How did sh6b vanish from frozen KCCA accounts?

By Brian Mayanja

Last year, the Auditor General’s office disclosed that they had unearthed sh58b hidden in 132 bank accounts of the defunct Kampala City Council (KCC).

Last week, however, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) executive director Jennifer Musisi declared that she had commissioned an audit that found only sh52b in 152 accounts. The audit firm, KPMG, found more bank accounts but less money. So, where is the missing sh6b?

That is the question puzzling Musisi, Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and KCCA councillors.

Last week, a special KCCA meeting resolved to appoint a private audit firm to unravel the mystery.

This follows queries raised by the authority’s councillors over the conflicting figures. “Can we get clear details of the frozen accounts and the funds from each municipal division? How many accounts did each division have?” Resty Ollama, deputy mayor Kampala Central Division, asked Musisi.

The new audit firm is expected to commence its work in one month’s time, according to Lukwago.

“After reviewing this financial year’s budget, we shall work out modalities of how the audit fi rm will operate,” he said.

Allan Ssewanyana, Makindye division councillor, said they needed to hire an audit firm, which would go beyond the findings of KPMG.

However, Musisi is of the view that hiring another fi rm to audit KCCA’s accounts would be expensive. She also disclosed that the finance ministry was investigating KCCA’s accounts, therefore, it may not be necessary to hire a separate audit firm.