By Jeff Lule
and Ruth Nabukenya

A NEW system has been introduced to track public expenditure and manage the flow of goverment funds.

The economic adviser in the finance ministry, Fred Muhumuza, said the Government had lost billions of funds due to lack of a tracking system.


“Various ministries always request for increment in their budgets but never deliver (services) as expected,” Muhumuza said.

He was recently opening up a five-day workshop on the tracking system at the Economic Policy Research Centre at Makerere University.

Muhumuza said the system would facilitate the efficient utilisation of funds and help provide the required services to the public in time.

“Corruption in procurement has adversely impacted on the quality of services meant to improve the quality of life, especially in health and education,” he said.

Muhumuza warned that no ministry would be allocated funds without producing their work plan for the specified period.

The 2005 World Bank report estimated that Uganda loses about $300m (about sh500b) per year through corruption and procurement malpractices.

The 2005 Auditor General’s report estimated that 20% of the value of public procurement was lost through corruption.

The research centre’s acting executive director, Sarah Ssewanyana, said the system was one of the tools used worldwide to promote efficiency and effectiveness in public spending.