Resource Limits Restrict OAG's Audit Capacity, MPs Told

Members of Parliament on the Budget Committee have been informed that the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) is unable to conduct audits for a substantial portion of the entities within its purview due to insufficient resources.

During a meeting chaired by Hon. Amos Kankunda, OAG officials, including Assistant Auditor General James Bantu, presented the challenge. Out of approximately 16,000 entities that require auditing, the OAG can only manage to audit around 4,500 annually.

Concerns were also raised regarding the audit of recoverable costs claimed by oil companies operating in the Albertine region. Committee member Hon. Gyaviira Ssebina Lubowa questioned a reported surge in these costs, from $935 million to $3.1 billion, and sought assurance that these figures were thoroughly audited and that Uganda’s future petroleum revenues would not be diminished by potentially inflated expenses.

Bantu assured the committee that the OAG does audit these recoverable costs, which represent exploration and drilling expenditures incurred by oil companies. He explained that the OAG reviews the companies’ annual cost compilations against relevant laws and contracts.

Bantu further confirmed that all five objectives outlined in Uganda’s Charter of Fiscal Responsibility—including public debt, debt servicing, fiscal balance, expenditure, and petroleum management—are auditable and have been covered in previous OAG reports. He indicated that the OAG would consider the committee’s request to produce an annual consolidated report assessing government performance against these fiscal objectives.

Source: https://www.parliament.go.ug/index.php/news/4617/resources-hinder-oag-audit-11000-entities