The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), Dr. Ramathan Ggoobi, has challenged Heads of Internal Audit at district local governments, cities and municipal councils to turn audit reports into instruments of reform rather than archives of failure.
Dr. Ggoobi noted that more than a third of public expenditure is implemented at local government level, warning that weaknesses in internal audit at that level directly undermine service delivery.
“We cannot achieve fiscal discipline, investor confidence, or ten-fold economic growth if internal audit systems are weak,” he said during a meeting at the Ministry of Finance.
To illustrate existing gaps, Dr. Ggoobi cited pension overpayments exceeding UGX 31 billion made to thousands of beneficiaries, persistent payroll irregularities, risks related to ghost workers, and diversion of funds from approved activities.
He also pointed to procurement weaknesses, including significant price variations for similar government goods and services, as well as repeated audit findings year after year without corrective action.
The PSST identified four persistent structural weaknesses in the internal audit function: overreliance on compliance auditing instead of risk-based auditing, weak follow-up on audit findings, skills mismatch amid increasing digitisation, and limited operational independence.
He called for immediate reforms, urging auditors to focus on auditing risks rather than paperwork, track public funds until corrective action is taken, utilise data analytics tools such as IFMS analytics, payroll trend analysis and procurement price comparisons, and prioritise prevention of financial losses.
As part of government’s commitment, Dr. Ggoobi said efforts will be made to strengthen the Office of the Internal Auditor General, enhance IT audit capacity through targeted training, and elevate the status of Heads of Internal Audit within public institutions.
“Uganda’s ten-fold growth agenda requires strong public finance governance,” he emphasised, warning that every wasted shilling translates into higher taxes, increased public debt, or gaps in service delivery.
