Timothy Baguma

This feels like Operation Restore Hope.

The sustainable fight against corruption will be by building institutions (not individuals) and letting them do their job. The current celebration can be understood. Naturally, we celebrate the ongoing action against AAA because of the anger we have towards her displayed insensitivity, with on-camera extravagance, theft, and impunity. Her biggest fault is rubbing it in our faces and persecuting critics/opponents, otherwise corruption per se is normal now. The moment is also used as an outlet for the accumulated frustrations in the public. In a place where corruption is hardly ever genuinely fought, this isolated action had to be exciting - no matter its political intentions. But, knowing what we know, including that Mawanda is a big PLU official, we need to come back to our senses after the AAA downfall excitement. Other bizarre things are passing in the dust of this dance. We need to remain cynical because many other known corrupt people who are still in good books are walking heads high. There is no new beginning being announced with regard to integrity; it is more of an announcement of the might of a new power base. We need to continue demanding that illegality is not fought with illegality and arbitrariness. We naturally didn’t care who sorts the irritating AAA, but we should know that if relevant institutions were allowed to do their job and also checked, the AAA phenomenon wouldn’t have taken this long to be brought to order. We know why the IGG and Auditor General developed cold feet during the earlier Parliament Exhibition, as they often do around big political darlings. We watched Parliament become the casino that it is. Government can’t act shocked, except in announcement of incompetence. We know why many relevant bodies can’t do their job. We can also see that the AAA issue has been choreographed and performed in a way that politically channels credit to an individual who shouldn’t have been at the center of it in a healthy system. That is why it came along with announcement of his preferred replacement - an early patronage sign that the cycle is likely to be repeated. We have not failed to stop corruption because of lack of individuals who care. It is because of a political system that thrives on corruption and only affords an occasional performance of fighting it where some political interests are at risk or when we want to politically manufacture credit and power for special individuals. A more sustainable fight should be institutional, constitutional and non-selective.