Overview:
The directive was issued on Thursday by Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure, which questioned why the project, involving a Russian company contracted to supply and install digital number plates for vehicle identification and tracking, had not been audited.
KAMPALA. The Auditor General, Mr Edward Akol, has been given until Tuesday next week to submit preliminary findings of an audit into the Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS), amid growing scrutiny of the project’s operations, ownership and financing.
The directive was issued on Thursday by Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure, which questioned why the project, involving a Russian company contracted to supply and install digital number plates for vehicle identification and tracking, had not been audited.
The committee, chaired by Mr Mwine Mpaka (NRM, Mbarara South Division), directed Mr Akol to begin the exercise immediately and submit a written brief, even if a comprehensive audit could not be completed within the deadline.
“We did not have adequate information to do this audit,” Mr Akol told the committee, explaining that his office received the project agreement only on Tuesday, October 13.
He also acknowledged that earlier engagements with the Office of the President over the project had not been documented.
Mr Akol cited staffing constraints, saying the Office of the Auditor General has about 600 employees, of whom only 450 directly engage with auditees in the field.
He further told MPs that the latest communication from the Office of the President indicated that the project was still in its pilot phase, with no government funds appropriated or disbursed for implementation. Instead, the investor was reportedly financing the project.
However, MPs questioned why the pilot phase should shield the system from scrutiny, arguing that its design, installation, operations and financial arrangements could be examined before a full rollout.
Mr Mpaka directed the audit team to start work immediately and document any obstacles encountered, including denial of access to information.
“If you are denied access, you put it in writing that our office has been denied A, B, C, D, and we capture it the way it is,” he said.
The committee undertook to provide the Auditor General with the project’s needs assessment and the agreement signed between the government and the company to facilitate the audit.
Dr Samuel Opio (NRM, Kole North) said the exercise could establish whether the system met the government’s requirements by examining its user needs, design specifications, installation and actual operations.
However, Assistant Auditor General James Bantu cautioned that the deadline was too short for a comprehensive audit, citing the project’s technical complexity and the need to obtain information from accounting officers and give them an opportunity to respond.
The latest directive follows the committee’s decision on Wednesday to direct officials from the Auditor General’s office to record statements with Parliament Police’s Criminal Investigations Department over the failure to audit the project.
The audit is expected to help MPs establish how the system was designed and implemented, the arrangements governing its ownership and financing, and whether it meets the government’s requirements before wider implementation.