the Parish Chief , Parish Development Committee and the Beneficiary,,,, and whatever happens at this level must be fairly awarded (or blamed) to the 3.
The Government of Uganda led by Gen Museveni will therefore proceed to continue to dispense 100 Millions per Parish for the next 7 years. If you have any doubts it will be the engine for NDPIV 2025/26-2029/30.
My qualitative research here is focussed on one district of West Uganda, but upon checking, these successes and the few Pockets I shall mention tended cut across.
The research observes that PDM is there. MOST who were registered got the money,,, but ENJAWULO eating from on the ground bayaye like Some Parish Committee members, LC1 chiefs, Con men, scammers masquerading as officials, Brokers (bakayungirizi) to mention but a few. The first success is therefore that IF the Money was eaten, it was eaten by The Villagers themselves and their crooked children, fathers, aunties, girlfriends etc.
The second success is that Money actually Reached the Accounts of Most who claim to have Been registered. This is a Miracle. But the Government tactic of using Bank Accounts was the successful Revolutionary method here. Eliminate all Direct Cash Payments, introduce mandatory bank or Mobile payments to enhance traceability of Money. Next is adventuring into Digital Shillings, but we are coming.
Third success is that whoever received the Money Used it themselves. This is a success. Its a Miracle. Husbands have been stealing all Finances from their Wives in Rural Uganda. Financial Inclusion attained. The PWDs are happy.
The other problem which is also a success is that some Villages had ‘no Poor People” who Qualify for the PDM as designed. I blame our Party NRM for this. The Committees observed that most assessed in some villages were beyond Such schemes. This is easy to solve as we have Emyooga, CoviD 19 recovery funds in all your banks you know etc.
I shall write about all the running government CAPITAL programs in another article.
The problem of ENJAWULO is complex and hard to defeat in Uganda as it belongs to ‘Black Market tactics”,,..
Its like transacting on the Onion Dark Web where the affected cannot complain but is also willing to be fleeced due to “Desperate Times”.
Imagine if you had ZERO shillings today and someone promised to get you one Million upon paying 200k,,,would you not Borrow it atleast ? And that’s what the Fleeced poor of Uganda did.
The Crooks, now totally Defeated by the NRM govt system decided to use the ‘power to register a beneficiary” to “TAX” the Citizen prior to registration on the Program. That’s how Enjawulo system works. The average Loss to a beneficiary varied but UGX 200,000 was the most desired figure.
This implies that an average of 20% of the Total PDM money could have been LOST before it even reached the Beneficiary.
To arrest whoever planned or tasted this Enjawulo would need Luzira to be transferred to a whole District of Uganda and all Other citizens leave the place for Suspects. An immediate suggested practical solution to this would be causing the suspects who confess to refund and this is working well so far. Soon, whoever ate Enjawulo will have Paid back.
Identifying an ENJAWULO eater has been one of the easiest tasks. The Beneficiary , now Broke due to Time factor, is now feeling the PINCH of the Loan and is whistleblowing himself/herself,,, hoping to ever dodge repayment if possible. But once they get a refund,, ‘problems” are back. Ofcourse the Fund was not enough (money will never be enough) and the Beneficiary is advised to be patient as more funds shall arrive upon confirmation of usage. Now you have back your full UGX 1,000,000 so what is your issue ?? Go finish the project. Leave the Suspect for the Officers. There are many ways. We could grant a general Amnesty, or proceed to jail all of them, but that would also be the end of the Program as in some cases you would have to arrest the whole committee and all Parish chiefs plus even LC 1 chairmen and even their Traditional Leaders…hehehe. am laughing but that is how Corruption works in Uganda. Sometimes you find that every villager has benefitted from whatever Stolen cow you are looking for and you wonder who you can slap..
Do not despair though as this is a “one off” kind of planned theft whereby ONE valid List is already available to use. If these are hard working Citizens, and they are, they shall make it.
