Auditor General to introduce a tool to track recommendations

The Office of the Auditor General is set to introduce an audit recommendations tool to fast-track the implementation of all recommendations in the previous audit reports.

The revelation was made by Josephat Nuwabine, the assistant director in charge of Engagement at the Office of the Auditor General. He was speaking during the assessment of the implementation of the Auditor General’s recommendations.

Every year, the office of the Auditor General is required to conduct an audit and hand over the reports to the speaker of parliament by December 30. The reports include value for money, engineering and others.

According to a sample conducted in the nine districts in Uganda by the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU), it was established that despite the release of the 2021–2022 financial year report, the recommendations have not been implemented.

Nuwabine stated that the audit recommendations tool will track the status of implementation of recommendations made in the last five years.

“In the process of conducting our audits, there are thematic and focus areas. We then make recommendations that are supposed to be implemented by the respective government agencies,” he said.

Marlon Agaba, the ACCU executive director, stated that during the assessment, several issues were raised, including payroll management, ineligible staff, people forging documents and ending up employed by the government, unauthorized deductions on loans, the late release of money by the ministry of Finance, and others.

“We found incidences where the ministry of Finance releases money in May and sometimes in June when the financial year is ending, and it ends up not being utilized and being returned to the consolidated fund,” he said.

In fact, Terego district chairman Wilfred Saka said at times, the ministry of Finance claims to have released funds, but when district support officers go to pick up requisitions, they are tossed around.

“There is a big war between the central government and the local governments. This year, the ministry of Finance said there will be no more recruitment of staff, but new districts like Terego cannot operate with less than 50 per cent of the staff,” he said.

In response, Christine Oluka Mataka, a project analyst in the ministry of Finance, said the funds are promptly released on the 10th of the first month of every quarter of the financial year and noted that the problem is with the institutions to which the funds are disbursed.

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