Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Asadu Kigozi Kisitu has reportedly gone missing on the eve of a disciplinary hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday, September 22, amid an unresolved dispute over his suspension.
Armed security personnel dressed in UPDF uniform reportedly surrounded Kisitu’s residence in Buziga on Monday evening, September 21. His family said a roadblock was mounted at the home and that Kisitu could not be traced afterwards.
His whereabouts remained unknown at the time of publication, while no security agency had publicly claimed responsibility for the reported operation.
The development comes nearly five months after Kisitu was suspended from his duties as Commissioner for Customs and Border Control on April 30, 2026, pending investigations.
He was subsequently placed on three months’ gardening leave from May 25 to August 27 as the investigations continued. However, the reasons for his suspension have never been publicly explained by URA, leaving his employment status and the disciplinary process subject to continued uncertainty.
Kisitu has maintained that he remains the Commissioner for Customs and has previously said he was on annual leave while the process against him continued.
The long-running dispute took a new turn in September when Kisitu wrote to URA Board chairman Emmanuel Katongole challenging the manner in which his disciplinary case was being handled.
In a five-page letter dated September 8, Kisitu described the process as irregular and unlawful and called for an independent investigation.
He alleged that some witnesses had been coerced or offered financial rewards to testify against him, while also claiming that material evidence had not been disclosed to him. He further alleged that electronic information had been extracted from the phones of potential witnesses.
Kisitu also questioned the independence of the disciplinary process, citing the involvement of Commissioner General John Musinguzi in initiating or directing the investigation while serving as a member of the URA Board.
He argued that this created a conflict of interest and said he would not meaningfully participate in the proceedings unless concerns over independence and procedural fairness were addressed.
The URA Board rejected his request to halt the process, maintaining that it has statutory authority under the Uganda Revenue Authority Act to discipline officers at his level.
The Board said Musinguzi would not vote on the findings or decision in Kisitu’s case. It also said the allegations concerning witness coercion, non-disclosure of evidence and extraction of electronic information would be investigated separately.
At the same time, the Board agreed that Kisitu should receive particulars of the allegations against him and relevant material before the hearing. It said no adverse finding would be based on material that had not been disclosed to him without giving him an opportunity to respond.
The Board acknowledged that the disciplinary process had taken longer than desirable because of repeated postponements, but maintained that the hearing would proceed on September 22 unless there was good cause for another delay.
Kisitu’s suspension had already triggered uncertainty within URA after his position was reassigned to Henry Kwaligonza Byenkya, who had previously served as Manager Warehousing. Byenkya has subsequently been publicly referred to by URA as Commissioner or Acting Commissioner for Customs in official engagements.
Kisitu, who has more than 25 years’ experience at URA, rose through several customs functions, including border management, valuation, warehousing, risk management and tariffs. He holds a master’s degree in customs administration and has been recognised by the World Customs Organization among Africa’s strong performers.
He served as Acting Commissioner before taking up the substantive Commissioner role, where his responsibilities included trade facilitation, compliance, digital reforms and efforts to tackle fraud in freight forwarding.
The circumstances surrounding his suspension have generated speculation about internal tensions at URA, although the authority has not publicly confirmed specific allegations of misconduct against him or the reported internal disagreements.
