C-News Bureau Chief
In a recent strategic review aimed at evaluating budgetary allocations for the fiscal year 2024/25, key stakeholders, led by the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi, convened alongside his technical team at Serena Kigo. The meeting also involved the participation of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, Catherine Musingwire, and representatives from the Ministry of Local Government. The focal point of this gathering was a comprehensive examination of the outcomes stemming from the recent payroll audit commissioned by the Auditor General, coupled with an in-depth analysis of the projected wage bill for FY 2024/25, according to the latest MOFPED TIMES ISSUE 14n.
Ggoobi underscored the need for decisive actions against accounting officers, human resource officers, and finance officers implicated in payroll irregularities uncovered by the Auditor General’s audit. These discrepancies ranged from the presence of ghost employees to falsified appointments and the erroneous listing of individuals as deceased, absconded, or retired during validation.
In response, Musingwire committed her Ministry to taking swift action to remove the identified individuals from the payroll during the current quarter. Moreover, it came to light that 22 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, along with 19 Local Governments, diverted funds from the wage budget to support unrelated activities.
The Ministry of Finance organized two retreats, held at Serena Kigo over three days, to meticulously examine the budget and resource allocation for FY 2024/25. The overarching goal of these sessions was to ensure the effective distribution of available resources through evidence-based analysis.
Ggoobi reiterated the government’s dedication to achieving a ten-fold growth in the economy by the medium term, starting from FY 2024/25. He emphasized the necessity for the budget to align with key priorities, including peace and security, infrastructure development, social services, income-generating initiatives, and international obligations.
The retreat also recommended allocating funds for policy commitments and fixed costs, such as the Parish Development Model and Emyooga, aimed at fostering wealth creation. Furthermore, Ggoobi stressed the importance of budgets aligning with the core mandates of their respective departments, as delineated in the Programme Implementation Action Plans (PIAPs).
Additional recommendations encompassed strengthening support for manufacturing and mineral programs, refining fiscal regimes for the mineral sector, and ensuring the proper remittance of non-tax revenue collections to the consolidated fund in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act of 2015. It was also proposed that construction projects be exclusively funded through dedicated channels, rather than via retooling efforts.