Edward Akol Takes Oath as Uganda’s New Auditor General

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 and Secretary to Cabinet, Ms. Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye.

Speaking shortly after the swearing-in ceremony, President Museveni congratulated Mr. Akol and urged him to be vigilant in addressing corruption in the country.

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

The President cautioned the new Auditor General about corrupt auditors, advising him not to depend solely on written evidence but to 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 things are really going. The public knows, rely on the written records but also on field checks,” he added.

President Museveni recently appointed Mr. Edward Akol as Auditor General, and he was subsequently approved by Parliament on July 4, 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 became a senior principal auditor in 2004 before being appointed as deputy auditor general.

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