An employee attached to the USAID Uganda Health Activity (USAID-UHA) has allegedly confessed to stealing and selling a vehicle belonging to Gulu regional referral hospital for Shs 45 million.
The suspect, a 40-year-old Ugandan male, was arrested over the weekend in Gulu city after reportedly returning from Karenga district in Karamoja. Highly placed sources at the hospital told URN that he admitted to stealing a Toyota Prado hard body, registration number UBE 639F, on February 10, 2026.
The vehicle is valued at approximately Shs 150 million. Hospital officials say CCTV footage recorded at about 8:20 p.m. on February 10 shows a man wearing a cap and a black jacket entering the hospital parking yard before accessing the vehicle.
He was allegedly seen tampering with its wiring system. Sources further revealed that the vehicle’s GPS tracking system had been disconnected earlier that day, raising suspicions that the theft was premeditated.
The disappearance was discovered on February 12 when the driver assigned to the vehicle returned from Kampala and found it missing from the parking yard. A confidential whistleblower within the hospital reportedly indicated that the vehicle was sold in Turkana, Kenya, for Shs 45 million shortly after it was stolen.
The alleged confession was made during an emergency meeting on Tuesday after the suspect was taken back to the crime scene. The meeting was attended by police detectives, hospital management and security personnel from USAID-UHA.
According to sources, the suspect allegedly received Shs 300,000 for fuel and filled the vehicle at a petrol station in Unyama trading centre in Laroo-Pece Division, Gulu city, before driving through Kitgum district to Karenga in the Karamoja sub-region.
He is said to have arrived in Karenga at around 4:00 a.m. on February 11, where a buyer and coordinators were allegedly waiting. The vehicle was reportedly handed over and later driven into Kenya.
It is further alleged that the suspect received Shs 7 million in advance, with the balance paid upon delivery. The whistleblower claims that he later sent Shs 6 million to his wife to support her business in Moroto and Shs 3 million to cater for his children’s school fees.
Sources also allege that the suspect had access to a spare key obtained from the USAID office, despite officials stating that only one official key had initially been issued for the vehicle.
It is further claimed that the suspect applied for administrative leave on February 10, the same day the vehicle was stolen, and was officially considered to be on leave at the time.
David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa West Regional police spokesperson, confirmed the suspect’s arrest, stating that he is currently detained at Gulu Central Police Station. Mudong said the suspect is undergoing interrogation to establish the full circumstances surrounding the alleged crime.
He added that once investigations are complete, the case file will be forwarded to the resident state attorney for legal guidance before the suspect is arraigned in court. By press time, police detectives accompanied by staff from Gulu hospital and USAID-UHA had travelled to Moroto City in an effort to trace the missing vehicle.
Investigators are also probing how the GPS tracker was disabled and whether there were accomplices within the hospital or outside the district, particularly in Karenga and Moroto.
