By Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has raised red flags over what he described as wasteful government spending, particularly targeting the proposed relocation of government offices currently situated near Parliament.
During a session of the Parliamentary Budget Committee on Tuesday, Ssemujju questioned the logic behind a UGX 127 billion relocation plan involving the Ministry of Lands and the Uganda Prisons Service. He argued that the expense was unjustified, especially given the availability of underutilized government land elsewhere.
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Ssemujju took direct aim at Commissioner General of Prisons Dr Johnson Byabashaija, accusing him of adding to Kampala’s daily traffic chaos by travelling with a heavy convoy. He argued that the Prisons boss should operate from facilities like Luzira, Kitalya, or Kigo, where the service already owns land and housing, instead of maintaining a daily presence in the city center.
“If your role is to manage prison facilities, then your office should be located where the inmates are housed,” Ssemujju stated, questioning the rationale of spending public funds to move one agency simply to create room for another.
He also criticised the practice of moving public offices from one government property to another at massive cost, asking whether such relocations also involved unnecessary land purchases. “Why should we spend billions shifting public servants when land and infrastructure already exist in government hands?” he asked.
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The MP’s comments came amid broader scrutiny of the Ministry of Lands, which has requested UGX 347 billion to compensate ranchers, religious institutions, and other property owners. Ssemujju pressed for clarification on whether part of this sum would settle longstanding obligations to the Buganda Kingdom, which is reportedly owed over UGX 500 billion in rent for properties currently occupied by government institutions.
He warned that unless fiscal discipline is enforced, Uganda risks further straining its public finances through poor prioritization and opaque compensation processes.
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