Government Payroll Chaos: 53 Billion Shillings Paid to Non-Existent, Deceased, and Retired Workers

Uganda is reportedly losing an annual sum of 53 billion Shillings in salaries due to payments made to workers who are either non-existent, deceased, retired, or absent from duty.

The revelation comes from a special audit of the government salary payroll conducted by the Office of the Auditor General. The findings of this audit were presented to Speaker of Parliament Anita Among on Tuesday, alongside the general audit report for the financial year ending June 30, 2023.

Auditor General John Muwanga explained that his office conducted the special audit of the salary payroll and validation of government employees in February 2023, covering a total of 367 entities. These entities comprised 162 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), 176 Local Governments, and 29 other government organizations.

According to the report, out of the 367 entities, only 265 MDAs and Local Governments processed their payrolls through the Ministry of Public Service, while 102 MDAs utilized other payroll systems distinct from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPS) employed by the Ministry.

Edward Akol, the Assistant Auditor General in charge of Audit, revealed that during the validation exercise, 358,753 employees provided all the necessary documents and were fully verified by the respective

Accounting Officers. Additionally, 25,439 employees were partially verified due to the absence of some required documents but were recommended to remain on the payroll until the responsible appointing authority completed the verification process.

Akol also highlighted that 7,744 individuals, not listed in the base payroll of February 2023, presented all the necessary documents during the validation exercise and were suggested to be included on the validated payroll.

The audit identified 2,067 employees who were paid 22.4 billion Shillings annually but did not meet the validation requirements. As a result, these individuals were recommended to be excluded from the validated payrolls.

Furthermore, the report indicated that 6,307 employees received irregular payments totaling 23.6 billion Shillings, as they were confirmed to be either deceased, absent, or retired during the validation period.

Akol added that 1,818 individuals who were paid 56 million Shillings in February alone were nonexistent.