Parliament names best, worst performing districts in absorption of funds
Bardege-Layibi Division MP, Mr Martin Mapenduzi Ojara presents the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on local government during plenary on May 10, 2023. PHOTO/ PARLIAMENT PRESS TEAM
What you need to know:
- According to the committee report, failure to absorb funds means denial of services to the public because planned activities remain on paper.
The parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has named Kisoro as the best and Ntungamo as the worst performing district in terms of absorption and utilization of funds country-wide.
The ranking is contained in the Committee on Local Government’s report for the Financial Year 2021/2022 released on Wednesday.
According to the report, Rukungiri scored 98 percent, Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality, 97 percent, Ibanda, 96 percent and Kamwenge at 96 percent trailed Kisoro which scored 99 percent. They were the best five districts.
Kisoro received Shs 31 billion and spent Shs30 billion, representing an under absorption of 2 percent, according to the report.
The worst performing districts include Kabale Municipality at 77 percent, Ntoroko at 76 percent and Ntungamo at 64 percent.
Meanwhile, of the recently created cities, Mbarara was the second worst performing with 67 percent, while Hoima and Fort Portal scored 77 percent.
Bardege-Layibi Division MP, Mr Martin Mapenduzi Ojara, who chairs PAC-Local Government said : “Overall, out of Shs5.4 trillion appropriated for all local governments in Financial Year 2021/2022, Shs4.7 trillion was utilized, hence there was an unspent balance of Shs703 billion.”
According to the committee report, failure to absorb funds means denial of services to the public because planned activities remain on paper.
Also, the failure to meet local revenue targets as well as massive budget cuts affected the performance of a number of local governments.
According to the Auditor General’s report for the financial year that ended June 2022, the under absorption of funds in more than 100 districts resulted in the underpayment of 8,347 staff and pensioners or beneficiaries.
The Auditor General attributed the under absorption in cities to delays in operationalising the staff structure, yet funds for recruitment were released and therefore remained unutilised at the end of the financial year.
Other local governments were affected by late disbursement of funds.
He red flagged the trend as an avenue for misappropriation of funds and asked the Ministry of Finance to ensure that funds are released in accordance with the approved budgets.
