By Spy Uganda
Members of Parliament have raised serious concerns about the quality of business training offered at Makerere University Business School (MUBS), following revelations that the institution procured a generator worth UGX 69 million which became faulty within just two months.
The issue came to light during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting held on May 28, 2025, in which MUBS officials appeared to respond to queries raised in the Auditor General’s December 2024 report.
Butambala County MP and PAC Chairperson, Muwanga Kivumbi, questioned how an institution mandated to teach procurement, accounting, and management could fail in such basic operational practices.
“When we reach teaching institutions that are supposed to produce experts for the country, we expect higher standards. You are supposed to be pace-setters, yet here you are, falling short. It’s hard to understand how you handle business,” said Kivumbi.
According to the Auditor General’s report, UGX 27 million meant for generator fuel at the Jinja Campus had no supporting documentation, as the generator was non-functional. There were no fuel consumption ledgers or statements, raising concerns that the fuel may have been misappropriated.
“Without any evidence of generator usage, there is a possibility that the fuel was diverted,” Kivumbi remarked.
In response, MUBS Principal Moses Muhwezi acknowledged the generator had indeed become faulty.
“We issue fuel cards to campuses to manage generators during power outages. I agree with the Auditor General that the generator at Jinja was faulty,” Muhwezi stated.
Kivumbi then pressed for clarification on the procurement timeline. Rodney Twagarukaho, Head of the Procurement and Disposal Unit at MUBS, said the generator was purchased in May 2023 from Riverbank Limited at a cost of UGX 69 million. He maintained that the generator was functional at installation.
“When we procured the generator, it was commissioned, installed, and tested. It worked for several months. We would not have paid for a generator that wasn’t functional. Later, due to problematic earthworks and wiring in the old building, the generator developed short circuits,” Twagarukaho explained.
However, Kivumbi was not satisfied and warned Twagarukaho of potential criminal investigation.
“Would I be wrong to refer you to the Criminal Investigations Directorate? The audit starts in July 2023—just a month after the generator was bought—and it was already non-functional. What kind of procurement was that?” he asked.
Muhwezi intervened to defuse the tension, assuring the committee that the generator had since been repaired and was now operational at the Jinja Campus.
“When the generator arrived, it was commissioned and initially worked for three months. The issues arose from faulty cabling in the old building. After repairs, the generator resumed functioning and is now in use,” Muhwezi said.
MPs also queried the diversion of UGX 7.68 billion from the University’s budget to settle domestic arrears that had not been budgeted for—an action Kivumbi said undermined Parliament’s appropriation authority.
“This practice affects implementation of planned activities and is a violation of appropriation procedures. Explain that. We don’t need rationale—just facts,” Kivumbi demanded.
Muhwezi admitted the shortcoming, attributing it to insufficient budget allocations.
“I agree with the Auditor General’s observations. It was a matter of shifting payments meant for a previous year to the current year due to budget constraints, particularly in our core areas,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muhwezi also made a surprising revelation about the academic performance of MUBS students studying while incarcerated at Luzira Prison.
“We recently graduated 5,551 students from Makerere University, over 40% of the total graduates. Among the 512 diploma and certificate graduates from MUBS, 11 were inmates at Luzira Prison. Interestingly, every prisoner tends to graduate with a first class. They are very committed and perform exceptionally well,” Muhwezi noted.
