CRA staff to repay extra, unapproved 2022 salaries

A section of employees at the Commission on Revenue Allocation face a surcharge for receiving extra salaries without approval from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

The National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee has directed CRA’s accounting officer to recover the irregular payments.

MPs, in a report reviewing CRA’s 2022 accounts, reprimanded the commission’s chief executive officer for authorising the payments.

“The committee recommends that the accounting officer recovers all irregularly paid amounts within six months of the adoption of the report,” PAC stated.

The report is scheduled for adoption in plenary next week, according to Tuesday’s tentative order paper, after which the recovery timeline will begin. 

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu flagged CRA for breaking the law after it implemented a new salary structure, resulting in direct promotions for 14 staff members.

The new structure lacked approval from the SRC, the agency mandated to advise public institutions on employee benefits.

Auditors found that CRA had only secured approval from the National Treasury, which had allocated a budget for the reorganisation.

However, the Treasury advised CRA to pursue SRC’s nod before implementing the changes.

“It requested the commission to seek the concurrence of the SRC on the same,” the report noted.

Later, the SRC recommended that CRA await the outcome of a job evaluation it had initiated. 

Despite this, as noted by Gathungu, CRA proceeded with the unapproved structure.

“CRA claimed that the SRC was only to provide advisory services and that they were at liberty to accept or reject the advisory,” the auditor general noted.

The revenue allocation agency argued that it was working on a new strategic plan where the revised pay structure would be reflected.

However, lawmakers, after questioning the agency’s CEO, James Katule, remained unconvinced by the commission’s explanations.

“The committee noted that the commission proceeded to promote and review salaries without the approval of the SRC, a breach of the law,” the Butere MP Tindi Mwale-led team stated.

The report added, “The committee also noted that the accounting officer admitted in his oral submissions that the commission was in breach of the law.” It was revealed that CRA continues to apply the irregular salary structure to date.

“The committee reprimands the accounting officer and recommends that the structure is regularised with the SRC within three months of the adoption of this report,” PAC directed.

CRA attributed the crisis to delays in appointing SRC commissioners, who have only been in office for three months.

“The commission resolved to proceed with the staff reorganisation and restructuring to ensure that the staff complement would effectively and efficiently deliver as it awaited the completion of the SRC process,” the CEO explained.

CRA maintained that the revised structure operated within the original framework and did not impose significant financial strain, as affected staff were underpaid compared to their peers. 

“It was the considered view of the CRA that further delays in the reorganisation would negatively affect the efficiency of the commission and consequently the ability to deliver on its mandate,” CRA officials told MPs.

The irregular promotions, based on the unapproved salary structure, were flagged in CRA’s audit for the period ending June 30, 2022.

The exact amounts involved were not disclosed, as the advisory opinion on the reorganisation was not provided for audit review.