MPs Grill Finance Ministry Officials Over Shs7.7 Trillion Unapproved Spending

Senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development have faced intense questioning from Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over sweeping financial discrepancies. Lawmakers grilled Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi and Acting Accountant General Godfrey Ssemugooma regarding Shs7.7 trillion in expenditure that exceeded reported budget provisions, along with a Shs3.4 trillion gap in government investment figures.

Chaired by Kassanda North MP Patrick Nsamba, the committee focused heavily on a Shs7.7 trillion variance under Treasury Operations. While revenue performance reached Shs22.21 trillion against a revised budget of Shs13.023 trillion, actual expenditure climbed to Shs29.9 trillion. Treasury officials attributed the gap to outstanding Bank of Uganda securities reflected in domestic debt arrears, but MPs insisted that any spending beyond approved appropriations requires formal parliamentary authorization.

Lawmakers also scrutinized a Shs3.4 trillion discrepancy between the government’s balance sheet, which showed investments worth Shs3.6 trillion, and the cash flow statement, which recorded just Shs125 billion. Officials explained that the lower figure represented cash outlays, while the remainder comprised non-cash amalgamations of net worth from state-owned enterprises. However, the committee faulted the ministry for failing to submit accompanying investment schedules.

Another major point of contention involved the diversion of funds intended to service external debt. Acting Accountant General Ssemugooma revealed that while an $8 million payment to the World Bank’s International Development Association was returned, another $8 million meant for the African Development Fund was intercepted and diverted to unauthorized beneficiaries. This led to a Shs24 billion accounting provision and subsequent criminal proceedings at the Anti-Corruption Court involving nine former and interdicted Treasury and IT officials.

Ggoobi admitted that the incident exposed system vulnerabilities, prompting the ministry to reverse automated processes, introduce manual verifications, and invite the Auditor General to review its cybersecurity systems. Furthermore, MPs raised concerns over persistent budget indiscipline, unauthorized fund reallocations, and the operation of multiple holding accounts outside the Consolidated Fund. Read more details about this session on the Nile Post.