PAC orders CAO, human resource officer to recover UGX 5M

Mbarara, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Members of Parliament on the Public Accounts Committee-Local Government have accused the Mbarara District Chief Administrative Officer, Edward Kasagara and the Principal Human resource officer Allan Kagaba of causing financial loss.

The two are accused of failing to deduct more than five million shillings of Pay As You Earn from public servants and political leaders. The irregularity was captured in the Auditor General’s report for the financial year 2020/2021.

Kagaba during the cross-examination failed to account for 1.3 Million Shillings which he said he mistakenly paid to some of the district staff.

The committee also discovered that Kasagara never deducted 4.8 million Shillings as PAYE from the district and sub-county leaders. He was tasked to recover the funds.

Members of the committee are camped in Mbarara meeting district officials from the districts of Ankole and Kigezi regions.

The Committee Chairperson Martin Ojara Mapenduzi said that they have directed the Chief Administrative Officer and the Principal Human resource officer to refund 5 million Shillings before the end of this financial year.

Kasagara told the committee that failure to deduct PAYE was done error due to the new system that was being used to pay wages. He said that there were no deductions from some leaders like the LCV chairperson and the speaker among others.

He however said they have started to recover the funds.

Allan Kagaba told the committee that the error was also due to the two different paying systems following the introduction of a new paying tool Human Resource Capital Management and the old system of payroll register.

The Human Resource Capital Management system is a developed software and phone application that helps in the fight against ghost workers and corruption. The software will capture the data of all civil servants from the day they are enrolled and will be accessible through a phone App dubbed the people’s HR from the play store.

The system accommodates all levels of civil servants right from security guards, cleaners, and health workers at health centres among other government staff.

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