More Education officials quizzed over Shs19b theft

  What you need to know: At least 16 senior officials have so far recorded statements since December last year. Thank you fo...

 

What you need to know:

• At least 16 senior officials have so far recorded statements since December last year.

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More senior officers at the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) are under investigation over alleged corruption and misuse of public funds between 2021 and 2025. Several of them have already recorded statements with detectives, as inquiries led by two separate anti-corruption agencies intensify.

The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit are independently probing a series of unauthorised financial transactions and suspected diversion of more than Shs19 billion in public funds within the ministry. At least 16 senior officials, including commissioners, directors, project heads, and assistant commissioners, have so far recorded statements since December last year. A similar number of middle- and lower-level officers are also expected to be interrogated in the final stages of the investigation.

On Tuesday, four additional officials recorded statements at CID headquarters in Kibuli. These included two senior assistant secretaries from the Department of Finance and Administration, the head of secondary education, and the project coordinator for Energy for Rural Transformation. All were released without charges. Both the police and the ministry have remained tight-lipped about the ongoing investigations, which cast renewed scrutiny on the ministry led by First Lady and Education Minister Janet Kataha Museveni.

Before the investigations, President Museveni, in 2023, replaced the ministry’s then Permanent Secretary, Ms Ketty Lamaro, with Undersecretary Jane Egau Akol. A senior police detective familiar with the case said although the investigation is still at a procedural stage, investigators now have a clearer picture of how funds may have been misappropriated across different levels of the ministry. According to police records, a wide range of senior officers have already been questioned.

These include the Commissioner for Human Resource Management, Assistant Commissioner for Internal Audit, Assistant Commissioner for Government Secondary Schools, Principal Assistant Secretary for Finance and Administration, Director of Basic and Secondary Education, Head of the Security Registry, Commissioner for Teacher Education, Training and Development, Commissioner for Physical Education and Sports, Project Coordinator for the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project, Commissioner for Technical Vocational Education and Training, and the Undersecretary for Finance and Administration. Others are the Commissioner for Internal Audit, two Principal Economists in the Planning Unit, the Commissioner for Health, Education and Training, the Director of Education Standards, and the Assistant Commissioner for Accounts.

These officers gave statements last month regarding the alleged diversion of funds during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 financial years. Detectives are now interviewing junior officers to trace the movement and handling of the questionable funds. Since Monday, detectives led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Mark Paul Odong, the deputy CID director-in-charge of Economic Fraud and Anti-Corruption, have focused on assistant commissioners and lower-level staff.

In the summonses, Mr Odong stated that it was alleged some officials had received public funds directly into their personal accounts, while others signed out money through the ministry’s cashier for various activities that are now under investigation. Among the officials expected to record statements today are the Technical Advisor for the Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers (SESEMAT) Programme, the Principal Human Resource Officer, the Commissioner for Teacher Education, Training and Development, and the Senior Education Officer who also serves as Budget Officer of the department.

Background

The investigations were formally launched on December 5, 2024, when CID officers summoned officials to appear before the State House Anti-Corruption Unit. The summonses were linked to suspicious transactions made via the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) between January 2021 and August 2024. Since then, numerous ministry officials have made visits to different investigative bodies to explain how large sums of money ended up on their personal accounts or were collected in cash.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).