There was a challenge of an admin looking for only his,,/her relatives as beneficiaries . This is a SIMPLE Problem easy to solve as long as the relatives fall within the specifications of a beneficiary. Afterall, even if they had not got today, the Program was supposed to Reach all of them as a Must /mandate of the same Admin. We shall for now ignore this OPEN nepotism because it falls within the Positive results. Next time, we shall be more vigilant. However, once pressed with Targets, we must admit that targeting closer relatives may be easier for an admin to attain Results, in our African setting where families are Extended and united with eachother into clans. Its easier to recover Money from clan mates than from strangers. I shall study the Clan system more and see how it can fit into the model therefore. Still, Nepotism is illegal till further notice.
Ugandan Enjawulo is eaten like that because it not easy to get evidence for someone who deposited the FULL amount into your account. So don’t “quarrel” about my amnesty proposal. Even if all Suspects of the National Village Enjawulo eating system are arrested today, proving the case in any court according to written laws of Uganda, from over 1,000,000 suspects from allover the Nation would need us to first Stop the PDM model. NRM/A Scientific methods advise against wasting time on something you think you Know but you cannot Prove.
The good news is that the Nation is now aware of WHO is most Likely to ask for Enjawulo Next time. Knowing the suspect may seem a simple solution but it usually reduces crime rates more than catching the thief himself.
The other challenge is that the PDM Rules are not yet being followed due to lack of knowledge. That money is apportioned according to the Level of Gender and I urge all admins to go back and read how percentage of the total that PWDs, Women, Youth and Men must get.
When I return to speak about inclusiveness, we shall delve more into this topic.
The Implementers shall now proceed to use local mass media, social media, music, meetings etc to sensitize the PDM committees and tell the Parish Chief that he/she is not the Only and final decision maker and that the Committee Must be made to Work according to the set guidelines etc etc . The Chairperson is also not ‘the boss’ but simply a MEMBER of the committee..
But the Village Enjawulo system is just the small mirror copy of the Wider and mega National and International Poor man Looting system. Gen Museveni talked of Permanent Secretaries, Town Clerks, CAOs and village admins Stealing Money but it’s eaten ‘safely’ using the Back door Enjawulo negotiating system. This is whereby the procurement powers that be will award a Contract to the one who pays them a LARGE project stifling sum prior to attaining the bid. In this case, you are aware that the Money has been eaten and by who, but you can never get the Evidence (Exhibit) which the Courts will ask for. So you have to suffer Looking at a thief you know daily. All you see is him/her reading mansions, arcades, hotels etc on a salary of 300, 000 and the whole world is Powerless to do anything to him/her.. why? Toine echizibiti..
My headmaster and late friend Prof Mukiibi Lawrence of St Lawrence schools had a simple Rule,,, IF you are SUSPECTED of THEFT,,, you are EXPELLED. But you see, the Ugandan Law is different from the laws Kibzo used to raised $25m of wealth in Just ten years. National laws must never leave an option for harming an Innocent person as Mukiibi’s laws would do. Mukiibi would simply Limit the Risk of a thief appearing by firing the Real thieves along with innocent ones as a sacrifice (cost) of avoiding theft. I don’t know what you are thinking but for a Nation, prepare for WAR if you try such.
The above challenge of National Mafias Enjawulo can also be solved by Centralizing all Local and Central Govt Procurement Processes on a Computer (IFMS) too, such that the Computers RANDOMLY select the bidder with the most suitable bid. So if you Paid Enjawulo and the computer rejects you, you will not repeat. Kwisha.
This will now Limit Possible risk at the Level of the IT manager and Hacking maybe, of which these ones are easier to Audit and get Evidence for any system tampering.
When they said Computers will lead to Loss of Jobs, the Corrupt were Laughing at their Jobs of Corruption, ssi Ndi yo?
Asiimwe “Jago Minyang Makombo” Ndahura is an
Anti-Corruption activist, Investigative Journalist, Social theorist and Asst. Resident Comissioner of Masindi District
