KAMPALA— The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) is investigating more than 20 officials from the Ministry of Education and Sports in connection with an alleged Shs19 billion corruption scandal. The funds are believed to have been diverted during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years.
CID Deputy Director for Economic Fraud and Anti-Corruption Mark Paul Odong has summoned at least 20 ministry staff to report to CID headquarters in Kibuli to record statements. Since Monday, eight officials from the ministry’s finance and human resources departments have been interrogated and recorded statements in relation to the alleged diversion of public funds. A police source described the interrogations as a preliminary stage aimed at gathering and analyzing evidence before determining individual culpability.
According to summonses sent to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, the investigation targets allegations of diversion of public funds, embezzlement, causing financial loss and corruption. “It is alleged that some officials received funds on their personal accounts, while others signed for funds from the ministry cashier for various activities now under investigation,” Odong stated in the letter.
Officials required to appear before investigators this week include the principal assistant secretary for finance and administration, the human resource officer, the senior human resource officer, and the gender technical adviser. The ministry’s senior statistician, the administrator of the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project (USEEP), and two other human resources officials reported for questioning yesterday.
Four more officials, including two senior assistant secretaries from the Finance and Administration department, the head of Secondary Education, and the project coordinator for Energy for Rural Transformation, were expected to appear today. Additional staff, including the technical adviser for Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers (SESEMAT), the principal human resource officer, the commissioner of Teacher Education, Training and Development, and the senior education officer who also serves as the budget officer in the Department of Pre-Primary and Primary Education, are scheduled to record statements tomorrow.
Odong noted that several key officials, including the principal assistant secretary for Finance and Administration, the human resource officer, the senior human resource officer, and the gender technical adviser, would return for additional interviews. Police plan to question four more officials next Monday.
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke declined to confirm the investigation, stating he had not yet been briefed. Ministry of Education spokesperson Denis Mugimba also stated he was unaware of the CID summons. “I’m hearing this from you. I haven’t been informed of any such development,” Mugimba said.
This is not the first time the Ministry of Education and Sports has faced such allegations. In 2012, CID investigated the suspected mismanagement of Shs300 billion under the World Bank-funded Universal Post-Primary Education and Training (UPPET) program, though findings were never made public. More recently, in May, a Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) report revealed suspected forged documents allegedly smuggled through the ministry.
Following the 2012 Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) corruption scandal, the government issued a directive prohibiting the transfer of public funds to personal accounts, aiming to strengthen controls against embezzlement.
