The state minister for Local Government Rusoke Busingye

The minister effectively invoked the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders, which under Disciplinary Procedures (F - s) 1, it is stated that, “Any act done without reasonable excuse by a public officer, which amounts to failure to perform any duty assigned to him or her, or which contravenes any laws relating to the Public Service or which is otherwise prejudicial to the efficient conduct of the Public Service or tends to bring the Public Service into disrepute constitutes misconduct.”

The said misconduct falls under X of the same clause which defines provides that “falsification of records or documents” is misconduct and therefore grounds for dismissal and legal action.

Of the 36 accused persons, 27 presented forged academic documents while seven of the accused persons presented academic documents from institutions that were not on the list of recognised higher education training institutions as of June 30, 2021 when they applied for the jobs they hold. So they were not eligible for employment in said jobs.

Two others, the minister said, were unable to have their academic documents verified because they failed to obtain their academic details from the training institutions that they had attached on their application forms when they were getting employed.

In calling for the arrest of the 36 persons accused, the minister referenced a report released on Friday February 11, 2022.

This report arose out of an investigation into the alleged recruitment of unqualified personnel to fill the positions of parish chiefs and principal town agents in Kagadi district.

The said investigations into the improper recruitment of personnel were conducted by a four-member team, led by Rusoke herself.

After the investigations were complete, the findings were presented to the decision makers at the district, including the minister, during a meeting held at Kagadi district headquarters.

The said investigations began after certain reports reached the attention of the ministry of local government regarding Kagadi district service commission’s alleged engagement in corruption in the shape of recruiting 17 people who lacked the requisite academic documents. Rusoke, who reportedly carried out thorough investigations, also revealed that only 69 appointed parish chiefs and principal town agents presented genuine academic documents. She then ensured that these persons were deployed with immediate effect. Raphael Magyezi, the Minister of Local Government, recently warned local governments that if nothing is done to scale back corruption in the districts, the central government may be left without nothing else to do but take back some of the responsibilities given to the local administrations under the system of decentralisation. The functions which could be re-centralised include the power to recruit workers and oversee land management, these are two areas which have become sources of corruption in districts. “I see a lot of agitations to take back some of the powers that have been decentralised. The argument is one — they tell me your people are corrupt,” Magyezi said.

“Sometimes it is hard to resist those agitations. Therefore, I would like to remind you to stick to your role of monitoring and supervising government programmes and projects in your districts, municipalities and cities, so we can have value for money,” he added.