URC team before Parliament’s Physical Infrastructure CommitteeBy Prisca WanyenyaThe Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) has been given a week to provide a breakdown on how UGX25Bn that had been borrowed externally was spent on training of staff, after the officials from the Corporation failed to provide the number of staff trained and the capacity needs assessment that informed the decision to spend such colossal sums of funds on capacity building.The ultimatum was given by Mwine Mpaka, Chairperson, Physical Infrastructure Committee during a meeting held between the Committee and URC on 23rd July 2026, who sought clarification on the Euro19.8Million that was borrowed by URC to develop the Kampala-Malaba railway, and another Euro33Million was borrowed for capacity building.Mwine noted, “Can you imagine we are borrowing money to train? UGX25Billion to train. How many staff? Should we assume, because you are spending at source, so you have money for workshops and trainings, but you have not prioritised (railway safety) people are dying on those railway crossings, and they have been dying for several years. You got a loan of, refurbishing the Kampala Malaba, it was Euro19.8Million is this true? But you also got on that loan Euro33Million for capacity building, is this true?”However, Grace Opoka, Corporation Secretary at Uganda Railways Corporation clarified that the amount spent on training was Euro8Mn (UGX34,159,440,000) and the training was handled by the consultant on the project.This enlisted more questions with Mwine asking a breakdown on how the funds were spent and he asked Apoka to make sure her information is correct because he was privy to information that the amount was more than being claimed by URC.“So, you got Euro 8Million euros for capacity building? Can you explain to us what you are doing with Euro8Million? Maybe you are using it effectively, but I see you have a small team. How did you use the Euro8Million euros for capacity building? And it is not Euro8Million and as you respond to that question, I hope you have enough information and make sure you are very sure. Otherwise, we are going to put you on the earth, and we shall take a decision on you,” said Mwine.William Tiyo (Ayivu East) raised concerns over the exorbitant funds spent on capacity building remarking that when the money was mentioned, he expected to hear that about 100 staff did PhD in railway maintenance, but upon hearing the explanations from URC, it seems the Master’s degree bit of it did not come out and warned the MD to take charge of the Corporation because many staff in Government use trainings to siphon public funds.He noted, “Trainings are areas where government resources are frequently abused, with ease, by the way. It is an easy lot. Managing Director, you may know or you may not know, but that is one of the areas where people syphon money out of government coffers. When this report will come back in one week, this second issue will be one of the key areas for which we want to spend time. We really want to understand it in details. But even before we wait for those reports, you tell us how many people were trained. It is a simple question, and which institutions and for how long, and from where?”It wasn’t long before the URC team contradicted itself, after the Managing Director of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC), Benon Kajuna noted that the information he was getting is that the training for capacity building was actually Euro4.8Million (UGX20,495,664,000) and asked his junior, Leticia Nakigudde, Principal Finance Officer for Management Accounting at the Uganda Railways Corporation to provide details on what entailed the training.Nakigudde informed the Committee that the training covered four main areas including; management control and business administration, rolling stock and facilities maintenance, infrastructure and project management, and operations and customer service and the Committee was further informed that the training targeted sales and commercial staff, although some staff in the Finance department admitted they took part in the training.Opolot Majid, Acting Principal Legal Officer at URC clarified that said that the money for the capacity training didn’t come into URC but instead, the funds were handled by the Consultant because the project had a training component and the Consultant was the one responsible for designing the training programme for all the staff.“And so, the trainings would be designed to happen here for every department and over a period of three years. People did not necessarily travel to the universities to attain whatever qualifications and that is what they are calling hands-on training. The training was designed for a department, they bring the consultant, they train people in a particular department in an area on the syllabus that was agreed upon and then they move to the next department,” Opolot explained.Richard Sebamala (Bukoto Central) wondered how the institutional gaps were identified by the Spanish consultant to make sure that the staff were getting the skills needed before the training was conducted, if URC claimed that all the training funds were taken up by the consultant.“How did the Spanish know what was in our gaps? Who did not participate in this? Who gave them what we should train in? Who gave them that information? Who guided them on, because whether you got the money or not, you are being trained on behalf of government and taxpayers are going to pay? So, we are in position to say, we don’t need this training because we already know this training. But you people have been trained in what you know, these are the things that you were employed for, these were the things that you were interviewed for to come and do in Uganda Railway. So how do you get, is it Euro19Million?” asked Sebamala.Teopista Acamfua (Zombo Woman MP) asked URC to furnish the Committee with a report that will provide more details on the controversial training noting, “I would request and suggest that the Human Resource and the team that were directly responsible for the training to extract for us the training report that was presented to the House because this information must be there. You cannot have trainings and you don’t present a report. It is a report that will give us a clear accountability of how much was spent and how much remained.”The post MPs Corner Uganda Railways Corporation Over UGX25bn Training Cash appeared first on Business Focus.