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IGG halts appointments of Mbale staff over irregularities
Deputy Inspector General of Government Anne Twinomugisha Muhairwe, who has halted Mbale City staff recruitment. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Locals accuse some officials from the Mbale City Service Commission and other civil servants of soliciting bribes from job applicants.
The Inspectorate of Government (IG) has ordered the Mbale City Clerk to halt the process of issuing appointment letters to the newly recruited staff over irregularities.
In a March 5 letter, the Deputy Inspector General of Government (IGG), Ms Anne Twinomugisha Muhairwe, said the IG received a complaint alleging that the process of recruiting staff by the Mbale City Service Commission was marred with irregularities and corruption.
“The purpose of this communication is two-fold; to order you (Town Clerk) to halt the issuance of the appointment letters until completion of our investigation into the matter or until any further orders are given by this office under Art 230 (2) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda as amended and section 14 (6) of the Inspectorate of Government Act, 2002,” the letter reads in part.
Ms Twinomugisha also directed the secretary of the City Service Commission to provide all the information and documents relating to the recruitment process.
Some of the documents needed are the declaration of vacancies, advertisement, applications received, shortlist of candidates, interview score sheets, minutes of the City Service Commission offering the successful candidates appointments, and any other document deemed relevant to the investigation.
The Mbale City officials have also been invited for a meeting at the IG head office in Kampala on March 11 to address the issues giving rise to the allegations.
“By copy of this letter, the resident city commissioner (RCC), mayor, chairperson and members of the City Service Commission, secretary of City Service Commission, district and city inspector of schools, and the city education officer, are duly invited to attend the meeting,” the letter further reads.
In January this year, the Mbale City Service Commission advertised vacancies. These included head teachers, inspectors of schools, senior assistant education officers, and assistant town clerks.
However, locals and some applicants claimed the exercise was marred by irregularities and called for investigations into what they called a “fraudulent recruitment exercise”.
This was prompted after some of the victims petitioned the IGG seeking her intervention.
Mr Simon Mauso, a retired teacher, said there are numerous complaints from the public, accusing some officials from the City Service Commission and other civil servants of soliciting bribes from applicants.
“There is a need to review the staff on the Commission to determine their suitability for the positions held,” he said.
The Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Mbale City, Mr Rogers Kimaswa, said there are reports of people buying jobs.
“There are numerous complaints from the public and applicants about corruption and we saw people competing with money to get jobs,” Mr Kimaswa said.
Ms Justine Namakoye, a retired nurse, asked the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, IG, and Criminal Investigations Directorate headquarters at Kibuli to investigate some of the Mbale City officials for extorting money from job applicants during recruitment.
Mr Musa Kasajja, the Mbale Industrial City speaker, welcomed the IG investigations, saying it was timely.
