The Auditor General has raised a red flag over hundreds of millions of shillings that Makerere University Business School (MUBS) spent on photocopying services.
According to the latest Auditor General report, the institution suspiciously spent Shs 143.8 million on photocopying documents but did not table evidence to justify the expenditure.
“In a bid to confirm the genuineness of the expenditure, I requested for evidence of work done but all in vain,” the Auditor General noted in the report.
If MUBS spent Shs 500 to photocopy a single page of whatever document, it means that it photocopied 286,000 pages during the year under review. This certainly appears to be on the high side.
The AG also shockingly discovered that MUBS had advanced Shs 200 million to its staff through their personal bank accounts to undertake various procurements and civil works other than paying the funds directly to suppliers.
This raises several questions that border on conflict of interest. Where some of the staff also suppliers for various services?
The AG also noted that uncleared invoices at MUBS for the financial year 2021/22 totaled Shs 6.5 billion. The invoices, the AG said, were for expenditures which were not within MUBS’ appropriated budget.
A senior administrator at MUBS who preferred to remain anonymous told Bbeg Media that records of expenditure exist only that it appears some people in the AG’s office have an axe to grind with the institution.
The latest Auditor General report makes for grim reading for those concerned about the way taxpayers money is spent.
Besides MUBS, the AG discovered that a number of public institutions indulged in expenditures that they could not justify.
