Auditor General: "Where did Shs 200 bn that was withdrawn from Petroleum Fund, go?"
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The Auditor General, John Muwanga, has questioned the manner in which government withdrew Shs 200 billion from the Uganda Petroleum Fund and could not tell for certain how the money was utilised.
In his report for the year ending June 30, 2019, Muwanga notes that at the beginning of the 2018/2019, the fund had an opening balance of Shs 457 billion. During the same year, the AG noted, the fund received revenues of Shs 56 billion.
Yet later in the year, Shs 200 billion was withdrawn ostensibly for budget support but there are no records showing how the money was utilised. Government, according to the Auditor General, had said that the money was to be used for infrastructure and development projects.
These projects, the report notes, were not specified.
"A sum of UGX.200 billion was transferred from the Petroleum Fund to the Consolidated Fund as part of domestic financing for the financial year budget 2018/19. However, there was no explicit disclosure of the infrastructure and development projects that would be funded from the petroleum revenues and I therefore could not confirm whether the amount was used to finance infrastructure development of Government," the report notes.
The report said management explained that internal discussions on formulating procedures and specific guidance for operations under the UPF are still ongoing, that will enable detailing the information needed.
"I advised Government to expedite the process of formulating sufficient procedures to ensure clarity in the appropriation of funds from the UPF to the Uganda Consolidated Fund and the Petroleum Revenue Investment Reserve," Muwanga notes in the report.
Early this month, the minister of State for Planning David Bahati shocked MPs when he said the petroleum fund had been exhausted of its funds.
“There is no money in the petroleum fund," he said.
“We appropriated it last financial year..what was there, so we cannot get what is not there. Next we have got to expand our revenue base.”
The Petroleum Fund is established by Section 56 of the Public Finance and Management Act, 2015 (as amended).
The Fund serves as a depository for all revenues accruing to Government from petroleum operations and other related activities.
