Parish chief remanded over alleged sale of Mitooma district jobs

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A parish chief in Mitooma district has been remanded to prison over allegations of extorting money from job applicants in exchange for employment opportunities.

The State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU), working with the Criminal Investigation Directorate and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, on April 14, 2026, arraigned Esther Owarimpa, the parish chief of Ruhehe North Parish in Kabira subcounty, before the Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala on charges of corruption.

The prosecution alleges that between October 2025 and January 2026, while serving at Mitooma district Local Government, Owarimpa solicited and received millions of shillings from job applicants, claiming she could influence decisions of the district service commission to secure them employment.

She has been remanded until April 27, 2026.

Her arrest follows earlier operations in which several Mitooma district officials were apprehended over similar allegations of selling government jobs and extorting money during recent local government recruitment exercises held on March 12, 2026.

Those arrested include Joanita Nakityo, the chief administrative officer, Sadic Mugisha, the district health officer, Sam Karakuza Tugume, the chairperson of the district service commission, and Richard Nabimanya, a senior education officer. Other suspects remain at large.

According to SHACU, investigations revealed that Nakityo repeatedly interfered with the functions of the district service commission by taking over responsibilities such as scheduling interviews and selecting technical advisors.

She is also accused of directly influencing the scoring of candidates by the commission chairperson, Tugume.

“It is alleged that Tugume extorted amounts ranging from sh7 million to sh25 million from 23 candidates, promising them jobs in the ongoing recruitment. Mugisha was found to have engaged in influence peddling to ensure specific candidates were included and scored highly, with two candidates receiving a score of 48 out of 50. He also leaked interview questions and answers to certain applicants to aid their preparations and gain an unfair advantage over others,” SHACU stated.

SHACU further noted that Nabimanya participated in influence peddling by contacting the chairperson of the district service commission to secure favourable assessments for some education officers during interviews.

Owarimpa had initially been among the suspects who were on the run.

“The public is called upon to report incidents of extortion during recruitment to the authorities,” SHACU noted.