AIDS Commission in disarray as minister cancels job interviews with nepotism claims flying high

Phil Will — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 11:45:37 +0000

KAMPALA: Uganda could witness another scandal where top officials hand public jobs to relatives as thousands of Ugandans who applied for jobs at the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) this year being left in tears following a suspicious cancellation of scheduled interviews.

A letter by the Minister for the Presidency, Babirye Milly Babalanda, to the commission halted the exercise with concerns over the commission’s restructuring process and the delay in implementing recommendations from the Uganda AIDS Commission’s review report.

The March 25 letter addressed to Dr. Nelson Musoba, the Director General of UAC, Babalanda said she was disappointed with the slow progress in executing the recommendations outlined in the review report.

She highlighted the necessity of a comprehensive restructuring of the UAC before proceeding with recruitment.

The minister contended that rushing the hiring process without restructuring would lead to inefficiencies and disrupt the commission’s operations, particularly with a shortage of staff at zonal offices and an overconcentration of personnel at headquarters.

The minister’s letter instructed UAC to immediately halt all recruitment activities until the restructuring process was completed.

She further demanded that UAC submit a detailed action plan within two weeks, outlining the steps necessary to finalize the restructuring before recruitment could resume.

In the letter, the minister stressed the urgency of addressing the ongoing pandemic, emphasizing the commission’s responsibility to accelerate efforts in tackling high HIV prevalence and AIDS-related deaths.

Accordingly, Dr. Musoba reportedly consulted with the UAC Board Chairperson and instructed the Director of Human Resources (DHR) to prepare a formal letter to the Secretary of the Public Service Commission, halting the interview process.

Consequently, on March 27, 2025, UAC issued a public notice announcing the cancellation of oral interviews for several positions, including Zonal Coordinator, Documentation Officer/Librarian, ICT Officer, Public Relations Officer, Communication Officer, Communication Assistant, and Procurement Assistant.

These interviews had been scheduled to take place from March 31 to April 3, 2025. The commission apologized for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation.

The decision to cancel the interviews has stirred controversy and raised suspicions. One candidate, who was scheduled for an interview at the Uganda Management Institute, described the chaotic scene.

“I was in the first morning group, and after about 30 minutes of waiting, we were told to stop. Then another officer told us to continue, but when we stepped outside, other groups were also informed their interviews were canceled,” the candidate recounted.

As the situation unfolded, some sources inside the commission suggested that the cancellation may be linked to allegations of nepotism.

Other reports indicate that high-ranking officials could have brought in their relatives and friends to take up the positions, bypassing the proper recruitment channels. This could be the reason for cancelling the formal process.

The speculation led to accusations that the recruitment process was deliberately halted to allow favored candidates to be placed in the roles.

A group of applicants is now calling for a thorough investigation into the matter, urging Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja and the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to examine the potential misuse of office.

The Prime Minister recently warned public servants against using their positions for personal gain, and these latest developments have only added fuel to the growing concerns.

A report released by the IGG recently indicated that most public service jobs scaling to more than 80% were handed out illegally.

Calls to Dr Musobo’s known phone number went unanswered.

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Uganda says anti-malarial drugs donated by China to help curb epidemic

dailysecrets — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 14:29:29 +0000

KAMPALA, April 6 (Xinhua) — Uganda has said the anti-malaria medicines worth 1.1 million U.S. dollars donated by China will greatly help curb the epidemic in the east African country.

Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said the country last year experienced an upsurge in cases of malaria, which spread to more than half of the districts across Uganda.

Aceng was speaking Friday after receiving the consignment of drugs from the Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, Zhang Lizhong, at the National Medical Stores in Kajjansi, central district of Wakiso, a district in the Central Region of Uganda.

“As a country we are at high risk of malaria due to our climatic conditions. Uganda is also the 3rd highest contributor of malaria cases (5.4 percent) and 7th highest contributor of malaria deaths globally (2.9 percent),” Aceng said.

“Therefore, this generous donation of anti-malarial drugs will be helpful in the fight against malaria and control of the malaria epidemic, especially in prone areas,” the minister said.

According to the minister, the most affected populations included children, pregnant women and people who live in rural and hard-to-reach areas.

She said between 2021 and 2023, the country experienced a generalized increase in malaria cases, “with some areas surpassing the epidemic thresholds.”

“At the peak of the epidemic in July 2022, over 75 districts were reported as having a malaria epidemic. As a result, there was an increase in the demand for anti-malarial drugs,” she said.

Ambassador Zhang said the cooperation in health was one of the most important areas of cooperation in the bilateral relations of the two countries.

“This donation is also an implementation of the medical and health program among the Nine Programs initiated at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC),” Zhang said.

The Ambassador said the two countries had for long cooperated in the health sector and would continue doing the same.

Since 1983, China has dispatched 23 batches of medical teams to Uganda with 218 doctors. Hundreds of thousands of Ugandans have since been treated for various sicknesses.

Zhang said the two countries could work together to achieve digitalization in healthcare and jointly research in herbs to combat viruses.

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AIDS Commission in disarray as minister cancels job interviews with nepotism claims flying high

Uganda says anti-malarial drugs donated by China to help curb epidemic