The Parliamentary Committee on Physical Infrastructure has directed three senior technocrats from the Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) to report to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) over the alleged mismanagement of a 28.9-million-euro loan secured from Spain.
The loan, obtained by the government in 2019, was intended to support the rehabilitation and modernisation of Uganda’s railway operations following the collapse of the Rift Valley Railways concession.
Appearing before the committee, chaired by Mbarara City South MP Mwine Mpaka, URC officials faced tough questioning over the utilisation of more than 19 million euros from the loan, particularly funds earmarked for staff training.
The Uganda Railways Corporation clarified that the entire loan was not spent on training, but confirmed that 4.82 million euros was allocated to staff capacity building.
Committee Chairperson Mwine Mpaka described the expenditure as excessive, questioning why the government borrowed millions of euros to train a relatively small number of staff on short courses, including train-driving programmes.
Lawmakers also raised concerns over the procurement of second-hand vehicles, despite reports that the contract required the purchase of brand-new vehicles.
Mpaka said the three technocrats were referred to the CID after providing what the committee described as unsatisfactory explanations and failing to adequately account for the utilisation of the loan funds.
The remaining portion of the Spanish loan was earmarked for railway infrastructure projects, including the supply of 4,605 railway rails and the rehabilitation of the 26.8-kilometre Kampala–Namanve–Mukono railway line.
Meanwhile, Mpaka said that although the committee has little hope of recovering the funds, it will investigate claims that part of the money was returned to Spain before making its recommendations to Parliament.
By Francis Lubega
7th Aug 2026
END