The Finance State Minister in charge of Planning, Amos Lugoloobi, has identified ghost staff as the primary cause of wage shortfalls within the education sector. This revelation came during his appearance before the Parliament Committee on Education and Sports, accompanied by State Minister for Higher Education, John Chrysestom Muyingo, on February 22, 2024.
The recent audit report on the payroll by Auditor General John Muwanga highlighted various factors contributing to wage shortfalls, including overpayment of salaries, staff payments outside the official payroll, mischarges, and overpayment of loan deductions. Additionally, irregularities such as over/under projections of wage budgets, irregular recruitment, payment of ghost staff, and irregular transfers were identified.
Muwanga’s audit uncovered that 10,192 government employees should not have been on the payroll by June 2023. This special audit scrutinized the salary payroll across government entities, revealing discrepancies such as employees confirmed as deceased, absconded, or retired, yet still receiving salaries.
The Auditor General urged accounting officers to update their payrolls and take steps to recover irregularly paid amounts. He also emphasized the importance of investigative agencies pursuing appropriate follow-up actions.
Regarding the Parish Development Model (PDM), Muwanga highlighted discrepancies in budgeting, noting that the Ministry of Finance budgeted for fewer parishes than those gazetted by the Ministry of Local Government. Consequently, some parishes missed out on the program. Furthermore, significant amounts remained undisbursed from funds allocated to PDM SACCOs across various local governments, indicating inefficiencies in fund utilization and disbursement processes.
