The High Court in Fort Portal has ordered Bunyangabu District Local Government to reinstate a secondary school teacher to the government payroll after finding that district officials acted illegally, irrationally and unfairly by failing to implement a recommendation from the Ministry of Education and Sports.
In a ruling delivered on June 30, 2026, Justice Vincent Wagona directed Bunyangabu District Local Government and its Chief Administrative Officer to complete all administrative processes necessary to return Baluku Godwin Kikumu to the government payroll within 30 days.
However, the court dismissed Kikumu’s claim seeking salary arrears dating back to April 2023, ruling that the application challenging that decision had been filed outside the legally prescribed time limit.
The dispute stemmed from Kikumu’s removal from the payroll after allegations that he had absconded from duty while serving at Rwimi Senior Secondary School in Bunyangabu District.
According to court records, Kikumu maintained that his working relationship with the then head teacher had broken down, resulting in him being denied access to the school, prevented from signing attendance registers and blocked from teaching. He argued that despite never being formally interdicted, allegations of absenteeism were forwarded to the Ministry of Education and Sports.
The Ministry’s Rewards and Sanctions Committee later reviewed the matter, cautioned Kikumu for his conduct and recommended that he be reinstated to the government payroll and transferred to a duty station closer to his home.
Despite that recommendation, Kikumu told court that district authorities failed to implement the decision, forcing him to continue working without salary while repeatedly seeking intervention from the ministry and district officials.
He also challenged a decision by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports denying him salary arrears from April 2023, arguing that the committee which heard his disciplinary case had never recommended withholding his pay.
The respondents, including Bunyangabu District Local Government, Chief Administrative Officer Hood Nsubuga, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Sports, and the Attorney General, opposed the application.
They argued that Kikumu had been removed from the payroll after failing to appear during a national payroll verification exercise conducted by the Office of the Auditor General. They maintained that reinstatement could not occur until he produced a payroll verification slip and further contended that the application was both premature and filed outside the statutory time limit.
The respondents also argued that Kikumu should first have exhausted available administrative remedies before seeking judicial review.
Justice Wagona rejected the objection that the case was premature, holding that the doctrine requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies is not absolute.
The judge observed that Kikumu had spent several years writing to various government offices, making follow-ups and attempting to resolve the matter administratively without success.
The court noted that insisting on further administrative processes in the face of prolonged inaction would have been futile.
On the issue of limitation, the court distinguished between the two claims brought by the applicant.
Justice Wagona held that the challenge against the decision denying salary arrears was time-barred because Kikumu became aware of the decision in April 2025 but did not file the judicial review application until February 2026, well beyond the three-month statutory period.
However, the judge found that the continued refusal to reinstate him to the payroll constituted an ongoing administrative omission rather than a single isolated decision.
The court ruled that each day the authorities failed to implement the ministry’s recommendation amounted to a continuing breach, making that aspect of the application admissible.
In addressing the merits, Justice Wagona found that the Rewards and Sanctions Committee’s decision recommending reinstatement had never been set aside or appealed and therefore remained binding.
The judge faulted district officials for insisting that Kikumu first produce a payroll verification slip, noting that no law or administrative regulation had been presented to justify such a requirement after a disciplinary process had already concluded.
The ruling further observed that the payroll verification exercise conducted by the Office of the Auditor General was intended to eliminate ghost workers, not to permanently exclude serving public officers who had been undergoing disciplinary proceedings.
Justice Wagona also criticised what he described as an “administrative paradox,” where Kikumu was denied reinstatement because he lacked payroll verification, yet could not obtain payroll verification because he had already been removed from the payroll.
The court concluded that the actions of the district authorities amounted to illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety.
As a result, the court issued an order of mandamus compelling Bunyangabu District Local Government and its Chief Administrative Officer to take all necessary steps to reinstate Kikumu onto the government payroll within 30 days.
The request to quash the decision denying salary arrears was dismissed as time-barred, while claims for general, punitive and aggravated damages were also declined.
Justice Wagona ordered each party to bear its own legal costs.
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