By Higenyi MosesThe Butaleja District Local Government has been plunged into a serious administrative crisis that has denied more than 60 newly recruited education personnel, including headteachers, deputies, and assistants, their pay for several months. This is further characterized by debilitating resource shortages in key institutions like Muhula Seed Secondary School. Frustrated educators have now given an ultimatum: fix the irregularities on the payroll by Monday, December 15, 2025, or they would camp at district headquarters indefinitely.The non-payment, described by the affected staff as a mix of “gross incompetence and corruption,” has persisted even after Term III ended on December 5, threatening the reopening for the 2026 academic year on February 2. The situation is direst at Muhula Seed Secondary School, where the entire workforce has been omitted from the payroll since July 2025.The Scale of the Crisis and Human CostThese omissions date back as far as February 2025, leaving Mr. Outa Yokosaphat, the Headmaster of Bukedi College Kachong’a, unpaid for ten months.The crisis cuts across old and new staff. At least 23 primary school teachers newly recruited in July 2025 are yet to get their first salary. At Muhula Seed Secondary School, the Headmistress, her Deputy, and 22 secondary teachers have not received a shilling since July. They are joined in this plight by the 6 non-teaching staff, including the bursar, nurse, and library assistants, who equally face six months of arrears.“It is difficult to explain to a hungry family why you are going to work every day but bringing nothing home,” said a senior teacher at Muhula Seed SS who requested anonymity for fear of victimization. “We are borrowing money just to afford meals, accommodation and transport to school. We are effectively subsidizing the government while we starve.”Muhula Seed SS AbandonedBeyond this salary crisis, the institutional failure at Muhula Seed SS has reached alarming levels. According to reports, the school has not received any operational grants, and its infrastructure remains incomplete due to the abandoning of the site by the contractor.Forcibly, teachers in the school have had to put up with the absence of basics that ensure learning takes place. “We don’t just lack pay, we lack chalk, classrooms, lab equipment, library, seats, and even staff meals,” a teacher lamented, highlighting the dual failure of personnel and institutional support.Claims of Corruption Deepen Amidst Technical FailureThe accusations of incompetence and corruption prompted an initial denial from the Principal Human Resource Officer (PHRO), Lyada Daniel, who attributed the delays to technical issues caused by the migration from the old IPPS to the new HCM system. The PHRO previously dismissed the public outcry as “frivolous social media posts” and as being “blown out of proportion by anti-government agents.”However, the situation worsened on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, when the PHRO issued a new communication confirming a serious system failure. The statement announced that the scheduled November salary payment for the remaining batch of HCM migration staff was halted because the Invoice ticketing system is down, rendering the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) “technically ineffective.”The PHRO indicated that a technical team led by the Head of Finance is now working with the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development (MoFPED) to restore the system before salary transactions can be effected. “We appreciate the patience exhibited by those affected staffs while we regret the inconvenience endured,” the PHRO stated. This narrative has been dismissed by officials at MoFPED who accuse Butaleja District Local Government of submitting Audited Financial Statements late, leading to rejection.Allegations range from various cases of bribery to even extortion.District sources and staff representatives strongly dispute the technical explanations, claiming this latest system failure only further exposes weaknesses. The widespread nature of this payroll negligence is now confirmed by several non-teaching district workers who have also reported not receiving their November salaries, confirming the issue is chronic in Butaleja and pointing to gross negligence in the Human Resource team. This systemic failure contrasts sharply with neighbouring districts like Sironko, Manafwa, Budaka, and Mbale, where newly recruited staff successfully accessed the payroll between September and October.Serious but unverified reports suggest desperate serving workers are being asked to pay between UGX 2 million and UGX 5 million to be favoured and placed on the payroll immediately. The rot reportedly extends to retirement benefits: retirees applying for their gratuity and pension are allegedly asked to surrender between UGX 5 million and UGX 10 million off their final benefit before the documents are processed. This alleged scheme is supported by an irregular practice where pension applications are now reportedly received by the Human Resource Officer, Annet Nawenghe, bypassing the central registry.A source privy to the payroll discrepancies further challenged the PHRO’s record, stating that the submitted list for HCM migration contained 95% old staff, with most of the newly recruited staff still missing in the system.Implications for LearnersThe standoff threatens to disrupt the start of the 2026 academic year. With key subjects like Sciences, Mathematics, and Humanities affected at Muhula Seed SS, parents fear that demoralized teachers will not give their best, leaving students unprepared for the new curriculum. “If the district does not act by Monday, December 15, we are moving our staff room to the CAO’s compound,” warned the well-wishers in the district on behalf of the affected staff. “No pay, no leaving CAO’s office.”Higenyi Moses originates from Kachong’a Sub-County, Butaleja districtEmail: mhigenyi8@gmail.comThe post Butaleja teachers starve as corruption and payroll scandal deepens appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.