Uganda Railways staff face arrest over UGX 20.6bn fraud probe

Uganda's Parliament's Physical Infrastructure Committee has ordered the arrest and investigation of six current and former Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) staff following an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of approximately UGX 20.6 billion (€4.82 million).

The funds, which were part of a €225.9 million loan from the Spanish government intended for the rehabilitation of the metre-gauge rail network, were specifically earmarked for staff capacity building and vehicle procurement. Investigations revealed significant discrepancies: while URC budgeted for 15 experts to train staff and funds for employees to travel to Spain, several staff members testified that they never attended the training nor received any per diem payments.

In addition to the training discrepancies, the committee is scrutinizing roughly Shs 530 million that was reportedly spent on used motor vehicles despite budgets being set for new ones. Committee Chairperson Mwine Mpaka has ordered the accounting officer and the contract management team to be escorted to the police to address the unauthorized payments and resulting financial losses.