The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Jacob Marksons Oboth-Oboth, has warned that corruption has become a sophisticated international industry and said the Inspectorate of Government (IG) must be retooled, staffed and funded to keep pace.
The Speaker spoke on Monday when the Inspector General of Government, Hon. Lady Justice Aisha Naluzze Batala, presented the Inspectorate’s 55th Bi-Annual Performance Report for January to June 2026.
“Don’t take it as a small thing. It’s an industry, internationally known,” the Speaker said. “They are learning how to steal without being caught.”
He said corruption is no longer as simple as money hidden in a drawer where investigators can find it. Modern schemes are digital and technologically complex, relying on siphoning money through layered structures. An Inspectorate that sticks to traditional methods, he warned, will fail.
The Speaker recalled his time as chairperson of the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, during which the committee recommended funding for training, retooling and skilling the IG’s technical staff.
The committee also studied anti-corruption practice in Abuja, Nigeria, and drew on provisions there, including rules on beneficial ownership. He said Uganda’s approach had until then been too traditional.
“The law is not static,” he said. As corrupt actors change their tactics, he added, the law must keep up or become redundant.
He asked the Inspectorate to identify legal gaps for Parliament to address through amendments. The IG’s report also lists gaps in the anti-corruption legal framework among its main challenges.
168 Posts Vacant
The Speaker also highlighted the Inspectorate’s staffing shortfall. The IG reports that 168 positions in its approved structure are unfilled.
“How can you fight corruption when you cannot be where you are supposed to be?” he asked.
He said he had asked the Budget Committee and the relevant sectoral committee to prioritise the IG’s resource needs, including operational funding.
The IG’s report lists several resource challenges, including inadequate funding for office operations, inadequate staff and technical skills to respond to emerging forms of corruption, an old vehicle fleet and no designated funding for the TAAC rollout.
The Speaker also told committee chairpersons that their own backlogs should shape the budgeting process due to begin in October.
He noted that accountability committees and some sectoral committees carry large backlogs and need resources for work beyond the ordinary.
Even with these constraints, the IG inspected 543 projects in January–June 2026, up from 103 a year earlier. It also achieved an 89.7% conviction rate.
The report will be on the Order Paper on Tuesday, 13 October 2026.
