The Inspector General of Government (IGG), Beti Kamya, has launched an investigation into the operations of the National Forestry Authority (NFA), citing 34 complaints ranging from allegations of financial mismanagement to irregularities in human resource recruitment.
Kamya, accompanied by a team of investigators, arrived at the NFA offices early Thursday morning and was received by the acting Executive Director, Stuart Maniraguha, alongside other senior technical officers.
During her address to the NFA management team, Kamya revealed that her office had received numerous complaints from across the country, questioning the agency's handling of resources allocated by both the government and donors.
"We have come to learn that there are so many things that are going on in NFA that are not for the best interest for the citizens of this country," stated the IGG Beti Kamya
Specific areas of concern include, financial management of government and donor funds, procurement and disposal processes, status and management of planted and natural forests and administration of non-tax revenue
Kamya emphasized the seriousness of the investigation, classifying it as high profile—a designation typically reserved for cases involving sums exceeding shs1 billion.
"We are confining ourselves mainly to the past two and half financial years. In order to do that we need documents," said Kamya.
NFA Acting Executive Director, Stuart Maniraguha, acknowledged the challenges faced by the agency in fulfilling its mandate to manage the country’s 506 central forest reserves.
He highlighted the difficulty in regulating activities on privately owned forests, which, he said, contributes significantly to the degradation of the country’s forest cover.
"We are constrained when it comes to private forests. While we are tasked with protecting these resources, we cannot stop private individuals from undertaking activities on their land that often lead to deforestation," Maniraguha explained.
Kamya first held a closed-door meeting with NFA's top management before addressing the rest of the staff.
She cautioned against any attempts to obstruct the investigation, stressing the importance of full cooperation to ensure transparency.
The IGG’s team has committed to spending three months at the NFA offices, scrutinizing all operations to ensure compliance with established regulations and accountability standards.
This investigation adds to the growing scrutiny of government agencies over the management of public resources. The findings are expected to have far-reaching implications for the forestry sector, especially at a time when Uganda is grappling with environmental challenges.