Teachers in Mpigi have allegedly received an unauthorized payment of 106 million Ugandan Shillings.

 

During a session of the Public Accounts Committee (Local Government) in Parliament, members were taken aback by a startling revelation: 20 teachers in Mpigi District had been illicitly accessing the payroll and drawing salaries for an unauthorized period of seven years. This misconduct resulted in a financial loss totaling 106 million Ugandan Shillings. The committee, presided over by Hon. Gilbert Olanya, convened with district officials on August 17, 2023, to address queries raised by the Auditor General for the Financial Year 2021/2022.

According to the Auditor General's findings, these teachers had gained access to the payroll using forged appointment letters from the District Education Service Commission. During the meeting, Olanya directed his inquiries towards Selestino Kaweesa, the Mpigi District Principal Human Resource Officer, questioning why the irregularities were not detected and addressed in a timely manner.

"Why were you not intervening or halting their actions? They continued to receive funds for seven years without any intervention. Why?" Olanya inquired.

Kaweesa responded by explaining that the district officials became aware of the illegitimate activities only after the Auditor General's report was released. Following this, they notified the police to conduct investigations; however, by that point, all the implicated teachers had disappeared, making it impossible to recover the misappropriated funds.

Kaweesa further noted that although the teachers were considered "ghost" employees on the payroll, they had still been actively teaching in their respective schools. He emphasized that this fact had been confirmed by the headteachers of those schools.

While addressing the situation, Hon. Abdul Mutumba (NRM, Kiboga West County) emphasized that forgery is a criminal offense and advocated for the culprits to be apprehended and prosecuted. He pointed out that these teachers were members of the local community and, therefore, the matter should be pursued with law enforcement.

Moses Kanyarutokye, the Mpigi District Chief Administrative Officer, informed the committee that all the teachers involved in the scandal had been removed from the payroll.

The committee of MPs warned the district officials that they would be held responsible for recovering any lost funds in the future, should similar cases arise again.