Minister Balaam Orders Arrests over Ghost Learners, Public Fund Mismanagement in Maracha District
The district officials arrested on Friday at the district headquarters. Photo by Matata Benzamin
The Minister for Local Government, Hon. Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, has ordered the arrest of several Maracha District officials over alleged financial irregularities involving education funds, more than 1,600 suspected ghost learners and mismanagement of public funds for infrastructure development such as roads, bridges and health center upgrade. “They make government of Uganda lose money on 1700 children, fake, they don’t appear anywhere.” Minister Balaam.
The officials were arrested on Friday, August 14, 2026, during his visit to the district to investigate alleged corruption and mismanagement of public funds. The directive followed queries over learners allegedly listed in school records to access government grants despite reportedly not existing.
Those arrested include District Education Officer Michael Asiki, District Inspector of Schools Stella Abaru, Chief Finance Officer Stephen Candia, Secretary to the District Service Commission Florence Deboru, District Health Officer Dr. Paul Onzubo and District Engineer Herbert Indria. Other officials who are on the run have also been ordered to report and record statements to aid investigations.
Head teachers of Kololo Seed Secondary School, Koyi Primary School and Midria Primary School were also arrested.
Minister Balaam’s concerns also focused on funds allocated for the renovation of Otravu, Alivu and Midria primary schools.
District records show that UGX 593 million was budgeted for the renovations, but the district reportedly received UGX 655 million, leaving an excess of about UGX 62 million.
Of the funds, UGX 300 million was reportedly spent on retention payments and additional works during the 2024/2025 financial year. The reported allocations were UGX 171 million for Otravu, UGX 122 million for Alivu and UGX 112 million for Midria.
However, Midria Primary School was reportedly not renovated despite being included in the budget.
Questions have therefore been raised over the UGX 300 million reportedly spent on retention and additional works, as well as the use of the extra UGX 62 million.
Loinya Health Centre was allocated 650 million shillings for upgrade to health center three in the financial year 2024/2025 which is not effected till date.
During the discussions, Minister Balaam ordered the arrest of the officials, who were taken to Maracha Central Police Station to record statements.
“The inspector of school went and counted learners on 16th of June 2026. I’m sure the same inspector with guidance of his boss, the DEO, found that this school breaks off for lunch. When I looked in the nearby village, in the big restaurant accommodating them, I could not see children who had gone for lunch.” Minister Balaam stressed.
All the 2,201 pupils who are funded by the government of Uganda, and they had all gone for lunch? Now, when I asked the director of studies, that man stood up and said, “Honorable minister, let me give you my list of people who sat exams: P.1 100, P.2 120, P.3 140, P.4 145, P.5 100, P.6 90, and P.7 48p, giving us a total of 744.” He said,
“So they make the government of Uganda lose money on 1,700 children, fake, they don’t appear anywhere but the government is spending money, and then the poor parents are even made to contribute for a development fund of 10,000 shillings, and they are not providing anything to these children. This is thuggery.”
Minister Balaam also raised queries over the mismanagement of road funds and money allocated to upgrade Loinya Health Centre II to a Health Centre III, which has not been completed.
“They have only one bed where mothers are delivering. What about the other emergencies? The snake bite or the other big emergencies in the area? And the engineer, knowing I’m coming, they put up a sign for Health Center III. But when you look at it, how can it be a Center Three in this state? I think we are running crazy” Minister fumed.
He further added that, “Government of Uganda, allocated 650 million for this Health Center. The district council passed it. So where is the money? Now I’m going to ask the DHO, the CAO, and everybody to inform us where they took the money. Where is the money? Where is the taxpayers’ money? So because if we have 650 million, the UPDF engineering brigade can build a 40 beds maternity ward here.”
This prompted him to order the arrest of the District Health Officer to answer questions over the health facility funds and the District Engineer to account for money meant for the construction of Alu Bridge and Awiziru Sub-county headquarters.
Erisu Peter Emwos, the Chief Administrative Officer of Maracha District, acknowledged that part of the funds had been diverted by the District Education Officer to monitoring, repairs, supervision and fuel.
He said the government’s decision to apprehend the officials was right, adding that they were not sitting on the job. He urged the law to take its course to establish the truth. “Let the law take its course because this decision is right.” Peter said.
“The local government is meant to fight corruption, and fighting corruption is the main focus of the government, including us. We are not sitting on jobs. We are trying our best as local governments.”
The minister’s directive has placed the district’s technical leadership under scrutiny, with investigations ongoing to establish how the funds were used.
Maracha District has a population of 234,712 people, according to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census results released by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.