Uganda's Inspectorate of Government has cleared Ministry of Works and Transport Permanent Secretary Bageya Waiswa of wrongdoing in the Busega-Mpigi Expressway cost escalation but ordered the interdiction of Commissioner for National Roads Isaac Wani as investigations continue. The decision, announced on October 23, came after President Yoweri Museveni directed inquiries into the project when its estimated cost rose from Shs547.5 billion to about Shs1.3 trillion, prompting allegations of financial mismanagement and irregular changes to the road's alignment. Inspector General of Government Aisha Naluzze Batala said investigations found that Bageya was not involved in earlier decisions leading to the cost escalations and had subsequently initiated technical audits, funding approval and procurement processes to get the project back on track.
Wani faces interdiction over alleged involvement in cost escalations during his time as Director of Network Planning and Engineering at the defunct Uganda National Roads Authority, when the project costs increased. The IGG said Wani's temporary removal from office, which does not establish guilt, allows investigations to proceed without interference. The ministry's Permanent Secretary has been directed to interdict Wani immediately and make interim arrangements to ensure continuity in the office.
The expressway project was transferred from the Uganda National Roads Authority to the Ministry of Works and Transport in 2024 under the government's agency rationalisation and public expenditure programme. According to the Auditor General's report for the 2023/24 financial year, the original contract was awarded without adequate detailed designs and available funds had been exhausted when physical progress was about 40.86 per cent. The report warned that the funding gap could delay payments and expose government to additional claims.
The cost crisis follows President Museveni's intervention in June, when he directed the suspension and investigation of engineers Edwin Raymond Kiyaga, Dickens Ahimbisibwe and Patrick Muleme over alleged misuse of funds and questioned how government funding of about Shs600 billion, borrowed from the African Development Bank, had been exhausted when the project was reportedly only about 40 per cent complete. Museveni also alleged that engineers had changed the road alignment, bypassing sections where landowners had already been compensated and creating new compensation requirements along a revised route. In July, the Inspectorate summoned Kiyaga and Ahimbisibwe to record statements and conducted an on-site inspection to examine design changes and cost increases.
Parliament's Committee on Physical Infrastructure had already questioned the cost increase in March, when ministry officials attributed the rise to changes in design and scope, including revised alignments, interchanges and connecting roads. The 23-kilometre expressway and its 20 kilometres of access roads were intended to ease congestion on the Kampala-Masaka highway but have faced repeated delays, funding constraints and land acquisition challenges. The wider accountability drive has also resulted in Museveni ordering the dismissal of six officials over their handling of major infrastructure projects, with Works Minister Fred Byamukama disclosing the directive to Parliament in July.