Edward Akol Sworn-in as New Auditor General

By John Kato

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has sworn-in Mr. Edward Akol as the new Auditor General in a ceremony that took place at State House Entebbe this afternoon. The oath was administered by the Head of Public service & Secretary to Cabinet, Ms. Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye.

Speaking shortly after the swearing-in ceremony, President Museveni congratulated Mr. Akol, before calling on him to ‘smell’ for the country if he is to deal with corruption in the country.

“I congratulate you and your family for being appointed the Auditor General of the country. The Banyankole say ‘Orurikwenda kwita embwa rugigaraenyindo,’ loosely translated as a dog, if it can no longer smell, then it will die, so Akol’s job is to ‘smell’ for Uganda,” he said.

The President cautioned the new Auditor General about corrupt auditors, saying that he should not depend solely on written evidence but rather use the public to gather information about corruption.

“About auditors who are given money and write false reports, this is easy to detect. Don’t just depend on the written reports, send people to the field to find out, how are my people doing because the public knows, rely on the written records but also on the field checks,” he added.

President Museveni recently appointed Mr. Edward Akol as Auditor General, and he was subsequently approved by parliament on the 4th of July 2024, replacing John F.S. Muwanga, who served for more than 20 years.

Mr. Akol joined the Office of the Auditor General as an auditor in August 1994. He was later promoted to senior auditor in July 1999 and later became a senior principal auditor in 2004 before being appointed as deputy auditor general.

Present to witness the function was the Finance Minister, Hon. Matia Kasaija, the Permanent Secretary- Ministry of Finance, Mr. Ramathan Ggoobi, the Clerk to Parliament, Mr. Adolf Mwesigeand Mr. Akol’s family members.