Audit documents before PAC indicate that out of the 20.74 Billion Shillings, indicate that 16.88 Billion was spent by the Judiciary on different activities some of which were disposing of cases in different courts, installing new courts, training of staff, procuring vehicles and others.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has given a three-day
ultimatum to the Judiciary to provide accountability for over 20.74 billion
Shillings spent in the financial year 2018/2019.
On Monday, the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the
Judiciary Pius Bigirimana and officials from the Judiciary appeared
before PAC to respond to audit queries regarding funds released under
the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) -Sector Wide Approach (SWAP)
Development Fund.
The JLOS- SWAP Fund brings together all institutions involved in the
administration of Justice.
Audit documents before PAC indicate that out of 20.74 Billion
Shillings 16.88 Billion was spent by the Judiciary on different
activities some of which were disposing of cases in different courts,
installing new courts, training of staff, procuring vehicles and
others.
However, the Auditor General John Muwanga observed that in the 55 sampled
activities worth 16.88 billion, the Judiciary management reported in generic
ways and that for instance, the achieved outputs for the number of backlog case
disposed of by Criminal and Civil Circuits was not stated.
"Failure to plan and report on the quality or quantity of activities
implemented renders it difficult to establish individual activity costs for
each planned output, and this curtails effective accountability when funds are
subsequently spent," he said.
Muwanga added that without clearly spelt out planned outputs, he could not
ascertain whether funds were spent and the intended objectives achieved.
In response to the query, Simon Peter Opolot, the Judiciary Principal Economist
said that by the time of the audit, quantities were not available but they have
been since computed. He said that 1,500 case backlog were concluded by the Criminal
Circuits while 2,000 cases had been disposed of by Civil Circuits in Masaka,
Mukono, Jinja, Lira, Mbarara, Mubende, Mpigi, Masindi, Mbale and Fort Portal.
PAC Chairperson Nathan Nandala Mafabi was not convinced and questioned how the
institution achieved all its targets 100 percent.
"What magic did you use to hit the targets of 1,500 and 2,000 cases
without any digit exceeding?" he asked.
Bigirimana explained that this is what he found reported when he
took up the office in August 2019 and appealed for more time to provide answers.
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Butemba County MP Pentagon Kamusiime demanded details of all cases that were
handled before the committee could conclude with the query.
This prompted Nandala to direct that the Judiciary avails the
details of the cases and other accountability supporting the expenditure by
Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Judiciary officials were also questioned about the
under absorption of funds worth 3.86 billion Shillings.
According to the Auditor General, failure to utilize funds
released may deter development partners' intention to support new projects or
may reduce the intended funding.
Nandala also directed that details of activities that never
received funds. This was after Opolot said that the unspent balance was due to the
late release of funds, delayed procurement process and delayed scheduling of
court sessions.
