Public Finance Management Act, 2015

The Act comes into force when it is assented to by the President and published in the gazette.

The Act's purpose is to provide for public financial management in Uganda, including principles, budget processes, contingency and cash/assets/liability management, reporting and accounting systems, internal controls, and the legal and regulatory framework for petroleum revenue.

This section provides definitions for terms used in the Act (for example, "Accountant General", "Accounting Officer", "appropriation", "financial year", "Minister", and others).

Establishes the Treasury and lists its members; specifies that the Minister is the head of the Treasury.

Creates the office of Secretary to the Treasury (appointed by the President on recommendation of the Public Service Commission) and lists the Secretary's functions including advising the Minister, coordinating budget preparations, managing funds, appointing accounting officers (with a prohibition in specified cases), issuing cashflow plans, issuing directives to Accounting Officers, and preparing quarterly reports.

Parliament must analyse policies and programmes affecting the economy and annual budget, make recommendations to the Ministry where necessary, and ensure public resources are held and used transparently and in accordance with the Charter for Fiscal Responsibility and the Budget Framework Paper.

The Government must ensure fiscal objectives promote macroeconomic stability and growth when setting them, and the Minister must set measurable fiscal objectives for specified fiscal principles.

The Minister must submit a Charter for Fiscal Responsibility to Parliament within three months after the first sitting following a general election, publish the Charter and related economic update within one month after parliamentary approval, may update the Charter using fiscal responsibility principles, present updates to Parliament, and must publish updates within one week after approval; Parliament must examine and may approve the Charter.

Cabinet must adhere to the Charter for Fiscal Responsibility and other requirements of this Act when deciding on matters that affect public finances or when determining, formulating or implementing Government policies or other functions conferred on it.

The Minister may, with Parliament's approval, deviate from the Charter's fiscal objectives in specified severe events; after doing so the Minister must publish a report in the gazette and on the Ministry website within thirty days.

The Minister must present to Parliament tax and revenue bills as part of achieving the objectives of the Charter for Fiscal Responsibility.

Requires the Minister and Accounting Officers to prepare and submit Budget Framework Papers (with consultation and specified content), mandates Cabinet approval and parliamentary submission/approval deadlines, and requires certification on gender and equity responsiveness.

Specifies preparation, presentation, committee referral, timing (1 April presentation; budget effective 1 July; publish by 1 July), required accompanying certificates and consistency requirements for the annual government budget; requires policy statements by 15 March and that the Minister prescribe policy statement format.

Parliament must, by 31st May each year, consider and approve the annual budget and related Bills; the Speaker may extend consideration periods; the President may authorise temporary issue of money from the Consolidated Fund where the Appropriation Act has not come into operation, for up to four months.

After Parliament approves the annual budget, the Secretary to Treasury must issue the government's annual cashflow plan; that plan is the basis for the Accountant General to release funds to Accounting Officers; Accounting Officers must commit a vote's budget based on that cashflow plan.

Accounting Officers must every three months prepare and submit an expenditure commitment report; the Secretary to the Treasury must consolidate those reports and submit a consolidated report to the Minister within thirty days after the end of the three months.

Appropriations expire at the end of their financial year; unspent vote money must be repaid to the Consolidated Fund; votes that repay must revise plans and the responsible Minister must submit revised plans; local governments that spend under 60% of certain grants must explain by 31 July following year; the Minister must report to Parliament on non-utilisation.

The Minister must report to Parliament twice each financial year (by end of February and October) on fiscal performance and must review fiscal progress at least twice yearly in consultation with all votes.

The Minister must publish a pre-election economic and fiscal update (no earlier than four months before polling day) and a post-election update (no later than four months after polling day); each update must be accompanied by a statement signed by the Secretary to the Treasury declaring specified election-related spending, policy decisions with fiscal implications made before finalisation, and other known circumstances with fiscal implications.

Parliament may, by resolution, authorize the Minister to reallocate funds from one vote to another where the functions of a vote are transferred to that other vote.

Accounting Officers must plan and manage vote activities based on the annual cashflow plan, must report quarterly in the prescribed format to the Secretary to the Treasury, and votes are prohibited from taking credit from local companies unless they have no unpaid domestic arrears and can pay from approved estimates.

The Minister may, upon request by an Accounting Officer, vary within a vote the amount of the money allocated to the vote.

Votes are prohibited from committing the Government to financial obligations beyond one financial year or creating contingent liabilities unless Parliament authorises them; Parliament may authorise multiyear commitments in the annual budget; the Minister must annually report to Parliament on multiyear commitments.

