The Auditor General, John Muwanga has been accused of fueling corruption in Uganda, citing his failure to release the Shs39 billion special audit report on the theft of iron sheets and goats meant for the vulnerable communities in Karamoja that was orchestrated by top officials in the government.
Muwanga Kivumbi (Butamala County), accusations followed an admission made by officials from the Auditor General’s office that the completed special report on iron sheets scandals was still in possession of the Auditor General, prompting MPs to raise concerns on why the report is still being kept private, yet over Shs39 billion of public funds was misused.
“You know we are almost completing another year without you giving the country the report, tell my namesake that this is extremely unfair to the country. Tell the Auditor General that he is also becoming part of the corruption in this country because that breeds impunity,” said Muwanga Kivumbi, Chairperson Public Accounts Committee.
This was during a meeting held between the Committee and representatives from Office of Prime Minister, it was reported that of the money allocated to this project, Shs6.8 billion was spent on travel allowances, fuel and maintenance of cars by officials from Office of the Prime Minister and contrary to the promise of giving out 16 goats to each beneficiary, only one goat was distributed to each beneficiary.
In the preliminary December 2023 report by the Auditor General, it was reported that out of the Shs39billion meant for the procurement and distribution of goats & iron sheets in Karamoja, Shs1.78 billion was spent on travel in land, while fuel, oil and lubricants cost Shs700 million, while OPM also spent Shs300 million on vehicle maintenance.
The Office of Prime Minister also allocated another Shs2.2 billion on travel in land for monitoring, while civil works for maintenance of Moroto regional office cost Shs500 million, and procurement of iron sheets cost Shs8.8 billion.
“What concerns me is that workshops and seminars took Shs1.8 billion, Travel in land Shs1.8 billion, another travel in land Shs2.5 billion. A total of Shs6.8 billion of the Shs39 billion that is how you spent it and this was money originally for distribution of goats. The manner over which urgency you put this money, when we are processing the so-called supplementary budgets, it is like Uganda will close if we don’t give you this money. Now, we give you Shs39 billion but you spent Shs6.8 billion of this money on travel in land and maintenance,” Kivumbi noted.
