Domestic expenditure arrears and the commitment Control system in Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to examine the effectiveness of the commitment control system and domestic arrears in Uganda. The objectives which guided the study were to establish the level of domestic arrears, to establish the level of commitment control system and to determine the relationship between domestic arrears and the commitment control system. The study adopted a cross – sectional research design using secondary data. Units of analysis were Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Government of the Republic of Uganda (GOU).

The sample for the study included all MDAs that had accumulated domestic arrears that were 10 percent and below expressed as a percentage of the entity’s approved budget. Financial Year 2016/17 was set as a base year and all 45 qualifying MDAs were investigated between Financial Year 2013/14 to 2016/17. The commitment control system was measured by the number of financial and budgetary queries raised by the Auditor General on financial statements of each MDA. For each MDA, data was collected using a data collection checklist by analysing the number of audit queries raised and the corresponding amount of accumulated domestic arrears expressed as a percentage of its approved budget for the period covered by the study.

The findings of the study indicate that, there was no relationship between the commitment control system and domestic arrears for the period covered by the study.

Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that GOU should enhance budget credibility through realistic formulation of the medium term budget expenditure framework, strengthen the commitment control system and develop a comprehensive domestic arrears clearance strategy.