Tororo Municipality Faces Operational Crisis as Interdiction of Senior Officials Stalls Road Works

By Peterson Hiirya.

Tororo Municipality is struggling to deliver public services and implement development projects following the interdiction of four senior technical officers in connection with ongoing anti-corruption investigations.

The interdiction have particularly affected the Engineering Department, leaving the municipality without a substantive civil engineer to supervise road works, certify completed projects and oversee the implementation of infrastructure programmes.

Speaking about the situation, the Mayor of Tororo Municipality said the challenges followed the visit of Minister Balaam Barugahara on September 19, during which several municipal officials were arrested as part of investigations into alleged corruption.

The Mayor explained that between eight and nine staff members were initially arrested and later released on police bond after recording statements with the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and other investigation teams that remained in the municipality.

However, following the investigations and communication from the Ministry of Local Government, four officials were eventually interdicted on the instructions of the Permanent Secretary.

The affected officers include the Engineer, Acting Assistant Engineer, Senior Procurement Officer, Senior Auditor and Senior Fiscal Planner, although the Mayor’s account listed four interdicted positions while mentioning five titles.

He said the municipality has managed to redistribute some of the responsibilities to other staff members who were working alongside the interdicted officials.

For instance, another Fiscal Planner has taken over the responsibilities of the interdicted Senior Fiscal Planner, while the available Procurement Officer and Auditor have assumed duties previously handled by their senior colleagues.

However, the Engineering Department remains the biggest challenge.

According to the Mayor, the municipality is supposed to have five engineers but currently has only three, comprising a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer and a civil engineer who was serving in an acting capacity before being interdicted.

He said the situation has effectively left the municipality without an engineer capable of supervising its major civil works, forcing several development activities to stall.

The Mayor further revealed that the municipality is facing difficulties securing an alternative engineer because of existing wage constraints and restrictions affecting the recruitment process.

He explained that the municipality had already been experiencing staffing shortages across several departments, including health and education, with some schools operating without deputy headteachers and others having deficits of up to 20 teachers.

The situation has been worsened by the suspension of the District Service Commission, which was among the institutions affected by the ministerial intervention, making it difficult for the municipality to advertise and fill vacant positions.

The Mayor disclosed that the municipality had received approximately 500 million shillings out of the one billion shillings allocated for road works in the current financial year, but the absence of technical personnel has made it difficult to proceed with implementation.

He warned that continued delays could affect the utilization of government funds, particularly with the return of the rainy season, which makes road maintenance and infrastructure works increasingly urgent.

The municipality is also expected to benefit from approximately 15 kilometers of road works under World Bank funding, while the new Uganda Cities and Municipal Infrastructure Development (UCMID) project requires the availability of a Principal Engineer to supervise its implementation.

The Mayor cautioned that failure to resolve the staffing challenges could result in delayed projects and potentially cause some development funds to be redirected to other areas.

He revealed that the municipality had attempted to secure engineers through secondment arrangements from neighboring local governments and the district but had not received positive responses.

He said the situation is particularly difficult because engineering positions in Tororo Municipality have repeatedly been affected by arrests and interdiction over the years, making it challenging to attract officers willing to take up the responsibilities.

The Mayor therefore appealed to the Ministry of Local Government to develop an operational framework that allows local governments to continue delivering services even as investigations and anti-corruption measures proceed.

He emphasized that the municipality supports the government’s fight against corruption but argued that investigations should not completely paralyses service delivery and development activities.

He noted that residents elected their leaders with expectations of improved infrastructure and public services, adding that the current situation has made it increasingly difficult to fulfill those responsibilities.