The National Drug Authority Tower has its biggest space unoccupied, with eight of the twelve floors not optimally utilized.
This revelation is contained the Auditor General’s December 2025 report to Parliament.
“Eight of the twelve floors of the NDA Tower were not optimally utilized and the Authority’s internal audit department did not address Utilisation of Non-current assets in the quarterly audits,” Edward Akol, Uganda’s Auditor General revealed.
It should be noted that in 2022, the same Office of the Auditor General raised concerns over the unauthorised alteration of designs and delays to complete the US$9.11M (UGX32.28bn) building.
In 2022, the then Auditor General, John Muwanga warned that Government risked losing up to UGX3.5Bn following unapproved structural adjustments in the building plan of the proposed National Drug Authority headquarters in Kampala without approval from the Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA.
The 12-floor tower comprises of offices, laboratories and a three-level basement parking area. The AG notes that the implementation of the unapproved building plan poses a risk of loss of funds in case the changes are rejected by KCCA, which might lead to the demolition of the entire project.
In the latest report, the National Drug Authority is being blamed for accumulating receivables amounting to UGX.66.617Bn as of 30th June 2025, with 94.9% outstanding for more than two years with Akol noting, “Up to 94% of these receivables relate to Ministry of Health, which increases the risk of loss through bad debts, and reduces the Authority’s cash inflows.”
While NDA is struggling to collect money from its debtors, the Authority is also faulted by the Auditor General for accumulating arrears amounting to UGX.69.8Mn that remained unsettled for over two years, with Akol warning, “The practice of the Authority taking long to settle outstanding obligations exposes the Authority to reputational and litigation risks.”
The National Drug Authority also came under scrutiny over its weak enforcement, something the Auditor General says compromises the health of Ugandans with the report noting in part, “I noted that functions such as marketing authorization, Inspections, and Licensing experienced delays. Similarly, significant underperformance was noted across regional offices in inspections, sensitization, and compliance visits. This weakened regulatory enforcement and public health protection.”
However, NDA isn’t the only agency under scrutiny over utilisation of its space with the Auditor General also pointing a spotlight on Uganda Communications Commission where the Auditors revealed that a tenant, occupying 57 square meters in Communications House, had accumulated rent arrears totaling to UGX81.2Mn from December 2021 to September 2024, while a significant amount of rentable space remained vacant.
UCC is under scrutiny after a review conducted by the Office of the Auditor General on the Commission’s official list of Operators revealed several active courier companies that are currently operating but do not appear on the UCC’s register of duly licensed providers.
The Commission was also criticised for delayed implementation of its projects following a review of the Commission’s project implementation that revealed that nine strategic projects, with a combined total value of UGX.33.6Bn, experienced implementation delays exceeding the three-month expected completion deadline.
“Many critical projects remained stuck in early phases (procurement/bidding) or are substantially incomplete, severely lagging their timelines,” noted Akol.
The scrutiny into the Commission’s operations revealed that although UCC collected a total chargeable levy of UGX.118.5Bn and based on the statutory requirement, 50% of the total amount is due to the Consolidated Fund was UGX.59.25Bn, only UGX.55.9Bn was transferred to the Consolidated Fund (UCF) as of April 14, 2025.
