Finance Minister, Henry Musasizi, last week warned Accounting Officers across government to reject unlawful directives, uphold budget discipline and ensure every public shilling delivers value for money.
Speaking during a meeting on Budget Discipline, the Accountability Charter and the Execution of the 2026/27 National Budget at
Speke Resort Munyonyo, Musasizi reminded Accounting Officers that they remain personally responsible for safeguarding public resources under the Public Finance Management Act, Cap. 171.
He urged officials from both central and local governments to resist actions that could expose them to legal trouble.
“You should be guided by the Public Finance Management Act and be courageous enough to say no to actions that can put you in trouble,” Musasizi said.
The minister said corruption and waste of public resources undermine service delivery and hurt every Ugandan, calling on Accounting Officers to make integrity the cornerstone of their work.
“Whatever you do, guard against corruption and ensure there is value for money because everyone feels the pain when public resources are misused,” he said.
Musasizi also challenged the officials to play a central role in advancing Uganda’s ambition of building a $500 billion economy by strengthening revenue collection and investing in sectors that expand the country’s tax base.
“I appeal to you to support our growth agenda. We are all key players in ensuring we achieve it by managing the economy on behalf of His Excellency the President and the people of Uganda,” he said.
He outlined five priorities that should guide Accounting Officers over the next five years, including maintaining budget discipline and credibility, increasing domestic revenue mobilisation, supporting the President’s wealth creation agenda, ensuring proper governance of Uganda’s oil resources, and contributing to the country’s long term economic transformation.
The meeting brought together Accounting Officers from ministries, departments, agencies and local governments as the Ministry of Finance rolled out reforms intended to tighten accountability during implementation of the Shs72.4 trillion budget for the 2026/27 financial year.
Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet Lucy Nakyobe reinforced the government’s anti corruption message, calling for zero tolerance for misuse of public funds.
“We need timely planning, accountability, professionalism, integrity and transparency in public resource management. Services must reach the citizens of Uganda,” Nakyobe said.
The Chairperson of the Association of Local Government Accounting Officers, Gabriel Atama, who is also the Chief Administrative Officer of Buikwe District, urged government to provide greater legal protection for public officers facing investigations.
He argued that administrative mistakes should not automatically be treated as criminal offences and highlighted challenges affecting local governments, including recruitment restrictions, delays in the Human Capital Management transition, salary disparities and staffing shortages.
Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi used the meeting to outline sweeping reforms that government says will reshape budget execution during the current financial year.
Among the changes is the centralisation of counterpart funding under the Treasury Operations Department, with ministries and agencies now required to submit funding needs quarterly. Government has also made joint procurement mandatory for common items such as vehicles, information technology equipment and tyres through national framework agreements coordinated by the ICT and Works ministries.
The payroll reform remains another major focus, with all institutions expected to complete migration to the Human Capital Management system while ensuring salaries are paid by the 28th of every month and pensions by the 15th.
Government has also tightened tax compliance rules, requiring taxes and National Social Security Fund contributions to be remitted by the 28th, while directing that most government contracts be denominated in Uganda Shillings.
On the Parish Development Model, Ggoobi said the programme has entered its sustainability phase after receiving Shs1.059 trillion in the 2026/27 budget. He instructed local governments to strengthen loan recovery through the Wendi platform and warned against charging beneficiaries illegal access fees.
The Treasury also directed institutions to use the Integrated Bank of Projects for monitoring public investments and required 28 completed projects to submit completion and evaluation reports within the current quarter.
Ggoobi warned that the ministry would no longer tolerate budget execution games by Accounting Officers who ignore the Budget Execution Circular that risk severe consequences.
The sanctions include non-renewal of contracts, withholding of budget releases, suspension from the Integrated Financial Management System, public disclosure of non compliance and referral to oversight agencies.
The Ministry of Finance is aiming at strengthening fiscal discipline, improving accountability and ensuring public resources are managed more effectively as government pursues higher economic growth and improved service delivery.
