Mpigi Engineer Busted in 242M Fuel Heist Using Dead Trucks and Fake Plates

Sam Kyambadde, the acting Mpigi district engineer, has been remanded to prison on charges of stealing fuel worth 242 million shillings allocated for road maintenance works. He was arrested by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit in collaboration with police and appeared before Mpigi chief magistrate Jane Francis Nanvuma, where he was formally charged with theft.

Kyambadde and Charles Sitakange, the assistant district engineer already on remand, allegedly conspired to steal 21,739 liters of fuel in the 2023/2024 financial year. The fuel, valued at 242,022,500 shillings, was part of a 1 billion shilling road maintenance grant. The engineers inflated fuel requirements for road projects, colluded with fuel station managers to bypass control measures, and drew excess fuel.

The suspects used vehicle registration numbers of grounded or unrelated vehicles to conceal the theft. For instance, a Tipper truck, registration LG 0002-082, grounded since 2022, was fraudulently used to account for 18.5 million shillings worth of fuel. They also falsely used registration numbers of vehicles from other departments and private vehicles to account for stolen fuel, resulting in 90 million shillings in losses.

Investigators found that the Kyansoozi–Kampiringisa–Muyiira road, budgeted at 97 million shillings, was never worked on, despite district records claiming completion. The State House Anti-Corruption Unit is conducting similar investigations in other local governments following multiple complaints of fuel mismanagement under the 1 billion shilling road maintenance grant.

Last month, four Butambala district officials were arrested for stealing 431 million shillings worth of road fuel and are currently on remand. Busia Municipal Council officials were also recently charged over similar fuel-related fraud. Kyambadde has been remanded until August 5, when he will reappear in court to face the theft charges.