MAK’S TB PROJECT IN THE SPOTLIGHT! Prof. Joloba’s Biomedical Research Centre Put On The Spot As Probe Reveals Idle Billions, Procurement Gaps & Financial Reporting Delays Under Sh12bn STool4TB Project
A tuberculosis research project worth millions of euros that was meant to strengthen the diagnosis of TB among children and people living with HIV has come under the spotlight after an investigation exposed a trail of unspent funds, repeated delays in financial reporting and procurement weaknesses during its implementation at Makerere University Biomedical Research Centre (MakBRC).
The findings, contained in the Auditor General’s reports covering the period from the financial year ending September 30, 2021 to September 30, 2024, raise questions about project management despite the project receiving unqualified audit opinions throughout the implementation period.
MakBRC, currently headed by Acting Managing Director Prof. Moses Joloba, is a centre of excellence established under Makerere University’s College of Health Sciences to strengthen biomedical research, laboratory services, grants management, health innovations and disease prevention.
The audited project, known as STool4TB, sought to validate an innovative stool-based DNA testing method for diagnosing tuberculosis in children and people living with HIV. Running from October 1, 2020 to October 1, 2024 and funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), the project received total funding of €2,999,989.25, equivalent to about UGX 12.9 billion at current exchange rates. The STool4TB project was to be implemented in the high TB and HIV burden settings of Mozambique, Eswatini and Uganda with Alberto García-Basteiro as overall Coordinator.
According to the Auditor General, however, project implementation in Uganda was repeatedly undermined by significant amounts of money remaining unspent while financial accountability was consistently delayed.
For the year ended September 30, 2021, the project had a budget of €97,545.30, approximately UGX 420 million. Of this, only €41,175.31—about UGX 177 million—was spent, representing just 42.21 percent utilisation. The remaining €56,370, equivalent to around UGX 243 million, remained unspent. Auditors also established that project management delayed submitting the 2020/2021 financial statements to the Auditor General by four years.
The following financial year painted a similar picture. During the year ended September 30, 2022, the project had available funds amounting to €354,590.34, approximately UGX 1.53 billion. Only €138,107.29, about UGX 595 million, was utilised, leaving €216,483.05, roughly UGX 933 million, idle. The Auditor General further found that financial statements for the 2021/2022 financial year were submitted three years late, denying oversight institutions timely information on project performance.
Auditors also uncovered procurement weaknesses during the same period after noting unexplained variances between estimated costs and contract values in the procurement of three Lesser Lenovo Think Center M70 desktop computers and two PH Lesser Jet printers. The discrepancies were attributed to failure by project management to undertake proper market assessments before procurement.
Although expenditure improved in the year ended September 30, 2023, auditors still found substantial funds lying idle. Out of available resources of €406,699.11, approximately UGX 1.75 billion, only €279,774.09, equivalent to about UGX 1.2 billion, representing 68.79 percent, was spent. An unspent balance of €126,925.02, roughly UGX 547 million, remained parked on Project Bank Account Number 9030008068061 at Stanbic Bank.
Once again, the Auditor General found that project management delayed submitting the 2022/2023 financial statements by two years, warning that such delays deny stakeholders timely information regarding project implementation and performance.
The final audit covering the year ended September 30, 2024 also identified delayed accountability. Out of available funds amounting to €124,925.02, approximately UGX 539 million, only €110,110.51, equivalent to about UGX 475 million, was spent, representing 88.14 percent utilisation. The remaining €14,814.51, about UGX 64 million, was still sitting on the same Stanbic Bank project account.
Auditors further noted that financial statements for the 2023/2024 financial year were submitted one year late, continuing a pattern that had persisted throughout the project’s lifespan.
The Auditor General observed that the repeated delays in submitting financial statements denied stakeholders timely information on project performance, while persistent underutilisation of available resources meant significant amounts of donor funding remained idle instead of being deployed to support research activities.
The Auditor General’s findings are likely to pile pressure on the management of Makerere University Biomedical Research Centre under Prof. Moses Joloba to explain why financial reporting repeatedly fell behind schedule, why substantial project funds remained unutilised despite the importance of improving tuberculosis diagnosis among children and people living with HIV, and whether the weaknesses identified were unique to the STool4TB project or point to broader systemic challenges.
The audit is also likely to raise fresh questions over whether other donor-funded projects managed by the Centre could be facing similar accountability, financial management and implementation shortcomings that are yet to come to light.
The STool4TB project was designed to improve TB confirmation rates in children and HIV-positive patients, strengthen disease surveillance, establish a specimen biobank, develop new diagnostic technologies and build a tuberculosis diagnostic research network across high-burden African countries.
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