Six officers arrested by IGG over refugee scandal were under probe by OPM over extortion — PS Kakooza
On Thursday, the IG’s office raided the office and arrested Commissioner for Refugee Management Patrick Okello, together with five other officials and a Pakistani national, over alleged extortion during the registration process of refugees in Uganda.
OPM Permanent Secretary Alex Kakooza said they had received several complaints against the office, brought it to the attention of the officers, and immediately started investigations. (File photo)
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The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on Friday, June 5, 2026, said internal investigations had been launched against the office of the Commissioner for Refugee Management before the Inspectorate of Government (IG) operatives raided them on Thursday.
OPM Permanent Secretary Alex Kakooza said they had received several complaints against the office, brought it to the attention of the officers, and immediately started investigations.
“There have been a number of complaints, which we have been investigating internally about delays in receiving service at the Department of Refugees, and we called an internal meeting to harmonise. We thought that was going on. We also got other complaints of abuse of refugee rights, especially women, and that one was also under investigation,” he said.
On Thursday, the IG’s office raided the office and arrested Commissioner for Refugee Management Patrick Okello, together with five other officials and a Pakistani national, over alleged extortion during the registration process of refugees in Uganda.
The other arrested officials are: Douglas Asiimwe, Assistant Commissioner Refugee Management; Geoffrey Mugabe, Senior Settlement Commandant; Noel Ekwap, Head of Information Technology; Henry Bweme, Registration Officer; Arnold Nadiope, Refugee Status Interviewing Office; and a Pakistani national identified as Zafar Ahmad.
According to the IG’s office, Ahmad is alleged to have served as the link between OPM officials and refugees, and reportedly played a central role in coordinating transactions that were believed to have formed part of the extortion scheme.
The suspects are expected to assist investigators as inquiries into the alleged extortion network continue.
This will not be the first time a commissioner in the same office has been embroiled in a scandal.
On February 23, 2018, the Commissioner for refugees, Apollo David Kazungu, was interdicted by the then OPM Permanent Secretary, Christine Guwatudde Kintu, together with Walter Omondi, a refugee desk officer in Mbarara; Francis Nkwasibwe, a registration officer in Mbarara; and John Baptist Sentamu, formerly a camp commandant in Mbarara.
They were accused of, among others, theft of food items meant for refugees, bribery in the allocation of government land and scholarships, trafficking in minor girls and married women to men not of their choice, and interfering with refugee elections.
Their interdiction stemmed from a letter by the then United Nations Resident Coordinator to the Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, implicating the officials on the said allegations and mismanagement of the Solidarity Summit Funds worth $540,000 (approximately Shillings 1.9 trillion).