The State Minister for Privatisation and Investment, Ms. Evelyn Anite, has ordered the top management of the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) to return Shs545m they awarded themselves as “honoraria payments” from the loan-funded Kampala Industrial Park Development (KIPD) project.
In a June 12 letter to UIA board chairperson Mr. Morrison Rwakakamba, Ms. Anite condemned the payment, describing it as “despicable, uncouth, barbaric, and uncultured” that UIA management would misuse funds for a project that has been delayed for five years. The project was initially set to be completed by January 5, 2024.
“These actions amount to mischarge, abuse, and corruption at the expense of Ugandan taxpayers,” Ms. Anite wrote. She instructed the management, led by Director General Mr. Robert Mukiza, to “refund all the money” within 24 hours of receiving the letter, warning of severe consequences for non-compliance.
Mr. Mukiza, speaking through an intermediary, defended the honorarium as legal, stating it was outlined in the contract. “Perhaps the minister is misinformed or hasn’t fully read the contract,” he added.
UIA is the agency responsible for supporting government investment initiatives. According to the letter, Mr. Mukiza and eight other staff members paid themselves Shs280m on July 23, 2023, for taking on “additional responsibilities” in supervising the project’s infrastructure development in August 2022. Payments included Shs82m to Mr. Mukiza, Shs58m to his deputy Dr. Paul Kyalimpa, and various amounts to other staff members.
In 2018, the Ministry of Finance borrowed €249m (about Shs1 trillion) from UK Export Finance and Standard Chartered Bank of London to develop KIBP, aiming to facilitate industrialization through infrastructure like roads, bridges, and an SME hub. However, the project has faced delays and allegations of extortion, land misallocation, and inflated costs.
Despite these issues, the project is now expected to be completed by September 2025. Internal documents reviewed by Daily Monitor reveal that UIA defended the honoraria as necessary for additional responsibilities after the termination of the Owner’s Engineer (OE) on August 29, 2022. The board suggested that the management legally compensate staff for their extra duties, citing the human resources manual which allows honoraria for tasks that are exceptionally important, outside normal duties, time-consuming, or require special skills.
UIA management noted that the honoraria were a cost-saving measure, arguing that the OE’s annual earnings of €313,298 (Shs1.2b) would have totaled €626,597 (Shs2.5b) from September 2022 to February 2023, compared to the proposed honoraria of €124,822 (Shs503m), saving €501,774 (Shs2b). They also confirmed that honoraria, like other allowances, are subject to statutory deductions as per the Income Tax Act and the NSSF Act.
