By Our Reporters
Aloysius Byaruhanga, the procurement audit head at PPDA, has commended Col Edith Nakalema for the resilience with which she has tackled the corrupt in district Local Governments (LGs) upcountry. Addressing LG officials (mainly the Internal Auditors and heads of District Public Accounts Committees) at Hotel Africana where he represented his boss Benson Turamye, Byaruhanga hoped that Nakalema’s impromptu visits and tough approach will get the LG leaders to eventually begin to practice and comply with things PPDA and Auditor General have been reminding them through annual reports. Like AG, PPDA issues regular reports aimed at ensuring entities spend public funds in a manner that ensures value for money for the tax payers. Stressing why ensuring value for money is very important, Byaruhanga said districts are of great concern to PPDA because that’s where majority of population live making them very essential in service delivery. “We have been telling you these things and time has come for us to keep quiet and leave you to Afande Nakalema and by the way she is going to chew you like samosa and don’t say PPDA betrayed you the day she comes for you. She is always contacting PPDA asking for reports on districts. Make sure you do proper market assessment and proper procurement. That way she will return to Kampala empty-handed otherwise she is going to have you for dinner. Only compliance and being diligent will save you from that lady,” Byaruhanga said before enumerating areas of noncompliance and improper practices on which Nakalema will catch many district LG bosses.
THE BAD AREAS
He said in many districts, Internal Auditors are sidelined from procurement processes which gives room to abusive use of discretion. “You should insist on monitoring because your powers are statutory. Let nobody intimidate you. If you have a difficult CAO, write a report and involve the LC5 Chairman and call the CAO to order like Lwengo has been doing,” he said. He added that in some cases, the CAO works with the district engineer to spend colossal sums of money under “emergency procurement” without complying with procurement regulations requiring that the best rates are used to ensure maximum value for money to the public.
VALUE FOR MONEY
He also asked Internal Auditors to insist on needs assessment being undertaken before major procurements are undertaken saying it’s the only way to ensure value for money. He gave the example of many community/CAIP roads that were done but have never been used as proof of absence of prior needs assessment. “If you put something in place as a district and its not used at all, just know there was no value for money. Also ensure proper specifications, costing and designs of the projects. This is why the Internal Auditor should do adequate monitoring on the district engineer because that’s where much of the money is spent. Engineers are the biggest problem now,” he said referring to Lwengo district whose engineer one time showed the PPDA inspectors what he called great work yet in actual sense, the contractor had delivered something totally different from contract specifications. It was a building construction project and the connivance was so much that the internal auditor had passed the work as satisfactorily done. The PPDA boss said instead of doing their job properly, many entities had resorted to putting the blame on PPDA each time they meet the president. PPDA directives directing cancellation of some contracts isn’t the problem, he said, but it’s rather the absence of good procurement plans that is causing delay in execution of many projects in LGs. Much of the problem causing cancellation occurs at evaluation stage. He says there is need for Internal Auditors to boldly take on the accounting officers not to delay initiation of procurement processes and have proper evaluation criteria. He warned that shoddy work and abandoned sites being rampant in many districts (yet money was spent) is one reason why many LG leaders won’t survive Nakalema. To do their work and ask the relevant questions, he said, Internal Auditors should be widely read but to his shock, many of them haven’t read or familiarized themselves with basic things such as the 2006 Procurement Guidelines. “That is why the procurement people shut you up. You are simply not asking the right questions and when you write something, the CAO shuts you up by saying you are directing me as who? But the truth is the day Nakalema comes you are both not safe,” he said. “You ignore due diligence yet it’s very important. A contractor says he did work in Kisoro, why don’t you ring the CAO and verify? People sit in Nakasero and forge work experience. Internal Auditor should ask all those questions but he can’t because he doesn’t read.”
NAKALEMA COMING
He advised them to have personal initiative and read rather than waiting for PPDA refresher training because that won’t save anyone when Afande Nakalema comes. He said failing to insist on performance guarantees or security is another aspect on which Nakalema will catch many of them flat-footed. “That’s your only security once the contractor abandons work. Forged procurement reports are also rampant and you will soon be exposed. Many of you don’t keep records yet procurement records must be kept for 7 years. Absence of it is a red flag for fraudulent practices.” He wondered why Internal Auditors don’t generate and keep profiles for each contractor. He also addressed force account and said its one area district engineers have connived with CAOs to abuse very often, something over which Nakalema will get many of them. It refers to usage of road equipment government supplied to districts to make or maintain their own roads as opposed to contracting. He said the day of reckoning over that abuse is coming and Nakalema won’t spare the CAO, district Engineer and Internal Auditor for failing to monitor and insist on regular reports. “Engineers have become too powerful and notorious for selling government fuel coming under force account. It’s something over which many of you are culpable,” Byaruhanga said prompting MoLG Inspection Director John Genda Walala to say Internal Auditors shouldn’t be popular. “Once everyone likes you at the district, then you are failing your job as Internal Auditor. You should be the most hated because of your monitoring role. You shouldn’t be generous with your signature,” Walala said. The audience were urged to regularly make use of PPDA regional offices in Gulu, Mbale, Mbarara, Masindi and the Kampala one for Central region. Others who addressed the gathering included Assistant Auditor General Keto Kayemba and MoLG PS Ben Kumumanya.
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