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Mbarara returns Shs6b over failure to recruit officials
Mr Theo Tibihika, the outgoing Mbarara City clerk (left), hands over a report to the new clerk, Mr John Matama Behangana, at the city council hall on Monday. PHOTO | FELIX AINEBYOONA
Mbarara City has returned back Shs6b to the consolidated fund after failing to utilise the funds for the Financial Year 2020/2021.
While handing over office on Monday, the outgoing city clerk, Mr Theo Tibihika, said they had been able to utilise the locally-raised revenue but couldn’t spend Shs6b meant for recruitment of new staff and another Shs5b meant for the Uganda Support for Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) projects.
He said when they attained city status in July 2020, they were stopped from any further recruitment of staff because they did not have a city service commission.
“All the local revenue we raised has been utilised. In the nine departments, it is only Shs1.3m that has been unspent only for local revenue. For central government money, it is only money for salaries that is being taken back because we didn’t have people to pay,” Mr Tibihika said.
He said the USMID money was affected by delays in procurement processes.
“They had given us Shs9b for this ending financial year. We were supposed to start works on Victor Bwana Road, Gult Road and Stanley Road, but the procurement process, which we started in September 2020, ended in May 2021. Even when the best evaluated bidder was got, there were so many appeals, but finally, we settled it and the contract was awarded to Multiplex. We have signed a contract and even paid them advance payment of Shs4b,’’ Mr Tibihika said.
The departments that are most affected by the recruitment process are health at 51 per cent and education that lacks 96 teachers and head teachers.
Mr Tibihka said the delayed recruitment hindered service delivery.
“This [delayed recruitment] is affecting us, for example, in the planning unit, we have only one officer. In engineering, we are supposed to have seven officials, but we only have three and one is on interdiction. We also don’t have health workers,” he said.
The city was also unable to spend Shs53m of the Shs1.6b received from the central government for pension and gratuity, which Mr Tibihika attributed to uncleared files .
Mbarara City speaker Bonny Tashobya Karutsay said they would soon constitute a City Service Commission.
“When we received a circular giving us a city, we also sent a request of the vacant placements to be filled and the central government sent the money, but we did not have a service commission. In the new council, we are going to have a service commission, public accounts committee and lands committee. We are now vetting the people for the City Service Commission,” he said.
The incoming city clerk, Mr John Matama Behangana, said: “I want to work with the Public Service Commission in Kampala and we get clearance to fill the vacant positions,” he said.
The Minister for Local Government, Mr Rapheal Magyezi, said Mbarara’s challenge is not unique from other newly-created cities.
“In the meantime, if they [city] have not got a city service commission, the council can pass a resolution requesting for the services of a nearby commission,” he said.
