How Permanent Secretary Ben Kumumanya’s Directives Are Reshaping Uganda’s Anti-Corruption Battle in Local Government

What the report says

Watchdog Uganda says the Ministry of Local Government, under Permanent Secretary Ben Kumumanya, has stepped up a tighter administrative approach to curb corruption in Uganda’s local governments. The article says that from 2024 to 2026 the ministry increased the use of written circulars, provisional instructions, operational directives and field inspections to push chief administrative officers, town clerks and departmental heads to follow clear lines of responsibility and keep better records.

The report frames this as a shift from verbal guidance to documented accountability. It says the ministry wants public officers to be judged not only by their titles, but by whether they deliver services, manage funds properly and can explain decisions through records that auditors and supervisors can review. The article also cites Town Clerk Moses Otimong of Makindye Ssabagabo Municipality as saying technical officers now face stronger expectations to understand assignments, document their work and answer to oversight bodies.

Watchdog Uganda links this approach to broader anti-corruption efforts that aim to stop misuse of public money before arrests become necessary. It points to procurement controls, internal audits and inspections as preventive tools, and says the Parish Development Model is an important test of whether funds reaching parish level are being managed transparently.

The piece also highlights local revenue collection, saying better controls are needed to protect income from markets, licenses, property rates and user fees. In its conclusion, the article argues that citizens ultimately judge whether decentralization works by seeing whether services such as roads, schools and health centers improve.