Just two quarters into the implementation of the 2023/24 financial year national budget, the government has returned to Parliament with a request for UGX3.5 trillion supplementary funding.
After suspending the requisite rules to have sectoral Committees scrutinize the figures from different sectors, Parliament’s Budget Committee is set to process the supplementary budget that was tabled by the Ministry of Finance last week.
Almost a permanent fixture on every supplementary budget, the State House has requested UGX100b worth of classified expenditure, something that has left some lawmakers concerned.
According to documents tabled before Parliament, the supplementary budget has been divided into two parts, with the first being the money spent under 3 per cent (of the total budget) legal limit worth UGX1.574 trillion, while the other bit with a request of UGX1.926 trillion that requires prior Parliamentary approval.
In the breakdown of the supplementary request, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development is seeking an additional budget of UGX2Bn to carry out renovation works at the Gaddafi national mosque. The request comes at a time when the status of the mosque is under threat following a recent Court order putting up the property for sale in order to facilitate the recovery of the UGX19Bn loan the Muslim leadership had procured from businessman Justus Kyahabwa.
A similar request was made in an earlier supplementary budget in financial year 2022/ but it is not yet known whether the approved funds were released by the Ministry of Finance. This is one of the issues likely to come up when the Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija, leads his team to the Committee on Budget.
The Uganda Development Corporation has requested that an additional UGX37Bn be given to businessman Sudhir Ruparelia to complete the construction of the Munyonyo Convention Centre ahead of next month’s Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit. In April 2023, Parliament, amidst protest from some Opposition MPs, approved UGX84.6Bn for the same project.
Despite a recent pronouncement by the Government to sell the Soroti Fruit Factory to a private investor, the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) is seeking UGX9.467Bn for the same project.
Additionally, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) is seeking UGX24.8Bn for its revamp, while Uganda Prisons is seeking UGX79.4Bn to feed inmates in various prisons across the country.
While the State House is seeking UGX100Bn for classified expenditure, the Ministry of Defence has requested UGX1Bn for the construction of the Military Museum. Also, the Ministry of Public Service wants UGX12.098Bn for the payment of arrears for the money lenders association.
Another controversial expenditure in the supplementary budget is a request for UGX2.7Bn by the Ministry of Health to be spent on the supervision of the Lubowa Hospital, whose construction has remained a mystery. What is likely to be passed without contestation in the health docket is the request for UGX22.9Bn meant for payment of medical interns’ arrears.
The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has lined up UGX5Bn for compensation to some cultural institutions, including Kabaka’s land, UGX2Bn; Bunyoro Kingdom, UGX1Bn; Tooro Kingdom UGX2Bn.
Meanwhile, Uganda’s Mission in Iran has requested UGX166,5 spent on the repatriation of the body of the late ambassador Muhammad Kisambira in August this year.
MPs React
Samia-Bugwe Central MP Denis Nyangweso said that, unlike the earlier supplementary requests that have been raised through suppression of other budgets, this time around, the Government is seeking to borrow in order to fund the supplementary budget.
One interesting thing is that this type of supplementary seems different from the prior or earlier supplementary [budgets] which we have been processing. The money has been obtained through suppressing items in the budget; however, in this particular supplementary, we also see a schedule to borrow UGX3.5 trillion which is equivalent to the amounts in the supplementary. So, it seems, we are going to fund this supplementary through borrowing of the same. Some of these monies spent are statutory in nature, some were returned to the consolidated fund for projected not completed by the end of the financial year, said Nyangweso.
He also raised concern over the State House’s growing appetite for a supplementary budget, saying that the classified budget is a major concern.
We keep on wondering why most of the classified is under State House. State House has been around for some time; they know the nature of business, and they can forecast and have this money within the budget. The classified budget must be planned under normal budgeting and avoid bringing it under the supplementary budget because you can’t dig into the details of the classified, he added.
Prof. Elijah Mushemeza, Sheema South MP, wondered why the Government isn’t budgeting within its own income, citing the money raised through taxes, grants and loans other than making unrealistic budgets.
If all sources of income haven’t been realized in the last two financial years, and when I look at that, we haven’t realized that money. Most people don’t understand this dilemma; for them, once they see a budget has been passed, they expect money to be released; we are raising expectations of people for no good reason. We are making unrealistic budgets, and we advise people, they are looking at you, so for us, we shall continue to talk, but there will be no fundamental changes unless we address those fundamental issues, said Mushemeza.
Kabale Municipality, MP Nicholas Kamara also weighed in on the debate, decrying the endless wars Uganda is engaged in, saying this is impacting service delivery.
In this country, we are fighting many wars which we aren’t supposed to fight, and we are in DRC, we are in Somalia, Equatorial Guinea. But the important thing is, there is a lot of patronage, there are many people on the payroll whom we don’t know and whom we shall never know probably because it is classified budget and it is always increasing, he said.
Kumi Municipality MP Silas Aogon suggested that questions should be asked as to whether the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have already received the money appropriated to them in the current budget before returning for additional funding.
What about our budget performance? Are we sure that when we go to our government accounts, we shall not find idle money? Supplementary budgets are good, but we must watch out for performance because performance is what should be telling us that we need more money, said Aogon.
He suggested that supplementary funding should only be voted for MDAs that prove they have already spent their budget for the financial year.
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