MPs probe diversion of sh1.688b Kiteezi relief funds

KAMPALA - Government diverted Sh1.68 billion meant for victims of a devastating garbage landfill collapse in Lusanja village, Kiteezi parish, Wakiso district, lawmakers have heard.

The revelation came to light on Friday, March 6, 2026. This was during a meeting between officials from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), who were led by Permanent Secretary Alex Kakooza and Members of Parliament on the Public Accounts Committee (Central), chaired by Mawogola South’s Goretth Namugga.

At the time, the two parties were dissecting Auditor General (AG) Edward Akol’s report on OPM for the year ended December 2025.

Whereas he noted that while Sh3.44 billion has been released to this end, a portion of that money was instead used to procure relief items and support disaster-related activities in other places across the country, other than Kiteezi, without evidence of approval by the minister.

Something, he observed, Treasury Instructions 2017, which state that budget virements up to 10 per cent shall require approval of the Minister. On the other hand, virements in excess of 10 percent requires parliamentary approval.

“Diversion of funds affects delivery of services and negates the purpose of release of contingency funding,” AG Akol stated.

On account of the above, lawmakers, one after the other, tasked OPM officials with what was termed a growing routine.

“Why did you divert that money that was meant for the people of Kiteezi, and where did you take this Sh1.688 billion?” Namugga probed.

Govt responds

OPM’s permanent secretary, Alex Kakooza, in response, said that as accounting officers, they have been requesting for some flexibility to allow them to use some level of discretion to handle situations as they arise.

In any case, he added that the relief camp for the Kiteezi victims had been dismantled.

“In this case, when we made our submission, in annex two, part of the money we submitted was for food relief items. So, we requested for that money and relief items, especially food was Sh1.8 billion. By the time we got this money, the camp had been decommissioned. There were no people to give food, but we had people in the Elgon sub-region who needed food, and we wrote to the Ministry of Finance,” Kakooza explained.

“How can that be categorised as diversion?” he wondered.

However, Kakooza’s explanation only served to invite more questions from lawmakers.

“We want you to educate us on the definition of a disaster and responding to a disaster. I know you have framework contractors with providers of these services. In your comments to the auditor, you say this money was released three months later. Does planning for disaster make any sense?” Namugga inquired.

“We send our displeasure to the Rt. Hon. Nabbanja. As servants of the people, we are unhappy with the way the subject of Kiteezi was handled.  We must prioritise concerns of the people,” she lamented.

While the Prime Minister did well to intervene in the recent flooding in Kampala, she fell short on Kiteezi, Namugga added.

Background

Kiteezi garbage landfill collapsed in early August 2024, leaving 35 people dead and 280 displaced.

According to documents, the disaster was long in the making.  

From 1996 to two years ago, when the landfill collapsed, the city’s population had surged from about one million to 2.5 million by 2024, generating roughly 30,000 tonnes of rubbish each month.