A suspected fuel-for-cash racket has rocked Kiboga District, leading to the arrest and remand of two senior engineers accused of swindling public funds meant for road maintenance.
District Engineer Mukiibi Ismail and Assistant Engineering Officer–Mechanical Bwante Moses were on Friday charged before the Kiboga Chief Magistrate’s Court with conspiracy to defraud.
The pair is accused of masterminding a scheme that bled millions of shillings from the UGX 1 billion Road Maintenance Grant, a government initiative aimed at improving infrastructure in the district.
The duo’s alleged actions form part of what investigators are calling a “deliberate and coordinated plot” to misappropriate fuel funds meant for maintaining feeder roads.
According to the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) of State House, the accused officers colluded with several fuel station operators to forge claims and exchange phantom fuel supplies for cash during the 2023–2024 financial year.
Shockingly, some of the fuel was reportedly claimed for vehicles that had long been grounded, with records falsified to create the illusion of active roadworks.
The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) confirmed they are pursuing additional suspects believed to have participated in the racket.
The accused were remanded until August 14, 2025, as police continue to track down other alleged accomplices.
Local residents, who have for months decried the worsening state of roads in the district, say the revelations only confirm long-held suspicions about financial mismanagement.
The ACU has vowed to intensify oversight on road fund allocations, calling the case a “critical test” for Uganda’s resolve to clean up public sector corruption.
The Kiboga scandal adds to a growing list of local government graft cases that have sparked public outrage and renewed calls for tighter accountability systems across all districts.
