Auditor General Muwanga accused of fuelling corruption in Uganda

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have accused Auditor General, John Muwanga of fuelling corruption in Uganda, citing his failure to release the Shs39Bn special audit report on the theft of iron sheets and goats meant for the vulnerable communities in Karamoja that was orchestrated by top officials in government.

“You know we are almost completing another year without you giving the country the report, tell my namesake that this is extremely unfair to the country. Tell the Auditor General that he is also becoming part of the corruption in this country because that breeds impunity,” said Muwanga Kivumbi, Chairperson Public Accounts Committee.

Kivumbi’s accusations followed an admission made by officials from the Auditor General’s office that the completed special report on iron sheets scandals was still in possession of the Auditor General, prompting MPs to raise concerns on why the report is still being kept private, yet over Shs39Bn of public funds was misused.

This was during a meeting held between the Committee and officials from the Office of Prime Minister, it was reported that of the money allocated to this project, Shs6.8Bn was spent on travel allowances, fuel, and maintenance of cars by officials from the Office of the Prime Minister and contrary to the promise of giving out 16goats to each beneficiary, only one goat was distributed to each beneficiary.

In the preliminary December 2023 report by the Auditor General, it was reported that out of the Shs39Bn meant for the procurement and distribution of goats and iron sheets in Karamoja, Shs1.78Bn was spent on travel in land, while fuel, oil, and lubricants cost Shs700m, while OPM also spent Shs300M on vehicle maintenance.

The Office of Prime Minister also allocated another Shs2.2Bn on travel in land for monitoring, while civil works for maintenance of the Moroto regional office cost Shs500M, and procurement of iron sheets cost Shs8.8Bn.

“What concerns me is that workshops and seminars took Shs1.8Bn, Travel in land Shs1.8Bn, another travel in land Shs2.5Bn. A total of Shs6.8Bn of the Shs39Bn that is how you spent it and this was money originally for distribution of goats.” Added Kivumbi.

The PAC central government asserts that the manner over which the urgency is put on this money when processing the so-called supplementary budgets, it’s as if Uganda will close if parliament doesn’t release it.

Last year, the latest report by the Auditor General revealed the Office of the Prime Minister failed to properly coordinate and monitor the delivery and distribution of the goats in Karamoja.

It said the anomaly resulted in the delivery of less than the intended number of goats. The findings are parts of the audit into the implementation of Affirmative Action Programs under the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) is mandated with the coordination and monitoring of the implementation of Affirmative Action Programmes meant to address historical challenges that were experienced in disadvantaged regions of the country.

Karamoja is part of those regions. It was specifically supposed to be supplied by goats during the financial years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. About 25.3 billion shillings was disbursed for the exercise.