Twenty-six Ntungamo District Local Government staff are to be investigated over alleged financial irregularities involving Shs5.9 billion in public funds, including suspected ghost workers, questionable staff allowances, salary irregularities and expenditure on public projects, the Minister of Local Government, Balaam Barugahara, has said.
The alleged irregularities include road funds, salaries reportedly diverted outside the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPS), and expenditure on water projects that have reportedly failed to deliver services to residents.
During an accountability engagement at Ntungamo District headquarters on Wednesday, where he met district and municipal leaders, technical staff and other stakeholders as part of the government’s campaign against corruption and misuse of public resources, Minister Barugahara called for accountability in the management of public funds, emphasising the need for officials implicated in the alleged irregularities to explain their actions.
One of the major concerns was a payroll analysis conducted by an external auditor, which reportedly identified irregularities amounting to Shs5.9 billion, including suspected payments to ghost workers.
“Ntungamo had a lot of irregularities. In the payroll analysis made by the external auditor, the irregularities cost Ntungamo Shs5.9 billion,” Minister Barugahara said.
The district’s Principal Human Resource Officer, Jennifer Muhirwe, said a payroll clean-up had identified 38 uncertified staff suspected to be ghosts, alongside other irregularities. The exercise also reportedly identified 69 purported ghost health centres.
“I was instructed to clean the payroll and we started cleaning the payroll and we deleted all who were in the health department. Physically they were not existing,” Muhirwe said.
However, questions were also raised about her alleged involvement in advancing a loan to a person who was already deceased.
Minister Barugahara further questioned the procurement of three-seater desks distributed to 34 government-aided schools at a reported cost of Shs182 million, with each desk reportedly costing Shs298,000.
He also raised concerns about the recruitment of allegedly unqualified personnel and possible nepotism in public service, insisting that appointments should be based on merit and professional qualifications.
“If they are qualified, and have competed with others, got the jobs rightly, I wouldn’t have a problem. But in case they are not, the person who put them there is to answer,” he said.
Following the accountability meeting, Barugahara inspected selected public projects to establish whether the reported expenditure had translated into services for residents.
At Nyamurindira Primary School, he questioned expenditure of more than Shs130 million on a building roofed with iron sheets reportedly supplied through the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
Following the inspection, he directed district authorities to allocate Shs36 million from the road fund towards improving sanitation facilities and another Shs60 million for classroom construction.
The minister later visited a solar-powered production well in Nyarwanya Parish, where Shs45 million had reportedly been invested. However, residents said they were still unable to access water from the facility.
The concerns over the water project added to questions about the utilisation of public funds, with reports indicating that more than Shs500 million had been spent on water projects without the expected water supply reaching communities.
