Background

The Directorate of Treasury Services and Assets Management (DTSAM) was created as part of the restructuring exercise, to effectively build capacity in line with the Financial management reforms by the Government.

It is headed by a Director and the objectives include;
i) To ensure timely and efficient release of funds, payments and effective management of public Assets.
ii) To maintain a robust debt management system that provides reliable information, timely processing of funds requests and debt servicing.
iii) Support the development and implementation of policies in line with the Assets management function of Government.

The Directorate of Treasury Services and Assets Management consists of two departments; The Assets Management Department, and The Treasury Services Department.

1. Assets Management Department (AMD):

This Department under the Directorate is headed by a Commissioner to specifically handle asset management related activities. The Department Comprises of three (3) Units managed by 2 Assistant Commissioners, who support the Commissioner in charge of the Department. The units include; Quality Assurance Unit (QA), The Assets Management Unit (PAMU) and The Public Revenues and Expenditure Management Unit (PREMU). The Overall Department Functions are;
i) Drafting of a non-current asset accounting policy
ii) Improvements in the planning and conduct of Boards of Surveys (BoS) and the revision of the templates and forms
iii) Implementation and rollout of the IFMS fixed assets (FA) module in central, local governments, and the Navision Accounting system at foreign missions to a version that includes a fixed asset module
iv) Support Progressively updating of the asset registers of the MDAs & LGs
v) Implementing a roadmap for enhancing the ongoing strengthening of public asset management.
vi) Quality Assurance of PFM systems under AGO
vii) Responsible for Updating Government Investments.

1.1. Quality Assurance Unit

This unit is headed by an Assistant Commissioner, responsible for the day to day oversight of quality assurance on PFM systems under Accountant General’s Office and review of treasury transactions in the Financial Management Systems and the Banking Functions.
The over objective is the assets and or forecast any risk relating to treasury transaction and suggest mitigation measures in order to alert management to avert related losses of public resources.
The functions include;
i) Updating of Risk register and development of controls to mitigate risks
ii) Running of Key performance Indicators on Government System
iii) Preparing Cash Management reports and Treasury payment transactions
iv) Investigate and report alleged violations of rules, regulations, policies,
procedures, and Standards of Conduct.
v) Responsible for coordination of end of year processes
vi) Liaison with the Bank of Uganda

1.2. Physical Assets Management Unit (PAMU)

This unit is headed by an Assistant Commissioner, responsible for the timely update of Government’s Assets register with any new Acquisitions, Losses and disposals.
The Functions include;
i) Undertaking Board of Survey Functions
ii) Support to timely update of the Government of Uganda Assets registers (Non-Current Assets, Inventories and Investments)
iii) Capacity building of GoU Staff in Assets Management.
iv) Management of Local Revenue Releases

1.3. Public Revenues and Expenditure Management Unit (PREMU)

This unit is headed by an Assistant Commissioner, responsible for the effective and efficient management of Government inflows and outflow. The Functions include;

i) Release of funds
ii) Payments processing
iii) Update Government Revenue register

2. Treasury Services Department (TSD):
The overall mandate of Treasury Services Department is to maintain a robust debt management system that provides reliable information, timely processing of funds requests and debt servicing.
This department is headed by a Commissioner and is composed of two main functional units namely; External debt & Grants and domestic debt & Treasury Operations.

2.1 External debt and Grants
This unit mainly performs back office operations for external grants and loans. It handles disbursement requests, recording of transactions in the IFMS and DMFAS and also manages servicing of external debt loans. The National Authorizing Office Support Unit (NAOSU) is part of the back office operations and falls under this unit.

2.2 Domestic Debt and Treasury Operations
This unit is mainly responsible for recording and repayment of Domestic Debt. It is also responsible for managing Treasury Operations (Vote 130), a statutory vote that budgets for, pays and reports on public debt.
Below are its objectives and functions;

2.3 Key specific objectives of the department.
i) Create and maintain a high quality and updated database of GOU debt Portfolio.
ii) Requisition for external resources / disbursements on a timely basis.
iii) Ensure timely and accurate payment of Government Statutory debt obligations as and when they fall due.
2.4 Functions for the Department
i) Compile accounts and prepare financial statements for Treasury Vote 130.
ii) Prepare payment invoices for all domestic and external debt servicing.
iii) Process and record withdrawal applications for draw down of the loans and grants manually (and on client connection for the World Bank and IFAD).
iv) Prepare annual public debt interest, debt servicing cost and principal repayment forecast for inclusion in the Budget Framework Paper (BFP), Ministerial Policy Statement and National Budget.
v) Record and update financial information relating to loan and grant agreements.
vi) Manage operations of Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) debt database by updating payments and disbursements.
vii) Responsible for loans & grants disbursements including
management of disbursement units e.g. EU/NAO.
viii) Maintain a comprehensive inventory and report on the stock of
loans, grants, contingent liabilities and guarantees.
ix) Establish and maintain public debt records and prepare both statutory and management information from these records.
x) Provide timely and accurate information on the country’s debt to assist policy makers and improve transparency in debt management
xi) Maintain controls and documented procedures for debt service, disbursements and maintenance of financial records for debt management financial analysis systems.
xii) Member of the Debt Management Technical Committee (DMTC)

