Katureebe says the fight against corruption should begin at home

The Chief Justice, Bart Katureebe, has said laws and policies to fight corruption will not achieve much if parents are encouraging corrupt tendencies in the institutions of learning in the country.

He noted that many children grow up thinking practices like bribery are normal because of the way their parents raise them.

“We have students in primary level who are given money by their parents to go and bribe to become prefects. Now a child who has bribed to become prefect in primary school ,secondary school up to university, how can he or she fight corruption after getting into pubic offices?"he asked.

He said the societal and cultural factors that encourage the acts of corruption in the institutions of learning must be addressed as a nation.

He made the remarks while addressing a joint meeting of anti-corruption agencies in Africa and beyond.

The meeting was held in Kampala to share ideas on how to strengthen regional collaboration to prevent and combat corruption in Africa.

Some of the countries include Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Algeria among others.

Katureebe said that although there is a need for a law on recovering assets from the corrupt, there is lack of administrative and political will to fight the vice.

“What happen when it is political and public officers who are themselves corrupt, then what happens? Who holds them to account?" he asked..

The Inspector General of Government Irene Mulyagonja said there is need to have civil laws to check graft.

“The burden of proof in criminal proceeding is beyond reasonable doubt. Now when you bring down to the civil level it is in the balance of probabilities so it is easier to recover asset on the balance of probabilities than using the criminal processes,"she said.