Report on field attachment carried out at Iki-Iki town council in Budaka district local government

Abstract

The aim of field work training was to integrate theory to practical knowledge; attitude and experience so as to enable the Internee become effective and efficient in future work. The field work training was carried out at Iki-Iki Town Council, Budaka District Local Government under the Finance Department. During the internship period, the Internee participated in following activities; Preparation and update of various books of accounts, these included; cash book and bank reconciliation statements, ledgers, vote book, abstracts, revenue register, and assets registers. Preparation of quarterly progress reports, taking meeting minutes, source documents including the payment requisition forms, payment vouchers, issuing receipts, revenue assessment forms, filing URA Returns, Record keeping, local revenue mobilization and collection and assets management, The different skills acquired in fields of financial management, procurement, communication, computer. The Internee was also able to learn the following; the major policy documents that guide the implementation of council operations is the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 as amended 2018 and the Local Government Financial and Accounting Regulations 2007, timely accountability is very important, and budgeting is participatory which all departmental efforts are required. Inadequate funding greatly affects service delivery in Iki-Iki Town council. The Internship exercise was faced with some challenges like lack of alternative source of power when Current power was off, unfavorable weather conditions, low university curriculum coverage. This was managed by; concentrating on the computer work whenever power was on, kept the mask on to avoid dust, and took advantage of the available procedure and policy documents in place. The Internee enjoyed his work due to the team work, respect by other staff, good cooperative supervisors, extra assignments and availability of policy documents. However, the Internee experienced some disappointments like lack of a computerized accounting system and hostility from some tax payers. The internee made some recommendations to Organization, university, and policy makers; procure a computerized accounting software, increase funding to the Town council, continuous revenue mobilizations, procure alternative source of power, and timely allocation of supervisors by the university. However, the internship exercise was a success amidst the challenges and other limitations.