Several political parties failed to account for Shs 842.1 million advanced to them by the Uganda Electoral Commission, according to the auditor general’s report on the financial statements of the Electoral Commission for the year ended June 2023.

The report indicates that at least six political parties did not maintain adequate financial records, as stipulated by the accountant general’s guidelines. Among the parties mentioned, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) failed to remit Pay As You Earn (PAYE) taxes amounting to Shs 2.5 billion to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and Shs 173.4 million to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

Under Section 14A of the Political Parties and Organizations Act, 2005, the government is mandated to contribute funds or other public resources towards the activities of political parties represented in parliament to support their day-to-day operations.

The accountant general has provided guidelines stating that public resources allocated to political parties should be released based on an agreed work plan, and all expenditures must be accounted for. Political parties are expected to maintain financial records, including cash books, asset registers, store registers, and procurement records.

They must also prepare periodic financial reports, such as statements of receipts and expenditures, reflecting opening and closing balances, statements comparing budgets with actual expenditures, and statements of any unexpended balances.

During the year under review, a total of Shs 44.9 billion was disbursed to seven political parties in Uganda. The National Resistance Movement (NRM) received the largest share, amounting to Shs 34.1 billion, followed by the National Unity Platform (NUP) with Shs 5.7 billion.

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) received Shs 3.1 billion, the Democratic Party (DP) and Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) each received Shs 908 million, Justice Forum (JEEMA) was allocated Shs 100.9 million, and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) received Shs 100.8 million.

The auditor general’s report reviewed the utilization of these funds and identified significant issues. One key observation was the failure of some political parties to prepare annual work plans. Specifically, Jeema, DP, and FDC did not have annual work plans corresponding to the financial year 2022/2023 against which their funding was allocated.

“I was not able to confirm whether the funds advanced were put to the right use and the activities that were implemented. The accounting officer explained that the work plans were part of the strategic plan submitted to the commission by these parties. I took note of the accounting officer’s response; however, this was funding provided for the financial year 2022/2023, and these parties ought to have prepared a specific annual work plan for this financial year against which funds should have been released,” remarked Auditor General John Muwanga.