Published on 08/05/2025
Legislators on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have criticized the Office of the President for employing 93 staff members at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi without formalizing their contracts, despite paying them allowances totaling over UGX 354 million.
The concern stems from the Auditor General’s December 2024 report, which highlighted that the Office of the President had employed staff in violation of Section 12H(a) of the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders, 2021. The section requires that all parties must agree to the terms of a valid employment contract.
During the Committee sitting on May 7, 2025, Butambala County MP and PAC Chairperson Muwanga Kivumbi questioned the Office of the President on why 93 civilians at NALI received an annual payment of UGX 354 million without signed employment contracts to justify the payments.
In response, Yunus Kakande, Secretary at the Office of the President, attributed the delay in formalizing the employees to repeated shifts in the institute’s supervisory authority. He noted that NALI initially operated under the now-defunct Movement Secretariat, later moved to the Ministry of Defence, and was eventually placed under the Office of the President. He assured the Committee that steps were underway to regularize the staff.
“We haven’t been idle,” said Kakande. “We’ve developed a structure, which the Ministry of Public Service has approved. We’re currently submitting the names for formal appointment. That’s where we are in the process.”
However, Kivumbi raised concerns about budget accountability, citing the Public Finance Management Act, which mandates that when functions shift from one agency to another, the corresponding budget must follow. He argued that while the staff transitioned from the Ministry of Defence to the Office of the President, the necessary wage budget did not.
“If a function moves, its budget must move too. You seem to suggest that the staff transferred without the wage component, which is problematic,” said Kivumbi.
Kakande acknowledged the budgetary challenges, noting that when NALI moved under the Office of the President, it had only UGX 154 million allocated. This was later increased to UGX 1 billion, and then to UGX 2.5 billion for operations. However, he clarified that the staff were only receiving allowances, not formal salaries, pending completion of the formalization process.
“By the time auditors visited, we were already working to establish a formal structure,” Kakande said. “That process alone—done in consultation with the Ministry of Public Service—took nearly a year. In February 2025, we finally received approval to formalize the appointments.”
Despite accepting the explanation, Kivumbi insisted that the failure to utilize UGX 3.92 billion from the wage budget raised questions about the institution’s commitment to regularizing the workforce. He said the audit query would remain unresolved until the staff are formally contracted.
“We can sympathize and acknowledge your efforts, but we cannot drop an illegality,” Kivumbi emphasized. “Even with explanations, the law is clear—this remains an audit query.”
Mawogola North MP Gorreth Namugga also pressed the Office of the President to provide documentation showing progress in the formalization effort.
“You were instructed by the Permanent Secretary to submit a wage performance report and a costed list of vacant positions,” said Namugga. “Your response lacked evidence of progress. You should have included an update on how far you’ve gone.”
In closing, Kakande assured the Committee that all staff at NALI would have formal contracts by the end of 2025.
“They’re not badly off—they receive monthly allowances—but the issue is the lack of formal contracts. By year’s end, they will be formally appointed. We are submitting everything to the Public Service Commission,” he said.
