About 60 District and Municipal Accounting Officers will soon be jobless after they failed to submit critical budget documents to the Ministry of Finance.
In a letter dated March16, 2018 obtained by Business Focus, Keith Muhakanizi, the Secretary to the Treasury requests the Permanent Secretary of Local Government to exclude the Accounting who failed to submit the said information from the list of officers to be submitted to this Ministry for appointment for FY 2018/19.
“You are hereby requested to immediately replace the affected Officers with other eligible ones,” Muhakanizi, who is also PS, Ministry of Finance says in a letter copied to the Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet, the PS, Office of the Prime Minister and all Local Government Officers.
Muhakanizi justified his directive saying he was implementing section 11 (2)g of Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 2015.
He further revealed that on January23, 2018 he had written to the PS of Local Government requesting him to take administrative/disciplinary action against District Accounting Officers who didn’t comply with the timelines for submitting Quarter One and Quarter Two Budget Performance reports for FY 2017/18 and Budget Framework Papers for FY 2018/19, whose deadline wasOctober31, 2017, January31, 2018 and November 15, 2017, respectively in line with PFMA, 2015.
“Further reference is made to my specific letters of 1st March 2018 to the same Accounting Officers requesting them to justify why their appointment as Accounting Officers should not be revoked on account of their failure to timely submit the above statutory documents,” he says.
Some of the District Accounting Officers facing axe include Ishmael Ochenge of Arua, Milton Kato of Gulu, David Kawooya of Iganga, William Kanyesigye of Jinja, Danstan Balaba of Kabarole, Ben Paul Otim Ogwette of Kamuli, Simon Peter Kandole of Kapchorwa, Mathias Ndifuna of Kasese, Eria Magumba of Katakwi, Sarah Nakalungi of Kiboga, Sulaiman Kasozi of Kisoro, Joseph Lomongin of Kitgum, Anthony Martin Lukwago of Masaka, Chistopher Okumu of Masindi, Alex Chelimo of Moyo, Frances Amulen of Mpigi, Aloysius Aloka of Nakapiripirit and Geoffrey Okaka of Nebbi.
