The Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, has called for more tough actions against public servants involved in corruption and financial misappropriation.

While addressing the parliamentary plenary session chaired by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, Ssenyonyi argued that there is a need to roll up sleeves to fight corruption.

“We sometimes sanitise this evil by giving it flowery names like corruption and misappropriation. These guys are thieves, and we hope the government will take serious action as opposed to talking,” Ssenyonyi said.

Ssenyonyi said that Uganda loses between UGX 9.1 trillion and UGX 20 trillion per year to corruption, according to a survey conducted by the Inspectorate of Government (IG).

Uganda has been ranked the fourth most corrupt country within East Africa, according to the Transparency International Corruption Index released on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, while Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya were ranked among the top three most corrupt countries in East Africa.