IGG Beti Kamya meeting the Speaker of Parliament Anita Among yesterday.
The Inspector General of Government, Beti Kamya has revealed that due to the lengthy judicial process in prosecuting corruption related cases, the Inspectorate has adopted out of court settlement in order to recover funds stolen by public servants.
Kamya made the revelation while handing over the Bi-Annual Performance Report where she revealed that between July-December 2021, there were a total of 1,534 complaints recorded and of these, 761 were against Local Governments, while 733 cases were against Ministries, Departments and Agencies and only 542 cases were investigated by the IGG
“But we have also opted for out of court settlement and we have found them to be quite effective because people are made to refund money once the investigations pin them on how they caused loss through embezzlement. While the option of prosecution is good, sometimes it takes so long and sometimes, it isn’t a guarantee that you will win the case, you could lose it on technicalities and you,” said Kamya.
The IGG said that the Inspectorate was prompted after discovering that the conviction rate is 35%, adding that even in scenarios where the Inspectorate believes it has a good case, but the vigilances of the judicial process, doesn’t guarantee recovery of the money.
The report indicated that in the period under review, there were 35 cases prosecuted to conclusion and of these, the IGG received 12 convictions translating to a 34.2% conviction rate and Shs2.288Bn was recovered as a result of prosecution.