The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Unfortunately, hospital money isn’t the only one being squandered and swindled. Zombo squandered Shs50 million on a road culverts project. It got the money in January but it took officials four months to find a contractor. Two months later, in June, they handed the contractor Shs40 million or 80% of the contract sum. But the contractor was stopped shortly after because the culvert design was wrong. The culverts installed could not carry the storm water, and the road had become impassable. Another four months later, the contract period expired, and the contractor vanished.
The district also got Shs171 million to procure 756 bicycles for village and Parish Chairpersons during the financial year 2013/14. But by 2016, up to 117 bicycles remained undistributed.
Zombo District’s performance was so bad that its then-Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) who is the district accounting officer was fired by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, Keith Muhakanizi, who supervises them. Zombo’s current CAO, Ismal Onzu, is busy firefighting.
But Zombo is not the only culprit. In 2016, up to 33 local of the 111 local governments procured items worth Shs28 billion without following laid down procedures under Public Procurement Regulations and Guidelines.
That is a 50% jump from 2015 where Shs12 billion was spent outside guidelines. In 2014, the figure was even smaller Shs11 billion spent by a higher number – 74 local governments.
Experts tell The Independent that they are worried about the growing trend of local government officials stealing, squandering, and spending government money outside agreed guidelines.
Local governments do not maintain required procurement files, fail to manage contracts adequately, and vary contracts without authorisation.
Breach of procurement procedures seems to be the most disturbing anomaly. Local governments made procurements in breach of procedures worth Shs21 billion. In 2015 the figure was Shs9.9 billion.
As the stealing, squandering, and spending government money outside agreed guidelines has been growing year on year, the Auditor General has kept warning that it could get worse.
It is not clear why the problem is getting worse. According to the AG report, it could be due to lack of technical capacity, understaffing, and/or deliberate flouting of PPDA regulations.
