By Dr. Ahimbisibwe Gad Rugaju, PhD(above in photo)
“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment.” – Exodus 23:2
We get discouraged when sometimes the corrupt are supported by our own heads of departments or funders in civil society organizations, companies and contractors. I have seen it. You have seen it. We all know it.
An officer arrests a head teacher extorting poor parents Shs. 300,000 for illegal holiday teaching, and suddenly the phone calls start: “Afande, leave him, he is our person.”
A Parish Chief is caught extorting Shs. 20,000 from a poor mother to be included on the Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiary list, and a voice from above says, “That is a small matter, handle it quietly.”
A SACCO leader under Emyooga shares money only among his clan members, and we are told, “Don’t embarrass him, he mobilized for us.”
In that moment, you have two choices: to belong, or to be right.
I, Dr. Ahimbisibwe Gad Rugaju, made a vow when I took the oath to serve H.E. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the people of Uganda. I vowed to fight corruption, even if I remain alone. My reward is not here on earth. He who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light is faithful, and He shall fight for me.
THE COST OF CONVICTION: POPULARITY IS NOT TRUTH
In our society, we have confused what is common with what is correct. Because many schools teach illegally in holidays, we assume it must be acceptable. Because many Parish Chiefs ask for bribes, we assume it is normal.
But truth is not decided by a majority vote. A wrong remains wrong even if everybody is doing it, and a right remains right even if nobody is doing it.
As leaders, we must learn to endure the discomfort of being unpopular. When my office, together with the District Education Officer and security, closed illegal holiday teaching in Kanungu recently, some elites abused us on radio and WhatsApp. But the poor peasant mother from Kihihi who could not afford the extra money walked to my office and said, “Thank you, my son would have dropped out.” That is the voice that matters. That is the wanainchi the President talks about.
True leadership will isolate you. When you refuse to eat with the corrupt, they will say you are proud. When you refuse to protect a wrongdoer because he is from your district, tribe, or NRM structure, they will say you have betrayed your own. But living by your values brings quiet confidence and inner peace.
“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10 (KJV)
THIS IS WHY CORRUPTION IS TREASON: IT KILLS WEALTH CREATION
Why must we be so uncompromising? Because corruption is not just about money. It is about blood, and it is about sabotaging the President’s wealth creation agenda.
H.E. the President has been very clear: The only way to chase poverty out of Uganda is through wealth creation at household level, with Entandikwa. His vision is that every family must join the money economy through commercial agriculture, industry, services, and ICT. That is why he brought us transformative programs.
But what happens when these programs are corrupted?
1. The Parish Development Model (PDM): This is the flagship, Shs. 100 million per parish per year to bring the 39% of Ugandans still in subsistence into the money economy. It is the President’s masterstroke to end dependency. But when a Parish Chief asks for Shs. 200,000 to register you, when the PDM SACCO committee gives money to ghost enterprises or to only their relatives, when they demand that beneficiaries must have already-built pigsties before receiving money – they are not just stealing. They are killing the dream of 39%. They are keeping Ugandans in obunaku. That is economic sabotage.
2. Emyooga: This program was designed to awaken specialized enterprise groups – boda boda riders, welders, salon operators, fishermen, veterans, taxi drivers. Shs. 30 million per constituency SACCO to create jobs. But in many places, Emyooga has become “Emyoga ye Bannange” – money for my people only. Leaders who share it among their campaign agents, who never train beneficiaries, who eat the seed capital, are directly fighting the President’s job creation agenda. How will a young boda rider become an owner when his seed is stolen by his leader?
3. Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP), Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP), and the Greater Grants: YLP was meant to stop youth from rioting in streets and make them producers. UWEP was meant to empower our mothers who carry the burden of families. But when groups are formed on paper in the Community Development Office, when money is given to non-existent youth groups created by CDOs for a cut, when women are told to pay 20% kickback to get their UWEP grant, we are not just corrupt. We are creating the very insecurity the President is fighting. An idle, betrayed youth is a recruit for crime. A betrayed mother loses faith in Government.
