PHARMBIOTRAC SUSTAINABILITY WORRY! Shs29bn Traditional Medicine Centre Project Investment at Risk as MUST Fails to Secure Gains
MBARARA — Questions have been raised over the future of the Pharmbiotechnology and Traditional Medicine Centre (PHARMBIOTRAC) at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) after the Auditor General found that the university had not put in place adequate measures to sustain the benefits achieved under the project.
The audit warned that failure to consolidate and maintain the gains made during the project lifetime could result in public funds invested in the initiative being put to waste.
The finding comes after millions of dollars were invested in the project to strengthen human capital development, research and innovation in pharm-biotechnology and traditional medicine.
The Auditor General noted that the university had not put in place adequate sustainability measures to consolidate and maintain the benefits achieved during the project lifetime and avoid putting to waste all funds invested in the project.
The finding is significant because PHARMBIOTRAC was established as a regional platform for innovative drug development, including research into traditional medicine, and was designed to build specialised human resource capacity in the sector.
The project is based at MUST, a public university in Western Uganda, about 286 kilometres from Kampala.
The audit shows that the project had received substantial funding, although the full amount expected had not been disbursed.
Out of expected cumulative disbursements of US$8.174 million, equivalent to approximately Shs29.22 billion, the project had received US$7.878 million, equivalent to about Shs28.17 billion.
This represented 96 per cent performance against the expected cumulative disbursement.
The Auditor General also examined implementation of activities under the project and found that significant progress had been made, although a number of activities were not fully completed.
Out of 214 activities worth US$6.967 million, equivalent to about Shs24.91 billion, that were sampled, 185 activities worth US$6.301 million, or approximately Shs22.53 billion, had been fully achieved.
However, 29 activities worth US$666,140, equivalent to about Shs2.38 billion, had only been partially implemented.
The figures indicate that while the project had delivered a substantial number of planned activities, gaps remained in completing all the interventions that had been funded.
The audit also examined the financial position of the project during the financial year 2024/25.
The project had US$502,298, equivalent to approximately Shs1.80 billion, available for spending against an approved budget of US$486,943, equivalent to about Shs1.74 billion.
This represented 103 per cent performance and resulted in an over-performance of US$15,355, equivalent to about Shs54.9 million.
The audit attributed the over-performance to some donors sending money in advance to cover more than one financial year.
However, despite having more money available than the approved annual budget, the project did not spend all the funds.
Of the total available US$502,298, equivalent to approximately Shs1.80 billion, only US$329,811, about Shs1.18 billion, was spent.
This left an unspent balance of US$172,488, equivalent to approximately Shs616.7 million.
The financial figures therefore show that the project had substantial resources available during the financial year but did not utilise all of them.
The most significant concern raised by the Auditor General, however, was not simply the amount spent or left unspent.
It was what would happen to the gains already achieved once the project period comes to an end.
The audit specifically noted that the university had not established adequate sustainability measures to consolidate and maintain the benefits achieved during the project’s lifetime.
The Auditor General warned that without such measures, the investment made in the project could ultimately be put to waste.
The concern places the sustainability of the infrastructure, human resource capacity, research activities and other benefits generated through PHARMBIOTRAC under scrutiny.
PHARMBIOTRAC was established to provide a regional platform for innovative drug development and to explore the potential of traditional medicine.
The centre’s work includes specialised training, research and development in areas linked to pharm-biotechnology and traditional medicine.
It offers Master’s and PhD programmes in areas including pharmacognosy, clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical biotechnology, alongside other training and innovation activities.
The centre also operates a business incubation component aimed at translating research prototypes into marketable products.
The project was established in 2017 with support from the World Bank and the Government of Uganda.
Its broader objective has been to build specialised human resource capacity and advance traditional medicine and pharm-biotechnology through training, research and value addition.
The audit findings therefore raise concerns about whether the institutional arrangements at MUST are strong enough to preserve those achievements after the project period.
The issue is particularly important because the project has already attracted more than Shs28 billion in cumulative disbursements, while the total expected funding was more than Shs29 billion.
The Auditor General’s warning is that without adequate sustainability measures, the benefits generated from that investment may not be maintained.
The concern comes despite the project having recorded considerable progress in implementation.
Of the 214 sampled activities, 185 were fully achieved, while 29 were partially implemented.
The audit therefore recognised significant implementation, but drew attention to the need to ensure that the gains are not lost after the project lifetime.
For MUST, the challenge is now not only completing outstanding activities but also ensuring that the systems, facilities, skills and other benefits created through PHARMBIOTRAC remain functional and productive.
The unspent balance of about Shs616.7 million also remains part of the financial picture highlighted by the audit.
The project had received more funds than its approved annual budget during 2024/25 because some donors released money in advance for more than one financial year.
However, only about Shs1.18 billion of the approximately Shs1.80 billion available was spent.
The audit’s sustainability finding gives the project another important test: whether the investment made during its lifetime can continue generating the intended benefits after external project funding ends.
PHARMBIOTRAC was designed to strengthen Uganda’s capacity in pharm-biotechnology and traditional medicine and to provide a regional platform for research, training and innovative drug development.
The Auditor General’s concern is that without deliberate measures by MUST to consolidate and maintain these achievements, the benefits could diminish and the substantial resources invested in the project could ultimately fail to deliver lasting value.
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