KAMPALA – The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) top leadership is under intense investigation over grave allegations of systemic corruption, illicit financial enrichment, and profound governance failures.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Highly placed security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the probe places the corporation’s Managing Director, Eng. Dr. Silver Mugisha, and his leadership team firmly under the spotlight.
The inquiry is dissecting high-level governance lapses, questionable procurement practices, and a troubling disconnect between colossal public investments and the abysmal state of water delivery across the country.
Despite the NWSC’s public boasts of massive infrastructure development and an asset base reportedly surpassing Shs 5 trillion, Ugandans continue to endure crippling water shortages.
The situation has ignited public fury, particularly in the Kampala Metropolitan areas, including Kampala, Wakiso, Entebbe, and Mukono, where residents report going weeks, and in some harrowing cases, up to two months, without running water.
The places of Kulambiro, Nalumunye, Bukasa, Kireka, and Nansana, dry taps have become the norm, with outages stretching from a fortnight to over 60 days. The towns in Greater Mukono, including Kalagi, Nakifuma, and Kasawo, remain entirely devoid of functional piped infrastructure.
Adding insult to injury, citizens who pay full fees for new domestic connections are facing unexplained delays of several months, raising urgent questions about the true destination of capital investments.
The security agencies’ probe is zeroing in on a litany of questionable financial dealings at NWSC, chief among them a controversial Shs 17 billion procurement project for prepaid water meters.
Whistleblower dossiers already filed with oversight bodies expose shocking allegations of conflict of interest, blatant procurement breaches, and administrative cover-ups orchestrated to insulate senior officials from accountability.
The development that has deepened suspicions, investigators are scrutinizing a major cybersecurity breach in which multiple NWSC servers were inexplicably wiped.
The loss of digital financial records was so severe that external auditors were rendered unable to complete a comprehensive financial audit for the 2021/2022 financial year.
Management opted for quiet internal discipline over criminal prosecution for the catastrophic data loss, a tactic investigators believe was designed to hide deeper financial anomalies and illicit dealings.
Security sources have confirmed that Dr. Mugisha’s personal asset declarations are under active review, alongside his potential use of public visibility for political mobilization, particularly around contract renewal periods.
Meanwhile, the investigators are determined to establish whether public resources and corporate influence have been improperly leveraged for personal or political gain.
While NWSC senior management has previously attributed operational strains to unpaid government bills totaling over Shs 100 billion, security forces are moving to determine the veracity of these claims.
The overarching objective is to establish whether public funds are being systematically lost to systemic corruption and private enrichment, leaving millions of Ugandans without access to reliable water and sewerage services.
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