The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (Local Government) has dismissed Nakasongola district officials from an accountability meeting after they failed to adequately respond to queries raised by the Auditor General.
The committee, chaired by Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze, expressed frustration after Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Dorothy Ajwang appeared unable to respond to several questions concerning the district’s 2024/2025 financial performance.
The committee was particularly concerned about the district’s staffing, with several positions, including three heads of department, reportedly being held in acting capacity.
Ajwang referred some questions concerning the acting appointments to her predecessor, Aggrey Winston Muramira, who is now the CAO of Nakaseke District. Muramira had accompanied the delegation to Parliament to provide information to the committee, prompting protests by the MPs.
Nambooze said the current accounting officer must take responsibility for the district’s affairs and work with officials she found in office instead of relying on her predecessor.
The committee also scrutinised the valuation of Nakasongola’s assets. According to the Auditor General’s report, property, plant and equipment under Note 26 were valued at Shs35.334 billion, while non-produced assets under Note 27 were valued at Shs81.908 billion.
The Auditor General noted that the valuations were based on management estimates guided by the Accountant General during Uganda’s transition to full accrual accounting under IPSAS. The increase also resulted from assets acquired during the financial year and further cleaning of the asset register.
The officials further faced questions over payroll management after the district failed to utilise Shs524 million of its Shs26.235 billion wage allocation during the financial year, despite seeking additional funds to recruit staff.
Ajwang attributed the unspent funds to unpaid benefits for deceased staff and pensioners whose payments had not been processed through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System.
However, Nambooze questioned why the accounting officer did not have detailed information on the affected staff and pensioners. She subsequently directed the officials to return after adequate preparation, with the committee proposing to hold an accountability session in Nakasongola.
Nambooze said the committee would scrutinise the district’s asset register, staffing levels, payroll, procurement, road maintenance, Parish Development Model (PDM), Youth Livelihood Programme and Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme.
The committee also ordered the technical officials not to claim allowances for their aborted appearance before Parliament, saying taxpayers should not bear the cost of an engagement for which the district had failed to prepare. She warned the officials that the committee expected complete and updated information when it visits the district.
The Nakasongola LCV Chairperson Rogers Kulaba Semanda who accompanied the technical team admitted that the team has demonstrated incompetence before the committee. He supported the proposed idea of transferring heads of department to improve service delivery.
Nakasongola becomes the second entity to be dismissed by the committee since the commencement of the 12th Parliament. Last week, Nansana Municipality officials were turned away by the committee when the accounting officer failed to turn up in the committee meeting. The committee is set to visit the affected entities in their respective locations for deeper interaction with the teams-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
