KAMPALA — State House Anti-Corruption Unit has registered fresh complaints raising questions over the recruitment of staff for Uganda’s new program on Cities and Municipalities Infrastructure Development Programme (UCMID). The complaints indicated in a four page report alleged that support staff from earlier urban development programmes are being given an unfair advantage in the new recruitment process.
The complaints are registered in a whistle-blower’s report dated September 14, 2026, and are addressed to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit at the Parliamentary Complex in Kampala. The report refers to an earlier similar complaint to the same State House Unit concerning recruitment under UCMID and asks authorities to scrutinise the latest shortlist.
The UCMID programme is being implemented through the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development with financing of about US$540 million from the World Bank/IDA. The programme is intended to strengthen urban planning and management, improve climate-smart infrastructure and essential services, and support the economic development of participating cities and municipalities.
However, the complaint alleges that individuals who previously worked as support or contract staff under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) and USMID-AF programmes have been shortlisted for positions under UCMID
The complainant describes the individuals as “incompetent and very corrupt” and alleges that their continued involvement could jeopardise government programmes. Those allegations have not been independently established in the complaint and are presented as claims by the complainant.
The report raises seven main concerns, including allegations that the former staff attempted to secure retention without going through interviews, influenced technical assessments, contributed to financial losses during previous programmes and submitted documents directly to development partners without adequate internal controls.
The complainant also alleges that Ministry technical staff were given limited participation in the previous programmes, while support staff allegedly exercised significant control over programme finances and operations.
Another major allegation is that the contract staff frustrated efforts by the Department of Urban Development to recruit permanent Ministry employees to replace them. The complaint says the staff were initially expected to serve for about one year and transfer their skills to permanent government employees, but instead remained on contract for more than 10 years.
The letter further alleges that some government documents were not handed over to the responsible department even after the contracts and their extensions had expired. The complainant describes the alleged conduct as “a serious breach of public trust.”
Six individuals are specifically named in the complaint: Eng. Isaac Mutenyo, Paul Ahura Kaseregenyi, Kawuma Joseph, Eng. Denis B. Mwebaze, Kiracho Gilbert, and Naturinda Sheila. Their previous roles included programme coordinator, social development specialist, finance and accounting specialist, project engineer, monitoring and evaluation specialist, and communication specialist.
The complaint also calls for an investigation into the Commissioner for Urban Development, accusing him of helping to ensure that the same support staff remain involved in UCMID. It further questions his suitability to coordinate the new programme.
The complainant asks authorities to prevent the named individuals from competing for the positions and calls for any future support staff to have clearly defined responsibilities, limited contracts and a mandate to support rather than operate separately from the Ministry.
The allegations contained in the complaint have not been established as findings of fact. The named individuals and officials referenced in the letter have not been given their responses in the document, and any determination of wrong doing would require an appropriate investigation and an opportunity for those accused to respond.
