Accounting Officers from across government have been urged to champion the fight against corruption, uphold transparency, and ensure the efficient execution of the budget for the 2025/2026 financial year. The call was made during a meeting at the Speke Resort, Munyonyo, organised by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
The meeting brought together Accounting Officers from central government, local governments, missions abroad, regional referral hospitals, and public universities. It was chaired by the Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet, Lucy Nakyobe, who stressed the importance of discipline, integrity, and being results oriented.
"You should guard against committing Government without adequate resources," Nakyobe stated, emphasizing the need for financial prudence.
"Accounting Officers should ensure zero tolerance to creation of domestic arrears. Do not commit beyond cash limits."
Nakyobe also called on the officers to ensure services are delivered equitably and in a timely manner. She urged them to fast-track project implementation, streamline procurement processes, and develop and publish service delivery standards for their respective entities.
During the meeting, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi highlighted the budget process as a major source of corruption, pointing to "budget games" played by some government entities. He revealed that Human Resource Officers, Procurement Officers, and Accountants were under scrutiny.
Ggoobi identified specific "budget games," including the "Padding Play" where Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) inflate their budget requests, asking for more funds than they actually need. Another tactic, the "crisis card," involves MDAs claiming that catastrophic public outcomes will occur if their full budget request is not met.
In response, Ggoobi announced that the Ministry’s Budget Analysts have been tasked with a deeper analysis of budget proposals to stamp out these corrupt practices.
While the government laid out its expectations, some Accounting Officers, particularly from local governments, voiced their own concerns. They called for improved coordination with central government ministries in service delivery and requested additional funds to recruit more staff.