KABALE VARSITY EXPOSED! Probe Uncovers Sh22.2Bn Land Risk, 75% Staff Gaps, Research Crisis & Procurement Failures
KABALE – Kabale University is under the spotlight after the Auditor General exposed a catalogue of operational, procurement, staffing and planning failures that have left billions of shillings worth of public assets exposed, critical vacancies unfilled and key development programmes only partially implemented.
The Auditor General’s report for the financial year ended December 2025 paints the picture of a university grappling with severe human resource shortages, weak procurement planning, underfunded strategic programmes and declining research output despite continued government investment.
One of the biggest concerns raised by the Auditor General is the university’s staffing crisis.
Out of an approved establishment of 2,068 positions, only 516 posts, representing 25 percent, had been filled, leaving 1,543 positions, or 75 percent, vacant across both academic and administrative departments.
The staffing gap raises concerns over the institution’s capacity to effectively deliver teaching, research and administrative services.
The audit also questioned the university’s management of outstanding receivables.
Kabale University reported receivables worth Shs603.8 million, of which Shs409.1 million accrued during the 2024/2025 financial year, while Shs194.7 million relates to unpaid student balances accumulated between 2018 and 2024, indicating that significant debts have remained outstanding for several years.
The procurement function also came under scrutiny.
The Auditor General found that although the university initiated a procurement worth Shs106.3 million for implementation in the following financial year, management failed to prepare the mandatory multi-year procurement plan.
The report further reveals that although the university was required to reserve Shs2.72 billion, equivalent to 15 percent, for registered associations, only Shs184.2 million, representing just one percent, was actually awarded.
Implementation of the annual procurement plan also fell short.
Out of planned procurements worth Shs18.1 billion during the financial year, contracts worth only Shs12.36 billion, representing 67 percent, were awarded.
The Auditor General further established that two obsolete university assets had been recommended for disposal but were never included in the institution’s 2024/2025 procurement and disposal plan, leaving questions over delayed disposal of redundant government property.
Planning weaknesses were also flagged.
A comparison between the university’s Strategic Plan cost estimates and actual funding for the period 2020/21 to 2024/25 revealed a 37.5 percent funding gap, significantly affecting implementation of planned activities.
To make matters worse, auditors established that by 1 July 2025, Kabale University had still not finalised a new Strategic Plan aligned to the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), meaning the institution entered a new planning cycle without an updated strategic framework.
The Auditor General also questioned the pace of implementation of university programmes funded through the non-payroll budget.
Out of Shs8.33 billion assessed under non-payroll expenditure, only 17 outputs worth Shs2.01 billion were fully implemented, while 21 outputs valued at Shs6.33 billion were only partially implemented.
One of the most alarming findings concerns university land worth Shs22.24 billion.
The Auditor General found that land at the Main Campus and Nyabikoni, valued at Shs22.24 billion, remains unfenced, exposing the public property to potential encroachment, illegal occupation or loss.
The audit also exposed a worrying decline in academic research.
Among eight public universities reviewed, only Makerere University and Mbarara University recorded satisfactory research participation.
At Kabale University, only 28 out of 320 academic staff, representing just nine percent, published research during the period under review, highlighting low participation in one of the university’s core mandates.
The Auditor General attributed the poor research performance across the affected universities to inadequate mentoring structures, limited training in proposal development and weak incentives for junior researchers.
The report further examined The Political Economy of Food System Governance Around Lake Victoria Project, implemented by Kabale University for the period ended 31 December 2024.
Auditors found that the project received only DDK 103,275.6, representing 32 percent of its approved budget of DDK 327,130, leaving a funding shortfall of DDK 223,854.36. Using an approximate exchange rate of 1 Danish Krone (DKK) ≈ Shs580, the shortfall is equivalent to roughly Shs130 million, significantly constraining planned project activities.
The Auditor General’s findings now pile pressure on Kabale University’s management to explain how an institution entrusted with billions of shillings in public resources continues to operate with three-quarters of its approved workforce vacant, billions in planned activities only partially delivered, critical procurement requirements ignored, valuable government land left exposed without a fence and research output remaining far below expected levels.
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