Title: Auditor General report implementation rates as a measure of public financial management effectiveness
Authors: Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Asiimwe Isaac Kazaara, Nabaasa Desire
Volume: 10
Issue: 7
Pages: 620-629
Publication Date: 2026/07/28
Abstract:
Public accountability for resources entrusted by citizens to government duty-bearers has long been framed, within the Christian tradition, as an expression of stewardship, in which those who administer public funds are ultimately required to give an account of their stewardship. This study examined the Auditor General report implementation rate as a measure of public financial management (PFM) effectiveness among public entities, situating the empirical inquiry within a Christian ethical framework that regards fidelity in the management of entrusted resources as both a governance and a moral obligation. The study adopted a cross-sectional analytical design and drew a sample of 150 public entities comprising ministries, state departments, county and local authorities, and state corporations, selected through stratified random sampling. Data on institutional characteristics, audit oversight structures, management commitment, and audit query patterns were collected using a structured questionnaire and document review checklist, and were analysed using univariate, bivariate, and binary logistic regression techniques in SPSS and Python. The univariate results showed a mean Auditor General report implementation rate of 75.06 percent (SD = 19.67), with 54.0 percent of entities recording high implementation, 35.3 percent moderate implementation, and 10.7 percent low implementation. Bivariate analysis revealed statistically significant associations between implementation rate category and the presence of a functional audit committee (?² = 23.347, p < 0.001) and internal audit capacity (?² = 24.989, p < 0.001), as well as a strong positive correlation between implementation rate and the composite PFM effectiveness score (r = 0.833, p < 0.001). Binary logistic regression indicated that entities with functional audit committees were nearly eight times more likely to achieve high implementation (OR = 7.550, p < 0.001), while internal audit capacity increased the odds more than eight-fold (OR = 8.634, p < 0.001); management commitment increased the odds significantly (OR = 2.515, p = 0.001), whereas audit query volume and the number of recurring queries were associated with significantly reduced odds of high implementation. The fitted model explained 34.5 percent of the variance in implementation status (Nagelkerke-type pseudo R² = 0.345) and was statistically significant overall (LR ?² = 71.390, p < 0.001). The study concluded that Auditor General report implementation rates were a valid and sensitive proxy measure of PFM effectiveness, strongly shaped by institutional accountability architecture rather than by entity size or type alone. It recommended the strengthening of audit committees, deliberate investment in internal audit capacity, and the institutionalisation of leadership commitment mechanisms anchored in transparent and biblically grounded stewardship values.