Corruption is the glue that holds NRM together, says Gen Muntu

The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) former presidential flag bearer, Gen Mugisha Muntu has said the only way of effectively fighting corruption in Uganda is by ousting the NRM regime.

Muntu made the remarks during an online discussion under the theme: “Capture of state institutions and service delivery in Uganda” where he said that in Uganda fighting corruption is fighting regime survival.

He said for anybody who wants to curb the vice, the solution is by ousting the regime.

"However good an individual is, as far as I am concerned, nobody is going to succeed in fighting against corruption. I am even surprised when I hear people debating whether the Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja will succeed in fighting the vice. She will definitely not just like many others who may have tried but have not succeeded up to this point in time," he said.

Muntu said that the NRM regime survives basically using two main tools: state security apparatus and the use of money to rally support and this has enabled it to stay longer in power.

“You can see the extent they use money to compromise people and the longer the regime remains in power the more expensive it becomes in terms of having to compromise all kinds of interest groups. When it comes to elections, a lot of money is poured in and that money comes from a number of individuals and the people who are involved in grand corruption are the ones who are the source of that kind of money," he said.

He claimed that those who are involved in grand corruption are protected by those who are in key leadership positions and those who are in these positions cannot let the agencies fight effectively because they want to hang on to power.

Cissy Kagaba, the executive director ,Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) questioned the functionality of some of these institutions responsible for fighting corruption, saying that it is still a big challenge

"When we talk of state capture, it means we have a group of individuals that are influencing the decisions of the government. People in the government probably know who these mafias are and that is why they will always use the phrase mafias. I think for me it is obvious," she said.