Africa-Press – Uganda. The government has said the harmonised wage bill for the Financial Year 2024/25 is Shs7.513 trillion based on the audit report on wage harmonisation.
The Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, said the harmonised wage bill includes staff who had been recruited but not accessed the payroll.
The salary disparities in different Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been causing persistent shortfalls in wage payment, which compelled the Ministry of Finance to carry out verification of the payroll.
“The ministry requested the Office of the Auditor General to undertake a special audit of the salary and pension payrolls to address the persistent shortfalls in salary, pension, and gratuity. The special audit of the salary payroll was concluded and the findings informed the wage allocation for FY 2024/25,” Mr Ggoobi said.
“During the audit, there were staff who were not fully verified and the Auditor General recommended that the Ministry of Public Service completes the verification process,” he added.
He made the remarks during the release of the budget expenditure for the last quarter of this financial year at the weekend
Mr Ggoobi explained that a preliminary report from the Ministry of Public Service in respect to the verification indicates that some accounting officers have been recruiting staff over and above the approved wage bill for this financial year, causing wage shortfalls.
“I have the list of Votes that have undertaken unauthorised recruitment and I will take appropriate action against the accounting officers and their technical staff who recruited against the freeze put in place,” he said.
Going forward, Mr Ggoobi said, the Ministry of Public Service shall close the window for accessing new staff on the payroll system and any new records added shall require prior approval.
Upon confirmation of the adequacy of the wage bill, district service commissions must ensure that accounting officers support their submissions with evidence of authorisation of recruitment from the Ministry of Public Service.
“Any shortfalls arising from accounting officers recruiting staff without authority by the Ministry of Public Service shall be deducted from the unconditional non-wage grant; otherwise, local revenue will address the resultant funding gap,” he warned.
“Any officer found culpable of any unprofessional conduct in the management of the recruitment process specifically at wage bill analysis and access to payroll stages shall be held personally liable,” he added.
Mr Ggoobi also said the economy remains on track to achieve 6.0 percent growth projected for this financial year.
“The economy registered GDP growth of 5.3 percent and 5.5 percent in the first and second quarter of FY 2023/24, respectively. The key growth drivers were higher production in the industry sector, growth in agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, growth in services as well as an increase in household consumption, investments, and exports,” he said.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Mr Ggoobi said economy is projected to grow at 6.4 percent in FY 2024/25 mainly driven by growth in services, agriculture, and industry output, supported by an increase in aggregate demand and investments, efficient implementation of growth-supportive government programmes and infrastructure, increased oil and gas sector activities, tourism, as well as growth in exports.
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