Sacked works ministry engineers revealed
President Yoweri Museveni ordered the dismissal of the six engineers from the Ministry of Works and Transport, Works Minister Fred Byamukama told Parliament on Monday (July 20).
Minister of Works and Transport Fred Byamukama
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The six works and transport ministry engineers, who have been sacked over poor handling of major road infrastructure projects, have been revealed.
President Yoweri Museveni ordered the dismissal of the six engineers from the Ministry of Works and Transport, Works Minister Fred Byamukama told Parliament on Monday (July 20).
According to a copy of the President's letter, which New Vision online has seen, the six dismissed engineers are: Eng. Ronald Twesigye, the head contracts committee at Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA); Eng. Sooma Ayoub, the director Entebbe Airport; Hellen Wenene, the head of legal at UCAA; and Eng. Ronald Olaki, the works ministry project manager of the stalled Masaka-Kyotera-Mutukula road.
Eng. Steven Kitonsa, the Engineer-in-Chief at the Ministry of Works, who is the head of all engineers at the works ministry, was also affected.
The other victim is Eng. Roggers Kisambira, the project manager on the ongoing road projects in Hoima and Kampala constructed in preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2027), which Uganda will co-host with Kenya and Tanzania.
“I have been getting reports that there is massive corruption in the Ministry of Works. Proof of the corruption has been the delays in road construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance. There are abundant examples everywhere, such as the Mpigi Expressway which is now under investigation, the shameful Mubende-Mutukula road, the Jinja road, the functioning scanners at Entebbe Airport, the recent attempts by the thieves to hike the cost of the AFCON roads from sh4b per km to sh8.5b per km etc.,” the President stated.
He added: “In order to start on the clean-up, by the Authority given to the President by Article 99 of the 1995 Constitution, I direct that they (six staff) are, with immediate effect, retired in the public interest. They should vacate office immediately. Organise for their handovers. I will look for patriotic Ugandans to replace them.”
Appearing before Parliament's Committee on Physical Infrastructure chaired by Mbarara City South MP Mwine Mpaka on Monday, Minister Byamukama said he had received communication from the President directing the removal of the engineers, adding that several other technical officers were under investigation over alleged irregularities that have delayed road projects including the Busega–Mpigi Expressway and increased costs.
“As I was leaving my office this morning, I saw a letter from the President sacking six engineers, including a few I am seeing on this front bench, over projects such as Busega-Mpigi, Mityana and Fort Portal roads,” Byamukama said without revealing names.
“The people who are suspected were implicated. That is why you saw the Permanent Secretary (Bageya Waiswa) being interdicted. We have a number of engineers recording statements with the IGG, and even those who left government are being investigated following the President's guidance,” he said.
The minister said corruption had significantly contributed to the poor performance of road projects, affecting both contractors and government.
“The issue of corruption has really contributed much to the failure of these projects and has hindered even good contractors from delivering their work. Some delays are deliberately created in approving designs, processing certificates and handling contract variations, eventually increasing the cost of projects,” Byamukama said.
He said the ministry was introducing reforms to prevent a repeat of similar challenges.
Among the measures, Byamukama said no future road contracts would be signed before government acquires at least half of the required right of way, noting that the President had advised that land acquisition should ideally reach 75% before commencement of construction.
“There will be no signing of road contracts unless the right of way has substantially been secured. We must stop exposing government to unnecessary claims arising from delayed land acquisition,” he said.
The committee was particularly concerned about the Busega-Mpigi Expressway, whose completion has repeatedly been pushed back amid funding constraints, land acquisition challenges and allegations of irregular design changes.
According to documents presented by the ministry, the 23.7-kilometre expressway, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), had reached 47.15% physical progress and 49.44% financial progress by June 2026.
The project, which commenced in November 2019, is now expected to be completed by December 2028, although the minister acknowledged the deadline may not be achieved.
“We must be honest. Even after 2028, we may not complete the project depending on the challenges we have seen. However, the contractor is doing good work and government is committed to ensuring the project progresses,” Byamukama said.
“I personally met the contractor and officials from the AfDB because we wanted work to resume. This is an important project and it must move regardless of the challenges we inherited,” he said.
During the meeting, MPs questioned ministry officials over changes to the original road design, alleging that sections of the alignment had been diverted from dry land into the wetland, resulting in increased costs and disputes over land compensation.
“We want to know who changed the design. The original alignment was on dry land, but somebody changed it into the wetland. We also want to know who owns the land titles in the swamp and who approved those changes,” Mpaka said.
The committee also demanded details of consultants involved in the project and payments made during the design stages, saying the changes had contributed to significant cost variations.
Responding to the committee, Eng. Isaac Wani, the Commissioner for National Roads at the Ministry of Works and Transport, explained that the project had initially stalled because the contractor had not been paid and that the original financing had been exhausted.
“The project was suspended because of two reasons; first, the contractor had not been paid under the former Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). Secondly, the original loan had been fully utilised, and there was uncertainty over additional financing,” Wani told MPs.
He said following Parliament's approval of an additional AfDB loan, the contractor had resumed mobilisation after receiving part payment. Wani also disclosed that the ministry had introduced new procedures governing design changes and contract management to improve accountability.
“We now have regulations and a design policy that clearly assigns responsibility. Going forward, every officer involved in approving design changes will sign off on their respective responsibilities so that there is no ambiguity over who made which decision,” he said.
However, Wani acknowledged that ministry officials had not come prepared with historical records on earlier design decisions and consultant payments, prompting MPs to demand that the documents be submitted to the committee before the inquiry concludes.
The committee is expected to continue examining several road projects as Parliament seeks accountability for persistent delays, escalating costs and allegations of corruption within the country's road infrastructure programme.