The Legal and Institutional Frameworks and Management of Public Finances in Uganda:

The Moderating Effect of Oversight Role of Parliament

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to test the effect of the legal and institutional frameworks on the management of public finances. The moderating effect of the oversight role of parliament
on the relationship between the legal and institutional frameworks and management of public finances was also investigated. The study adopted a cross sectional research design where a triangulation of quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted to investigate the problem. Hierarchical regressions were used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate three legal and institutional frameworks, practices, policies, systems and processes that significantly and positively affect management of public finances in Uganda. Lack of transparency, accountability and consistency, as well as institutional weaknesses in the legislative, audit institutions and judicial systems provides fertile ground for growth of corruption. The paper fills an identified need to digress from the neo-liberal approach to mismanagement of public finances and adopt policy-based means of combating corruption. While the paper recognizes that corruption wastes and misallocates resources from the most socially useful projects towards those that are beneficial to bribers and corrupt public officials, it nonetheless asserts that the misguided legal approaches to mismanagement of public finances only create more bottlenecks that stifle developing and transiting economies. The study suggests the need to strengthen support to the existing legal and institutional systems in Uganda.