Mrs Maris Wanyera

Ag. Director Debt and Cash Management

Background                                                              

As part of the public financial management reforms geared towards improving on debt and cash management, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development was restructured and the Directorate of Debt and Cash Policy (DDCP) was created with the mandate of providing an advisory role on the issuance and management of all government debt and cash in accordance with the Ministry’s economic policies. The need for an efficient debt and cash management frame work is obligated by PFM Act 2015 which requires maintenance of prudent and sustainable levels of public debt. Since the Directorate became operational, it is contribution has been significant accounting approximately 40% of the National Budget in its five years of operation.

The Directorate of Debt and Cash Policy (DDCP) consist of three departments:

1.      Development Assistance and Regional Corporation (DARC): This is the front office and is primarily responsible for the mobilization of external resources to finance government programmes. The key functions include coordinating Development Partners, providing advice on external debt, coordinating bilateral and multilateral negotiations and signature of subsequent agreements and protocols, preparation of financing documentation and reports as well as ensuring effective and efficient utilization of external resources.

2.      Debt Policy and Issuance Department (DPID): The Department is responsible for development of policies for management of public debt (both external and domestic) as well as contingent liabilities. The key functions include production of the Public Debt Management Framework (PDMF), Medium Term Debt Strategy (MTDS), Public Debt Statistical Bulletin, Domestic Debt Issuance Calendar, providing advice on securities market and debt instruments, as well as managing debt limits.

3.      Cash Policy Department (CPD): The Department is primarily responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient cash resources available to meet Government expenditure requirements in a timely manner. The Treasury Single Account (TSA) was introduced as part of the Public Finance Management (PFM) reforms to improve Cash Management in line with (PFMA 2015).

Main Functions:

i.Oversee the government cash flow planning, coordination and investment of government funds, which includes developing policies and guidelines for cash management.

ii. Developing regular and timely cash flow reports and other information reporting on cash and debt positions for the top management.

iii.Formulating and supervising policies and procedures for all debt issuance and management.

iv.Create prudent investment policies and guidelines for the management of all government funds in consultation with the BOU.

v.Formulate policy initiatives to foster the development of the primary and secondary government markets.

vi. Prepare risk analyses regarding all contingent liabilities, which includes guarantees and all other types of obligations, which may arise in financing arrangements, such as in PPPs.

vii. Coordinate with other directorates to carry out the goal of developing cash management and issuance of domestic debt so as to endure effective and  efficient management of government assets.

viii.Lead the issuance and management of all debt, which includes external and domestic debt.

ix.Recordation, monitoring and payment for all government debt.

Partners 

Under this program, the Ministry ensures effective financial management, accountability for public resources and assets, management and reporting on accounts of Government among other objectives. In the FY 2018/19, this Program received UShs 57.24bn by end of December 2018 against an appropriation of UShs 110.97bn. Out of this, Ushs 37.28bn was spent representing 65.1% absorption. For the half year ending December 2018, the Ministry successfully supported over 4,505 IFMS users across 273 IFMS sites, over 504 E-cash users in 119 sites, over 1300 E-registration users in 310 sites, and over 2,300 Treasury Single Account tool users in 230 sites.

All external debt payments due were paid in time and domestic debt claims were also paid. The Accountability Sector Annual Review 2017/18 was held. In the FY 2019/20, the Program has been allocated UShs 94.97bn. This is in comparison to an allocation of Ushs 110.97bn in the FY 2018/19. The allocation is to cater for strengthening Governance and Accountability initiatives among Accountability Sector Institutions, enable continued operationalization of the PFMA, IFMS strengthening  and roll out to 63 Sites including 30 DFPs and 33 LGs, integration of systems (IFMS, Human Capital Management, PBS), data center enhancement, implementation of the National Public Sector Procurement Policy, full decentralization of management of payroll to 175 LGs and 109 CG Votes as well as reconciliation of domestic and external debt. 

Programme Objective :
i.  Compilation and management of the accounts of votes;
ii. Custody and safety of public money;
iii.Manage resources of Government;
iv. Custody of all government certificates of all titles for investments;
v.  Maintenance of a register of government investments
vi. Develop the internal audit strategy and supervise its implementation;
vii.Develop internal audit policies, rules, standards, manuals, circulars and guidelines;
viii.Review and consolidate audit reports from the votes and externally financed projects;
ix.  Liaise with the Auditor General, Accountant General, Accounting Officers and Internal Auditors on audit matters