Bulambuli District Engineer Arrested Over Shoddy Road Works

Paulo Walimbwa, the Bulambuli District Engineer, has been arrested

Paulo Walimbwa, the Bulambuli District Engineer, has been arrested over shoddy works on the Tunyi-Kimuli-Bumasoba Road.

The arrest was ordered today, Friday, 10th July, 2026 by Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, the Minister for local government, during a monitoring inspection of the Tunyi- Kimuli-Bumasoba Road in Sisi Sub-county.

The inspection team is led by Minister Balaam and includes his junior minister, Justin Nameere, Simon Mulongo, the Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Bulambuli District Woman MP Sarah Nambozo Wekomba, Elgon North MP Gerald Nangoli, the LCV Chairperson, and residents.

During the inspection of the Tunyi Kimuli-Bumasoba Road, Balaam discovered that the money allocated for the road does not match the work done.

He said the engineer carried out shoddy works of pouring soil on the road last week after hearing about his visit, instead of murram. Yet in the Bill of Quantities, he indicated that first-class murram had been put on the road.

Balaam ordered police at the scene to arrest him over misuse of public funds and for tarnishing the name of government.

Balaam said government will ensure that all district leaders account for public funds sent to them for work.

The Minister says that the engineer is going to aid government in identifying other Bulambuli district officers he has been embezzling road funds with in previous financial years warning that he has records.

Simon Mulongo, the State Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, said Bulambuli and Namisindwa are among the most corrupt districts in the entire country. He added that they will ensure this record is changed.

Justin Namere, the State Minister for Local Government, said the reason the engineer was arrested is to serve as an example to others in the country. She added that if such practices continue in every district, government will lose trillions of shillings.

Sarah Nambozo Wekomba, the Woman Member of Parliament for Bulambuli District, expressed disappointment with the shoddy works done by the engineer. She said this is the only road that connects hard-to-reach sub-counties in Bulambuli to the lower areas.

Wekomba said the road is the only route farmers from hard-to-reach areas use to transport their agricultural products such as bananas, coffee, cabbage, and onions, among others, to the lowland areas. She added that shoddy works on the road greatly affect them.

Other Bulambuli District leaders arrested during the tour include Joseph Magona, the Bulambuli Town Council Town Clerk, and one Okiror, the Bulambuli Town Council Engineer, over shoddy works at the Muyembe-Bukhalu Bridge, which cost over shs500 million.

Gerald Nangoli, the area Member of Parliament representing Elgon North constituency says that such shoddy works are going to undermine Uganda’s development agenda.

Some residents in the area expressed happiness over the arrest of the officers, especially the district engineer. They said they had repeatedly asked him to do quality work, but he instead told them they had no powers to comment on his work because they were not technical.

About 99% of the road works in Bulambuli district are shoddy and do not reflect the shs1 billion that the government sent to Bulambuli District for road rehabilitation. This angered the ministers during the monitoring exercise.