Deputy Secretary to the Treasury Ocailap cautions Accounting Officer as wage the budget circular is issued.
Drake Nyamugabwa
Following the completion of the audit of the salary payrolls by the Office of the Auditor General of Uganda to address persistent shortfalls in salary, the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, Patrick Ocailap on Friday 19th April 2024 issued a circular to all Accounting Officers from Central & Local Governments on issues of the wage budget.
Issuing the circular on behalf of the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Mr. Ramathan Ggoobi, he said that “Consequently, the wage bill has increased from Shs 7,289,967,353,928 this FY to Shs 7,513,067,960,301 next FY 2024/25 to address the shortfalls verified by the Auditor General”
He however noted that the reports from the Ministry of Public Services show that some Accounting Officers have continued to recruit staff over and above the wage bill for this Financial Year thus once again creating shortfalls, which list of implicated votes, the ministry compiled for appropriate action.
"All Accounting Officers who engaged in recruiting staff over and above their wage allocation as approved by Ministry of Public Services shall be sanctioned in line with the law including revoking appointment as Accounting Officers," he said
He said any shortfalls arising from recruiting staff without authority shall be deducted from the vote's unconditional non-wage budget to address the resultant funding gap.
Recently while issuing the Second Budget Call Circular for FY 2024/25 said is in line with Section 10 of the Public Finance Management Regulations, 2016 to facilitate the finalization of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.
The purpose of the Circular is to communicate the Priority Areas of the Budget for FY 2024/25 in line with the National Budget Framework Paper (NBFP) for FY 2024/2025, The Recommendations of Parliament on the NBFP for FY 2024/25, Government expenditure ceilings for FY 2024/25 as per the adjusted Program MTEF for FY 2024/25 and the Medium Term; and The policy and administrative guidelines for finalization of the Budget for FY 2024/25.
Next year’s budget priority areas following consultations with Parliament, Cabinet and other stakeholders, to facilitate the achievement of Uganda's socio-economic transformation include: Formulating sound economic policies, maximizing revenue mobilization, ensuring efficient allocation and accountability for public resources to achieve the most rapid and sustainable economic growth and development, Investing in the people of Uganda (Human Capital Development), Peace and Securityaong others.
