The Deputy Inspector General of Government (DIGG) Mrs. Anne Twinomugisha Muhairwe, has ordered the Masaka District principal human resource officer Mr. Kityo Mugagga to refund over UGX 25 million which was paid to a ghost pensioner.
The directive was made following investigations by the Inspectorate of Government (IG) Masaka Regional Office which found Mr. Mugagga guilty of irregularly paying UGX 25,329,000 million into the late Joseph Henry Kyeyune’s bank account and withdrawn by family members.
Mr. Mugagga is also supposed to appear before the Masaka District Service Commission for appropriate disciplinary action, for abuse of office, gross negligence, and failure to perform his duties.
According to a statement released on Friday, the IG received a complaint where it was alleged that Mr. Mugagga created and maintained a ghost pensioner named Joseph Henry Kyeyune on the District’s pension payroll.
Investigations conducted established that Mr. Kyeyune was born on July 15, 1927, appointed to the East African Posts and Telegraph as a Lineman Grade III on January 7, 1950 and voluntarily retired in April 1984 as a Senior Technician after 34 years of service, at the age of 57.
In the FY 2015/2016, the Ministry of Public Service decentralised pension payments to local governments, and Mr. Kyeyune was transferred to the Masaka DLG pension payroll.
Mr. Mugagga, with full knowledge of the pensioner’s age and status, failed to enforce compliance with the requirement for submission of annual life certificates by pensioners after Mr. Kyeyune’s death on 3rd November, 2015.
On December 16, 2019, nearly four years after the death of Kyeyune, Mr. Mugagga irregularly made a request to the Ministry of Public Service to change the deceased’s date of birth so as to get more retirement benefits. Pension payments into Kyeyune’s bank account continued for over five years.
The late Kyeyune was deleted from the payroll in February 2022, after irregular pension payments worth UGX 32,472,989 were paid into his bank account held in Centenary Bank, Mapeera Branch.
At the time of the IG’s inspection on March 18, 2022, the balance in the late Kyeyune’s Centenary Bank account was UGX 7,143,989, after family members withdrew a total of UGX 25,329,000. The bank balance is recoverable from the bank.
The DIGG Twinomugisha noted that the payment of UGX 25,329,000 pension to the late Kyeyune contravened Section 18 (1) of the Pensions Act, Cap 89 which states that:
“Every pension or other allowance granted under this Act, shall, unless it has sooner ceased, cease upon the death of the person to whom it is granted”.
She further warned public officers against all forms of unethical conduct while executing their duties which can cause losses to the government.
