Trade ministry told to return with clearer figures amid PAC scrutiny

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Due to time constraints, the Public Accounts Committee (Central) has adjourned its session with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to a date yet to be disclosed.

According to committee vice chairperson Gorett Namugga (Mawogola South, NUP), the move is intended to allow the ministry to harmonise several financial issues raised by lawmakers during the sitting on Monday (March 2).

At the time, the committee was scrutinising Auditor General Edward Akol’s report on the ministry for the year ended December 2025. The ministry was represented by permanent secretary Lynette Bagonza.

“I have two proposals, the fact that they have to submit activities that were partially implemented close to sh11 billion plus, they have failed to account for that, and that constitutes the gist of this audit,” Namugga stated.

“And coupled with issues that you have raised under financials, plus others that are yet to be raised and looking at figures, this time, we may not sufficiently get what we would love from this side,” she added.

In response, Bagonza agreed with the committee’s position, saying, “I would like to go with your proposal that we go and prepare. Because the other template is partially implemented, we need to attach figures, and it’s a bigger template. I don’t think we will have concluded it in an hour’s time.”

Subscription to international organisations

At the centre of the inquiry is sh7,753,799,155 in outstanding subscriptions to international organisations.

While Bagonza maintains that the expenditure had been budgeted for under grants to international organisations, she said the payments remained pending due to budget constraints. This explanation was contested by Xavier Kyooma (Ibanda North, NRM).

He argued that if the funds had indeed been budgeted for, they should have been clearly reflected in the ministry’s records, which, according to him, was not the case.

“If it was not budgeted for, then it should appear under the statement of outstanding commitments. But when you go there, there is only sh3 billion and even that sh3 billion was not paid until the year ended, you still have it,” Kyooma raised.

“Even what was paid was not reflected, because when you interlink them, your principal accountant will tell you, now there is nothing that is speaking to the sh7 billion,” he added.

Procurement of PDM motorcycles

Another issue MPs intend to scrutinise at the next session is the total cost of the 141 motorcycles procured during the year under review. The motorcycles were to be distributed to district commercial officers to monitor the Parish Development Model (PDM) programme, including the unit cost of each motorcycle and the contractor responsible.

The procurement was conducted through open domestic bidding, with the head of procurement indicating that the contract price stood at about sh1.897 billion. However, Auditor General Edward Akol noted in his report that there was an irregular reduction of the minimum bidding period.

This contravened Regulation 56 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (Rules and Methods for Procurement of Supplies, Works and Non-Consultancy Services) Regulations, 2023, which sets the minimum bidding period for open domestic bidding at 15 working days.

An audit review established that the contracts committee approved the procurement on May 12, 2025, the same day bidding opened, and closed the process on May 20, 2025.

This may have favoured Markh Investments Company Limited and Simba Automotives Limited, the only two firms able to submit bids within the shortened window.

Ruling

“Before we leave this place, submit the letters, give details of that contract because this item might have issues of fraud, we can’t conclude,” PAC vice chairperson Namugga ruled.

e-GP system

Another audit query revealed that although the Government had acquired an electronic government procurement system (e-GP) to manage all procurement and disposal of assets, the ministry conducted 14 procurements worth sh11.32 billion during the year under review. Of this amount, sh5.58 billion was implemented manually.

As tensions rose, permanent secretary Bagonza, who was appointed in August 2024, told MPs that significant changes had been made since she assumed office.

“From when I came on board, at least we have attached in Annex 2 a sample of the framework contracts that we initiated. When I came on board, there were no framework contracts, but we are still cleaning up,” she pointed out.

Her explanation appeared to partially convince some MPs, including Silas Aogon (Kumi Municipality, Independent).

“The fact that they made an attempt and attached a copy of the framework shows that she came with a broom ready to clean up. So, at least we can appreciate that the person is still new and something is happening. Maybe we can leave that matter at that,” Aogon implored.