MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF INTERNAL CONTROLS IN THE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION CAPITATION GRANT IN UGANDA

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of a government programme’s internal controls is deemed central to the effectiveness of the eternal controls in fostering the financial accountability of government resources, in terms of reliable reporting, compliance with applicable laws and safeguarding the resources from loss. It is crucial for the implementers of a government programme to regularly review the effectiveness of its internal controls, in order to detect and address any identified gaps that may undermine the financial accountability of the programme. This article sought to establish the effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation of internal controls in promoting financial accountability of the UPE capitation grant in Uganda. The study adopted an exploratory design using interviews, focus group discussions and document review to collect data. Data analysis applied content analysis techniques. Findings revealed gaps in programme internal controls, which undermine financial accountability. Misalignments between the policies, regulations and guide lines (which constitute the internal controls) of the UPE capitation grant and current laws such as the Public Finance Management Act 2015 as amended, undermine the effectiveness of internal controls to mitigate risks of misreporting and fraud of program resources. Failure to review and streamline guidelines for internal control measures like pupil enrolment verification, has led to massive leakages of resources, resulting from exaggeration of enrolment numbers by schools. Such flaws in the internal controls of the UPE capitation grant must be regularly identified and addressed by the grant implementers and government, in order to enhance the financial accountability of the grant.