Members of Parliament sitting on the Budget Committee Chaired by Amos Lugolobi on Wednesday interfaced Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) Executive Director Allen Kagina over unspent funds to a tune of Shs 212 Bn.
Kagina was meeting the members with a proposal to reallocate the money to projects which had insufficient funding.
Mrs Kagina informed the committee that the authority was unable to absorb the funds yet the financial year is coming to an end.
“We have the funds but we can’t reallocate them to other projects without approval from Parliament; that’s why we are appearing before the committee today,” Kagina said.
Asked why the authority failed to absorb the funds as budgeted for in the ending financial year, Kagina said this was due to land conflicts and un-finalized contracts.
UNRA officials fear that once the financial year ends without the funds being absorbed, it will be taken back to the Consolidated Fund.
“We are seeking to spend the money on other roads and contracts where we are already incurring debts with the contractors. Failure to pay the companies, we will incur a public debt,” Kagina explained.
Some of the funds that the authority failed to absorb include; Sh17.9bn for construction of 66 selected bridges, Sh25bn works for construction of BADEA bridges, Sh 51bn for land compensation of Kampala-Jinja Express way, and Sh15.3bn for land compensation of Kampala fly overs.
Some legislators however, led by Hon. Muwanga Kivumbi were unhappy with the proposal.
“The Committee must ascertain whether the insufficient allocations were not foreseeable at the time of budgeting and non-avoidable,” Kivumbi said.
The Committee members resolved to seek legal guidance from the Committee of Legal Affairs on how to proceed.