Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
Underfunding, lack of enforcement powers, and a persistent culture of non-cooperation from regulatory authorities have been identified as the major hindrances preventing constitutional commissions from discharging their mandate effectively.
According to a parliamentary report tabled in the National Assembly, constitutional and independent commissions are literally crippled, leaving their reports—with good recommendations—gathering dust in government offices.
The report by the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC), covering the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), the Office of the Controller of Budget, and the Auditor General, with a view to understanding operations and constitutional mandate, revealed that many of their recommendations have been rendered ineffective.
“The persistent culture of non-cooperation from regulated entities actively undermines oversight functions of the constitutional commissions and independent offices,” reads the report.
For the Controller of Budget’s office, the report identified legislative limitations, lack of legal mechanisms to compel compliance, and the absence of sanctions as the major bottlenecks that hinder the office from seeing the fruition of most of its recommendations.
For instance, the report says that due to legal loopholes, the Controller of Budget has no oversight role in the Housing Levy Fund, from which the government collects approximately Sh63 billion annually.
The report says the Housing Levy falls outside the Controller of Budget’s oversight mandate due to its classification as a levy rather than a budgeted fund.
“This legal loophole prevents any independent oversight of the estimated Sh63 billion collected annually under this programme,” reads the report.
On the operations of multiple bank accounts operated by 31 county governments, contrary to Public Finance Management Regulations as reported by the office, the report says the Controller of Budget has no legal mechanism to compel compliance or sanction violations. Hence, the illegality continues in the devolved units.
On the pending bills crisis, which is currently estimated at Sh538 billion, the committee noted that the Controller of Budget has a limited mandate in the payment process.
“While the Controller of Budget verifies and classifies pending bills as lawful obligations, the actual payment process excludes the office once the funds are released to spending entities,” reads the report.
The report also noted that the Controller of Budget Act, Cap 429, bars the Office of the Controller of Budget from reporting on economic development and fiscal forecasts—an important aspect that the office should be fully engaged in.
The committee now wants the National Assembly to amend the Controller of Budget Act to grant enforcement powers to the office to implement its recommendations, remove the restrictions on economic reporting, and provide sanctions for violations.
For the Office of the Auditor General, the National Assembly has largely been indicted as the major impediment in fast-tracking legislative proposals that could enhance the effectiveness of the office.
The lawmakers also stand accused of not prioritising debate, especially on performance audits.
Of the 50 such reports that have been submitted to the August House, only two—the 2023 Flood Response and the 2021 Services for Persons with Disabilities—have been debated.
The report identifies financial autonomy and operational independence as the major problems hindering the office from effectively discharging its constitutional mandate.
On financial autonomy, the report notes that currently, the Office of the Auditor General receives a paltry 0.2 percent of the national budget to undertake its activities, which is not sufficient considering the office’s workload.
According to the report, there has been a tremendous increase in the audit scope of the office in the last eight years—from 1,192 entities in the 2016/17 financial year to over 12,700 entities in the 2023/24 financial year—but the budget has not seen any significant increase.
“The Office of the Auditor General ranks below its peers in Uganda and South Africa in financial autonomy. It receives 0.20 percent of the national budget, hindering mandate delivery,” reads the report.
The committee wants the budget of the Office of the Auditor General fixed at 0.5 percent of the national revenue, calculated from the most recent audited accounts.
On achieving operational independence, the National Assembly has again been faulted for not fast-tracking the passage of the Public Audit (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which, if enacted into law, would empower the office to manage its own finances independently, free from bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“Legislative interventions, particularly the expeditious passage of the Public Audit (Amendment) Bill, 2024, are critical to guaranteeing funding to the Office of the Auditor General and establishing an Office of the Auditor General Fund to ensure operational flexibility,” reads the report.
For the Commission on Revenue Allocation, the committee noted that budgetary constraints and the lack of enforcement power to ensure compliance are the major problems it is facing in effectively discharging its constitutional mandate.
The committee wants the National Assembly to amend the Commission on Revenue Allocation Act to strengthen enforcement mechanisms and ensure county governments comply with fiscal responsibility requirements, including penalties for non-submission of mandatory reports.
The committee also wants the National Treasury to increase the budgetary allocation to the commission in this new financial year in order to expand capacity-building programmes and enhance data collection systems.
The commission, which is established under Article 215 of the Constitution, is tasked with ensuring the equitable distribution of revenue.
Its core mandate, according to the Constitution, is to recommend the basis for revenue sharing between the national government and the county governments among the 47 counties.
