Parliament — Questions have emerged over the dismissal of senior engineers in the Ministry of Works and Transport after the ministry presented several completed road projects before Parliament, including roads that were implemented under the supervision of engineers who were later dismissed.
The issue has sparked debate among Ugandans who are questioning the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of some engineers accused of delaying projects and other alleged irregularities, yet some of the projects they supervised have since been presented among those successfully completed by the ministry.
Last week, Minister of State for Works, Fred Byamukama, appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure, where he highlighted several national road projects that the ministry said had been completed successfully.
Among the four projects presented were the Alwii–Nebbi Road (33km), Soroti–Dokolo–Lira–Kamdini Road (189.4km), Moroto–Lokitanyala Road (42km) and the Pallisa–Kumi Road (21km).
According to the information presented, the projects were among those the ministry was proud to have completed.
However, the presentation has raised questions because two of the roads—Pallisa–Kumi and Moroto–Lokitanyala, were reportedly implemented under the supervision of Engineer Ronald Olaki, who is among the engineers who were dismissed by the ministry.
The development has left some observers questioning how engineers accused of delaying projects could have been associated with road projects that the same ministry now cites among its successfully completed works.
The controversy is particularly significant given the allegations previously levelled against some of the dismissed engineers, including claims of project delays and corruption.
The questions now being raised are whether the engineers were fairly assessed before their dismissal, whether their individual performance was properly evaluated across the projects they supervised, and whether the reasons given for their removal are consistent with the ministry’s own assessment of the projects.
The presentation before Parliament has therefore renewed calls for greater transparency regarding the circumstances under which the engineers were dismissed and the criteria used to evaluate their performance.
For many Ugandans, the issue is not simply about the completion of the roads but also about accountability within the Ministry of Works and Transport.
If roads supervised by engineers who were later dismissed are now being presented as successfully completed projects, critics argue that the Government should clearly explain what went wrong and why the engineers were removed despite their involvement in projects that eventually achieved completion.
The ministry has yet to publicly provide a detailed explanation addressing these specific concerns.
The debate also comes at a time when the Government is under increasing pressure to ensure that public infrastructure projects are completed on time, within budget and to the required standards.
The questions surrounding the dismissed engineers are therefore likely to remain a subject of public interest until the ministry provides a comprehensive account of their performance, the reasons for their dismissal and the eventual status of the projects they supervised.
