Uganda Justice Ministry, Prosecutors Queried Over Shs41.6bn Spending Outside Approved Plans

October 23, 2026 | By Semahegn Nigatu

Uganda’s Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) spent 41.6 billion Ugandan shillings on activities outside their approved work plans without documented authorisation from the finance minister, a parliamentary committee has found.

The Public Accounts Committee (Central Government) said the expenditure contravened the Public Finance Management Act, raising questions about budgetary controls at the two institutions responsible for legal affairs and criminal prosecutions.

The findings are contained in the committee’s report on the Auditor General’s audit for the year ended December 2025, presented to parliament on Wednesday.

“The two entities applied a combined Shs41.6 billion to items that Parliament had not appropriated, without evidence of the Minister’s authorisation,” said Patrick Nsamba, the committee’s chair and member of parliament for Kassanda North.

The Ministry of Justice accounted for 40.7 billion shillings of the expenditure, while the ODPP spent 900 million shillings on constructing resident state attorney offices in Katakwi and Yumbe outside its approved work plan. The committee said savings in one budget line did not authorise spending on activities that had not been approved.

A substantial portion of the ministry’s expenditure related to court awards and compensation, the report said.

The committee also raised concerns about staffing shortages at the ODPP, which had filled 600 of its 1,704 approved positions. The report said 399 prosecutors serving 149 field stations faced heavy workloads.

Of 40,501 new cases received, only 23,184 had been committed for trial in the High Court, according to the committee’s findings.

Procurement procedures also came under scrutiny. The committee questioned works worth 457.68 million shillings for the Yumbe office that were procured outside the electronic government procurement system.

The report further criticised the performance of the Prosecution Case Management Information System (PROCAMIS), despite expenditure of 42 billion shillings on the system since 2017.

The ODPP paid 2.95 billion shillings to Graphics Systems for maintenance and support in the 2024/25 financial year, but the committee said two key contractual deliverables — integration with other criminal justice institutions and an off-site disaster recovery facility — had not been provided.

“The liability clause was not invoked against the provider,” Nsamba said.

The committee recommended enforcing the contract’s liability provisions, recovering funds where warranted, establishing disaster recovery arrangements and conducting an audit of the system.

It also found that infrastructure in Arua and Lira had remained idle since November 2022.

Separately, the Ministry of Justice reported contingent liabilities of 3.492 trillion shillings, largely arising from lawsuits against government entities. The committee recommended a litigation management strategy to improve the tracking and handling of claims.

The report called for stronger financial controls, improved staffing, functional digital systems and tighter oversight of public spending.

Source: FSX Business News