A week-long Anti-Corruption Caravan aimed at strengthening citizen participation in the fight against corruption has concluded in the Bunyoro sub-region after reaching thousands of residents and collecting hundreds of public concerns on corruption, poor service delivery, land disputes, procurement irregularities and abuse of office.
The campaign, spearheaded by the Inspectorate of Government (IG) in partnership with ActionAid International Uganda, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), Uganda Police Force, the Office of the Auditor General, Evidence and Methods Lab, and other accountability institutions, culminated in a stakeholders’ dialogue at Kabalega Resort in Hoima City.
The caravan, which was flagged off on June 19 in Kampala by the Inspector General of Government (IGG), traversed the districts of Kiryandongo, Masindi, Buliisa, Kikuube, Kagadi and Hoima, combining radio talk shows, community barazas, courtesy visits to district leaders and inspections of public projects.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Ms. Christine Lamwaka, Manager for Monitoring and Capacity Building at the Inspectorate of Government, said the initiative successfully created a platform where citizens openly voiced their concerns while accountability institutions listened and documented complaints for further action.
She said the IGG had tasked the team to engage communities, gather complaints and return with a comprehensive report that will inform future interventions by the Inspectorate.
According to Lamwaka, complaints were received both during open community dialogues and confidentially through complaint desks established at every stop of the caravan. She noted that while individual complaints would remain confidential, the Inspectorate would analyse all submissions and provide feedback to complainants after investigations.
The caravan also conducted inspections of several public facilities, including Kiryandongo General Hospital, Masindi public infrastructure projects, health facilities in Buliisa and schools in Kikuube, to assess service delivery and project implementation.
Lamwaka said the engagements demonstrated that fighting corruption requires collaboration among all accountability institutions. She acknowledged that one lesson from the exercise was the need to involve the Judiciary more actively after numerous complaints concerning delayed justice emerged during the public dialogues.
ActionAid International Uganda’s Partnership and Business Coordinator, Robert Kule, said the campaign exposed widespread governance and accountability challenges affecting communities across the sub-region.
He revealed that inspectors found patients at Kiryandongo General Hospital allegedly paying to use toilets and washrooms despite such services being expected to be free.
Land conflicts also dominated discussions in Kiryandongo, where residents complained that disputes remain unresolved for years due to weak institutional responses, forcing some citizens to appeal directly to the President instead of local authorities.
In Masindi, residents reported extortion in health facilities, where patients allegedly pay money before receiving treatment, while many essential medicines are unavailable, forcing patients to purchase drugs from private pharmacies.
The caravan also inspected a government school construction project in Masindi that has taken more than five years to complete despite being intended to serve students requiring engineering training. Inspectors expressed concern over delayed implementation and poor construction standards.
In Buliisa, where oil activities are expanding, land conflicts, bribery in police stations and alleged extortion in health facilities featured prominently among citizens’ complaints.
Kule said allegations of police bribery surfaced consistently in every district visited, with residents accusing some officers of demanding illegal payments during police operations and at station counters.
The caravan also uncovered concerns over illegal wetland encroachment in Kagadi, where local leaders admitted that political interference sometimes weakens enforcement of environmental protection laws.
Kule observed that although citizens are willing to report corruption, many struggle to access reporting structures because the Inspectorate of Government currently operates only one regional office serving the entire Bunyoro region.
He urged government to invest more resources in anti-corruption institutions by decentralising reporting mechanisms and ensuring citizens receive timely feedback after reporting corruption.
He further advocated blacklisting contractors who consistently fail to complete government projects on schedule, arguing that delayed public works deny communities access to essential services.
ActionAid International Uganda Country Director Samuel Ntale described the caravan as a significant milestone in amplifying citizens’ voices against corruption.
He said accountability institutions had made several commitments, including stronger follow-up mechanisms for complaints raised during the exercise.
Ntale welcomed proposals to strengthen accountability by pursuing both recipients and givers of bribes, saying corruption cannot be effectively addressed by targeting only one side of the transaction.
He also praised PPDA’s decision to establish a regional office in Hoima, saying it would improve procurement oversight and bring accountability services closer to citizens.
Ntale further welcomed discussions by the Uganda Police Force to introduce surveillance cameras at police service counters to curb bribery, one of the most common complaints raised throughout the caravan.
He emphasized that continuous feedback to citizens remains critical in sustaining public confidence in anti-corruption efforts.
David Matovu, Senior Officer for Corporate and Public Affairs at PPDA, said inspections revealed numerous procurement challenges, including delayed contracts, poor supervision of public projects and weaknesses in contract management.
He cited complaints surrounding disposal of government property during redevelopment works in Masindi and pledged that PPDA would investigate all procurement cases identified during the caravan.
Matovu announced that PPDA will establish a regional office in Hoima City to strengthen monitoring of public procurement across the Bunyoro sub-region.
He said the new office would improve oversight of government contracts and enable faster responses to procurement-related complaints.
Meanwhile, Michelle Dhikusooka, Communications Officer at Evidence and Methods Lab, said the caravan reinforced the importance of collecting evidence directly from citizens to improve accountability.
She noted that community members reported medicine shortages, poor sanitation in hospitals, illegal school charges, overcrowded classrooms, delayed salaries for teachers, land grabbing, illegal evictions, extortion under the Parish Development Model (PDM) and delayed justice.
According to Dhikusooka, one recurring concern throughout the caravan was what happens after citizens report corruption.
She said many residents admitted they had never reported corruption because they either did not know where to report or lacked confidence that authorities would take action.
To address this challenge, Evidence and Methods Lab is promoting a digital reporting platform known as “I Paid a Bribe”, which allows citizens to document and report corruption incidents using smartphones while helping institutions track trends and strengthen accountability.
She pledged that the organisation would continue documenting, verifying and following up complaints raised during the caravan to ensure institutions honour their commitments.
As the Anti-Corruption Caravan concluded, organisers pledged to continue working together to ensure every complaint receives attention, investigations are conducted transparently and citizens receive regular feedback.
The week-long campaign ended with renewed calls for stronger partnerships between government institutions, civil society organisations and ordinary citizens, with organisers emphasizing that defeating corruption requires everyone to speak out whenever they witness abuse of public resources.
