Education boss ordered to refund over sh2m for missing work

By Davis Buyondo

The Inspector General of Government has given just two months for Tom Darlington Balojja, the Senior Education Officer and formally Acting District Education Officer, Lyantonde district, to refund Shs2,419,496 he received at the time he was absent from work.

Balojja is reported to have abandoned his office and left for further studies in India for close to a year without a formal permission from the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and approval of the District Service Commission (DSC) yet he kept on receiving irregular payments of allowances. 

A twelve-page report signed by Mariam Wangadya, the Deputy Inspector General of Government, indicates that in a period between December 2013 and October 2014, Balojja earned a total gross salary of Shs9,798,041 and a total of shs2,419,496 for allowances which he wasn’t meant to get since he was absent.

The report indicates that in October 2013, Balojja applied for a study leave of between 2-6 years to pursue a PHD at Veer Narmad South, Gujarati University in India.

However, the DSC chaired by Ruth Asiimwe Kanyaruju declined his application on grounds that it was not relevant to the District Local Government (DLG) and the added skills learned would only benefit him as an individual.

Unofficial release

Balojja was due to report for study and had been given 7 days to prepare for his journey to India with two other successful applicants he was supposed to travel with.

For that reason, the former CAO Giles Kahika verbally released him without a formal letter and a Bonding Agreement signed.

And in that process, Kahika was later transferred to Kyenjojo District before the DSC’s final decision was made on Balojja’s study leave application.

Although he was absent, Balojja kept receiving his salary as well as allowances which perturbed the DSC members who questioned the manner in which he received it.

In his statement to the IGG, the new CAO, Christopher Okumu, said he  received several complaints from various stakeholders including Sulaiman Tiguragara Matojo, the Lyantonde Resident District Commissioner, about Balojja’s abscondment.

Okumu therefore instructed the Human Resource Officer to stop further payment of salary and allowance to Balojja who was absent until the matter was thoroughly investigated and resolved.

He added that he had not released Balojja and found no formal letter from the former CAO Kahika allowing him to go on leave.

However, the matter attracted attention of the RDC and the District Executive Committee members who asked for the IGG to intervene to investigate the irregularities.

IGG intervenes

Following the investigations into the case, the IGG instructed Balojja to refund the monies in a period of two months adding that it must be deposited on the IGG’s assets recovery account in Bank of Uganda failure of which would call for legal action against him.

The IGG further recommended that Balojja’s study leave be resubmitted to the DSC for consideration and also avail clarification provided by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education and Sports on the purported PHD programme he is pursuing.

When contacted, RDC Matojo said that the report came at a time when cases of absconding civil servants were steadily rising which has impeded effective service delivery in the district.

Matojo told the New Vision that the report will help them follow up on tax payers’ money which is being mismanaged or wasted by lazy civil servants.

He also appealed to the IGG to cause the former CAO Kahika to refund the Shs9,798,041 which was paid to Balojja during his absence because he was responsible for unlawfully releasing him before the DSC could approve him.

We could not get Balojja for a comment because his phone was off. But his closest colleague told us he was out of the country and aware of the IGG’s recommendations in the report.