Senior engineers in limbo as govt restructuring stalls deployment
A road construction site in Kampala. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- The staffing limbo comes amid the ongoing implementation of RAPEX.
- Minister of Works and Transport Gen Katumba Wamala acknowledged the delay but urged patience.
Nearly five months after their official appointment, more than a dozen senior engineers approved by Uganda’s Public Service Commission remain idle—unassigned and in limbo—despite being cleared to join the Ministry of Works and Transport.
The engineers were recruited under the government’s sweeping Rationalisation of Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX) reform and were meant to fill critical roles in the ministry’s Road Maintenance Division, responsible for the upkeep of over 6,000km of tarmacked roads.
Instead, they remain at home, technically employed, but with no workstations or deployment dates.
“We are just sitting. We have appointment letters, we passed all interviews, but we don’t know when we will actually start work,” one engineer told Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity.
The delay has stirred concern in professional circles and among public service watchers. Uganda plans to invest nearly Shs 5 trillion in road rehabilitation and maintenance in the 2024/25 financial year, targeting over 10,000km of national and community access roads, according to budget estimates.
Yet, the very engineers meant to implement this agenda remain on standby—victims, they fear, of internal wrangling, political interference or bureaucratic inertia.
Minister of Works and Transport Gen Katumba Wamala acknowledged the delay but urged patience.
“If they have appointment letters, that’s even much better because they are already appointed. Let them wait as we reorganize,” he said in an interview on Tuesday.
“I’m hurting more than you. I want them deployed. Give us the opportunity to rearrange and reorganize and we will address this issue,” he added.
He dismissed allegations of political interference and encouraged engineers to take concerns directly to his office.
The Secretary of the Public Service Commission, Dr John Geoffrey Mbabazi, confirmed that deployment is still pending the completion of internal processes.
“We haven’t cleared them yet. We’re still handling the Ministry. Once we finish, we’ll send the minutes for deployment,” he said in a separate interview on Tuesday.
He advised those affected to check with the Ministry of Works by the end of next week for updates.
The staffing limbo comes amid the ongoing implementation of RAPEX, adopted in 2021 and approved by Parliament in July 2024, which aims to streamline public administration by phasing out overlapping agencies to cut costs and improve efficiency.
However, critics argue the transition has created vacuum-like delays, with essential staff unable to transition into integrated ministry roles.
In February, Parliament reallocated funds from defunct agencies to ministries, including Works and Transport. But logistical and administrative bottlenecks continue to delay full implementation.
