The Office of the Inspectorate of Government – IGG has embarked on a program to recruit and deploy community volunteers to assist in the fight against corruption.
The Inspectorate is targeting to recruit more than 4000 community monitors with at least 10 from each parish.
The recruitment that is being done at the Parish level is being carried out under a program called Transparency and Accountability Anti-Corruption (TAAC) that the Inspectorate of Government is rolling out in five districts in Ankole as a pilot project.
The districts are; Kiruhura, Mbarara, Isingiro, Ibanda and Ntungamo.
While passing out the Ibanda District Community Monitors on Friday, Annet Atwine the Director of Project Risk, Monitoring and Control, office of the Inspectorate of Government said that the community monitors are going to be the watchdogs of the Inspectorate since their office can’t be everywhere.
She said they want the citizens to own the war against corruption because they are the end victims.
She said the community Monitors project has been active in Northern Uganda and the Refugee hosting districts noting that they have now started to pilot the same in the Ankole region with a focus to move it across the country.
Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria, the Deputy Inspector General of Government says that the community Monitors will be sensitized and equipped with the confidence to be able to report corruption and also demand accountability on government projects.
She said with this strategy they will be providing direct feedback to the inspectorate of government.
Leonidas Tukundane, one of the Community Monitors of Kigunga Parish in Ibanda District expressed excitement about the new strategy of involving the ordinary Ugandan in the fight against corruption noting that they have lost a lot to corruption.