Budget cuts to affect audit of Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDA)

 

The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) will only audit 40 per cent of Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs) and local governments in the 2024/25 financial year due to a Shs32 billion budget cut.

This reduction, which represents 60 per cent of the operational budget required for fieldwork according to the OAG, threatens the integrity of audit reports and limits oversight on public expenditure.

With the OAG’s overall budget standing at Shs110 billion for the year, the significant cut has raised concerns about its ability to fulfil its mandate.

The Assistant Auditor General for Corporate Services, Stephen Kateregga expressed frustration over the financial constraints. “We suffered a budget cut of almost Shs32 billion, representing almost 30 per cent of our total budget. This will heavily affect the number of reports we can produce in December, even as the scope of audits continues to expand,” Kateregga said.

These revelations were made as the Auditor General, Edward Akol and other officials met Members of Parliament on the parliamentary accountability, Finance and Budget committees

The Auditor General’s Office is mandated to audit government expenditures to ensure accountability. However, Kateregga highlighted that limited funding has made this task increasingly difficult, especially with new and expanding areas requiring oversight.

“Every other year, the audit scope increases. So we are not able to cover our audit scope. We need staff, and operational and field vehicles to cover huge programmes like the Parish Development Model and other related programmes,” he explained.

Despite engagements with Parliament and the Ministry of Finance, there are no firm commitments to reverse the budget cut. “We are having discussions with the committees here, the Speaker and also the Minister of Finance, and there have been promises that this is going to be addressed,” he added.

Meanwhile to improve transparency and public engagement, the OAG has introduced digital tools, including a Citizens’ Feedback Platform and an Audit Recommendations Tracking Tool.

These platforms allow citizens to report service delivery concerns and track the implementation of audit recommendations.

He called on Parliament to make use of the Audit Recommendations Tracking Tool, which provides a status update on audit recommendations from the last three to four years. “If you go on our website, we have already published it. It gives status, entity by entity, and also at the government level,” he said.

The Chairperson of the Finance Committee, Hon. Amos Kankunda who represented the Speaker Anita Among in the meeting promised to support the entity in doing its work.

“I want to thank you for helping Parliament and government address the challenges of corruption, weaknesses in accountability system, and poor service deliveries to the citizens,” he said.

Kankunda acknowledged the concerns of budget cuts to the entity and pledged to support them. “We will go an extra mile to find ways of supporting your office to make sure you are able to execute your mandate effectively,” he said. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.