The Minister for Local Government, Hon. Barugahara Balaam Ateenyi, has warned interdicted civil servants against attempting to force their way back into public office while disciplinary and criminal investigations into their conduct remain pending.
Minister Balaam issued the warning while addressing district chairpersons, mayors, Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), and municipal technocrats during the Busoga Sub-region Local Government Budget Consultations for Financial Year 2027/28, convened in Jinja City.
He noted that several local government staff facing interdiction over financial impropriety and abuse of office often attempt to resume duties on grounds that the standard six-month statutory interdiction window has lapsed.
Clarifying the administrative guidelines, Balaam emphasized that recent revisions to the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders introduce more stringent accountability benchmarks, ensuring that no interdicted officer can re-enter public premises or resume management of public resources until investigative agencies clear them of all charges.
Where conflicts arise between local council resolutions and national employment frameworks, the minister reiterated that the Public Service Standing Orders take legal and operational precedence.
Balaam also voiced concern over systemic corruption across sub-counties and town councils, observing that inadequate remuneration and facilitation for lower-level political leaders weaken local council oversight over capital works and affirmative programs like the Parish Development Model (PDM).
He emphasized that stamping out financial theft requires a dual approach: equipping grassroots political monitors with proper capacity and compensation, while simultaneously holding accounting technocrats strictly accountable.
The Jinja regional consultative engagement, coordinated jointly with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, is part of a nationwide exercise designed to capture grassroots service delivery gaps, financing constraints, and administrative priorities ahead of drafting the FY 2027/28 National Budget Framework Paper.
