Uganda: Ggoobi Calls for Reforms in Internal Auditing to Safeguard Public Funds

The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST) at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Ramathan Ggoobi, has urged heads of Internal Audit at District Local Governments, Cities, and Municipal Councils to transform audit reports into instruments of change rather than archives of failure.

Speaking at a meeting held at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Kampala on Thursday, Ggoobi emphasized that more than a third of public spending occurs at Local Government level.

"If internal audit fails at this level, government also fails to deliver services where citizens live," he said.

Ggoobi stressed that weak internal audits undermine fiscal discipline, investor confidence, and the country's ambitions for ten-fold economic growth. To illustrate lapses in public fund management, Ggoobi highlighted several challenges, including pension overpayments exceeding Shs 31 billion to thousands of beneficiaries, persistent payroll irregularities, ghost-related risks, and diversion of funds from approved activities.

Procurement inefficiencies were also highlighted, with significant price variations for similar government goods and works, alongside repeated audit findings year after year.

Ggoobi identified four structural weaknesses that continue to impede effective auditing: compliance auditing instead of risk-based auditing, weak follow-up on audit findings, a skills mismatch as the country goes digital, and limited independence of internal audit offices.

Ggoobi called for immediate reforms, urging auditors to audit risks rather than paperwork, follow the money until action is taken, leverage data from systems such as the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) for payroll trend analysis and procurement price comparisons, and actively prevent losses.

To support these reforms, Ggoobi announced government commitments to strengthen the Office of the Internal Auditor General, build IT audit capacity, train audit personnel, and improve the status of Heads of Internal Audit.

"Uganda's ten-fold growth goal requires strong public finance governance," he said, adding that every wasted shilling results in increased taxes, higher debt, or gaps in public services.

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