The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Arua Regional Referral Hospital administrators to avail the committee with the asset register for 2021.
The directive follows an audit query indicating that an ambulance that was allocated to the hospital during the financial year 2020/2021 was stolen from the hospital.
According to the Auditor General’s forensic investigation on the utilization of Covid-19 funds expended in financial years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, the Arua Hospital ambulance was one of the 38 procured by the Ministry of Health at 11 billion Shillings.
The forensic report indicates that the Ministry of Health procured the ambulances from M/S City Ambulance Ltd as part of a supplementary budget for the financial year 2019/2020. The procurement plan was signed on 19th June 2020 by the Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine and the Assistant Commissioner of Procurement Ahabwe Stanley.
Section 34 (1) of the Public Finance Management Act provides that an accounting officer shall be responsible for the management of the assets and the inventories of the Vote. On the other hand, Paragraph 16.3.1 of the Treasury Instruction 2017 provides that the Accounting Officer shall take full responsibility and ensure that proper control systems exist for the proper management of assets and that preventive mechanisms are in place to eliminate theft, losses, wastage, misuse, and others.
According to Auditor General, the stolen Arua ambulance was under the control and management of the then Hospital Director Dr. Filbert Nyeko.
Tasked by the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday about the whereabouts of the ambulance, Nyeko acknowledged that the ambulance was stolen from the parking lot and that the matter was reported to the Police, Health Ministry, and Hospital Management.
It was reported that the hospital driver, security guard, dental assistant, and other suspects were arrested and the matter is currently before the Anti-Corruption Court.
Dr. Nyeko told the MPs that the suspects include Wadri Alex the driver, Denis Ocatre, a Volunteer, Daniel Ewaru, a driver from the Office of the Prime Minister, the Human Resource Officer Micheal Sebuliba, another driver Bonny Mugisha and the Administrator Yonad Oboth.
PAC Chairperson Medard Lubega Sseggona directed the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary to liaise with the Police and furnish the Committee with the latest information about the matter.
The Criminal Investigations Department -CID officers attached to the Committee were also asked to get more clues that would be useful to the investigators.
Sseggona also directed that the Current Hospital Administrators should furnish his Committee with an Asset Register of the Hospital for 2021.
Regarding the role of the Internal Auditor and the internal controls before the Ambulance was lost, Eric Olum, the former Internal Auditor of the hospital said that the hospital facility was fenced and manned by security. He also noted the presence of a log of the driver and transport officer who managed the fleet.
*****
URN
