The alleged undervaluation of government assets worth tens of billions of shillings in Luwero District has come under scrutiny, with Parliament warning that inaccurate valuations could expose the government to financial loss during the disposal of public property.
The Local Government Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Thursday grilled Luwero District officials over the matter as it examined the Auditor General’s report for the 2024/25 financial year. According to the Auditor General, Luwero District valued its fixed assets, including land, at 19.04 billion shillings, while movable assets, including plant, property and equipment, were valued at 40.9 billion shillings.
The Auditor General, however, noted that the figures were based on estimates made by the district rather than professional assessments by the Chief Government Valuer. Committee chairperson Betty Nambooze, who is also the Mukono Municipality Member of Parliament, questioned how the district arrived at the values without involving the government’s professional valuation authority.
Luwero District Chief Administrative Officer Friday Kyomya told the committee that the district wrote to the Chief Government Valuer in August 2026 seeking a professional assessment and was awaiting a response. Nambooze rejected the explanation and questioned why the district had waited until August to seek an official valuation.
She suggested that the request could have been prompted by the committee’s planned visit to Luwero to investigate the audit queries. Nambooze also questioned whether some of the assets could have been deliberately undervalued to facilitate their disposal at prices below their actual worth.
She cited entries in the district asset register showing some motorcycles valued at between 125,000 and 500,000 shillings, while some vehicles were valued at as little as 4.9 million shillings. The committee also questioned the valuation of medical equipment, with some items reportedly assigned values as low as 10,000 shillings.
Nambooze further questioned why the value assigned to district land had remained unchanged for the past two financial years despite rising land values in many parts of the country. She cited land at Bukolwa Health Centre, which the district reportedly valued at only five million shillings despite the presence of buildings and other structures on the property.
Godfrey Walakira, the district revenue officer serving as Chief Accounting Officer, attempted to explain the valuations but failed to convince the committee. Walakira also told the legislators that the district does not have a clear register showing the total acreage of land owned by Luwero District.
Luwero District LC5 Chairperson Erastus Kibirango told the committee that the district had suspended the disposal of old assets after identifying the valuation concerns. He said the district would wait for the Chief Government Valuer to conduct a professional assessment before resuming the disposal process.
Nakasongola County MP Ivan Kyeyune moved a motion for the committee to physically inspect some of the assets, particularly the vehicles, to verify their condition and determine whether the valuations reflect their actual worth.
The motion was adopted.
By the time of publishing this story, Nambooze had deferred further consideration of the matter until the committee completed a physical inspection of some of the assets during the lunch break. She said the findings would determine whether the matter should be referred to police for possible criminal investigations and whether the committee would uphold the Auditor General’s queries.
The committee also resolved to suspend the disposal of old assets until the valuation concerns are fully resolved. The sitting was still ongoing, with the committee also upholding an audit query over Luwero District’s failure to collect revenue arrears amounting to 1.557 billion shillings. The committee heard that the revenue shortfall had affected the implementation of planned district activities.
District officials attempted to attribute part of the failure to collect the revenue to threats from armed personnel. However, Deputy Chief of Defence Forces and Uganda People’s Defence Forces representative in Parliament, Lieutenant General Sam Okiding, who is also a member of the committee, said he had not received any complaint from the district regarding such threats.
The committee also faulted the Luwero District Public Accounts Committee for failing to submit its reports and findings to Parliament for the past six years-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
