In the context of the SUGAR project (“Strengthening Uganda’s Anti-Corruption and Accountability Response”) project, funded by the UK Department for International Development, experts from the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery conducted its first training workshop in early July 2016 as part of an extended train-the-trainer learning programme. This same training workshop will be repeated 4 times over the next 6 to 8 months, and will involve the selection and training of participants to become local trainers who may in the future deliver such training workshops to their peers themselves, thereby creating a greater degree of sustainability of the programme's intentions. The overall aim of the programme is to fine-tune the technical skills of representatives of Uganda’s key law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to analyse, investigate and prosecute international bribery cases, and recover assets. 

This first workshop was attended by 22 participants including members of the judiciary and prosecutors and investigators from the Inspectorate of Government and Directorate of Public Prosecutions. At the heart of the training was a practical exercise during which the participants investigated a simulated corruption case and learnt new financial investigative skills to determine illicit or unknown wealth. This hands-on interactive exercise also involved money laundering and the tracing/recovery of assets, following leads and collecting relevant information and/or evidence. Particular emphasis was placed on securing international co-operation, an inevitable component of any complex financial crime investigation and asset recovery.