Missing wagons, billions at stake: MPs demand probe into URC

When Uganda Railways Corporation took back railway operations from Rift Valley Railways in January 2018, one of the most basic safeguards was missing.

There was no formal handover or comprehensive stock-taking of railway assets. Years later, Parliament says that gap has left Uganda struggling to account for hundreds of wagons, while raising broader questions about the management of a Spanish-funded railway rehabilitation and capacity-building programme.

A parliamentary committee has now asked the Inspectorate of Government to investigate former URC managing director David Musoke Bulega and several other officials over alleged financial losses, mismanagement and the handling of railway assets.

At the centre of the investigation are missing wagons, foreign consultants, workshops that may not have taken place, project vehicles that were later sold to individuals involved in the programme, and questions about a concrete sleeper factory.

The committee was told that 394 railway wagons were missing, including 113 belonging to the Government of Uganda. When URC resumed operations from Rift Valley Railways on January 25, 2018, there was no formal handover or stock-taking exercise, meaning the exact number of wagons and other assets inherited by URC could not be conclusively established.

The problem was compounded during RVR’s transition from a manual wagontracking system to a digital platform known as Translogic. Wagons that could not immediately be located were reportedly transferred in the system to a “virtual station” in Nyahururu, Kenya, after which some became untraceable.

Between 2018 and 2024, URC physically located 18 wagons in Kenya and had them reclassified in Translogic, reducing the number of missing URC-owned wagons from 131 to 113. Another was later recovered, bringing the outstanding number to 112.

The missing wagons were estimated to be worth about $11.2 million, or Shs 42.28 billion, based on an estimated value of $100,000 per wagon. But Parliament’s investigation added another complication: some wagons subsequently appeared in sales.

The committee found that 28 wagons were sold in Tanzania through an advertisement published in The East African on April 12, 2025.

Another 152 were sold as scrap in Uganda earlier this year to steel companies including Diamond Steel and China Chang Those 152 wagons were reportedly sold for Shs 2 billion, although their estimated value was Shs 4.4 billion. What troubled MPs was the arithmetic.

A March 2024 handover report by former URC chief mechanical engineer Peter Katwebaze identified only 82 wagons as scrap, a figure that reportedly remained unchanged in a June 2025 handover report.

“This raises questions as to where URC obtained the 152 wagons which it sold as scrap in 2025, in addition to the 28 wagons sold in Tanzania during the same year,” the committee noted.

The investigation also turned to money borrowed from Spain to rehabilitate Uganda’s metre-gauge railway and strengthen URC’s technical and institutional capacity. Parliament approved borrowing of about €25.9 million, or Shs 113.6 billion, from Spain’s Internationalization Fund.

The financing arrangements were signed on August 6, 2021. The physical work included replacing steel sleepers with concrete ones, aiming to raise train operating speeds from between 20 and 35 kilometres per hour to as much as 120 kilometres per hour.

A completed section costing about €19.8 million, or Shs 75.4 billion, was launched by President Museveni at Kyetume in Mukono district in December 2024. But the capacity-building component drew some of the committee’s sharpest scrutiny. The programme, implemented by Consultrans S.A., cost €4.821 million, about Shs 21.1 billion.

At least €4.338 million, or Shs 19 billion, was allocated to five key experts. Only three of the five were deployed, the committee found. Two other experts were later replaced by Morris Tibenda and Paul Power, but MPs said URC did not authorize the replacements.

The committee also questioned Power’s qualifications, saying URC had not provided evidence of his railway operations and customer service experience. Two of the experts, Saul Tukashaba and Kiiza Pascazia, told MPs that they received only Shs 6.5 million each per month from the consultant, although the contract provided for payments of about €20,500, or Shs 89.9 million, per month each.

They said they were still pursuing the unpaid balances. The committee also questioned payments for travel and workshops. URC paid €39,750 for travel by key experts from Spain and another €39,750 for the back-office team.

MPs said no key experts travelled from Spain as envisaged in the contract, creating what the committee described as a potential financial loss of €79,500, or about Shs 348.7 million.

Six workshops were budgeted at €36,000, but URC provided minutes for only two, both held at Silver Springs Hotel in July 2022.

“The absence of documentation for the other four workshops raises questions as to whether they took place and whether the €12,000 reportedly spent on the two documented workshops represented value for money,” the committee said.

Parliament has recommended that the IGG investigate officials involved in the project, including Busingye Richard, Isaac Natukunda, Robert S.K., Patrick Okanang, Pamela Ruceerwa, Patience Baita and Abubaker Ochaki Namara.

It also specifically named Bulega. “The IGG investigates the then Managing Director, URC, David Musoke Bulega, under whose tenure the contract was mismanaged, hence causing financial loss,” the committee recommended.

There were further concerns about the consultant’s procurement. According to the report, the same consultant that sourced financing from the Spanish government was later contracted to implement the Shs 21 billion capacity-building programme.

MPs said the arrangement raised a potential conflict of interest and questioned why the company was directly procured. The contract also provided €20,000 for software, yet URC’s Principal Internal Auditor Philip Bosco told the committee that no software had been purchased.

Four double-cabin pickups were intended for project management. Only three were purchased, according to testimony before MPs. The vehicles were supposed to revert to URC when the programme ended, but the committee found no evidence of a formal handover.

Instead, all three were later sold to individuals involved in the project. Patrick Okanang said he bought one for Shs 20 million, while Tukashaba said he paid Shs 30 million. Joshua Turyatemba said he also paid for his vehicle but did not disclose the amount.

The three said they did not know the vehicles were supposed to return to URC. The final unresolved issue is the concrete sleeper factory established under the rehabilitation project. URC’s board had directed management to negotiate with contractor Imathia Construction Limited so that the corporation could retain the factory after the project.

The committee said management failed to implement that resolution. It has therefore recommended an IGG investigation and asked the Auditor General to conduct a value-for-money audit into the €169,000, or about Shs 700 million, URC spent levelling the 1.8-acre site used for the plant.

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