When Covid-19 disrupted government operations in 2020, senior officials at Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture turned the crisis into an opportunity for theft.
Instead of returning unspent funds to the treasury, they engineered fictitious expenditures worth Shs 9 billion, claiming to purchase food and rehabilitate facilities at Bukalasa Agricultural College and the Fisheries Training Institute.
The scheme was exposed by a damning audit report from Godfrey Odong in the Auditor General’s office, later confirmed by the Inspectorate of Government’s own probe led by Joram Magezi. The evidence pointed squarely at three senior technocrats: Stephen Nzogi, Kenneth Mugumya, and Betty Nanyondo.
Plans were underway to arrest and prosecute them, but the operation was reportedly leaked from within the IGG’s office.
Agriculture Minister Vincent Ssempijja intervened, meeting with IGG Beti Kamya to argue that the case was “sensitive” because it involved over 20 officials. Behind the scenes, it was alleged that implicated staff had already contributed Shs 150 million toward political campaigns, and when politicians realized the stolen sum was far larger, they insisted on handling the case “internally.”
Instead of arrests, Kamya struck a deal: the culprits would refund the money in installments. That arrangement was never enforced. To date, no prosecutions have taken place, and much of the Shs 9 billion remains unaccounted for.
The fallout was stark. Odong, the whistleblower, was sidelined and transferred after years without deployment. Magezi, who confirmed the fraud, was removed from his post and relegated to a less influential unit.
Meanwhile, Nzogi, Mugumya, and Nanyondo not only escaped sanction but were promoted and transferred to the Ministry of Education with the backing of Internal Auditor General Fixon Okonye.
Reports later emerged that a senior IGG official received land in Entebbe to help bury the case. The deal to recover funds quietly collapsed, leaving suspects free to advance in their careers.
With IGG Kamya now seeking an extension of her term, the scandal casts a heavy shadow over her record. Critics say it represents a failure of accountability and an indictment of Uganda’s anti-corruption machinery.
For whistleblowers, the outcome is chilling: those who spoke out were punished, while those implicated were rewarded. For the public, the episode underscores how political connections can shield corruption, eroding faith in institutions meant to safeguard public resources.
What began as a clear-cut case of fraud has instead become a case study in how justice can be derailed, leaving billions unaccounted for and accountability out of reach.
