Why citizen engagement in budget process is key

Feb 03, 2022

According to Patrick Lubangakene, the policy analyst at the Civil Society Advocacy Group, (CSBAG) it is very important for citizens to hold government accountable on budgeted projects. 

Community members during the training on budgeting process organised by ACF in Kyangwali Sub County in Kikuube district (Photos by Geoffrey Mutegeki)

Geoffrey Mutegeki
Journalist @New Vision

There is a need to enhance budget literacy and citizens’ engagement in prioritisation, budgeting, and oversight in order to have quality service delivery, and curb corruption that is hindering development. 

Often times local governments never involve citizens in the budgeting process which leads to failure of government programs since the citizens can’t track the budget and ensure they get quality services. 

According to Patrick Lubangakene, the policy analyst at the Civil Society Advocacy Group, (CSBAG) it is very important for citizens to hold the government accountable on budgeted projects. 

Locals of Kyangwali during a group discussion

“At the core of participatory budgeting is citizen engagement. This process allows residents to decide how to allocate part of a sub-county budget on directly what is affecting them. If it is a road, they need to know how much is spent, the things budgeted for so that they can monitor,” Lubangakene said. 

Lubangakene was speaking during a three-day training organized to skill residents of Kyangwali Sub County in Kikuube district on how to monitor the budget and hold leaders accountable. 

The event was organised by Action Against Hunger (ACF), in partnership with CSBAG with funding from the Netherlands government under the right to grow project. 

The right to grow project aims at addressing malnutrition among pregnant mothers and children below the age of five. It is implemented in Kikuube district for five years and benefiting both the host community and the refugees. 

Mariam Akiror, the communication and advocacy officer at ACF said the budget monitoring, evaluation and tracking training would equip residents on how they can directly influence the budget process by subscribing their views before it is read. 

“We want to fight malnutrition and to end hunger. If we are to end hunger we need the participation of all stakeholders, mothers, fathers and political leaders at all levels,” Akiror said. 

Jude Odaru, one of the facilitators during training  on the budgeting process for locals of Kyangwali sub county in Kikuube district

“We are interested in giving you the skills to understand the budgeting process, make contributions to it and ensure your demands are met,” she added. 

According to Akiror, skilling the citizens in the budgeting process is one way of helping government to successfully implement the Parish Development Model program that will begin next financial year. 

“The training comes handy when government is on the 2022-23 budget and building capacity for the community is very key for quality service delivery,” Akiror said. 

Government will be implementing the Parish Development Model program as a driving force for the economic transformation of Ugandans. 

“It is very important for us the community to know what the government has budgeted for us at parish level, sub county or district level so that we demand for those services and ensure they are delivered,” Akiror says. 

The Kyangwali sub county LC3 vice chairperson Sebastian Irumba, said with this program set to be implemented at parish level, the best way to have it succeed is through engaging citizens in the budgeting process. 

“I’m happy for this training because if the people are aware of the budgeting process, ghost projects will be easily identified and substandard work will be history,” Irumba said. 

He revealed that as leaders it would ease pressure on them from electorates who demand for projects that were not budgeted for. 

Mary Tweyongere, the Community Development Officer (CDO), said there is no important public agency activity than budgeting, the process whereby decision-makers allocate scarce resources to fund vital public services and facilities.  

Budget decisions directly affect the quality of life in a community and the public’s level of satisfaction with decision-makers. 

“Citizen engagement offers the citizens to the opportunity to question, comment on and shape budget goals and development,” Tweyongere said. 

She revealed that good public participation practices can help governments be more accountable and responsive to their communities, and can also improve the public’s perception of governmental performance and the value the public receives from their government.  

Ismail Nyangabyaki, the Butole Parish chief said transparency is a core value of governmental budgeting.   

“Having a transparent budget process will improve the government’s credibility and trust within the community. This will help the programs like parish model to succeed,” Nyangabyaki said. 

He called for scaling up efforts to improve transparency and accountability for public expenditure and ultimately, enhance public service delivery in Uganda. 

  

 

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