The government is investigating alleged fraud in Uganda's education system after officials in Isingiro District identified more than 75,950 ghost learners in school enrolment records, according to Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi. The inflated pupil numbers are estimated to have cost the government Shs1.5 billion annually through capitation grants and other operational funding that never reached genuine students.
The minister made the announcement during an anti-corruption inspection in the district, accusing local education officials of colluding to inflate enrolment figures and divert public resources. He said the District Education Officer, Godfrey Nkuba, and the Principal Education Officer had been placed under scrutiny over their alleged roles in the irregularities. So far, 17 district officials have been linked to the alleged corruption scheme, though investigations are still ongoing.
Beyond ghost learners, the minister raised concerns over irregularities in the government teachers' payroll. He accused district education leadership of facilitating the recruitment or placement of people without teaching qualifications on the government payroll. According to Barugahara, some individuals allegedly placed on the payroll had never worked as teachers or entered classrooms. The alleged beneficiaries included a hardware dealer, a boda boda rider, a disc jockey and a taxi driver.
The alleged irregularities form part of a wider crackdown on the mismanagement of public resources in local governments, following a presidential directive to improve service delivery and address corruption. The investigation will cover all government-aided schools in Isingiro District, with authorities expected to audit enrolment records and verify the teachers' payroll to establish the extent of the alleged fraud.
The minister said findings and details of the 17 officials implicated so far would be submitted to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the Inspectorate of Government for further action, including possible prosecution and recovery of public funds. He maintained that no official would be shielded from accountability as investigations progress. The allegations against the district officials have not yet been independently established.
For Ugandan taxpayers and schoolchildren, this means education funds intended for legitimate learning are being diverted through enrolment fraud and payroll irregularities involving unqualified individuals, according to the minister's findings.