MPs Grill UNRA Boss for Failure to Absorb Over Shs 1Trillion

The Executive Director of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), Allen Kagina has been tasked by legislators sitting on the Parliament Committee of Budget to explain why the Roads Authority failed to utilize over Shs 1 trillion allocated to it in the 2016/2017 financial year.

This was reflected in the Authority’s budget performance report which indicated that UNRA had failed to absorb over 60 percent of the funds that were allocated to them including monies that were borrowed for implementation of different projects.

The Committee Chairperson and Ntejeru North MP, Amos Lugoloobi questioned why Parliament should continue to allocate a lot of money to the Authority yet they cannot spend all of it.

The UNRA boss who had led the delegation to the Committee on Monday afternoon found hard time convincing the lawmakers that the low absorption was attributed to delays in the procurement process of several projects.

Lugoloobi noted that in the last financial year, UNRA failed to spend almost one trillion shillings and in this financial the budget performance report shows that almost the same amount is likely not to be utilized.

MPs said this trend is unacceptable especially when other sectors are faced with inadequate funds.

The MPs said that what UNRA should do is to tell them how much money the Authority is able to spend in a given financial year so that government allocates just that.

Kagina in her response noted that some of the issues affecting their absorption rate are beyond their control, highlighting delays in procurement, land acquisition and whistle blowers whom she says interfere in project implementation.

“If you allow us to present project per project, you will be able to notice the issue of capacity, the funding of counterpart problem, whistle blower or administrative review problems. It is not one problem and we cannot give a single answer for all of them,” Kagina responded.

The legislators later suggested that the Authority adopts the use of a standard model where if only 60 percent of the budget has been absorbed, then the same percentage is appropriated in the next financial year.