4. The Education and Health Sectors: What is the purpose of UPE, USE, and free health care if a head teacher charges illegal fees and a nurse sells government drugs? You undermine UPE and the entire NRM manifesto of free service delivery.
This is why I say: A corrupt official is not just a thief. He is a saboteur of the NRM revolution. He is a political traitor.
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” – Proverbs 14:34 (KJV)
Uganda cannot be exalted by tarmac roads and skyscrapers alone while its PDM money is eaten in parishes. Righteousness – accountability for every shilling sent to the parish – is what will exalt this nation.
THIS KISANJA IS NOT MERE WORDS, IT IS WAR
H.E. President Museveni has declared this Kisanja: “No More Corruption, No More Sleep.”
Let me, as his representative in Kanungu, interpret this for fellow leaders and wanainchi: This is not a slogan for T-shirts. This is not rhetoric for rallies.
This is war.
And in war, there are rules:
In war, you don’t sleep when the enemy is still looting PDM money at night. You do night operations, you do impromptu audits.
In war, you pay a price. The corrupt have money, they have networks, they fight back with blackmail, character assassination, isolation, and false accusations on radio. They will write to the President saying you are “undisciplined.”
If we treat this Kisanja as mere words, we will fail and the 39% will remain poor. If we treat it as war, as the President intends, we must be ready to pay the price.
Paying the price means:
– Being hated by those who benefited from the old corrupt order.
– Being called “too strict” or “this small boy doesn’t know how the district works.”
– Losing fake friends and political allies who only loved you when you kept quiet.
– Standing with the truth and with evidence even when it is easier to say “let us forgive.”
But war must be fought. The President has given us the guns: the PDMIS system to track every shilling, the Emyooga guidelines, the toll-free lines of State House Anti-Corruption Unit, the IGG, and the RDC’s office. We must use them.
I have told my team in Kanungu: Every PDM beneficiary list must be pinned on the Parish notice board. Every Emyooga disbursement must be public. Every YLP recovery must be accounted for. No more secrecy. Secrecy is the incubator of corruption.
THE DILEMMA OF EVIDENCE AND COMPASSIONATE JUSTICE
As a leader who works with security, I know the law requires evidence. Yet many times the innocent don’t have evidence. The poor mother who paid Shs. 200,000 to get her PDM form stamped has no receipt. The youth whose name was removed from YLP has no camera.
Does that mean we abandon them? No.
We must stand by the truth at all times, even if it means death. We must listen more, investigate deeper, protect whistleblowers with our lives, and use both law and conscience. For God is the ultimate witness where human evidence fails. The State House Anti-Corruption Unit has taught us that where there is smoke, we must go and look for fire.
And as we fight, we must remember: Standing for truth does not mean being cruel. There is unavoidable pain when we tell a SACCO to refund money or interdict a Parish Chief. That pain is necessary for reform. But there is also careless cruelty – humiliating people on radio or using the law for personal revenge. That is not virtue. The best moral choice is compassionate justice – firm, but humane. We punish to correct, not to destroy.
We enforce the Ministry of Education calendar not to kill private schools, but to protect the rights of the child to rest, to play, and to protect poor parents from extortion.
MY PERSONAL PLEDGE TO THE PRESIDENT AND THE PEOPLE OF KANUNGU;
Therefore, today, I renew my vow:
To the poor woman who was chased from the PDM line, I am your son. Come to my office.
To the boda boda youth in Kanungu Town whose Emyooga money was shared by his chairman, I am your brother. Report.
To the teachers and to all civil servants who do their work faithfully while others steal, I am your comrade. I will protect you.
I will not be discouraged. The corrupt may be supported by our heads today, but history and God are on the side of truth.
Uganda does not need more leaders who follow the crowd. It needs more leaders who are willing to lead the crowd back to the right path, even if they walk alone for a while.
This Kisanja, there will be no more sleep for me as Deputy RDC until every coin of PDM reaches the intended beneficiary, until every Emyooga SACCO works, until every YLP youth gets his chance, and until every child studies without extortion.
For this is the President’s war, and it is my war too. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” – 1 Peter 2:9
For God and My Country.
