President Museveni has appointed High Court Judge Aisha Naluzze Batala as Uganda’s new Inspector General of Government (IGG), replacing Beti Olive Namisango Kamya, whose term expired last month.
Justice Naluzze, who currently serves in the Land Division of the High Court, becomes the country’s new anti-corruption chief pending parliamentary approval.
The appointment of the woman, who was appointed a High Court judge in 2023, restores leadership to the watchdog office, which had been vacant since Betty Kamya’s four-year tenure-and that of her deputies-expired on September 22.
Born in 1977, Justice Batala has been appointed to the top graft-fighting role after President Museveni exercised his constitutional powers, presidential assistant for press and mobilisation Faruk Kirunda confirmed Tuesday evening.
Kirunda also said the president retained Kamya’s two former deputies, Dr Patricia Achan Okiria and Anne Twinomugisha Muhairwe, to continue serving in their positions.
‘The names of the appointees have been forwarded to Parliament for vetting,’ he said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The Office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG) is a constitutionally established body mandated to promote good governance and fight corruption in public office.
It had been operating without substantive leadership since Kamya’s contract ended, raising concerns about its effectiveness in tackling graft.
Kamya, a former Kampala minister and presidential candidate, was appointed in 2021 and had pledged to ‘name and shame’ corrupt officials.
Her tenure drew both praise for her public advocacy and criticism over limited prosecutions in high-profile corruption cases.
Justice Batala’s appointment comes at a time when Uganda faces persistent public pressure to rein in misuse of public funds and enforce accountability across government agencies.
Since September 22, the office of the IG was virtually toothless and was being administratively run by a Permanent Secretary.
Parliament is expected to vet the nominees in the coming days before Justice Batala formally assumes office.
The IGG earns a monthly salary of Shs36m, with the deputies earning Shs32m. Article 223(7) of the Constitution says the IGG and Deputy IGG shall hold office for a term of four years, but shall be eligible for reappointment only once. The appointment of Justice Batala comes at a time when Uganda loses a whopping Shs10 trillion annually to corruption schemes.
Who is new IGG Batala?
Justice Batala was appointed to the High Court Bench in 2023, and prior to her appointment yesterday as the new ombudsman, she was attached to the Land Division of the High Court. Prior to her being appointed to the High Court Bench, Justice Batala had worked as a prosecutor in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for about 18 years and rose through the ranks up to the rank of Assistant DPP.
While working as a government prosecutor, she handled cases from the lowest courts (Magistrate Courts) to the highest (Supreme Court) with a record of 80 percent success. Justice Batala was born on June 25, 1977. Before joining the government, Justice Batala was in private practice where she worked with F Mukasa and Co Advocates, where she worked as a legal assistant from 2003 to 2005. In 2020, while a prosecutor in Masaka, she was recognised for her outstanding fight against the cancer of corruption by LASPNET.
Education background
The new IGG holds a master’s degree in Management Studies from Uganda Management Institute, a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration and Management, a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from Law Development Centre (LDC), and a Bachelor’s Degree in Laws from Makerere University.
She studied at Taibah High School for both O-Level and A-Level.