The Committee chaired by Hon. Reagan Okumu (Ind., Aswa) also directed the Arua district Accounting Officer to immediately recover four motor cycles allocated to various staff but went missing in a period of one financial year.

The Yamaha motorcycles each valued at UShs14 million were given to the staff in different departments to facilitate service delivery. A review of Arua Municipal Council’s fixed assets and an audit verification carried out revealed that the motorcycles purchased in March 2015 were stolen outside council premises and beyond working hours.

The Committee, which camped in Arua 5 – 8 July 2018 summoned Accounting Officers from the Arua Audit Region to answer queries raised in the Auditor General’s Report for the financial year ended 30th June 2017.

Arua Audit Region includes Arua district, Arua Municipal Council, Maracha, Yumbe and Koboko districts, Koboko Municipality, Nebbi district and Nebbi Municipal Council. It also includes Zombo, Moyo and Adjumani districts.

Hon. Okumu doubted claims that the motorcycles had all been stolen in period of less than a year.

“This must be a syndicate by officers to steal these motorcycles,” said Okumu.

Arua neighbours the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan which are both safe heavens for stolen motorcycles and vehicles. The 2016 crime report released by the International Police (Interpol) Directorate in Kampala shows that 516 cars and 395 motorcycles were sneaked into DRC, as the go-to destination, by cross boarder criminals.

The Committee observed that the low recovery adversely impacts on government’s objective of setting up the program as a revolving fund. File photo

Arua Municipal Council Town Clerk Jamil Kairu, who is less than a year in the position, attributed the messed up accountabilities and wasteful expenditure to the former accounting officer.

He also admitted that some Municipal staff had opened a side and unauthorized bank account where they were depositing revenue collections.

“The under declaration of local revenue is due to a false collection bank account and over estimation of local revenue from markets, licences, taxi parks and land management dues,” said Kairu.

Meanwhile, districts in the region have registered low recovery of funds lent out to youths under the Youth Livelihood Project. West Nile district are faced with low recovery of youth livelihood funds, especially Arua and Koboko districts.

The Committee observed that the low recovery adversely impacts on government’s objective of setting up the program as a revolving fund.

Arua district Accounting Officer Ismael Onhengel admitted that recovery of funds under the Programme remains a challenge.

Whistleblowers however intimated to the Committee that some beneficiaries of the funds in West Nile Region were Congolese who crossed back to DRC through the porous border after receiving the money.

In Koboko district where UShs 179 billion was advanced to youths, less than half had been recovered by 30 June 2017. In the same district, it was reported that UShs 10 million under the Universal Secondary Education was released to Koboko Modern Secondary School, which had been closed over land disputes with the neighbouring community.

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Nursery worker tends tree seedlings to plant in the Nile Basin Reforestation Project. Photo courtesy National Forestry Authority

 Members of Parliament have tasked officials from National Forestry Authority (NFA) to explain the circumstances leading to the reduced forest cover and rampant deforestation in the country.
Officials from the NFA led by the acting Executive Director Paul Musamali were meeting MPs on the Natural Resources Committee now considering the Ministerial Policy Statement for financial year 2018/2019.
MPs expressed concern over the restoration of degraded natural forests which NFA officials attributed to the unexpected dry spell in 2017.
Hon. Thomas Tayebwa (NRM, Ruhinda North County) raised queries on the way decisions to remove boundaries from forest land were taken noting that some investors were taking advantage of this to set up structures in forest reserves.
Tayebwa encouraged the NFA officials to help locals in their constituencies to set up nursery beds given that distribution of tree seedlings had not made much progress.
Aswa County MP Hon. Reagan Okumu advised the NFA officials to take on corporate social responsibility in a bid to improve their image with the public especially those living near forests.
“NFA makes money, so you should consider supporting locals with bee-keeping projects because they can co-exist with forests,” Okumu said.
Paul Musamali assured members that the Forestry Authority was engaging Ministry of Finance to support the setting up of a Tree Fund that would help increase the forest cover countrywide.
“We will also deliver tree seedlings to youth and women groups around the country so as to promote afforestation,” said Muasmali.
He added that it was upon Government and Parliament to decide on whether or not to degazette forests noting that public engagement and education was key for efficient management of forests.

MPs also tasked the NFA officials to work hand in hand with Uganda Wildlife Authority to check on wild animals that roam from forests into gardens and destroy crops.

The NFA officials also presented a list of unfunded and underfunded projects for the financial year 2018/2019. The items include management of central forest reserves, raising and supply of seeds and seedlings, human resource services as well as plantation management among others.

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Aswa County MP, Regan Okumu.

Kasozi faced a hard time to defend himself before the Committee Chaired by Aswa County MP, Reagan Okumu, where he was summoned to answer queries in the Auditor general’s report for the financial year 2014/15.

MPs on the committee were surprised to hear from Kasozi that 70% of Wakiso district local government land is not surveyed and has no land tittle yet they continue putting physical structures like schools, health centers among others.

MPs said that this is how government land is stolen for lack of certified documents. Legislators who included;  Reagan Okumu ,Makindye East MP, Ibrahim Kasozi and Mawogola County MP, Sekabito Kitayimbwa also questioned the academic qualification of this land officer as all is captured in these proceedings in the committee.

The MP for Mawogola County in Sembabule district Ssekabiito Kitayimbwa noted that the issue of grabbing government land is on the rise and in most cases the government loses lots of money in compensation for the land owners on which structures are put illegally.

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Winnie Kizza the Woman MP for Kasese and also the Leader of Opposition in Parliament of Uganda and outgoing chairperson accounts committee of parliament.

Speaking to Journalists at Parliament during the handover ceremony for the parliamentary committee on local government accounts, the Opposition’s Chief whip Winfred Kiiza, said that they had observed that change of leadership of this committee every after two years affects the tracking of accountabilities.

Kiiza handed over the office to the new bearer Reagan Okumu.

She said this in particular happens in government ministries where officials are often transferred and this makes it troublesome tracking them if the accounts committee leaves office within a short time.

She also said that redeployment of accounting officers like Chief Finance Officers (CFOS) and Chief Administrative Officers to other district before accounting for expenditure of the period of their operation is wrong because it is not easy to trace these officials to account for the funds for the previous districts.

Okumu, while receiving the new office said that his committee will stick to the Auditor General (AG) reports over the accountability of the district funds as a way of disposing off of the many pending reports to reduce the current backlog caused because of the many administrative units like districts, municipalities,sub counties and municipal councils.

He urged the whistle blowers to utilize the local government accounts committee to report contracts and donor funds what is perceived not accounted for.

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