Muhwezi Jim Katugugu

Major General (retired) Jim Muhwezi Katugugu (born 23 August 1950) is a Ugandan lawyer, politician and former military officer. He has served as the Cabinet Minister for National Security in the Ugandan Cabinet since 8 June 2021.

From March 2015 until May 2016, he served as the Minister of Information and National Guidance in the Cabinet of Uganda. He had been appointed to that position in a cabinet reshuffle on 1 March 2015, replacing Rose Namayanja, who was dropped from the cabinet.

Also, he is the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Rujumbura County, Rukungiri District. He regained that seat in 2021, having lost it for five years between 2016 and 2021. He was re-elected to represent Rujumbura County during the January 2026 general elections. In May 2026, he was appointed Minister in the Office of the President for Security.

Early life and education Jim Muhwezi was born in Rukungiri District on 23 August 1950. He holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LLB), from Makerere University, Uganda's oldest and largest public university. He also has received Senior Military Police and Security Intelligence Training from Tanzania and the former Soviet Union.

Career In the 1970s, Jim Muhwezi worked as a policeman in the Uganda Police Force. He was one of the combatants in the war (1981–1986) that ushered the National Resistance Movement into power. After the war, he served as a member of the National Resistance Council (NRC) from 1986 until 1996. During the same period, he concurrently served as the first Director General of the Internal Security Organisation (ISO). As head of ISO, Muhwezi is credited with cleaning up the reputation and image of the security police apparatus. During his ten-year tenure at the agency, no allegations of torture were raised against the agency. Between 1994 and 1995, he served as a member of the Constituent Assembly that drew up the 1995 Ugandan Constitution. From 1996 until 1998, Jim Muhwezi served as Minister of State in Charge of Primary Education. He was appointed Minister of Health in 2001, serving in that capacity until 2006.

In 1998, Muhwezi was censured by Uganda’s Sixth Parliament while serving as Minister of State for Primary Education over allegations connected to the management of the Universal Primary Education programme.

In 2005, the Global Fund temporarily suspended grants to Uganda, citing serious mismanagement of funds. A judicial commission of inquiry later examined the handling of the funds and reported alleged interference by Muhwezi in the administration of the grants. Muhwezi and his then deputies, Mike Mukula and Alex Kamugisha, were left out of President Yoweri Museveni’s new Cabinet in 2006, a move observers linked to the Global Fund scandal.

In April 2006, IRIN reported that the Global Fund inquiry had heard allegations of inflated expenses, false receipts and misallocation of money. The head of the commission, Justice James Ogoola, strongly criticised the management of the funds. Muhwezi denied wrongdoing and rejected calls to resign.

According to Reuters, in May 2007, The Ugandan court charged Muhwezi with abuse of office and embezzlement in relation to funds donated for children’s vaccines under the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. The report stated that a government watchdog had accused him of abuse of office, causing financial loss and theft. Muhwezi was unavailable for comment, but Reuters reported that he had accused President Museveni of manipulating investigations as part of a smear campaign.

The Uganda Inspector General of Government also accused Muhwezi and two former junior health ministers of gross misappropriation of Shs7.9 billion from GAVI funds, and recommended that Muhwezi refund Shs478 million within 60 days. Muhwezi applied to block his arrest and prosecution, but the High Court dismissed the application.

Voice of America reported that Muhwezi and two former deputies were charged over alleged misappropriation of donor funds, with offences including causing financial loss, embezzlement and forgery of documents.

In 2010, the Constitutional Court cleared the IGG to prosecute Muhwezi and his co-accused over the alleged misappropriation of Shs1.8 billion from GAVI funds. The court found that the IGG had powers to prosecute suspects accused of corruption, abuse of office, forgery and uttering false documents, although it also held that the appointment of Justice Faith Mwondha as IGG had been unconstitutional because she had not resigned as a judge.

In June 2010, New Vision reported that Muhwezi and his co-accused had appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging the Constitutional Court ruling that allowed the IGG to resume prosecuting them.

In 2012, Uganda Radio Network reported that the IGG had lined up 25 witnesses in the GAVI case against Muhwezi, Mukula, Kamugisha and former State House aide Alice Kaboyo. The accused faced charges of theft, causing financial loss, uttering false documents, embezzlement and abuse of office, allegedly committed between March 2004 and November 2005 while they served in the Ministry of Health.

ActionAid Uganda later summarized the Global Fund matter by stating that money meant for malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS treatment disappeared from the Ministry of Health, and that Muhwezi, Kamugisha and Mukula were put on trial over the alleged embezzlement.

In 2021, Muhwezi was named in reporting on the Pandora Papers. Daily Monitor reported that leaked documents identified him as one of three shareholders of Audley Holdings Ltd, a British Virgin Islands company. The report noted that setting up an offshore company is not illegal and that Muhwezi was not accused of wrongdoing in relation to the offshore structures.

The same reporting stated that Audley Holdings Ltd was closed in 2016 for failure to pay registration fees, and that in 2018 the Panamanian law firm Alcogal reported the company and its shareholders to British Virgin Islands regulators in a suspicious activity report after discovering earlier embezzlement allegations connected to the GAVI case.

The Pandora Papers reporting also linked Muhwezi to Sukari Loma Investment Holdings Ltd, a Cyprus company registered through SFM Corporate Services. According to the reports, documents described the company as providing financial services, and Muhwezi stated in a beneficial owner declaration that the funds came from salary savings, his hotel and radio stations. The Cyprus company was reportedly dissolved in 2015.

Muhwezi denied involvement in the overseas business and declined to discuss the allegations in detail. According to Daily Monitor, he said he did not know what was being referred to and asked whether the documents had been verified.

The Independent also listed Muhwezi among politicians it described as associated with corruption allegations, citing his parliamentary censure, the Global Fund controversy, GAVI allegations, and a claim involving Rugasira/Tusubira & Co. Advocates and the National Medical Stores.

Personal life Jim Muhwezi Katugugu is married to Susan Muhwezi, a sister to Ugandan tycoon Bob Kabonero and Ambassador Richard Kabonero. He has seven children. He is reported to enjoy reading and playing golf. He is a member of the Anglican Church of Uganda.

Parliamentary duties He was a member of the parliamentary committee on physical infrastructure.