Aisha Naluzze, Inspector General of GovernmentBy Prisca Wanyenya The Inspectorate of Government has revealed that despite recommending recovery of over Shs41.6Bn between January and June 2026, government has only recovered Shs5.7Bn, while Shs1.5Bn has been recommended for payment through out-of-court settlements.The revelation was made by Aisha Naluzze, Inspector General of Government (IGG), while handing over the bi-annual Inspectorate of Government report for January to June 2026 to Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oboth Oboth on October 12, 2026.Parliament was informed that between January and June 2026, the Inspectorate registered 1,909 new complaints, of which 1,668 cases were authorised for investigation and 1,472 were concluded after investigations.The Inspectorate added that among these, 614 were corruption investigations, 681 were ombudsman investigations and 177 investigations related to breaches of the Leadership Code.Naluzze said: “As a result of the investigation on corruption allegations, the IG ordered a recovery of approximately Shs41.6 billion and we were able to recover through these recommendations, Shs5.7 billion in cash and assets. In relation to the ombudsman role, Shs1.5 billion was recommended for payment to persons following various ombudsman interventions. Under the ombudsman, we don’t necessarily go through court processes, so these are normally recommendations for either payment of salaries, gratuities and pensions.”According to the IGG, between January and June 2026, the IG prosecuted 29 cases before the Anti-Corruption Division and the Leadership Code Tribunal and secured 26 convictions, representing an improvement in the conviction rate to 89.7%.However, the Inspectorate came under scrutiny over accusations of failing to pay whistleblowers who report corruption cases, with Muwada Nkunyingi (Kyadondo East) revealing that the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) is inundated with petitions of non-payment of whistleblowers in cases where the Inspectorate has recovered funds, contrary to the law that requires government to pay out 5% of recovered funds to whistleblowers.Muwada noted: “In my work as chairperson, I have so far received five petitions against the IGG and in these petitions, the petitioners are accusing the office of the IGG of failure to pay whistleblowers. They are saying they have followed up cases where they provided information to the office of the IGG and that indeed the IGG has made recoveries, but they have failed to know where to present their petitions. And I wanted to learn from the IGG, what is occasioning this. Because the Whistleblowers Act provides that whoever provides information that leads to recovery of funds, that whistleblower is entitled to, I think, 5%.”Speaker Oboth asked the Inspectorate to explain why whistleblowers aren’t paid, saying if such funds were available it would motivate the public to report corruption cases and save government the cost of investigating corruption.“Corruption is not done in the forest, it is among ourselves here. So, when somebody gets to know and becomes a whistleblower and you make recoveries, and you don’t acknowledge that, because they are at risk, you need to make sure you have a budget line whereby you reward, and there is a percentage. In fact, if you had money there, enough for whistleblowers, you would just be sitting there, and the people, when the deal goes bad, they will come and tell you the whole truth. You spend very little here,” Oboth remarked.The Deputy Inspector General of Government, Anne Twinomugisha, told Parliament that sometimes whistleblowers blow their own whistle, while some don’t follow the rightful criteria for reporting corruption that would guarantee payment after recoveries are made.She explained: “The law provides the procedure in which you, as a whistleblower, who you must whistle blow to. You cannot whistle blow in the media and say I am a whistleblower. The law has a procedure; who are you supposed to whistle blow to, you are not going to find a journalist and whistle blow and say, I have whistle blown. First of all, for your own safety, but also for the integrity of the investigation. It is important that whistleblowers get to know who they whistle blow to.”The Inspectorate also admitted there is need for reforms under the Whistleblowers Act, especially the provision that states the 5% pay can only be paid out when money has been recovered, yet there are incidences when somebody reports a corruption matter when it is happening, but if that act is prevented, the whistleblower can’t be paid.Twinomugisha added: “And then you can’t fund them, because we cannot find this money from our budget. The money to be refunded is from the money that has been recovered. So, there is a lacuna in the law that must be addressed by this Parliament.”Despite receiving a financial boost in FY 2025/26, where the Inspectorate was allocated Shs88.736Bn comprising Shs28.313Bn for wages, Shs38.626Bn for non-wage expenditure and Shs22.797Bn for development, with part of the additional funds used to purchase 17 cars, the Inspectorate admitted more funds are needed to recruit experts to help fight corruption, given the sophisticated trend it has taken.Naluzze noted: “There is a shortage of specialised technical skills. This one is still a challenge up to now. We want to implore Parliament to avail us some more resources to be able to recruit specialised technical skills like our surveyors, the handwriting experts and all that. Then we also have a challenge with staff turnover, which is arising from remuneration challenges within the Inspectorate, limited enforcement of service standards, and inadequate funding for mainstreaming transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption initiatives.”Details in the report also indicated that with 2026 being a declaration year for public officers as required under the Leadership Code Act, the IG registered 302,800 public officers onto the Inspectorate’s online declaration system. Of these, 241,230 declared their incomes, assets and liabilities, representing an 80% compliance rate in the April 2026 declaration period.“The results above demonstrate improvement in investigations, recoveries and prosecution. The process has been supported by improvement in internal processes, which includes prosecution-led investigations, increased public citizen engagements, but however, the Inspectorate continues to face significant challenges,” Naluzze remarked.The post Govt Recovers Only Shs5.7Bn of Shs41.6Bn Flagged in Graft Cases – IGG appeared first on Business Focus.