Overview:
Uganda’s IGG ordered 41.6bn shillings returned in Jan–June 2026. It collected 5.7bn, less than the 8.1bn it recovered a year earlier.
Uganda’s anti-corruption watchdog ordered the recovery of 41.6bn Ugandan shillings in public money in the first half of 2026. It collected 5.7bn shillings in that time.
The figures come from the latest report by the Inspectorate of Government (IG), which covers January to June 2026.
The value of recovery orders was almost 19 times higher than in the same period last year, when the inspectorate ordered 2.2bn shillings returned.
Actual recoveries fell by nearly 30%, from 8.1bn shillings a year earlier.
The report does not say how much of the 41.6bn shillings has been paid back so far. Money recovered in any six-month period can come from orders made earlier, and new orders can take months or years to enforce.
Inspector General of Government Aisha Naluzze Batala presented the report to Parliament Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth.
The inspectorate says its work saved the government a further 18.1bn shillings over the six months.
It also recommended that 1.5bn shillings be paid to people who had complained to it. Unpaid salaries and benefits were the most common grievance, making up 230 of the 681 cases it resolved under its ombudsman role.
Most of the money being pursued is linked to abuse of office. That offence accounted for 69 of the 88 high-profile cases concluded in government ministries and agencies.
The inspectorate received 1,909 complaints during the period, up nearly 20% on a year earlier. It said the rise was partly due to public awareness campaigns.
It won 26 convictions from 29 prosecutions.
Opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi said arrests had to lead to prosecutions. Otherwise, he said, the fight against corruption would look like “showbiz just for the media”.
Naluzze said the inspectorate would pursue cases regardless of who was involved. “We do not have untouchables,” she said.
MPs also raised concerns about whistleblowers who say they have not been paid for information that helped recover public money. Parliament has received five petitions on the issue.
Under Ugandan law, whistleblowers are entitled to 5% of the money recovered.
Deputy Inspector General Anne Muhairwe said this meant someone who helped stop a theft before it happened could receive nothing, because no money was recovered. She said the inspectorate supported changing the rules.
The inspectorate’s budget is set to rise from about 88bn shillings to 97bn shillings. John Teira, who chairs Parliament’s legal committee, welcomed the increase. He said investigators increasingly had to follow money across borders.