The Public Accounts Committees (PAC) have flagged considerations over discrepancies and omissions in monetary reporting by the Auditor General of varied entities.
These considerations have been raised throughout a harmonisation assembly between the totally different Public Accounts Committees with officers from the Office of the Auditor General to handle gaps recognized in audit stories for the monetary 12 months ending June 30, 2023.
Chaired by Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, the Chairperson of PAC-Central and Hon. Henry Musasizi, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (General Duties) on Tuesday, 20 November 2022, at Parliament, the assembly aimed to enhance accountability and guarantee transparency in authorities operations.
The Public Accounts Committees that attended the assembly included; Committee on Commission, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), Public Accounts (Local Government), and Public Accounts (Central Government).
Hon. Muwanga Kivumbi in his remarks raised a priority on the shortage of detailed reporting on the implementation of presidency actions stating that as an example beneath the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, the Auditor General assessed 10 outputs comprising 75 actions value Shs11.03 billion however didn’t present the full variety of outputs deliberate or monetary values for partially and unimplemented actions.
“Implementation of actions is the place abuse and mismanagement is most pronounced, but it’s on the core of service supply. This type of reporting is suspicious because it makes shoppers of the Auditor General’s stories have doubts on the intention of the auditors,” he acknowledged.
Similar points have been famous within the Ministry of Education and Sports, the place the Auditor General assessed 31 outputs involving 81 actions valued at Shs14.81 billion. Out of this, 18 outputs with 61 actions value Shs10.81 billion have been reported as partially applied, however their corresponding monetary values weren’t detailed.
The committee noticed that this left actions value Shs223.97 billion unaccounted for, elevating critical considerations in regards to the comprehensiveness of the audits.
Another main difficulty highlighted was inadequate sampling of expenditure. Under the Ministry of Education and Sports, as an example, solely Shs14.81 billion, representing 4.6 % of the Shs 322.4 billion utilised warrants (excluding wages) was assessed.
Hon. Muwanga Kivumbi defined that this restricted pattern dimension meant that Shs307.6 billion in expenditures went unassessed, making it troublesome to attract significant conclusions. He urged the Auditor General to undertake the Pareto precept, which prioritises transactions accounting for 80 per cent of expenditure worth, to enhance representativeness and audit effectivity.
At the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries, the committee found that Shs107 billion had been paid as home arrears regardless of the expenditure not being budgeted.
Similarly, the training ministry was discovered to have diverted Shs17.5 billion from deliberate actions to settle home arrears, paying Shs28.5 billion as an alternative of the Shs11 billion initially budgeted.
Responding to the considerations, the Auditor General, Edward Akol, defended the operations of his workplace emphasising the significance of understanding the complete scope of the audit course of. He defined that the methodology utilized in audits includes several types of stories; monetary, value-for-money (VFM), and forensic, all serving distinct functions.
“Each of those stories has an goal. The goal of a monetary audit is about how accounts are ready, not on efficiency,” Akol famous, urging the committee to contemplate all audit stories comprehensively to totally recognize the work of his workplace.
He revealed that his workplace has produced over 200 VFM stories prior to now 12 years, but many haven’t been mentioned. “We have invested vital assets into these stories. It takes about eight months to supply one, and final 12 months alone, we produced 25,” he stated
Akol proposed a technique to compile varied audit sorts into mixed stories for particular person ministries, which might give a holistic view of their efficiency. “If we’re wanting on the Ministry of Health or Agriculture, you will notice monetary audits, VFM audits, IT audits, and others in a single doc,” he defined, highlighting this as a simpler option to assess efficiency.
He addressed considerations about sampling strategies, acknowledging criticism in regards to the proportion of sampled information in sure audits. “I’ve heard the dissatisfaction about pattern sizes. It is necessary to align expectations with worldwide requirements,” he stated, including that his staff regrets cases the place sampling fell under expectations.
Akol additionally pressured the necessity for additional dialogue on contentious points, equivalent to discrepancies in reported percentages, suggesting an unbiased evaluate to resolve disagreements.
Hon. Timothy Batuwa, Jinja South Division West MP, questioned the validity of creating sweeping conclusions primarily based on restricted pattern sizes. “Would ministries really feel snug with conclusions drawn from simply 4.6 % or 8 % of their information?” he requested.
He additionally known as for a dedication to addressing gaps recognized in previous audits. “What ought to we anticipate within the subsequent monetary 12 months?” he inquired.
