Winston Katushabe
Investigations into alleged procurement fraud at the Ministry of Works and Transport have deepened after Permanent Secretary Mr. Bageya Waiswa formally handed over certified documents to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) in the case against Commissioner for Transport Regulation and Safety, Mr. Winstone Katushabe.
In a letter dated August 7, 2025, Mr. Waiswa confirmed compliance with police requests: “The purpose of this letter is to forward to you the documents you requested for your further management. All the documents are verified with my names and stamp of certification.”
The handover included procurement files, bid advertisements, evaluation reports, signed contracts, payment records, and employment histories of two ICT officers — Mr. David Ruhinda and Mr. Brian Matsiko — who were cited in the whistleblower complaint.
The documents are linked to procurement reference MOWT/NCONS/2019-2020/00006, a Shs 29.5 billion contract titled “Procurement of Archiving of Uganda Driving Permit Project Records Phase II, Archiving of Motor Vehicle Registration Records at URA, Remodelling of the Uganda Railway Main Station and URA Warehouse for Motor Vehicle Records Kampala.”
A whistleblower petition dated May 12, 2023, alleges that while the signed contract was worth Shs 29.4 billion, bid opening records show Face Technologies, the contractor, submitted a bid of Shs 24.9 billion, leaving an unexplained gap of nearly Shs 5 billion.
The petition also links Mr. Katushabe to a Shs 3.6 billion contract for digital archiving in 2018/19 and at least four other direct procurements awarded to the same company in earlier years.
According to the documents, the whistleblower, Mr. Ronald Amanyire, further accused the Commissioner of establishing a “parallel ICT unit” staffed with two officers on perpetual contract renewals, contrary to Public Service Standing Orders.
“The objective of this is to ensure everyone on implementation of these fraudulent contracts is under his direct supervision and control,” the petition states.
CID has indicated that the case file will cover multiple financial years and track patterns of procurement under the transport regulation and safety docket.
Uganda’s Inspectorate of Government estimates that corruption drains nearly Shs 10 trillion from the economy every year, with infrastructure ministries flagged among the most vulnerable due to large procurement budgets.
Uganda hotels
Efforts to reach Mr. Katushabe for comment were unsuccessful as his known mobile number was switched off.
But in several correspondences seen by ChimpReports, the Commissioner accused Mr. Amanyire of mounting a mudslinging campaign against him. He also said “steps had been taken to address the situation.”
Works Ministry speaks out
The Works Ministry told ChimpReports, an online media publication yesterday that it welcomes public scrutiny and fully support the ongoing investigation.
“It is therefore not true that the Ministry delayed the submission of required information to investigating bodies until moved by public scrutiny. The process required obtaining adequate records/information from 3rd party institutions like URA, which was necessary before formally responding. This therefore should be understood as part of an ongoing process of clarification, not a deliberate delay attempt,” the Ministry added.
“The Ministry has since furnished all certified documents requested by investigating bodies to facilitate their review. On a professional call, we request that the process be allowed to proceed without diversion or bias against individuals. We are confident that due process will validate the integrity of our procedures and indeed, the public will be informed of the outcome.”
Nonetheless, Mr. Waiswa’s certified submission to CID has placed Mr. Katushabe at the centre of one of the most closely watched anti-corruption investigations in recent years, as detectives move to reconcile the contested procurement trail.
