PAC grills Masindi municipal officials over auditor general queries
He attributed the anomaly to a possible error at the central level, noting that the issue has not recurred in the ongoing 2025/2026 financial year, which is nearing completion.
Masindi: Officials from Masindi Municipal Council, including the Acting Deputy Town Clerk Patrick Asiimwe, Principal Finance Officer Annet Nanzala and Principal Internal Auditor Joy Kabahinya have appeared before the Masindi District Local Government Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to queries raised by the Auditor General for the financial year ending December 30, 2025.
The officials appeared before the committee during a meeting held at the Masindi District Council chambers on Thursday April 2, 2026.
However, the session was partly affected by the absence of several key departmental heads. Notably, the Principal Education Officer, Municipal Engineer, Principal Health Officer, and Principal Community Development Officer did not attend the meeting.
The fully constituted PAC, chaired by John Babiha and comprising members Michael Anima, Christine Birungi, Livingstone and Evas Bigirwa, grilled the municipal officials on a number of issues. These included financial concerns such as the undervaluation of government properties especially land, underutilization of pension and gratuity funds, as well as understaffing in various departments.
The Clerk to PAC, Fred Kisembo, presented the audit queries one by one, prompting responses from the municipal officials on actions taken.
PAC Chairperson John Babiha emphasized that the audit process is intended to strengthen accountability through checks and balances in the day-to-day operations of the council, ultimately improving service delivery and ensuring value for money.
Responding to concerns about undervaluation of government properties, Principal Finance Officer Annet Nanzala said the municipality had written to the Ministry requesting for a government valuer, as recommended by the Auditor General, but had not yet received any response.
It also emerged that during the 2023/2024 financial year, the municipal council received UGX 100 million, and in the 2024/2025 financial year received an additional UGX 400 million for pension and gratuity payments despite having no beneficiaries at the time. The funds were later returned to the central government.
However, Acting Deputy Town Clerk Patrick Asiimwe attributed the anomaly to a possible error at the central level, noting that the issue has not recurred in the ongoing 2025/2026 financial year, which is nearing completion.
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