Ugandans In Shock As Betty Nambooze Exposes Districts For Selling Govt Pickups For Shs1.5m, Motorcycles For Shs20,000

Ugandans have been left concerned after Parliament heard allegations that some districts are selling Government assets at extremely low prices, including pickups reportedly sold for as little as Shs1.5 million and motorcycles for Shs20,000.

The revelation was made by Betty Nambooze, Chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, during a meeting with the Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA) and Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oboth on September 29, 2026.

Nambooze said some districts were losing valuable public assets because they were deliberately undervaluing them before selling them. She cited cases where a Busubizi Teachers Training College in Luwero was reportedly valued at Shs20 million, while land belonging to Mukono District was valued at Shs43 million.

She further revealed that some Government motorcycles had been sold for between Shs20,000 and Shs50,000, while a pickup reportedly purchased only two or three years earlier was being sold for about Shs1.5 million.

According to Nambooze, many of the assets are allegedly bought by district leaders themselves, including councillors and district chairpersons. She described the situation as possible collusion within some districts and called for stronger accountability mechanisms.

Nambooze also urged Parliament and the Government to revive District Public Accounts Committees (DPACs), saying their failure to function effectively has contributed to a huge backlog of audit reports. She said Parliament currently has more than 5,000 reports awaiting scrutiny.

Speaker Oboth agreed that audit work should be handled more effectively at district level and said Parliament should support training and strengthening of local government accountability committees. He also warned against appointing friends, relatives or campaign managers to accountability positions without the necessary knowledge and capacity.

The Speaker further raised concerns about districts returning unspent funds to the Consolidated Fund because of delays in recruiting staff. He said recruitment funds should be released early in the financial year so that local governments can complete the necessary clearance processes and recruit workers before the funds expire.

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