CSOs want govt to expedite corruption fight
Sep 21, 2021
Corruption has gone to another mode in this country. You plan for it, put it in a budget, take it to Parliament, it is appropriated, then you execute it.

Julius Mukunda, the Executive Director of Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG)

Wilson Manishimwe
Journalist @New Vision
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have called on the government to expedite the fight against corruption to save funds to finance social protection.
“Corruption has gone to another mode in this country. You plan for it, put it in a budget, take it to Parliament, it is appropriated, then you execute it. For example, a pen of sh20,000. That's a pen; imagine a road, factory or blocks of classrooms. That's how we lose money,” said Julius Mukunda, the Executive Director of Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG).
This was during the 8th Annual National Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on Wednesday, last week. The conference was held under the theme “Reclaiming Public Services for Inclusive and Sustainable Socio-economic Recovery after COVID-19.”
He noted that if government deals with corruption, money will be saved to invest in social sectors.
“We need to spend on supporting livelihoods; I mean we should support areas such as agriculture, it will help us in terms of food security and export,” he said.
Mukunda said the government needs to support public systems that deliver services, adding that “COVID-19 has equalized everybody, nobody ever talked about the cost of oxygen, but when the pandemic hit, the cost of oxygen became an issue.”
Mukunda explained that ordinary people are dying because they lack oxygen. According to him, it’s time to ensure that each hospital has the minimum basics.
He also called for the closure of tax leakages by ensuring that every citizen pays their fair share of taxes instead of coming up with new and unpopular taxes.
“In this country, we don’t need new taxes or new tax rates, we need to make sure that each person pays their fair share of the taxes. If each of us paid our fair share of the taxes, the rate would even reduce” he said.
The acting director of economic affairs at the finance ministry, Moses Kagwa, said the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Uganda’s economy and slowed growth.
He noted that for the first time, the government had to borrow more from the World Bank, IMF and local banks.
He added that the government also exempted taxes of essential commodities in the fight against COVID-19, and also deferred taxes on companies that had been affected by COVID-19, in a bid to support businesses to recover.
Borrowing
Amidst the ever-increasing Uganda’s public debt, Mukunda said borrowing isn’t bad if it’s done for the right expenditure priorities.
“Borrowing is not bad. What we are borrowing for matters a lot. Every successful company has a debt somewhere. It's not about borrowing, it’s about what you are borrowing for," he said.
He called for more citizen’s involvement in service delivery monitoring. “It is upon us citizens to take charge in terms of how the government is utilizing these resources. It’s high time that citizens owned up facilities such as schools and hospitals and demand better services. we expect people to take part in monitoring."
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