KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda’s railway revival programme has come under intense parliamentary scrutiny after MPs uncovered alleged financial mismanagement, questionable procurement arrangements, missing wagons and extensive encroachment on railway land.
Parliament on Thursday, September 3, adopted a report by the Committee on Physical Infrastructure detailing what it described as a systematic failure in the management of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC), including the use of public funds intended to strengthen the railway system to benefit foreign consultants and firms.
Presenting the report, committee chairperson Hon. Mwine Mpaka said a Shs125 billion Spanish-funded railway project, which included a Shs20.8 billion capacity-building component, was particularly problematic.
“We have established a systematic failure where public funds meant to build local railway capacity and rehabilitate critical transport infrastructure were instead deployed to enrich individual consultants and foreign firms under the guise of technical expertise,” Mpaka said.
The committee found that almost 90 per cent of the capacity-building funds, equivalent to €4.33 million, went to five foreign experts, with some receiving as much as €32,500 — about Shs140 million — per month.
The report further alleged that some URC employees were listed as foreign experts to access the higher payments while continuing to draw their ordinary local salaries of approximately Shs6.5 million.
Procurement questions
The committee also raised concerns over the role of Spanish consultancy firm Consultrans S.A.U., which designed the project’s feasibility study and assessed URC’s capacity-building requirements before its sister company, Imathia Construction, was awarded the works contract through direct procurement.
Other findings included the reduction of multi-day workshops into single-day refresher courses, €79,500 in claimed overseas back-office travel expenses and the use of €60,000 allocated for office furniture to equip offices occupied by Spanish consultants.
The committee also reported that project-funded second-hand pickup trucks were sold to staff.
The findings have placed renewed focus on the governance of Uganda’s railway assets at a time when government is attempting to restore rail transport as a strategic component of the country’s regional trade and logistics network.
112 wagons unaccounted for
Mpaka said URC could not adequately account for some of its land, titles and rolling stock.
“URC cannot account for its own land, its land titles or its rolling stock,” he said, warning that the disappearance and disposal of wagons could attract criminal liability.
The committee established that 112 wagons remain unaccounted for after being routed to a “virtual station” in Nyahururu, Kenya, under the tracking system used by the former Rift Valley Railways.
The corporation also sold 152 wagons domestically as scrap and another 28 in Tanzania. However, official records could not account for 82 of the scrap wagons, resulting in a reported direct financial loss of Shs2.4 billion.
Parliament has consequently directed the Inspectorate of Government to investigate and prosecute members of URC’s Adhoc Board of Survey, Contracts Committee and Procurement and Disposal Unit implicated in the irregular disposal of the scrap wagons.
The IGG was also directed to investigate former URC Managing Director David Musoke Bulega, contract managers and members of management over alleged payments for unexecuted services, questionable travel claims, unprocured software, vehicle misappropriation and contractual arrangements that resulted in URC losing ownership of its concrete sleeper plant.
Railway land under pressure
The committee’s findings also exposed the scale of the land challenge facing URC.
The corporation holds approximately 20,848 acres of railway land, of which 1,983 acres remain untitled and are affected by more than 24,653 encroachment cases.
A further 62 railway land titles reportedly went missing during office relocations at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and have not been returned despite reminders dating back to 2016.
Parliament has ordered the Ministries of Lands and Works and Transport to produce a joint railway-land recovery strategy within 30 days.
The strategy is expected to include measures to recover railway land and remove 1,698 identified encroachers, with police and military support where necessary.
Only 269 kilometres operational
The findings paint a broader picture of a railway system operating far below its potential.
Of URC’s 1,266-kilometre network, only 269 kilometres are currently operational.
Fleet availability was also found to be severely constrained, standing at just 22 per cent for locomotives, 36 per cent for coaches and 30 per cent for operational wagons.
The deterioration comes as Uganda seeks to expand rail infrastructure and improve the movement of cargo and passengers, particularly as the country positions itself as a regional trade and logistics hub.
Government promises revival
Minister of State for Transport Hon. Julius Maganda acknowledged the extent of URC’s decline but urged Parliament to support ongoing government efforts to revive the corporation.
“Completely everything went down… Government is beginning to uplift Uganda Railways. Look at the report but support the agency because we are now moving in the right direction,” Maganda said.
Hon. Joseph Ssewungu, MP for Kalungu West, called for greater openness and frankness in discussions surrounding the rehabilitation of the railway.
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Marksons Oboth, meanwhile, urged the ministry to replace URC’s ageing passenger coaches and increase the frequency of passenger services.
“Replace those old coaches. I want to use that train to come to Parliament. We need some coaches. I have a stage just by my house,” Oboth said.
The Executive is expected to formally respond to Parliament’s findings through a Treasury Memorandum.
The report now puts the government under pressure to demonstrate that the next phase of Uganda’s railway revival will be accompanied by stronger financial controls, transparent procurement and tighter protection of railway assets.
