Deliberate manipulation of the national budgeting process by government officials is now a major avenue for misappropriating public resources, the ministry of Finance has warned.
According to Ramadhan Ggoobi, permanent secretary and secretary to the treasury (PSST), accounting officers are deliberately inflating budget requests, a scheme he termed as “budget games” to access funds far beyond their actual requirements.
During a meeting with accounting officers on budget execution for the 2025/2026 financial year, Ggoobi said goverment officials intentionally request funds which are more than what they require.
The meeting brought together accounting officers from central and local governments, Uganda’s missions abroad, regional referral hospitals, and public universities, with the aim of promoting effective budget execution and accountability.
Ggoobi noted that budget analysts at the ministry of Finance have now been tasked to conduct deeper scrutiny of budget submissions in a bid to eliminate the malpractice.
Among the tactics employed, Ggoobi singled out the “padding play”, where ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) request funds in excess of need, and the “crisis card”, where MDAs claim dire consequences will result from underfunding their requests.
The PSST also decried the erosion of integrity among public servants, worsened by poor adherence to ethical standards. He cited findings from a payroll audit by the Office of the Auditor General, which exposed numerous irregularities, including unauthorised recruitments, mischarges, ghost workers, payments made outside official payroll systems (IPPS/HCM), delayed pension and gratuity processing, illegal loan deductions.
Ggoobi reminded accounting officers that, under the fully decentralised payroll management system, they are entirely responsible for managing salaries, pensions, and gratuity through the Human Capital Management (HCM) platform.
During the meeting, accounting officers, especially from local governments raised concerns over poor coordination with central government agencies and inadequate wage bills that hinder recruitment of essential staff.
In response, Ggoobi announced that government had addressed one key concern: the low pay of chief administrative officers, city, and municipal clerks. Their monthly salaries have now been increased from Shs 1.8 million to Shs 12.75 million.
He reaffirmed government’s commitment to its fiscal consolidation strategy, which seeks to increase domestic revenue, rationalise public expenditure, and reduce the fiscal deficit. The meeting was chaired by Lucy Nakyobe, head of Public Service and secretary to the Cabinet, who urged accounting officers to operate with the highest levels of accountability, transparency, efficiency, and integrity.
“You should guard against committing the government without adequate resources. Accounting officers must ensure zero tolerance for domestic arrears. Do not commit beyond cash limits,” Nakyobe said.
She also called on the officers to fast-track project implementation, streamline procurement processes, and develop and publish clear service delivery standards.
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