Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara has raised concerns over alleged ghost workers, questionable school furniture costs and stalled public projects in Ntungamo, calling for greater accountability in public spending.
Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara has raised concerns over alleged financial mismanagement and payroll irregularities costing Ntungamo District Local Government an estimated Shs5.9 billion, calling for further scrutiny of officials implicated in accountability concerns.
Barugahara raised the concerns during an accountability engagement at Ntungamo District headquarters, where he met district and municipal leaders, technical staff and other stakeholders as part of the government’s campaign against corruption and misuse of public resources.
One of the major issues was a payroll analysis by an external auditor that reportedly identified irregularities costing the district Shs5.9 billion, including suspected payments to ghost workers.
“Ntungamo had a lot of irregularities. In the payroll analysis made by the external auditor, the irregularities cost Ntungamo Shs5.9 billion,” Barugahara said.
The district’s Principal Human Resource Officer, Jennifer Muhirwe, said a payroll clean-up had identified 38 uncertified ghost staff, among other irregularities, as well as 69 purported ghost health centres.
“I was instructed to clean the payroll and we started cleaning the payroll and we deleted all who were in the health department. Physically they were not existing,” Muhirwe said.
However, questions were also raised about Muhirwe’s alleged involvement in advancing a loan to a person who was already deceased.
The minister also questioned the procurement of three-seater desks distributed to 34 government schools at a reported cost of Shs182 million, with each desk reportedly costing Shs298,000.
Barugahara further raised concerns about the recruitment of allegedly unqualified personnel and nepotism in public service, insisting that appointments should be based on merit and professional qualifications.
“If they are qualified, and have competed with others, got the jobs rightly, I wouldn't have a problem. But in case they are not, the person who put them there is to answer,” he said.
After the accountability meeting, Barugahara conducted site inspections to assess public projects and expenditure in the district.
At Nyamurindira Primary School, he questioned reported expenditure of more than Shs130 million on a building roofed with iron sheets supplied through the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
Following the inspection, he directed district authorities to allocate Shs36 million from the road fund towards improving sanitation facilities and another Shs60 million for classroom construction.
The minister later visited a solar-powered production well in Nyarwanya Parish, where Shs45 million had reportedly been invested, but residents said they were still unable to access water.
The concerns raised during the engagement are expected to place further scrutiny on the district’s payroll management, procurement practices, recruitment procedures and delivery of publicly funded projects.