Auditor General Pins IRA Boss Kaddunabbi Over UGX 181M Irregular Payments, Questionable Hiring

A special forensic investigation by the Auditor General has severely faulted the Chief Executive Officer of the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), Ibrahim Kaddunabbi Lubega, over a string of blatant financial and administrative irregularities.

The explosive May 2026 audit report, authored by Auditor General Edward Akol, concludes that Kaddunabbi systematically authorized or directly pocketed payments that violated the Employment Act, internal IRA policies, and explicit directives from the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

The extensive probe was triggered by a March 19, 2026, directive from the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), ordering a full-scale forensic look into deepening abuse of office and public fund mismanagement at the insurance regulator.

1. The Financial Breakdown of the UGX 181.4 Million Loss

The forensic audit calculated a direct, unrecovered financial loss and irregular payout to Kaddunabbi totaling UGX 181,447,000. This is broken down across three primary internal accounts:

• Irregular Leave Allowance (UGX 36.83 Million): Payouts approved and pocketed without any corresponding evidence that Kaddunabbi actually went on annual leave. This included UGX 12.5 million for 2019/20 and UGX 24.33 million for 2021/22.

• Untaken Leave Compensation (UGX 87.17 Million): Cash compensation granted on November 14, 2023, for 44 “untaken leave days” from a previous contract cycle. The audit rejected this, noting that contract renewals do not trigger termination payouts unless an official applied for leave and was formally denied it by management.

• Double-Dipped Travel Per Diems (UGX 57.43 Million): Pocketed funds relating to Kaddunabbi’s role as a non-executive director at the Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re). Because Africa Re fully sponsored these international board trips (covering business-class flights and full upkeep), internal IRA manuals strictly limited Kaddunabbi to a 30% residual per diem. Instead, he drew a massive UGX 89.97 million in full per diems across five fully funded foreign trips.

The Africa Re Travel Discrepancies:

Note: The Cairo trip also flagged significant immigration anomalies, with the boarding pass data presented by Kaddunabbi directly contradicting official border logs supplied by the National Citizenship and Immigration Control.

2. Unauthorized Salary Increments Bypassing the Minister

The forensic report reveals that upon Kaddunabbi’s contract renewal on June 1, 2021, the Minister of Finance explicitly capped his consolidated monthly salary at UGX 46.34 million. Kaddunabbi’s subsequent formal appeal to bump his salary to UGX 55 million was rejected by the Minister, who ruled that any future adjustments must strictly match standard inflation data and receive an explicit Board recommendation.

Despite this executive rejection, the audit discovered that Kaddunabbi’s monthly salary was quietly and incrementally raised every single year without the required standalone ministerial approvals:

Kaddunabbi's Unapproved Monthly Salary Escalation:
├── FY 2021/22: UGX 46,344,000 (Base Appointed Rate)
├── FY 2022/23: UGX 48,664,000
├── FY 2023/24: UGX 53,044,000
├── FY 2024/25: UGX 57,733,000
└── FY 2025/26: UGX 60,850,000 (Exceeding the Minister's original cap)

While Kaddunabbi defended the raises by stating that the Board’s approval of the general annual budget automatically legalized the salary lines, the Auditor General flatly dismissed this argument, noting that general budget approvals cannot override specific statutory rules.

3. Unplanned Recruitment Costs (UGX 647.5 Million Variance)

The investigation further uncovered sweeping gaps in internal human resource controls. In December 2022, the authority advertised 32 jobs, attracting a massive pool of over 12,000 applicants.

However, during final placements, the CEO’s office went beyond the advertised limits. Across just six specific departments (including Legal Complaints, Office Assistance, and Actuarial services), 14 vacancies were advertised, but 24 people were hired, introducing 10 completely unbudgeted personnel into the payroll.

The internal auditor calculated the cost of this over-hiring at UGX 647.55 million over a 13-month timeline, while the IRA Board Chairperson placed the total long-term recurrent structural damage at UGX 654.75 million. Crucially, when interviewed by auditors, all relevant Heads of Department confirmed they never requested additional staff.

A Critical Governance Crisis at the Top

The Auditor General concluded that the findings showcase a severe failure of internal corporate governance. Because Kaddunabbi acted as both the approving accounting officer and the ultimate cash beneficiary for many of these transactions, a clear and damaging conflict of interest occurred.

The special file has now put immense pressure back onto the Ministry of Finance and the IRA Board to initiate full asset recovery protocols, implement administrative discipline, and overhaul internal audit checks to ensure full institutional compliance.