Maj Gen (rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, Minister of Internal Affairs
At least 30 staff members of the NGO Bureau have lost their jobs after the semi-autonomous entity was reverted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The NGO Bureau, which operates from Kingdom Kampala, had 42 staff, now reduced to 12 following the government’s rationalization of agencies on September 27, 2024.
Minister for Internal Affairs, Maj Gen (rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, issued a statutory instrument dissolving the NGO Bureau barely two weeks ago. This was followed by public service interviews to recruit staff for the now-turned department.
Simon Peter Mundeyi, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, revealed today the new staff for the NGO department. These include Stephen Okello, now the Commissioner for the NGO department, Martha Oundo as Assistant Commissioner in charge of Inspection and Compliance, Joseph Mugisha as Principal Registration Officer, Sofia Nakyomu as Principal Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, and Ronald Mukisa as the Principal Registration Officer.
Others appointed are Brenda Oyulu, Senior Registration Officer, Ms. Lillian Namakula as Records Officer, Irene Nabuuma as Registration Officer, Stacy Nakibuuka Mayanja as Registration and Compliance Officer, Felix Mpirirwe as a driver, and Fred Miriri as a driver.
“We have come out to inform you of the changes and be alert not to fall into fraud. The NGO department is now being supervised by a Commissioner. This is part of the rationalization by the government. This means there is centralized control and increased scrutiny. The NGO department is still at Kingdom Kampala,” Mundeyi said.
The government has been merging many authorities and agencies to cut the wage bill and administrative expenses. Some of the pending authorities soon to be merged into mother ministries include UNRA and UCDA. Mundeyi also announced that the civil registration functions previously executed by URSB have now officially moved to NIRA.
“Anybody now seeking to register civil marriages, Customary, Church, Hindu, and Muslim marriages, as well as Hindu and Muslim divorces, including the issuance of single status letters, are all being performed by NIRA,” he added.
