(Kampala) – Parliament is requesting an explanation from Finance Minister Matia Kasaija regarding the Uganda Revenue Authority’s (URA) payment of UGX 11.6 billion in bonuses to staff without prior approval from the House. This inquiry arose after the chairperson of the House Public Accounts Committee, Muwanga Kivumbi, raised concerns about the legality of the payment during a session led by Speaker Anita Among.
Kivumbi informed the House that the bonus payment was made to URA staff for meeting the revenue target for the 2021-2022 financial year. However, he highlighted that this amount was neither appropriated nor approved by Parliament, which is a requirement for such disbursements. According to the Policy and Procedures for the Payment of Bonus to URA staff, bonuses are only permissible when URA exceeds the government’s established revenue target for a given financial year.
The MP stated, “Although the Minister of Finance permitted the Accounting Officer to retain UGX 14.6 billion, subject to subsequent Parliamentary approval, there was no evidence that such approval was granted. This renders the bonus payment irregular.” He added that the accounting officer acknowledged this oversight, noting that the schedule for the bonus payment was not included in the supplementary request presented to Parliament. As a result, the payment lacks proper authorization.
In the audit report submitted to Parliament for the year ending June 2023, former Auditor General John Muwanga confirmed that URA had indeed requested and paid UGX 11.63 billion in bonuses. However, he pointed out that the Authority failed to secure Parliamentary approval for supplementary funding as mandated by Section 25 of the Public Finance and Management Act 2015.
Muwanga reiterated that executing bonus payments without the required approval from Parliament is irregular. He noted that the permanent secretary of the finance ministry, Ramathan Ggoobi, indicated the approval process for the supplementary request was not completed in a timely manner.
To prevent similar issues in the future, Muwanga advised the finance ministry to initiate requests for Parliamentary approval well in advance, allowing sufficient time for the necessary processes to be completed.
Speaker Anita Among has postponed the debate on this report, granting the finance minister a two week period to address the concerns raised by the committee.
