Nearly Shs5.5 trillion in Uganda’s Shs72trillion budget for the 2024-2025 financial year has been flagged by the opposition in Parliament as wasteful expenditure and one the country can do without so as to safe Uganda’s taxpayers of shouldering the burden of what does not add value.
Shadow finance minister Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda (Kira Municipality FDC) presented the opposition’s minority report on the 2024-25 Appropriation Bill.
He complained about the manner in which the budget was recorded, calling it the ‘most chaotic’ in the country’s history, and comparing it to one prepared by an S.3 Commerce student in Uganda.
He also attempted to link the chaos to the age of the president and the finance minister.
“At every stage, Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija has presented different and contradictory figures. In the Budget Framework Paper, the first official Budget document to Parliament in December last year, two ceilings (total budget figures); Shs52.722Trn and Shs54.587Trn were provided. When the real Budget was presented on 28th March 2024, it was as if it had been prepared by juvenile senior three commerce students. The Budget (Draft Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure) presented to Parliament totals Shs60.9Trn,” said Ssemujju.
“President Museveni will celebrate his 80th birthday on 15th September 2024. His Finance Minister Matia Kasaija will celebrate his 80th birthday exactly 72 days after Museveni on 26th November 2024. The two have a combined age of 160. It is understandable why 79 year old Kasaija assigned by 79 year old Museveni to prepare and present the budget, abandoned the work to 43 year old Henry Musasizi Ariganyira. Musasizi was born in 1981, a year after Kasaija had been appointed deputy labour minister.
“Musasizi the representative of these two old men has at every stage and in every budget document, presented different figures, different information, occasionally looking unsure of what he himself is trafficking to the National Assembly. None of the Budget documents is signed by Musasizi yet he is the face of this whole debacle.”
He also complained about Uganda’s growing public debt. Now standing at Shs97.499Trn, the debt will increase by an additional Shs25trillion.
“The biggest task on our hands as the 11th Parliament, is to significantly reduce the country’s Trillion public debt. This debt has become a big burden to our economy and threatens the very existence of Uganda as a sovereign state. Public debt now stands at 52.7% of our Shs184 trillion GDP. Parliament must therefore reject any measure that seeks to grow the public debt,” said Ssemujju.
Ssemujju called on his fellow MPs to remove at least Shs5.5trillion worth of wasteful expenditure. But majority of the legislators did not buy the idea of cutting this expenditure.
For example, in the 2024-25 financial year, Uganda taxpayers will shoulder the burden of Shs644bn for the purchase, maintenance and fuelling of vehicles for public servants.
“A total of Shs105,936,692,069 will be spent on acquisition of new vehicles to replace old ones and to give those who qualify. Another Shs167,297,891,680 is being proposed for maintenance of the vehicles (all) and Shs371,181,787,771 is for fueling them. When you total acquisition, maintenance and fueling, you come to Shs644Bn next Financial Year,” said Ssemujju.
“Some of those being given vehicles, cannot use all of them. For example, under the office of the President, leaders such as Amama Mbabazi and Kiwanuka Ssekandi have been given vehicles yet they have already benefited from free brand new limousines as former leaders. Ssekandi actually has a vehicle as former speaker, a vehicle as former deputy speaker, a vehicle as former vice president and now as a presidential advisor yet he hardly moves. All these vehicles are fuelled and drivers provided,” added Ssemujju.
You can read all you need to know about Uganda’s Shs72trillion budget Here.
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