Speaker Kadaga wants Police SACCO audited

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has promised to direct the Auditor General to carry out a forensic audit into the mismanagement of the Police Exodus Sacco.

Kadaga together with MPs; Elijah Okupa (FDC, Kasilo), James Waluswaka (NRM, Bunyole West) and Gafa Mbwatekamwa (NRM, Kasambya County) today met the Police Joint Chief of Staff, Brig Jack Bakasumba, Asst. Commissioner of Police, Abubaker Ziwedde and other members of the new management of the Exodus Sacco.

The Speaker met the team to get an update on reports of alleged mismanagement of funds of the Sacco.

In December of 2019, MPs alleged that the Sacco’s books of accounts had disappeared and that several police officers were denied access to their funds raising fears among savers. It was also reported that since the inception of the Sacco, savers have never got dividends despite revenues increasing every year.

The Speaker said that about Shs5 billion appropriated by Parliament to clear the outstanding government debt in the Police’s Exodus Sacco had not been properly utilised. She added that out of this, Shs1.9 billion was still outstanding to suppliers who had been asked to pay withholding tax.

“These suppliers who are still demanding money from you for close to five years are complaining about charging them six per cent off their earnings in withholding tax which was never part of the agreement,” Kadaga said.

Bakasumba said that the money was used to pay some of the suppliers of hot meals to the Uganda Police during the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2016. He added that the Shs5 billion was part of Shs30 billion supposed to be paid by the Ministry of Finance in January 2020 to the Sacco to pay the remaining suppliers.

“We are willing to check the record again to find out whoever has not been paid and follow up on all these issues,” he said.

“We concede that these people should have been informed but they need to appreciate the fact that taxes have to be paid. URA has written to us reminding us that withholding tax needs to be deducted from the pay out,” Ziwedde said.

MP Okupa, however, said that it was unfair for the Sacco officials to expect suppliers to accept a tax they were never warned about.

Kadaga advised the SACCO officials to write to URA explaining the circumstances under which the suppliers were contracted and ask for waiver of the tax.

She also asked whether there was an ongoing audit of the mismanagement of funds.

Ziwedde said that the forensic investigation had not been launched because the Police was still investigating the matter.