Minister Musasizi Expresses Concern Over Fiscal Indiscipline Among Government Accounting Officers

Summary:

• Henry Musasizi has expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of some government Accounting Officers, highlighting concerns over poor budgeting practices and fiscal indiscipline.

The State Minister of Finance Planning and Economic Development in Charge of General Duties, Henry Musasizi has expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of some government Accounting Officers, highlighting concerns over poor budgeting practices and fiscal indiscipline. This comes despite the Government’s continued efforts to progressively enhance the wage bill and address previous resource gaps.

Minister Musasizi made the remarks on Thursday while officiating the opening of the two -day local government Budget Consultative workshop for the F/Y 2025/2026 at Agaba Centre in Kabale Municipality, which attracted local government officials from the six districts of the Kigezi Sub region.

Looking ahead to the FY 2026/27, the Minister echoed the need for strict adherence to verified payroll audits, incorporation of findings from the Ministry of Public Service’s ongoing harmonisation exercise, and ensuring the integrity of data captured within the Programme Budgeting System (PBS) when preparing all salary, pension, and gratuity budgets.

“I note with concern that, even after the budget for FY 2025/26 was approved, some accounting Officers have continued to submit requests for wage, monthly pension, and gratuity shortfalls, and this persistent trend signals underlying issues of poor budgeting and fiscal indiscipline, despite Government’s consistent efforts to incrementally enhance the wage bill and address prior resource gaps.” Musasizi noted

In response to discrepancies identified in the domestic arrears reported by Accounting Officers, Musasizi announced that a special audit is underway to verify the Government’s stock of domestic arrears, including those related to salaries, pensions, and gratuities. Accounting Officers have been instructed to re-submit their arrears data, and are expected to provide full cooperation to the audit team undertaking this critical task.

“Following the discrepancies in the domestic arrears submitted by Accounting Officers, a special audit is being conducted on Government’s stock of domestic arrears including salary, pension and gratuity arrears, and Accounting Officers were requested to re-submit their domestic arrears as at 30th June 2024.” Musasizi Reported

He also explained that  the importance the Ministry places on capacity-building workshops, urging Accounting Officers to actively engage and ensure that their budgets align with the Government’s strategic priorities — particularly its goal to grow the economy tenfold through targeted investments in ATMS and key enablers.

In his closing remarks, the Musasizi called on all Accounting Officers to support their respective political leaders in meaningfully participating in the budget preparation and execution processes.

ENDS//////////