MPs fail to account for sh4b travel expenses

Legislators on the Public Accounts Committee of parliament have ordered the Parliamentary Commission to urgently produce accountability documents for sh4.6b in travel expenses incurred in the financial year 2009/2010.

The query is part of the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ending June 2010.

In his report, the Auditor General noted that the expenditure vouchers, at the time of audit, lacked relevant accountability documents and reports from the travelling MPs, as required under parliamentary rules of procedure.

“With absence of these documents, I couldn’t confirm whether the money was put to proper use,” the Auditor General noted in his report.

In a gripping interface at parliament, MPs heard tales of wasteful expenditure of public funds through buying multiple air tickets to MPs with overlapping engagements in different foreign capitals.

According to the Deputy Clerk of parliament in charge of administrative services, Kaija-Kwamya, sh3.5b was spent on buying air tickets and per diem to travelling MPs.

Kaija explained that MPs’ foreign travels tend to be prohibitively expensive because such trips come at short notice.
He told MPs the commission has taken to borrowing from the parliamentary SACCO, at an interest, to fund MPs travels because of the sometimes impromptus nature of their foreign trips.

However, the MPs rejected the submission of Chief Accountant, Patrick Kunobwa, that the Auditor General missed auditing the supporting accountability documents because they were filed separately from the vouchers.

 “I find your response that these documents were available but you couldn’t avail them, for whatever reason, unacceptable,” the committee lead counsel, Maxwell Akora said.

Emma Bona (Mbarara) tasked Kaija to explain whether parliament recovers excess per diem disbursed to MPs who cut their foreign trips short.

“There are MPs who are given per diem and they either don’t travel or cut short their trips by a number of days. This money ought to be recovered,” Bona said.

“We demand that you avail the relevant documents, including the different delegations, reason for travel and reports to the auditors. The committee doesn’t want this money to sully the reputation of the commission,” committee chairman Kasiano Wadri said.  

At the inception of the ninth parliament, the power to sanction MPs foreign trips was removed from the prime minister’s office and vested in the speaker of parliament.

Parliament has since put in place a robust mechanism aimed at ensuring that MPs and parliamentary staff on foreign trips fully account for money disbursed to them.

All travelling MPs are expected to present boarding passes and air tickets for accountability on return.  Kwamya told MPs that no approval for fresh travel abroad can be made unless the concerned MPs or staff have fully accounted for the previous trips.

Besides managing the revenue and expenditure of parliament, the parliamentary commission determines the allowances payable to MPs.

The commission is composed of the speaker, leader of government business, leader of opposition, minister of finance and four other MPs.