Eronda
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- Dec 16, 2025
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Uganda’s engineering fraternity has pushed back against the arrest of local government engineers during the government’s anti-corruption drive, accusing senior officials of turning investigations into public spectacles, as Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara intensified inspections that uncovered alleged payroll fraud and inflated school enrolment figures in Mbale District.
The Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE), which represents more than 12,000 engineering professionals, said it supports President Yoweri Museveni’s renewed anti-corruption campaign but condemned what it described as the arbitrary arrest and public humiliation of engineers in districts including Bulambuli and Mbale.
In a statement issued on Saturday, UIPE said corruption investigations should be grounded in technical evidence and due process rather than political directives issued at public rallies.
While UIPE fully supports His Excellency the President’s renewed crackdown on corruption… we believe that the gains of this fight are lost when it is reduced to a charade, a mockery, a public spectacle,” the body said.
It argued that questions surrounding road quality, engineering standards and project specifications require competent technical investigations rather than immediate arrests ordered by politicians.
“Arresting engineers arbitrarily, without understanding the planned scope of works and quality specifications, only serves to humiliate and demoralize technical staff and worsen service delivery,” the statement said.
The intervention comes after Barugahara continued inspections across eastern Uganda under the government’s anti-corruption campaign.
(Center)Minister for Local Government, Hon Balaam Barugahara
Source: The independent
