Six senior public officials in Sembabule District have been interdicted following allegations of corruption, abuse of office, financial impropriety and neglect of duty, as government agencies intensify investigations into claims of widespread misconduct within the district administration.
The affected officials are District Physical Planner Allan Kiyemba, District Natural Resources Officer Geoffrey Mugabe, Community Development Officer Twaha Musoke, Senior Land Management Officer Emmanuel Kananura, District Land Board Secretary Michael Kakuru and District Forestry Officer Henry Bukenya.
Their interdiction was directed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Ben Kumumanya, following a public accountability meeting convened by the Minister for Local Government, Balam Barugahara, to assess service delivery in Sembabule District.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Administrative Officer, Kumumanya instructed that the six officials be removed from active duty with immediate effect to allow investigations by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and other government agencies without interference.
The action follows complaints raised by residents and local leaders during the public baraza, where the officials were accused of soliciting bribes, abusing their offices and engaging in activities that allegedly deprived residents of government services and resources.
According to Barugahara, preliminary investigations indicate that Kananura and Kakuru allegedly extorted more than Shs3 billion from residents while claiming they were processing land titles on their behalf.
The minister said the money was collected despite the government financing the processing of 1,500 land titles under the Land Tenure Regularisation Programme, which has been providing free land titles to selected beneficiaries in Sembabule since September 2025 to address longstanding land ownership disputes.
Barugahara also alleged that Mugabe and Bukenya were involved in an illegal network dealing in charcoal burning and timber harvesting within protected government forest reserves.
Meanwhile, Kiyemba and Musoke are accused of misappropriating physical planning approval fees and demanding bribes from beneficiaries of government wealth creation programmes.
The minister said investigators had gathered what he described as substantial evidence linking the officials to the alleged offences, including purported confessions and forged payment receipts reportedly issued to members of the public.
Kumumanya’s directive states that the interdictions are intended to facilitate thorough investigations by the relevant authorities before any further administrative or legal action is taken.
The development comes as Kananura and Kakuru are already on police bond after earlier being arrested on the minister’s instructions over the same allegations.
However, Kakuru has denied any wrongdoing, describing the accusations as a malicious campaign aimed at discrediting district officials and influencing the administration. He said he remains confident that the investigations will clear his name.
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