UFZEPA DIRTY FILES EXPOSED! Investigation Unmasks Billions Blunder, Ghost Outputs & Licence Scandal as Top Bosses Sleep on Duty
A storm is raging inside Uganda’s newest export agency after a damning Auditor General’s report blew the lid off shocking inefficiencies, questionable financial maneuvers and outright failure to deliver by the Uganda Free Zones and Export Promotions Authority — leaving taxpayers wondering who is really minding the store, Red Pepper can report.
The explosive December 2025 report paints a troubling picture of an institution that is supposed to be the engine of Uganda’s export revolution but is instead choking on its own mismanagement, with billions of shillings either poorly utilized or tied to outputs that simply never materialized.
At the centre is Executive Director Hez Kimoomi Alinda, deputized by Elly Twineyo Kamugisha, both now facing uncomfortable questions as the Auditor General’s findings ripple through government corridors.
According to the report, out of a total UGX 12.101 billion released to the authority, only UGX 8.540 billion was actually spent, translating into a worrying absorption rate of just 71 percent. In a country where agencies are constantly crying for funding, the failure to utilize available resources has triggered outrage.
“This negatively affected service delivery,” the report states bluntly, exposing how inefficiency at the top is directly hurting Uganda’s ambitions to boost exports and industrial growth.
But it gets worse.
A deeper probe into how the spent UGX 3.009 billion was used reveals a disturbing pattern of half-done work and abandoned targets. Only two outputs were fully implemented. Four were partially achieved. Two were not implemented at all.
In simple terms, taxpayers pumped billions into an authority that delivered less than half of what it promised.
Insiders say this has left critical export promotion activities hanging, with investors and businesses left stranded in uncertainty.
The report also tears into the very system UFZEPA uses to measure its own performance, exposing what can only be described as a “blindfolded management style.”
Auditors observed that some performance indicators were so poorly designed they “would not provide the most appropriate measure of performance,” while shockingly, some outputs had no indicators at all.
“How do you measure success when you don’t even know what success looks like?” a source familiar with the audit fumed.
In what could escalate into a full-blown financial scandal, the Accounting Officer is further accused of utilizing supplementary funding amounting to UGX 8.540 billion that was never formally requested as required by the Public Finance Management Regulations (PFMR).
This revelation has raised red flags about possible financial indiscipline within the authority, with experts warning that such actions undermine transparency and accountability in public finance.
And just when you think the rot ends there, the report uncovers a licensing scandal that points to regulatory failure at the highest level.
Despite clear provisions under the Free Zones Act empowering the authority to revoke licences of non-compliant developers, UFZEPA reportedly sat on its hands and failed to act against five licensees who were in breach.
“Contrary to Section 37 of the Free Zones Act… the Authority had delayed to revoke licenses for 5 licensees that were in breach,” the report reveals.
This failure has potentially allowed errant operators to continue business unchecked, raising fears of abuse within Uganda’s free zones framework.
The mess now casts a long shadow over the entire leadership structure, including Board Chairman Jachan Fred Omach and Vice Chairperson Sheena Hadijah Namitala, alongside board members Dr. Obed Kabanda, Dorothy Natukunda, Francis Koluo, Akello Judith Tracy and Emmanuel Mutahunga, who are now under pressure to explain how such glaring failures slipped through their oversight.
Even more intrigue surrounds the relationship at the top, with murmurs that Deputy Executive Director Elly Twineyo Kamugisha is quietly positioning himself for power, “consulting on how to stage a bloodless coup and overthrow his boss diplomatically,” according to insider whispers now gaining traction.
UFZEPA itself was only recently formed through a high-profile merger of the Uganda Free Zones Authority and the Uganda Export Promotions Board, a move championed as a cost-saving masterstroke expected to save over UGX 6 billion annually while turbocharging Uganda’s export potential.
The new super-agency, operating under the Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives, is supposed to eliminate duplication, streamline incentives, and drive the country toward an ambitious $500 billion GDP vision.
Instead, it is now grappling with inherited funding gaps, land acquisition headaches, and the complex task of harmonizing 15 incentive schemes — challenges that the latest audit suggests are being poorly handled.
What was meant to be a shining pillar of Uganda’s economic transformation is now turning into a cautionary tale of bureaucracy, weak oversight, and internal intrigue.
As pressure mounts, all eyes are now on the government and watchdog agencies to act decisively.
Because if the Auditor General’s report is anything to go by, the real free zone in Uganda right now may not be for exports — but for accountability.
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