President Yoweri Museveni’s so-called crackdown on corruption at the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is nothing but a sham, a grotesque charade designed to fool the public and international community. His recent directive for an investigation into URA staff involved in tax evasion at Entebbe International Airport is not a genuine attempt to clean house but a calculated move to distract from the rampant corruption that his regime has fostered for decades. The arrest of 16 individuals, including three URA officials, is a pathetic attempt to create a smokescreen while the real thieves continue to operate with impunity.
The appointment of Susanne Kasingye, a mere puppet in the hands of Museveni, to lead this investigation is laughable. Kasingye, lacking any real authority or intention to instigate change, is merely a pawn in Museveni’s game of maintaining the corrupt status quo. The detention of URA officials Phiona Nasasira, Joel Basenza, and Sheila Kamatsiko, along with the businessmen involved, is nothing more than a performance for the cameras. These sacrificial lambs are thrown to the wolves while the true masterminds of corruption within the URA remain untouched. The claimed UGX 139 million tax loss is insignificant when compared to the billions lost annually to systemic corruption.
This latest farce is just another episode in a series of failed attempts to tackle corruption under Museveni’s iron grip. Earlier this year, URA official Criss Atuhaire was conveniently paraded as a scapegoat, accused of causing UGX 1.3 billion in losses. Yet, the deeply entrenched corruption within URA, including inflated payrolls and ghost employees, remains a cancer that Museveni has no real intention of curing. His regime thrives on corruption; it is the lifeblood that sustains his grip on power. The truth is, Museveni has mastered the art of deception, creating high-profile scapegoats to divert attention from the real culprits who continue to plunder the nation’s wealth.
The reality is that Museveni’s so-called war on corruption is nothing more than a sick joke, a perverse theatre where the biggest thieves sit comfortably in positions of power, protected by the very man who claims to fight corruption. This charade only serves to reassure foreign donors and the gullible public that something is being done, while behind the scenes, the looting continues unabated. Museveni’s actions are not just hypocritical; they are a blatant insult to every Ugandan suffering under the weight of corruption. This regime is rotten to the core, and no amount of window dressing can hide the stench.
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