Archival Sense
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 16, 2025
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President Yoweri Museveni has defended the ongoing field inspection tours by Ministers Balaam Barugahara and Sarah Nameere, dismissing concerns that their direct investigations into corruption may amount to “Kutomera,” blindly stumbling upon problems without a clear trail of evidence.
In an article addressed to Ugandans, particularly the youth whom he frequently refers to as Bazzukulu, Museveni said the scale and frequency of corruption reported by citizens make it unlikely that the ministers are merely stumbling into isolated cases.
He said his confidence in the tours is rooted in what he described as the persistent impunity surrounding corruption and the existence of officials and other actors who have escaped accountability despite repeated allegations.
Museveni said corruption had become such a recurring concern that it disrupted his own campaign activities, forcing him to interrupt his programmes to respond to complaints from angry citizens about the mismanagement of government programmes, including the Parish Development Model (PDM).
“During the campaigns, my campaigns had to be interrupted to deal with the information from the angry citizens about corruption in PDM, etc.,” he said.
The President recalled that he had previously received complaints from a delegation of elders from Bunyoro who alleged that local government jobs were being sold.
He also pointed to what he described as longstanding cases involving “ghosts” on government payrolls, learners and teachers who exist on paper but allegedly do not exist in schools, as well as irregularities in government health centres.
Against that backdrop, Museveni argued that the ministers' decision to go directly to communities through public gatherings, commonly known as barazas, is uncovering problems that have remained hidden behind bureaucratic walls.
Hon. Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi
He said the real challenge now is not establishing whether corruption exists, but ensuring that the evidence gathered can quickly translate into prosecutions.
Museveni called on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to assign a dedicated officer to assess the evidence emerging from the field inspections and fast track cases where sufficient grounds for prosecution exist.
“The challenge now is for the DPP to have a dedicated officer that can quickly assess the abundant evidence against these criminals so that they are prosecuted,” he said.
According to Museveni, Uganda's fight against corruption has been hampered by two major weaknesses: the alleged cover up by officials responsible for protecting public interests and the reluctance of sections of the elite to report wrongdoing despite having access to decision makers.
He said Barugahara and Nameere have partly overcome this barrier by taking their investigations directly to the public.
Hon. Justine Nameere
The President, however, acknowledged that not all members of the elite are complicit.
He singled out Minister for Works and Transport Hon. Byamukama, whom he described as an example of a patriotic official who brought corruption allegations directly to his attention.
Museveni said Byamukama alerted him to what he described as a racket of extortionists operating at State House. Following the report, he said, authorities set a trap and arrested the suspects.
“This corruption in Uganda is stoppable,” Museveni said.
He urged public officials to resist the temptation to shield colleagues accused of corruption and called on citizens to speak up when they encounter wrongdoing.
“Do not cover up if you are a Government officer and report if you are a citizen,” he said.
Museveni also referred to an earlier attempt to address corruption complaints through former minister Magyezi, whom he said he had tasked with following up on complaints raised by citizens.
Although Magyezi visited the affected areas, Museveni acknowledged that decisive action, in his view, did not follow.
It is against this history that he says the response to Barugahara and Nameere has been striking.
Museveni said the large crowds attending their public meetings remind him of the early days of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), when citizens would voluntarily turn up for political gatherings without the elaborate mobilisation practices that have become common in contemporary politics.
“We are back to the earlier NRM days,” he said, describing crowds that would attend public meetings without being provided with water or food, or with tents hired for local elites while ordinary citizens remained exposed to the rain or sun.
Courtesy Photos
