The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The budgeting process is increasingly becoming a major point of stealing public resources by local governments and central government accounting officers, according to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Explaining what he calls “Budget Games”, Ramadan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, says somehow the accounting officers intentionally request funds which are more than what they require.
Particularly, Human Resource Officers, Procurement Officers, and Accountants fell into the spotlight during the investigations.
“Going forward, the Ministry of Finance Budget Analysts have been tasked and told to deepen budget analysis and stamp out these budget games,” he told a meeting with accounting officers on Budget Execution for the financial year 2025/2026.
The meeting, called to ensure effective execution of the budget, targeted all Accounting Officers of the Central Government, Local Governments, Missions Abroad, Regional Referral Hospitals and Public Universities.
Some of the budget games identified by the ministry are “Padding Play”, where MDAs request more than they require.
“Some MDAs are playing the ‘crisis card’ game with claims that there will be catastrophic outcomes for the public if their request is not fulfilled,” he said.
Ggoobi said the declining integrity of public servants had been worsened by lack of adherence to the Ethical Code of Conduct.
The payroll audit by the Office of the Auditor General identified several issues, including unauthorised recruitments, mischarges, payment of staff off the IPPS/HCM (Integrated Personnel and Payroll/Human Capital Management systems), unauthorised loan deductions, payment of ghost staff and delays in processing pension and gratuity, among others.
According to Ggoobi, the full decentralisation of the pension and gratuity processing at the vote level means Accounting Officers are entirely responsible for managing their respective salaries, pension and gratuity payrolls through the Human Capital Management (HCM) system.
Accounting Officers, especially from Local Governments, also presented issues they wanted to be handled, including improved coordination with central government ministries in the delivery of services and additional wages for the recruitment of more staff.
Ggoobi said the challenge of low pay for Chief Administrative Officers, City and Municipal Clerks had been addressed by increasing their monthly salaries from 1.8 million to 12.75 million Shillings.
“The Government remains dedicated to advancing the fiscal consolidation plan by implementing strategies that boost revenue collection, streamline public spending, and lower the fiscal deficit,” said the PSST.
The meeting was chaired by the Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet, Lucy Nakyobe, who urged the Accounting Officers to uphold high levels of accountability and transparency, efficiency, discipline and integrity in addition to being result-oriented as they performed their duties.
She said that services must be delivered equitably and promptly, and Accounting Officers must champion the fight against corruption in their respective entities.
“You should guard against committing the Government without adequate resources. Accounting Officers should ensure zero tolerance for the creation of domestic arrears. Do not commit beyond cash limits,” said the Head of Public Service.
She also urged Accounting Officers to fast-track track implementation of projects, streamline procurement and also develop and publish service delivery standards.
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