State institutions have been captured by the rich, says report

The commercialisation of politics has made Uganda one of the most corrupt countries in the world, a new report has revealed.

The report that was released by the Alliance for Finance Monitoring (ACFIM) indicates that Uganda is headed for the most expensive elections ever.

Henry Muguzi ,the executive director, ACFIM said electoral campaigns have been become very expensive which has driven many elected leaders to engage in corruption practices as away to recover their campaign investment.

According to the report, many politicians are financed by wealthy individuals to capture state institutions in order to champion their personal agenda.

"When you go in a village, you will find someone has captured it. Someone has captured the parish, someone has captured the sub county, someone has captured the district. They are using this for self enrichment,"said Muguzi.

He said state institutions and local authorities are increasingly coming under the influence of wealthy and powerful individuals who finance politicians into positions of power for their personal gains.

He mentioned the legislature and local governments as some of the institutions that are increasingly coming under the influence of powerful individuals and cartels seeking to advance their own agenda.

"One of the questions we were asking respondents was to mention one institution in this country that they feel is working. When you look at the institution of parliament which is supposed to be an organ of people's sovereignty, it is one of the captured institutions,"he said.

He said there are men and women who are believed to be well connected to the state and to the corridors of power.

"Someone tells you as a mayor I spent shs 400 million and because the cost of campaigning has gone so high. Individuals that don't have campaign money have been technically kicked out of the competition and this has to change,"he said.

Muguzi urged the Electoral Commission to increase regulations around the election financing.

The 2019 global corruption perception index reveals that in the recent years Uganda has lost about shs14 trillion through money laundering and corruption.