NAADS: Sh2b sent to personal accounts

 By SOLOMON ARINAITWE & DEAR JEANNE

Posted  Saturday, November 3  2012 at  02:00

KAMPALA

An internal audit report into the operations of the National Agricultural Advisory Services has exposed gross mismanagement, wasteful expenditure and unaccounted for funds at the government agency charged with modernising rural agriculture.

The report comes at a time government is still reeling from grand corruption at the Office of the Prime Minister amid donors freezing aid to the country.

In a scam with the hallmarks of the OPM scandal, the report established “that several officers were advanced money totaling over Shs1.9b to implement project related activities which remained unaccounted for at the time of audit. [However] The Treasury Accounting Instructions under paragraph 215 to 217 requires officers to account for money advanced to them within 60 days from the date of payment”.

By the time the audit report was printed, Ministry of Agriculture had not responded to the audit queries. Our efforts to reach them by press time were unsuccessful. But it also emerged through the audit that the ministry commissioned Avian and Human Influenza Project designed to start four years “effective 1st July 2008 and ending on 30th June 2012 did not happen as the Project commencement delayed by two years and only began operations in June 2010 when the first disbursement of funds by the donor was received”

“The risk of delay to start the project leads to government incurring commitment fees for the period the funds were not used. The delayed implementation may lead to failure to procure some items as the costs keep going up due to inflation,” the report adds.

Under the project, despite designing a work plan which called for identification and support of five high risk districts vulnerable to the poultry and human influenza virus, there was no report showing that this exercise had taken place. However, the report adds that “a review of expenditure indicated that more than Shs25m was advanced for this activity,”

Perhaps, showing the dire consequences that may arise out of the botched project, the report casts a grim picture on the “intended objectives of strengthening national preparedness and response to threat of both the highly pathogenic Avian influenza in poultry and human pandemic influenza in human beings.”

However, though the report notes that a “number of motor vehicles and motorcycles were given to officials to help in the implementation of project activities. To the contrary, it was noted that the District chairmen and CAOs would always use project vehicles for activities unrelated to the project,”

Under the Avian and Human Influenza Project, Quarantine centres and checkpoints to avoid uncontrolled movement of livestock. However, the centres have not been developed except “an old structure in Kasese District that was built by Kasese [Local Government] as a quarantine centre which was not being used since it was abandoned several years back”.
However, despite the low absorption rate, the government continued injecting money in the project.

By July 2012, disbursement received was only $3m out of the planned $10m. “With the impending closure of the project, there is a risk that all the money will not be released but the government continues to incur commitment fees,” the report notes.

Employers of the project were remitting PAYE and Withholding Tax were being deducted by the project, with no evidence that the taxes were received by URA. In another damning expose, the report reveals that government vehicles were driven by [private] garage owners.

“On several occasions this vehicle has been seen packed at night at places that do not portray a good image for the ministry. There was no record to show that the Ministry has asked the garage owner to return this vehicle. There is a likelihood that this vehicle could be lost or number plates changed in favour of the garage owner,” the report says.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

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