Kabale Municipality Mayor Emmanuel Sentaro Byamugisha has called on Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba to intervene in a heated dispute involving the payment of more than Shs3 billion to a road construction firm, escalating tensions over the role of oversight institutions in local government contracting disputes.
Byamugisha made the appeal during his swearing-in ceremony on Thursday at Kabale Municipal Stadium, where he was inaugurated for a third term.
In his maiden address, he raised concerns over what he described as the expanding influence of the Inspectorate of Government and the Equal Opportunities Commission in matters he believes should be handled by local authorities and legal processes.
The dispute centres on a directive by Deputy Inspector General of Government Patricia Achan Okiria, who instructed Kabale Municipality to pay Shs1.92 billion to M/S Multiplex Limited–Detaco International Trade and Contracting Joint Venture as outstanding obligations for road works.
She also ordered an additional Shs1.2 billion to be paid, bringing the total contested amount to over Shs3 billion.
The joint venture was contracted in May 2021 under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Programme to upgrade key roads in Kabale Municipality, including Bwankosya Road linking Nyerere Avenue to Kabale Central Market, Bushekwiire Road connecting the town centre to Kabale Main Road, and Rushoroza Road, which links Kabale Diocesan Headquarters to the Kabale–Katuna–Mbarara Highway.
The Rushoroza Road project had earlier been pledged by President Museveni during a visit to Rushoroza Cathedral in 2010, and its completion was later among projects commissioned in February 2025, though local leaders raised concerns at the time that some works had not been fully completed.
Disagreements between the municipality and the contractor later emerged, with municipal leaders accusing the company of delays and substandard work.
The contractor, through director Moses Ndege Bbosa, later petitioned the Inspectorate of Government and the Equal Opportunities Commission in December 2025, demanding payment of outstanding balances.
In March 2026, Deputy IGG Patricia Achan directed the municipality to settle the Shs 1.92 billion claim, citing guidance that the contractor was entitled to payment. The directive was followed by an additional claim of Shs 1.2 billion, which municipal leaders also dispute.
Speaking after his swearing-in, Byamugisha questioned the basis of the payment orders, arguing that the contractor had already received retention fees and that the municipality was being pressured to release funds outside what he termed established legal processes.
He further accused both the Inspectorate of Government and the Equal Opportunities Commission of exceeding their mandates in handling the dispute, describing their intervention as inappropriate in what he termed a contractual and administrative matter still under contention.
Byamugisha also indicated he was willing to face political consequences, including impeachment, in pursuit of his position, and urged government to review the powers of the two institutions.
He appealed directly to Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, whom he referred to as his chairman in the Patriotic League of Uganda, to intervene in the matter.
The dispute now places Kabale Municipality at the centre of a broader institutional clash involving accountability, contractor disputes, and the boundaries of oversight authority in local government infrastructure projects.