Accounting Officers Risk Dismissal Over Unbudgeted Government Commitments

What the report says

Uganda’s Ministry of Finance is warning accounting officers that they could lose their positions if they approve government spending without proper budget cover, recruit staff without wage allocations, or launch projects before they are ready. The message was delivered by Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramadhan Ggoobi during a meeting with accounting officers at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala, according to Nile Post.

Ggoobi said the government wants to curb poor planning, domestic arrears and wage shortfalls by enforcing tighter fiscal discipline. He said commitments made without parliamentary approval, as well as reliance on supplementary budgets to fix planning failures, will no longer be tolerated except in genuinely unforeseen cases. He also tied project funding to readiness, arguing that implementation should not begin until key preparations such as designs, feasibility work, land issues and rights of way are in place.

The article says the ministry has also been reviewing domestic arrears with the Auditor General and claims some disputed invoices were inflated. Ggoobi said the government intends to pay properly budgeted invoices on time and stop the buildup of unpaid obligations to suppliers and service providers.

More broadly, the new stance signals a stricter approach to public financial management in Uganda. In practical terms, it puts added pressure on public officials to align recruitment, contracting and project rollout with approved budgets and staffing plans, a move meant to reduce waste and improve delivery of government programmes.