THE NAKALEMA GRAFT WAR: HERE IS WHAT M7’S BLUE EYED GIRL HAS DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS

In recent years, Lt Gen Edith Nakalema has become the face of the fight against corruption in the country, almost eclipsing the office of the Inspectorate of Government office. President Yoweri Museveni himself later clarified that he had not appointed his former private secretary was never meant to fight IGG Irene Mulyagonja to complement her work and “watch over the watchman.”

And since taking over office as the maiden head of State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) in December 2018, Nakalema has dared the corrupt, starting from what many called small fish to touching some powerful businessmen and connected government officials.

Uganda’s Road to a $500 Billion Economy: How Trade Reforms Are Shaping the Country’s Future

PDM Loan Repayment Phase Begins: Government Moves to Safeguard Uganda’s Poverty-Fighting Revolution

She has closely worked with Uganda Police Force (UPF) Criminal Investigations Department to effect the arrest of hundreds of officials, a few of whom have been convicted, others faced trial in courts of law and some money recovered.

On the whole, Nakalema’s 16 months of hard work have seen her expose crooked deals worth Shs250bn. She has seen some 146 people slapped with corruption-related charges in courts of law. Of these, 120 are public officials while the rest are private companies and people.

But in her almost one-and-a-half year tenure as SHACU leader, Lt Col Nakalema seems to have countered two challenges: fewer convictions and recoveries, and a slow judicial system dogged by a case backlog. For example, only 14 of the people arrested have been convicted: the rest (132) are still pending. For recoveries, only Shs1.73bn has been recovered so far. The recoveries were made from labour export companies (Shs1bn) “that had taken money from desperate youths with the promise of jobs in the Middle East and failed to provide the jobs.” The rest (Shs738m) had be recovered from the Gaming and Lotteries Board and returned to the Treasury.

LIST OF ARRESTED PUBLIC OFFICIALS