Staff Reporter
At least two employees of the Ntungamo Municipal Council have been interdicted after allegedly bypassing the financial system and stealing millions of shillings from different departments meant to finance various activities, including salaries and pensions.
The workers in the finance department entered the system using fake identities, accessing passes that should primarily be for the accounting officer, heads of departments, and the Ministry of Finance, allowing them to pay themselves any amount of money at any time.
The Ntungamo Municipal Town Clerk, Mr. Isaiah Tumwesigye, said they were surprised to find that there was a pass the workers used to enter the technology/system, which is also used by all ministries and government departments.
An audit in June found 32 million shillings had been taken from the budget in that month, and they are conducting a full audit of the entire financial year to discover what amount may have been lost due to the system glitch. Over Uganda shillings 200 million is expected to have been lost in the financial year 2023/2024.
Most of the stolen money was from local revenue aimed at making local payments for social work and social services. The other funds were conditional grants for salaries, gratuities, and pensions for civil servants.
The Ntungamo Municipality Mayor, Mr. Jacob Kafureka, said the theft is high-end and needs to be investigated deeply so that all the people involved are held accountable.
