Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Parliament of Uganda has been reconvened to reconsider the budget for the 2024/2025 fiscal year. This is the first time since the passage of the Budget Act and the Public Finance Act of 2015 that the Parliament of Uganda is reconvening to consider a budget already approved by the legislatures.
Members of Parliament were recalled to review the budget after President Museveni refused to sign the Appropriation Bill. Museveni reportedly asked the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, to have Parliament reset the government’s priorities.
The President’s move this time has surprised some lawmakers. It has also raised some questions because Annette Anita Among had indicated on budget day that the budget consideration process was consultative.
Sections 5 and 8 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) 2015 and Rule 145 of the Rules of Parliament Parliament had approved the Budget Framework Document for the financial years 2024/2025, 2028/2029 at the end of January 2023.
What happened?
The House approved the ministerial policy statement for various ministries in mid-April 2024. By mid-May, Parliament had also approved the tax and revenue bills required to operationalize the budget for the 2024/2025 financial year.
The Speaker of Parliament specifically thanked the Minister of State for Finance, Henry Musasizi, for devoting time and commitment to various committees of Parliament.
He also thanked the Permanent Secretary/Treasury Secretary and the Attorney General for their input. He said some of the unmentioned issues that emerged from the budget process included the need for continued allocation of resources to agricultural mechanization, agro-industrialization and value addition.
Anita Among also highlighted the need to align resource allocation with the current government rationalisation policy.
“This should lead to increased efficiency and the elimination of duplication and waste of expenditure. Resource efficiency measures are needed to avoid the risk of debt burden,” Anita Among said.
The way events have unfolded has given rise to persistent questions from the executive and the executive branch.
As MPs, the government technocrats received the budget presented by Matia Kasaija and read out the budget approved by the House on May 16, 2024. The MPs had authorized the executive to spend Sh72.1 trillion for the financial years 2024/2025.
The budget was supposed to be operational from July 2024, but it has not been because the President has insisted that Parliament reconsider the allocations.
Museveni warns MPs
On June 7, President Museveni, while delivering his State of the Nation address, said he had evidence that MPs were manipulating the budget by allocating more money to some ministries and departments so that they could receive a percentage of the money in the form of bribes.
Museveni made good on his threats to “crush the corrupt” by securing the arrest of three MPs accused of soliciting a bribe from Human Rights Commission chairperson Mariam Wangadya.
Some reports indicate that the President was not happy with the MPS for cutting the budget of some of the key government institutions to the tune of 75 billion.
Last week, Dr Fred Muhumuza told reporters in Kampala that while Parliament has the power to allocate resources to the budget, sometimes MPs have overstepped their mandate. “Very often we have had the experience that Parliament used to go beyond its powers by starting to cut resources and allocate them. That is not the power of Parliament. Parliament is about guidance and allocation of resources,” Muhumuza said.
He said the power of allocation is in the hands of the executive branch of government according to the principle of separation of powers and budgeting.
“The allocation of funds is the responsibility of the executive. So, if Parliament feels that there is too much money, we believe that it should be there and they should send that signal to the executive,” Muhumuza advised.
The Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSABG) agrees that when considering the budget, parliamentarians should not put their individual or selfish considerations first, but rather the national interest in accordance with the resources available.
The Executive Director of the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group, Julius Mukunda, said Parliament’s decision to selfishly reallocate budget priorities demonstrates a disregard for the broader needs of society.
“These actions prioritise special interests over the welfare of the entire population, which is fundamentally wrong. We consider these corrupt practices of reallocating funds to benefit their interests for personal or political purposes to be corrupt budget allocation and budgeting for self-preservation,” Mukunda said. “National interests must come first when Parliament proposes the budget to avoid unnecessary and excessive allocation of resources. On a positive note, we believe that the return of the budget by the President is an opportunity to eliminate unnecessary expenditure in the budget.”
He said the government must improve budget accountability and transparency, and that Parliament must prioritize accountability in all budgetary matters.
While debating Matia Kasaijja’s budget, sections of the public who had followed the budget-making process expressed fear that a budget of over Sh7.2 trillion was unlikely to be implemented as written. They accused both the legislature and the executive of erasing the budget from what had been prepared.
