KAMPALA – The Auditor General, John Muwanga has expressed doubts over the government’s ability to fund the newly created Town Councils, calling on the government to contain their appetite for new administrative units.
Muwanga made the call while handing over the December 2019 Audit report to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga at Parliament on Wednesday, January 15.
In his report, the Auditor General noted that although over the last five years, government has created a number of Town Councils which should be financially independent from the districts from which they were created in line with Section 79 of the Local Government Act, out of 583 Town Councils Created, only 228 have been approved by the Ministry of Finance for access of resources from the national budget.
He said that the balance of 355 Town Councils that require Shs622b for start-up and operational costs remain unfunded and rely on internally generated funds which are very meager to sustain their operations.
“This significantly affects the ability of these Town Councils to operate and later deliver services to the people. The government appears to be unable to fund the newly created Town Councils,” noted Muwanga.
As such, the Auditor General advised that for any additional administrative institutions created, should be matched with available resources.
In 2018/2019 the Office of the Auditor-General conducted 4,496 audits, comprising of 108 Ministries Departments and Agencies, 114 Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises, 97 projects, 4 production sharing agreements and 3,888 Local Governments and Tertiary Institutions.
In the same year, the Auditor General conducted 11 value for money reports, 36 forensic investigations and special audits which were issued to the respective stakeholders who requested for them.
