Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Public Accounts Committee (Local Government) intensified their inquiry into Wakiso district local government officials over the disappearance of funds amounting to shillings 11.4 billion. The discrepancy was unearthed during a rigorous session on Thursday, March 15, 2024, led by Kilak South MP Gilbert Olanya.
The interrogation was prompted by findings from the Auditor General’s (AG) report for the financial year ending June 2023, which revealed a significant shortfall in fund transfers to the Consolidated Fund. Patrick Isingoma Mwesigwa, the committee lead council, underscored that these unremitted funds were conspicuously absent from the district’s official financial records.
According to the AG’s report, Wakiso district purportedly collected shillings 11,645,828,496, but shockingly, only shillings 292 million found their way into the Consolidated Fund. This glaring discrepancy prompted MPs to demand clarity on the whereabouts of the remaining shillings 11.4 billion.
Amidst the probing questions, district chief administrative officer (CAO) Alfred Malinga found himself unable to provide concrete evidence regarding the missing funds. Requesting more time to conduct thorough examinations of the financial statements, Malinga admitted to being unprepared to address the committee’s concerns adequately.
“I have not scrutinized the financial statements to identify the gaps you are referring to. I require additional time for examination,” Malinga stated.
In response, the committee granted Wakiso district officials a week to furnish detailed reconciliations and substantiate the whereabouts of the missing funds.
The AG’s report also highlighted several other audit queries, including inadequate implementation of funded outputs, payroll management inconsistencies, validation issues with contract staff, unauthorized staff recruitment, underpayment of employees, and misappropriation of funds totaling over shillings 14 billion. These discrepancies have adversely impacted various developmental activities within the district, such as mineral development and agro-industrialization, due to financial mismanagement and lack of appropriate performance indicators and targets in work plans.
