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Lugazi Municipality returns Shs8b after failing to spend it
Construction. Ntenge Road in Lugazi Municipality, one of those authorities had planned to expand under the USMID project. PHOTO/DERICK KISSA.
What you need to know:
- Lugazi Municipality is among the eight municipalities that last year benefited from the next phase of $360m (about Shs1.3 trillion) under USMID.
- Other beneficiaries include Kasese, Kamuli, Mubende, Apac, Kitgum, Ntungamo and Busia. The first phase of USMID programme worth $150m (about Shs558t) commenced in 2013/2014 and ended in 2018. The improved infrastructure in major towns has enabled some like Mbabara, Jinja, to become cities.
Authorities in Lugazi Municipality, Buikwe District are returning Shs8 billion to the Consolidated Fund after failing to utilise it.
The money was meant to fix several roads and fund other projects in the municipality under the World Bank funded Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development project (USMID) this financial year.
The USMID project is aimed at enhancing institutional performance and improving service delivery in urban centres.
The money was part of the Shs12b that was given to Lugazi Municipality in the 2019/2020 fiscal year.
Mr Charles Lwanga, the USMID coordinator in Lugazi Municipality, said they returned the money because the designs for the roads and other projects were not yet complete.
“The contractor who is making the designs has not yet completed them and we cannot implement anything without those designs. We shall get the money back in the next financial year of 2020/2021,” Mr Lwanga said during an interview on Monday.
Section 17(2) of the Public Finance and Management Act,2015 requires a local government that does not expend money given to it by end of the financial year to refund the money to the Consolidated Fund.
Mr Francis Nyamugo, the town clerk of Lugazi Municipality, said the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic partly affected their planning because they were unable to advertise contracts as required by law.
“We now expect to begin work in the first quarter of 2020/2021 fiscal year,” he added.
Mr Paul Wandera, a resident and a member of Lugazi Municipality Development Forum, said the technocrats at the municipal council are not telling the truth about USMID funds.
“We heard that the government sent money and part of it was used. When we asked the town clerk, he told us that it was used on the capacity building. We had a chance to develop our town, but we have people who are not transparent, we may end up losing more opportunities in the future,” he said
While speaking during a quarterly meeting for chief administrative officers and municipal town clerks in Kampala last year, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Mr Ben Kumumanya, warned accounting officers who return to the Treasury the money meant for delivery of services in their areas of jurisdiction, saying they will be punished.
“This is a management decision taken at the ministry after seeing that some districts and municipalities return money at the end of every financial year even when services are not delivered,” Mr Kumumanya said.
At the same event, the state Minister for Local Government, Ms Jennifer Namuyangu, said it was “disheartening” for local governments to return money to the Treasury when services such as health, education and road maintenance were at risk of collapsing.
