An independent committee from the Public Service Commission has completed a validation and verification exercise for Uganda Parliament staff, but the process has exposed significant payroll integrity concerns. According to sources on the committee, some staff members failed to appear for verification altogether, while others turned up without the required academic documents. A committee source told this publication that the findings confirm Parliament had "ghost workers" on its payroll. Some employees reportedly claimed their academic documents had gone missing or been stolen, though their employment status remains unclear pending the final outcome of the verification process.
The discovery has prompted calls among Members of Parliament for disciplinary action against staff whose qualifications or employment records cannot be verified. One MP said it was time to "clean up Parliament" and that all those with questionable credentials should be dismissed because they had "weakened our systems and tainted the dignity of this institution." The legislators have also raised broader concerns about the recruitment process itself, alleging that some employees who recently joined Parliament had connections to senior government officials, prominent city businessmen, judges, ministers and MPs. They argued that such practices could disadvantage qualified applicants from less privileged backgrounds, with one MP noting that "the child of a poor person" could not get a job in Parliament under the current system.
Sources have alleged that recruitment practices during the 11th Parliament were influenced by personal relationships and nepotism. One source claimed that a commissioner had recruited seven siblings without following required procedures, while other commissioners were accused of recruiting girlfriends. The allegations raise questions about compliance with recruitment procedures and the safeguards in place to prevent conflicts of interest. The MPs are now calling for Parliament to review its recruitment framework to strengthen transparency, accountability and merit-based appointments. One legislator said that Parliament must "reform the laws that govern the recruitment of staff in Parliament to make it transparent and merit-based."
For savers, borrowers, business owners and investors in Uganda, the audit findings raise concerns about institutional governance and the strength of oversight mechanisms in public bodies that affect the broader economy.