Updated by Faith Barbara Namagembe at 1633 EAT on Wednesday 1 March 2023.

The public accounts committee of parliament has directed the arrest and prosecution of two teachers from the Buhweju and Isingiro districts who are accused of forgery.

One of the teachers, Abert Ariyo Tibijuka is accused of forging an appointment letter from the Education Service Commission (ESC) indicating that he had been posted to serve as a senior education officer for Nyakitoko secondary school in Buhweju district. Similarly, Edward Senyondo allegedly forged an appointment letter posting him to Bukanga secondary school in Isingiro district.

The committee chaired by MP Martin Ojara Mapenduzi issued the directive during a hearing held in Mbarara today. It specifically questioned the chief administrative officers of both districts for failing to detect the anomaly and continuing to pay salaries and allowances to the two ‘teachers’, resulting in financial loss to the districts.

Henry Damba the chief administrative officer of Buhweju district was accused of causing a loss of Shs 26 million through payments to Tibijuka who had been on the payroll for 11 years. The committee also accused Alice Asiimwe Rusherure, the Isingiro district chief administrative officer of causing a loss of Shs 10 million from payments to Senyonjo had been on the payroll for two years.

Ojara said that both chief administrative officers acted contrary to the Uganda public service standing orders which require the proper appointment of public officers before their deployment and assumption of duty. But the accounting officers said that they had discovered the forgery during auditing and removed the teachers from the payroll.

They added that they had filed cases of forgery against the accused at their respective police stations from where investigations are ongoing. Ojara and the committee directed that the parliamentary police take on the case and liaise with the respective police stations to expedite the investigations and have the accused arrested and prosecuted.

The committee also directed that the human resource officers and the chief administrative officers and the chief finance officers also record statements with police as witnesses.

The committee has pitched camp in Mbarara to engage accounting officers from Ankole region districts about queries that were raised in the auditor general’s report for the financial year 2021/22.