Public accountants serving in local governments have been cautioned against poor actions in the procurement process, which officials say leads to corruption and poor service delivery.

Officials from different entities, including the Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (CPAU), issued the cautions during the official launch of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) in the Mid-Western region in Hoima City on Thursday.

Speaking during the launch, Cissy Mulondo, the Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development, in charge of General Duties, cautioned civil servants, especially accountants, to desist from poor financial management, a tendency which, according to her, promotes corruption and therefore affects service delivery.

According to her, there have been challenges in procurement actions, which affect service delivery.

“We have been faced with a couple of issues in the procurement process with accounting officers inflating costs of operations, contracts, among others, since they lack knowledge,” Mulondo said.

“So, having such institutions in the region will help the accounting officers to keenly observe proper procurement processes for economic development of the country,” Mulondo continued.

The minister warned different government entities from taking illegal processes without consulting the PPDA to avoid leading the government into losses.

PPDA will help the local government accounting officers to keep track of financial management in their operations, she said.

Chairperson of the Board of the Certified Public Accountants (CPA), Ishungisa Julius, challenges the public accountants to always serve the interest of the country, especially during the procurement processes.

“Accounting officers, you preside over both the district and the procurement committees. Make sure that you serve the communities with national interests by ensuring proper implementation of government projects within your localities,” Ishungisa urged.

He added: “We do not want to have trusted professionals indulge in corruption tendencies within the government sectors.”

Canon Turamye, Executive Director of PPDA, identified the agency as one of the major components of the Public Service Delivery System, accounting for 65 per cent of the national budget.

“In our operations, we are stressing efficiency, economy, transparency, capability and socially inclusive interventions and making sure that all public procurements serve the public equally,” Turamye said.

Speaking on poor procurement actions, Turamye said different procurement audits have been put in place to address them.

“Within this financial year, we have put in place a standardised unit cost framework for viable produced products to address different questions on the cost of service delivery, especially road and bridge constructions, among others,” Turamye said at the launch.

Turamye said they realised that purchases of government items are highly inflated, noting that the system will help them track civil servants’ performance and improve accountability.

They are looking at 34 local government entities across the region, including referral hospitals, government schools, universities, among others.

He disclosed that PPDA, which was formed in 2003, has been regionalised in five regions, including Northern, Western, Eastern, Central, and Mid-Western, since 2016 with the intent to address issues surrounding government capital investments across the country.

Florence Nanyombi, the Deputy Mayor, Hoima City Council, appreciated the organisation for initiating the office in the region, saying it will help in improving service delivery.

Robert Kanusu, the Deputy Resident City Commissioner (RCC) of Hoima, emphasised the need for the agency to focus on human development, but also called for cohesive efforts to ensure human development.

She acknowledged some of the already existing efforts of the organisation, especially bridging employment gaps in the city.

Minister of Finance Henry Musasizi’s statement delivered by Cissy Mulondo, emphasised that the agency should ensure meeting its intended purposes, emphasising proper use of public resources.