The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Minister of finance Matia Kasaija has tabled a budget of 41.2 trillion shillings for the next financial year 2021/2022.
The proposed budget is 4.3 trillion shillings less than last year’s budget.
According to the proposed budget tabled before the parliament’s budget committee by the minister of finance Matia Kasaija on Tuesday, Governance, and Security will take the lion’s share with 7.7 trillion shillings.
This will be followed by human capital development, which covers education and high level training, at 6.8 trillion shillings. Integrated transport infrastructure and services will take 3.9 trillion, Agro industrialization will take 1.4 trillion, and regional development 1.2 trillion shillings.
The budget also shows that domestic refinancing will take 8.5 trillion shillings, domestic arrears 400 billion shillings interest and amortization will take 6.7 trillion shillings.
The minister of finance Matia Kasaija says that in the next financial year they plan to promote inclusive and sustainable growth, accelerate industrialization, and maintain peace and security and human capital development.
In the next financial year’s budget, Government plans to invest 490 billion shillings to promote the parish model in which the government plans to spend 39 million shillings at every parish to promote inclusive and sustainable growth.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the model is aimed at promotion of social services and will consolidate the delivery of social services, and the parish will become the planning and Implementation Unit.
According to the Minister, they have decided to bring together all the current funds for development like the youth livelihood fund, the Operation Wealth Creation, the women entrepreneurship program among others and created a parish model which they will use to assist Ugandans develop.
Only Emyoga, a new poverty alleviation program will not be affected.
Butambala Member of Parliament Muwanga Kivumbi said that too much money is going into domestic refinancing and amortization. He says Government needs to rethink this, as budgets are read and past every other financial year.
The MPs however were not satisfied with the proposed model wondering whether they have not just changed names which made the minister of finance Matia Kasaija to for more time to make a presentation on how the model works.
The vice-chairperson of the committee, Patrick Isiagi Opolot said that it is not right to allocate funds to be handed over to citizens, and yet people don’t have clean water and access to health services.
He said that there are loopholes in the Presentation of Ministry saying the parish model presented is not well researched. He also says that the 39 million shillings is not sustainable.
He says they will wait to see what the Ministry brings on table next time, but as it stands, the proposal is premature.
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