The Ugandan libertarian journalist discusses corruption in his country: "The
confluence of politics with fighting corruption has made the debate on
the problem lively and heated. It has also made it seem fairer as the
targets are the powerful. But it has also made it less effective in
generating the results our country needs. First, because it tends to
target regime cronies, it induces the president and the other arms of
the state to come to the defense of the accused – hence generating more
noise and less action. Second, it diverts attention from the more
insidious form of corruption that is widespread among many civil
servants [that make public goods and services difficult to deliver] where [ruling party] NRM and the president can be mobilized to support the
effort."
Mr. Mwenda continues his commentary about Ugandan kleptocracy: "I suspect
the struggle to recover stolen billions by confiscating the properties
of the thieves in the pension scam is on track to success because there
are no powerful politicians involved. So the NRM has little political
interest to defend in protecting them and everything to gain in pursuing
the case. If NRM can be persuaded to focus on fighting this form of
corruption (the non political one) it can realise some measure of
success. Yet this strategy cannot win public support. This is because
the masses are driven, as Karl Popper said, by the sentiment for justice
rather than the articulation of factual truths."
Andrew Mwenda Op-Ed: The Best Way To Fight Corruption
