KAMPALA — The Minister for the Presidency, Milly Babirye Babalanda, has directed Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), Resident City Commissioners (RCCs) and accounting officers to strengthen monitoring of government projects and intensify the fight against corruption, warning that negligence and misuse of public funds will attract disciplinary action.
Addressing journalists on matters of national importance, Babalanda said the government is stepping up efforts to improve accountability, enhance service delivery and eliminate corruption, which she described as one of the biggest obstacles to Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.
She said all government-funded projects, including roads, schools, health facilities, markets, water systems, electricity infrastructure and Parish Development Model (PDM) projects, must be closely monitored from planning through implementation and completion.
The minister directed RDCs and RCCs to maintain updated district project monitoring registers documenting project progress, implementation challenges, contractor performance and recommended interventions. The reports, she said, should be submitted regularly to the Office of the President.
Babalanda also expressed concern over reports of bribery, the sale of government jobs and collusion between public officials, contractors and service providers to approve payments for incomplete or non-existent work.
She instructed RDCs to ensure that cases involving procurement fraud, abuse of office, ghost workers, ghost projects, inflated contracts, diversion of public funds and falsification of accountability records are investigated and referred to the appropriate authorities.
To strengthen public participation in the fight against corruption, she directed RDCs and RCCs to prominently display the government’s toll-free anti-corruption hotline, 0800 320 320, at their offices to encourage citizens to report suspected cases.
The minister announced that her ministry will soon begin nationwide inspections to assess implementation of the Parish Development Model, with particular emphasis on President Yoweri Museveni’s Four-Acre Model aimed at increasing household incomes.
She directed RDCs to work closely with Chief Administrative Officers, District Production Officers, Community Development Officers, District Engineers and other technical officers to ensure effective supervision of the programme, maintain accurate beneficiary records and monitor enterprise performance and loan recovery.
According to Babalanda, the PDM is beginning to yield positive results, with banana production increasing by more than 140 percent, root crops by 67 percent, cereals by 34.5 percent and oil crops by 32 percent since the programme was introduced.
She added that the government has increased PDM funding from UGX 100 million to UGX 200 million per parish to accelerate household wealth creation and support Uganda’s ambition of expanding its economy to USD 500 billion by 2040.
However, the minister expressed concern over Uganda’s growing food import bill, revealing that the country imported goods worth about UGX 12.46 trillion from Tanzania during the 2024/2025 financial year, including rice, maize and groundnuts that could be produced locally.
She urged district leaders to strengthen agricultural extension services to increase local production while enforcing environmental protection measures, particularly the ban on rice cultivation in wetlands.
Babalanda commended RDCs and security agencies in the Ankole Sub-region for reducing cattle theft and singled out the RDC of Kween District for uncovering an alleged corruption syndicate that diverted PDM funds through ghost beneficiaries and manipulation of beneficiary records.
She warned that public officials who fail to properly supervise government projects, respond to citizens’ concerns or deliver services efficiently risk disciplinary action, including removal from office.
The minister also appealed to Ugandans to report corruption, poor-quality work, abandoned government projects and abuse of office, saying public participation is essential in safeguarding government resources.
On the forthcoming local government elections, Babalanda said preparations are complete for the Women Councils, LC I and LC II polls scheduled for 23 July, 28 July and 10 August, respectively.
She directed RDCs to mobilize citizens to participate in the elections and ensure adequate security before, during and after voting, saying peaceful and credible grassroots elections are vital to strengthening local governance.