A Parliamentary committee must scrutinise the classified expenditure budget in closed session; an Accounting Officer must establish internal control systems per Accountant General guidance.

If appropriations are insufficient or unprovided for a purpose, the Minister must lay a supplementary estimate before Parliament; Parliament or the Minister may approve supplementary appropriations or budgets when expenditure is unabsorbable, unavoidable and unforeseeable; the Minister may approve up to 10 per cent of the Contingencies Fund on request by an Accounting Officer.

Establishes a Contingencies Fund to be replenished each financial year with an amount equal to three and a half percent of the previous year's appropriated annual Government budget; the Fund is administered by the Minister, withdrawals are authorised by the Minister to the Accountant-General, 85% of the Fund finances supplementary expenditure and 15% finances disaster responses, Parliament may invalidate withdrawals, the Accountant-General must prepare accounts and the Auditor-General must report.

Donations for disaster responses must be declared by the Minister within 30 days and included in the section 18(1) report; money reserved for responses may be used to evacuate a Ugandan citizen affected by a natural disaster outside Uganda where subsection (3) conditions are met.

The Minister must authorise withdrawals from the Contingencies Fund for supplementary expenditure authorised under section 25(3); responsible ministers or heads must request financing in writing and indicate recipient, amount, purpose and justification; and the Minister must table withdrawals before Parliament within four months of authorisation.

Every Bill introduced in Parliament must be accompanied by a certificate of financial implications issued by the Minister, including revenue and expenditure estimates for at least two years and the Bill's economic impact; if requested, a certificate is deemed issued after 60 days.

A person or authority with power to exempt or vary tax must, in each financial year on specified dates, make a report to Parliament and that report shall indicate specified information about exemptions.

Parliament may request the responsible Minister to report if a government institution receiving public money fails to meet the Act's requirements; public officers may be held personally liable for negligence or misconduct in such failures.

Creates multiple criminal offences where a person, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, fails to provide required information, obstructs access, contravenes specified sections, improperly opens accounts, misuses Government funds or records, or knowingly gives false information; on conviction the person faces a fine not exceeding five hundred currency points, or imprisonment not exceeding four years, or both.

If public money or property held or under the control of a public officer is lost or damaged, the Minister may limit the amount recoverable from the public officer to repair or replacement costs after making a just and equitable determination following due inquiry; 'public officer' includes former public officers.

The Minister must make regulations by statutory instrument to carry this Act into effect, including rules on public accounts, expenditure control, government assets and debt, audit committees, abandonment/write-off of public money and stores, classified expenditure, virement, and multi‑year commitments.

The Bank shall not guarantee payments or make advances on behalf of Government without the prior approval of Parliament.

The Minister may, by statutory instrument, amend specified Schedules to this Act; amendments to Schedules 1 and 6 require the approval of Cabinet.

The Public Finance and Accountability Act, 2003 is repealed.

State enterprises or public corporations whose financial year does not match the Act must, within three years after commencement, align their financial year with the Act.

Votes, state enterprises or public corporations must retain certain revenues (levies, licences, fees, fines when authorised, and monetary grants exempted under section 44); they must not collect revenue unless authorised by an Act of Parliament; refundable fines/fees are to be held in trust by the Government at the Bank of Uganda.

All revenues and other money raised or received for the purpose of the Government must be paid into and form part of the Consolidated Fund; certain revenues specified in section 29(2)(b) and (3) are excluded; dividends due to Government must be paid into the Consolidated Fund without deductions; money received on deposit or held on trust by certain officers or the court is not revenue for Government purposes.

The Minister must, on the advice of the Accountant General, request the Auditor-General to issue a grant of credit on the Consolidated Fund.

Money may only be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund when authorised by a warrant issued by the Minister to the Accountant‑General, and the Minister shall not issue such a warrant unless a grant of credit is issued by the Auditor‑General under section 31 and the withdrawal is authorised for the financial year by an Appropriation Act or Supplementary Appropriation Act or falls within specified statutory or corrective payments. The Minister may also suspend, withdraw, limit or condition a warrant for financial exigency or public interest.

Prescribes bank-account controls for votes: the Secretary to Treasury sets the framework; bank accounts for public money need the Accountant General's written authority; local governments may not open accounts without that authority; the Accountant General can authorise, regulate, suspend or close accounts; Accounting Officers must notify closures within thirty days; the Bank of Uganda or financial institutions must disclose account information on request within fourteen days.

