The Select Committee tasked with investigating the operations of the National Council of Sports (NCS) in Uganda has recommended a forensic audit on the sports body.
The committee, led by Chairperson Hon. Laura Kanushu, presented its report on Tuesday, April 4th, and called on the Auditor General to carry out a detailed investigation into the inconsistencies in the funds released to the sports federations during the first and second quarters of the Financial Year 2022/2023.
According to the committee’s findings, NCS did not remit approved funds to the sports federations as required under Section 45(4) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015. Many of the federations received less money than what had been approved, while others did not receive any funding at all. This has affected the implementation of their planned outputs, particularly for the Uganda Rugby Union that was set to receive Shs458 million but only received Shs224 million.
The committee also cautioned the accounting officer of NCS against overstepping his legal mandate by reallocating funds meant for sports federations. It further observed inconsistencies in Non-Tax Revenue (NTR) projections and collections by NCS and called upon the Auditor General to conduct a special audit to verify the exact figures.
Other red flags raised by the committee include the non-submission of audited accounts by the sports federations to the Council. Out of the 51 registered federations, only 27 submitted audited books of accounts by the end of 2021/2022.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa deferred debate on the committee report to Wednesday, April 5th.