Experts such as Dr Fred Muhumuza have pointed out that for a budget to be effective, it must be aligned with government priorities and be based on values. Some of the concerns arose at the last minute of the passage of the appropriation bill.
Ambush Budget
During the debate, outspoken Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Sekikuubo attempted to block the government from correcting the budget presented by Minister Henry Musasizi. Sekikuubo described it as an ambush. “We are passing a budget in the name of the people of Uganda and adding Sh14 trillion to it through an ambush. We are passing this budget through an ambush. We have not vetted it,” Sekikuubo said.
Kiira MP Semujju Ibrahim Nganda agreed with Sekikuubo that the government had developed a habit of submitting corrections to the budget at the last minute when the House is convened as a committee of supply. He said that this tendency limits the thorough scrutiny of the proposal by the parliamentary budget committee.
In this regard, Budadiri East MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi wrote a minority report in which he protested at how the budget figures were being changed.
“The Appropriation Bill 2024 which accompanied the Budget (Estimates) under Section 13 of the Public Finance Management Act, has different figures. Honourable Musasizi told the Budget Committee when he appeared that in fact the total budget was now Sh58.3 trillion as contained in the Appropriation Bill,” said Mafabi, who was once acknowledged by Speaker of Parliament Anita Among as an authority on finance and budget issues.
Mafabi had warned that the Executive was not complying with the law. “A total budget of 52.7 trillion Uganda shillings was presented to Parliament in the Budget Framework Document. It increased to 53.3 trillion Uganda shillings in February after the issuance of the second budget call circular. On March 28, the Minister tabled an Appropriation Bill with a total budget of 58.3 trillion Uganda shillings. He also tabled a draft estimates totalling 60 trillion shillings. Today, May 16, a correction amounting to 13,789.20 trillion shillings revising the budget to 72,130 trillion was tabled in Parliament,” reads part of the minority report.
Mafabi said these amendments prevented ministries and departments from submitting detailed work plans and procurement plans, which in turn obstructed the ability of budget committees to make well-informed financial decisions, contrary to Section 13 of the PFMA. His concerns appear to have been ignored when Parliament went ahead and voted in favour of a 72 trillion budget.
On the other hand, Butambala MP Muwanga Kivumbi, a seasoned lawmaker with a financial eye during the appropriations period, questioned the reduction in the budget rollover from Sh19 trillion to Sh1 trillion in the new financial year.
“Since I have been here, this is the first time I have come across a budget report that does not set out a discretionary budget,” said Kivumbi, who previously served as shadow finance minister in the opposition cabinet.
Kivumbi and the opposition have consistently pointed out that sometimes the voices of reason tend to be overshadowed by partisan considerations, even when crucial issues such as the national budget are discussed.
When the MPs approved the appropriation bill, Muwanga Kivumbi protested that it had not been thoroughly debated. “What is wrong with this institution where I sit is that we approved this budget without debate, without you knowing these issues, without some MPs knowing all the implications,” Muwanga Kivumbi said sadly.
Supplementary budgets
Supplementary budget requests were expected to decline when the Public Finance Management Act was enacted in 2015. However, over the years, such requests have been increasing despite the distortion it has on budgetary discipline.
Muwanga Kivumbi and his Kiira Municipality counterpart, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, have been expressing concerns over the extra expenditure.
Last year, Muwanga Kivumbi obtained permission from Parliament to request the amendment of Section 25 of the Public Finance Management Act 2015. He suggested that all supplementary expenditure must be approved by Parliament in advance.
Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda presented a minority report to that presented by the Budget Committee. He questioned the amount of money allocated in the budget to servicing the debt. He also questioned the discrepancies in the debt figures provided by the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Auditor General.
According to Ssemujju, the Ministry of Finance reported that public debt stood at 86 trillion shillings, while the Auditor General’s figure indicated that debt was at 97 trillion shillings, well above the acceptable sustainability threshold of 50%.
Ssemujju opined that public debate accounted for 52.7% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product of $184 trillion. “The biggest task for us as the 11th Parliament is to significantly reduce the public debt of $97 trillion. Parliament must reject any measure that seeks to increase public debt,” Ssemujju urged.
Opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi and his cabinet rejected the budget day rally, saying there was no point in attending to support the Sh72 trillion budget when their opposing views had been rejected. The opposition deemed the budget unrealistic.
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