The Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday interrogated Gulu City Council technical staff over their failure to utilize Shs585 million earmarked for service delivery in the city.
According to PAC’s findings, in the Financial Year 2024/2025, Parliament appropriated Shs52 billion to Gulu City Council for expenditure during the running financial year.
However, the committee expressed disappointment that Shs585 million remained unutilized, denying the local population access to essential services.
Of the unspent funds:
- Shs 389 million was allocated for development plan implementation,
- Shs 45.1 million for community mobilization and mindset change,
- and Shs 13 million for human capital development.
Gilbert Olanya, PAC Chairperson and Kilak South MP (Amuru District), criticized the city leadership for failing to absorb the funds despite having clear operational guidelines.
“This is a sign of incompetence. Gulu City has leaders who are not committed to serving their people. If this doesn’t change, the city may not receive more funding from the government,” Olanya warned.
Gulu City’s Deputy Town Clerk, Regina Akello, acknowledged the lapse, attributing it partly to delays in fund disbursement from the central government.
“We’ve had challenges with utilization, but also the Centre delayed to release the funds,” she said.
The city’s accounting officers were also put on the spot over the alleged misuse of Shs1.6 billion under the Parish Development Model (PDM).
The Auditor General’s report cited the existence of at least seven ghost groups, with funds reportedly disbursed to non-existent beneficiaries.
Upper Nile MP (Adjumani), Isaac Tuka, demanded accountability:
“We have it on record—over seven groups don’t exist. Some money was disbursed for non-existent projects. How does the city fail to explain this?”
Committee member Okin Ojara (PP) questioned the competence of the city’s accounting officers.
“You’re the accounting officers. Unless you’re telling us that you are incompetent, this shouldn’t be happening,” he said.
Christine Ajok, the PDM focal person for Gulu City, admitted to lapses, revealing that some groups that received funds do not operate within the city boundaries.
She, however, defended that during the audit, some funds had not yet been disbursed.
PAC is currently in Gulu to assess financial accountability across the Acholi, Lango, and West Nile regions.
The team is expected to spend two days in the sub-region before heading to Karamoja.