KAMPALA, UGANDA – The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) has arrested 12 senior government officials from six different agencies in connection with creating “ghost workers” on the government payroll, a police source said. Detectives are still searching for a dozen other suspects.
The arrests follow a presidential directive from President Yoweri Museveni to CID Director Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Tom Magambo last year to investigate the issue. The suspects are from the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, Entebbe Referral Hospital, Uganda Police Force, Makerere University Business School, the Ministry of Works and Transport and Kyambogo University.
The suspects were seen being transported in police vans to the CID headquarters in Kibuli yesterday, where they were interrogated for hours before being detained. They are expected to appear in the Anti-Corruption Court today.
CID’s Deputy Director, Senior Commissioner of Police (SCP) Beata Chelimo, confirmed the arrests but declined to give further details. “It is true, we have some arrests, but the right person to talk to is the director,” Chelimo said. AIGP Magambo was unavailable for comment.
According to a police source, the suspects are accused of neglect of duty, hiring unqualified people and paying deceased civil servants. It is also alleged that suspects at Kyambogo University and the Ministry of Works and Transport were paying double salaries to some civil servants.
President Museveni has been vocal about his discontent with ghost workers. In February, he said he had written to the CID to arrest all those involved. In July, he directed the Ministry of Works and Transport to fire 152 employees at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority.
A 2023 report by the Auditor General found 10,000 suspected ghost civil servants who were either dead, had retired or had absconded from duty. The report said they were earning 53 billion shillings annually. President Museveni later criticized the Auditor General for reporting the issue to Parliament instead of informing him to allow for criminal investigations.
