References: Article 163 (1) of the Constitution of Uganda. There shall be an Auditor General appointed by the President with approval of Parliament with powers to in 3 (a and b), audit and report on public accounts; (b) conduct financial and value for money audits in respect of any project involving public funds.

References: Article 163 (6) of the Constitution of Uganda. In performing his or her duties the Auditor General shall not be under the direction or control of any person or authority.( 4) The Auditor General shall in each year submit to Parliament a report of the accounts he or she has audited.

References: The International Budget Partnership. The Open Budget Index for Uganda, 2008. www.openbudgetindex.org

Peer Review Comments: The President's influence on the audit agency cannot be overlooked.

Peer Review Comments: The auditor general serves a defined term and can only be removed through a formal process. There is no precedence for removing the auditor general at will.

Despite this staffing, it is still low in comparison to the large number of public sector organizations and programs within its audit mandate. Furthermore, the office also faces a challenge of improving skills and knowledge among personnel of the Office of the Auditor General. This problem is, however, not limited to only the Auditor General but is a problem across public service departments in Uganda.

References: Office of the Auditor General www.oag.go.ug (Frequently Asked Questions).

References: International Budget Partnership. Open Budget Index for Uganda, 2008. www.openbudgetindex.org

Peer Review Comments: The presidential influence on the audit agency is visible.

References: www.oag.go.ug (Frequently Asked Questions)

These, however, are sometimes not timely due to capacity issues and audit backlogs. It is important to note, however, that beyound making accessible this information, no information is provided on whether the audit report's recommendations are successfully implemented.

References: www.oag.go.ug International Budget Partnership. Open Budget Index for Uganda, 2008. www.openbudgetindex.org

Reports are debated by Parliament (mainly the Public Accounts Committee), the challenge however is that apart from exposing the corrupt, nothing much is done to implement the findings and recommendations. For example, in April 2008, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kuteesa was implicated in a case of irregularly securing a 1.2 billion shillings deal for Hunton and William, a PR firm in the United Kingdom from March 2005 to April 2006 to promote the image of Uganda and no action has been taken on the implicated Minister. This is normally the case where members of the executive are implicated. I however acknowledge that sometimes the audit reports have been used to ensure people refund funds such as in 2005 when Dr. James Nsaba Buturo (then Minister for Information and now Minister of Ethics and Integrity) was forced to refund about 20 million shillings that he had diverted from government owned Mega FM. These are however few instances to quote!

References: International Budget Partnership. Open Budget Index for Uganda, 2008. www.openbudgetindex.org

Peer Review Comments: The audit reports are debated by a Parliamentary select committee, which again submits a report to the prenary. Some government officials have been ordered to refund misused funds

References: Media Reports (New Vision, Daily Monitor, June 2008 to August 2009).

References: Article 41 of the Constitution of Uganda and Access to Information Act, 2005; Every citizen has a right of access to information in the possession of the state or any other organ of the state, except where the release of the information is likely to interfere with the security of the state or the right to the privacy of any other person.

One can also and request report by email at auditgen@infocom.co.ug or visit the office at the Treasury Building, Plot 2/4, Treasury Building, Apollo Kagwa Road, Kampala.

For visits, reports can be accessed within two weeks with delays if they are experiences of administrative nature.

References: www.oag.go.ug

Peer Review Comments: Audit reports may take more than two weeks to obtain.

However internet access in Uganda is still low, which implies that people must visit the office of the auditor general. In doing this this, they have to meet costs of photocopying, which are sometimes prohibitive if it is to be paid for by an individual, as most organizations can afford this. This is because the reports tend to bulky. For example the reports to Parliament are in the range of 400 pages or more.

References: www.oag.go.ug Interview with Executive Director, Transparency International Uganda.