PAC set to draft report on Auditor General’s 2023/24 audit

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The Public Accounts Committee (Central) is set to begin writing its report on the Auditor General’s 2023/24 audit of various Government agencies.

The committee reportedly handles 107 entities, although concerns have previously been raised about its workload.

Committee chairperson Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi disclosed this on July 31, 2025, during an interaction with officials from the Law Development Centre (LDC) led by Pamela Tibihikirra Kalyegira.

The announcement followed a meeting between committee chairpersons and Speaker Anita Annet Among in the Conference Hall, aimed at fast-tracking committee business.

“The committee is required to report to Parliament. It was being scheduled for next week. I pleaded for two more weeks for the purpose of writing a report. Therefore, beginning with the week of August 15, we are required to present all our reports as a committee,” Muwanga Kivumbi revealed.

“It therefore impacts on how much time is left. Therefore, the clerk should organise a report-writing retreat if you have the resources. Because also, I want to end the PAC work, you have worked throughout, even during party primaries, to give people the opportunity to go and adequately campaign. Any holding of members here, one month to nomination might be counterproductive to their best interests,” he added.

Muwanga Kivumbi said they would take responses from the few institutions they have not yet interacted with. Fortunately, he said they have covered nearly 80 percent of every sector and have a clear picture, from projects and universities to hospitals and ministries.

“The technical team, you’ve got to give a draft to members by Wednesday next week for every sector. Then we go for the retreat. I hope you organise it by that weekend. So that we are ready from about August 15 to present reports,” Muwanga Kivumbi stated.

Oversight visit

“There is a group that is supposed to travel to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. I have instructed the clerk to bring it forward so that you are done with that trip before we do the report, and it will be headed by the vice chairperson. Myself, I was supposed to be on it, but I will stay around to deal with the draft reports,” he hinted.

Muwanga Kivumbi further directed the travelling oversight team to ensure their documentation is in order, noting that their findings will play a pivotal role in the upcoming reports on Uganda’s foreign missions.

“By August 20, we will no longer be meeting as PAC (Central). We will be good to meet next year after the elections. Inshallah,” he intimated.

The report, once finalised, is expected to reignite debate on the funding of regional referral hospitals, many of which are struggling with mounting utility debts. Gulu Regional Referral Hospital alone faces unpaid water bills amounting to over shillings 1 billion and electricity arrears of shillings 170 million as of July 10, 2025.

Allowances

In an interview with New Vision two years ago, Erute South MP Jonathan Odur revealed, “Committee meetings outside Parliament (inland field oversight visits) attract a per diem of shillings 400,000 per MP per day. Most field activities last 3-5 days.”

“Foreign oversight trips attract per diem of $720 (about shillings 2.68 million) per MP and $400 (roughly shillings 1.5 million) per staff. Air tickets depend on the destination,” he added.

OAG mandate

It should be noted that the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) is Uganda’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI).

It is headed by the Auditor General, currently Edward Akol, who is appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament under Article 163(1) of the Constitution.

The Auditor General’s mandate is outlined in Article 163(3) and Section 13(1) of the National Audit Act of 2008.

In essence, the Auditor General is mandated to audit and report on the public accounts of Uganda. This includes all public offices such as the courts, central and local governments, universities, public institutions of a similar nature, as well as public corporations or other bodies established by an Act of Parliament.

In addition, Article 163(3)(b) mandates the Auditor General to carry out both financial and value-for-money audits on any project involving the use of public funds.

Under Article 163(4), the Auditor General is required to submit to Parliament a report on the accounts audited in the previous financial year.

Ministerial policy statements

During the budgeting cycle, Sections 14 and 15 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015, require each Minister in charge of a vote to prescribe the format of the policy statement to be submitted to Parliament.

The policy statement must include the annual procurement plan, planned outputs, performance indicators, achievements of the vote, and a statement detailing actions taken by the vote to implement recommendations of Parliament based on the Auditor General’s report for the preceding financial year.