Accounting Officers must manage and inspect vote assets, keep registers in the Accountant-General's form, obtain authorisation for certain acquisitions, and must not encumber vote assets without Parliament's permission; the Accountant General must appoint Boards of Surveys and issue asset accounting guidelines.

The Minister must table a report within three months after the end of a financial year and must seek Parliament's approval to abandon or write off public claims or losses; Parliament must approve by resolution specifying amounts. The Minister may, without Parliament's approval, abandon or write off losses not exceeding ten million shillings and may surcharge a public officer for such losses not exceeding ten million shillings.

The Minister has the sole authority (subject to the Constitution) to raise loans and issue guarantees for the Government; other persons and entities may not raise loans or issue guarantees without the Minister's prior approval. The Minister may raise loans by issuing government bills, bonds or stock or by other methods.

The Minister may repay, convert or consolidate loans; and must, where necessary, seek the approval of the lender and Parliament for subsection (1) actions.

Expenses and incidental costs for raising a loan and managing money raised under section 36 are to be charged on the Consolidated Fund, or, if the Minister directs, payable out of the principal money raised.

The Minister may, with Parliament's approval and on behalf of the Government, guarantee loans raised inside or outside Uganda; must determine certain conditions before guaranteeing; must table an annual report to Parliament; and guarantees must not exceed parliamentary appropriation or Charter targets.

If the Minister guarantees a loan under section 39, the entity benefiting from that guarantee must reimburse the Government in the manner the Minister directs.

Any sum due from the Government for repayment of a loan or payment of interest, or for a guarantee, must be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund without further appropriation.

The Minister must manage public debt, submit an annual report to Parliament by 1st April on the preceding financial year, include specified comparisons, and publish that report.

Parliament must appropriate externally financed project expenditure for a financial year; the Minister must request the Auditor‑General to issue grant(s) of credit on the Accountant‑General's advice when funds are authorized; the Accounting Officer must include project costs and appraisal in the vote budget; the Accountant‑General may determine bank account terms for externally financed projects.

The Minister must receive monetary grants to Government, pay them into the Consolidated Fund for their intended purposes, issue directives on grants, table an annual report to Parliament, and may grant written exceptions from subsections (1) and (2) where in the public interest and the grant administrator provides specified information.

Accounting Officers must control vote funds and resources, establish internal controls and audits, enter an annual budget performance contract with the Secretary to the Treasury, remit subventions as per approved cashflow plans, are personally accountable to Parliament, and may delegate functions to subordinate public officers while issuing necessary directives.

The Accountant-General has duties to manage accounts and public funds, issue standards and guidelines, inspect votes and report to the Secretary to the Treasury.

The Internal Auditor General shall perform specified internal audit functions and is responsible to the Secretary to the Treasury.

Requires every vote to have an internal auditor and sets duties for internal auditors, the Secretary to the Treasury, and grants the Auditor General access to internal audit reports.

Establishes audit committees: the Minister must set up audit committees for each Government sector and certain local government votes; audit committees have specific oversight duties; committee members must not be public officers; members are appointed by the Minister on the recommendation of the Secretary to the Treasury; accounting officers must report back to the audit committee.

An Accounting Officer must prepare and submit half year financial statements to the Accountant General by 15th February each financial year and submit other reports as required; the Accountant General must prepare and submit half year consolidated financial statements to the Secretary to the Treasury by 15th March each financial year.

Accounting officers must prepare and submit annual accounts within two months after the financial year end; public corporation accounting officers must prepare a summary statement and give a copy to the Secretary to the Treasury; accounts must follow generally accepted accounting practices and instructions of the Accountant-General; the Auditor General shall examine and audit the submitted accounts.

The Accountant General must within three months after each financial year prepare and submit specified consolidated accounts to the Minister and the Auditor General.

The Minister must submit a Treasury memorandum to Parliament within six months of Parliament’s consideration of the Auditor General's report under Article 163(5); the Treasury memoranda must state measures taken by each vote to implement Parliament's recommendations on the prior financial year's Auditor General report.

Requires the Accounting Officer (for votes to which section 24 applies) to prepare the vote accounts in the format prescribed by the Accountant General, to submit the financial statements required under section 51 to the Minister, the Auditor General and the Accountant General, and requires the Auditor General to examine and audit those accounts in accordance with the National Audit Act.

This Part applies to the collection, deposit, management, investment, and expenditure of petroleum revenue which accrues to Government from the exploitation of the petroleum reserves in Uganda.

The Minister must manage the Petroleum Fund and oversee transfers into and disbursements from it.