The Deputy Inspector General of Government, Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria, has called on the UK Commonwealth Development Office to prioritize scholarships in specialized fields such as fraud detection, money laundering, anti-corruption, and crime detection.
Speaking at an event celebrating 65 years of Commonwealth Scholarships in Uganda, held on Saturday at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, Dr. Okiria emphasized the urgent need for technical expertise to tackle corruption and related crimes in the country.
“For me, I would like to appeal to the UK Commonwealth Development Office to consider providing scholarship studies in the areas of fraud, money laundering, anti-corruption, and crime detection, to further contribute to the pool of experts and technical persons in the country that can fight this problem,” she stated.
The event, graced by Annabel Boud, CEO of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, celebrated the transformative impact of the scholarship program. Over 1,700 Ugandans have benefited from the postgraduate initiative, many of whom now hold key positions in academia, government, and the private sector.
This year, 52 Ugandans were selected for the scholarship program out of 600 slots across the Commonwealth. Boud rallied Ugandans to take advantage of the program, emphasizing its role in equipping individuals with critical skills to drive national development.
“Inorder to get a Commonwealth Scholarship you have to be academically strong, you also have to have a strong study plan, and you have to know what you want to get out of the course when you get to the UK. But you have to have a clear plan on how you are going to impact Uganda when you come back,” she remarked.
She added that it is through such interventions that the UK Government is contributing to the development of Uganda.
