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Kitgum, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kitgum municipal council has returned 12.4 billion shillings unspent funds for the 2019/2020 financial year to the treasury.
Out of the 12.4 billion shillings, 441 million shillings was supposed to facilitate payment of staff salaries, 84.5 million shillings for pension, 335.9 million was meant for payment of gratuity, 7.4 million shillings for unconditional grant non-wage and 11.5 Billion for the USMID fund.
Emmanuel Banya, the Kitgum municipal council town clerk says that the funds couldn’t be put to use due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He explains that several government projects were halted.
Banya notes that the municipal council could not spend 441 million shillings for paying salaries of staff that were to be recruited by March this year because their interviews were not conducted.
He also notes that 11.5 billion shillings USMID funds meant for implementing the first phase of the physical and infrastructural development of Kitgum municipal council couldn’t be utilized.
He says the lockdown was imposed at a time when the consultant was in the process of designing the road and the bus terminal.
Banya notes that all the money returned to the treasury would have been swiftly utilized had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the second time Kitgum municipal council is returning unspent money to the treasury consecutively in two financial years.
At the end of 2018/2019 financial year, Kitgum municipal council also returned 1.2 billion shillings.
The Public Finance Management Act, 2015 provides that all unspent balances should be sent back to the Consolidated Fund as of 30 June.
The return of funds by ministries, departments and local governments has been attributed to the late release of funds, low absorption of funds and also failure to implement planned activities due to revenue shortfalls.
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