Inadequate Staff Affecting IGG Investigations in Acholi

The regional office of the Inspectorate of Government in Gulu is struggling to investigate corruption cases in the Acholi sub-region due to inadequate staff.

Geoffrey Matovu, the IGG Gulu Regional Inspectorate Officer says currently, they have over 300 case files of corruption at the office but only have five investigators attached to the sub-region.

He says that having inadequate investigators makes it impossible to execute the task in time and effectively.

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According to Matovu, his office investigates and prosecutes a minimum of 140 corruption cases every year ranging from embezzlement, abuse of office to shoddy works, harassment by public servants, among others, but that they would have done much more if they had adequate staff.

He adds that the failure by the members of the public to report, testify and provide evidence of corruption cases, has made it very hard to curb down the rampant corruption in the region despite the existence of the Whistle-blower Protection Act.

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Samuel Oduny, the Gulu City Councilor representing Older Persons however criticized the IGG for failing to tackle corruption. Oduny says that there are many public offices whose officers demand bribes from the public in exchange for the services.

He cited the National Identification Registration Authority –NIRA office in Gulu, Gulu Central Police Station and other police posts.

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Haruna Serunkuma, a Senior Auditor at the Office of the Auditor-General appealed to the government to recruit and fill up all the vacancies in the local government and other government agencies in a bid to improve service delivery.

Serunkuma also added that the lower local leaders should be adequately financed to be able to fulfil their supervisory roles on government projects to curb shoddy works.