Budget raised again to sh72 trillion

KAMPALA - The finance ministry has allocated an extra sh1 trillion in the 2025/26 national budget to fund some of the critical unfunded priorities identified by MPs. 

Appearing before the budget committee of Parliament, finance state minister Henry Musasizi said the additional funding was required to improve service delivery across the country. 

The additional funds, according to Musasizi, will be presented to Parliament for approval in a corrigendum. 

If approved, the additional funds will push the total budget estimates for next financial year from sh71.7 trillion presented to Parliament in March this year to sh72.7 trillion. 

It will be the fourth time the budget is being increased. 

In February, Parliament approved the national budget framework paper for financial years 2025/26-2029/20, with a budget estimate for the financial year 2025/26 of sh57.4 trillion. 

Later in the same month, finance permanent secretary Ramathan Ggoobi, in a second budget circular dated February13, 2025, informed all accounting officers that Government had increased the 2025/6 budget with additional allocations of sh8.6 trillion, pushing the total figure to sh66 trillion. 

Ggoobi, who is also the secretary to the treasury, said the increment was a result of projected increased inflows, such as domestic revenue collection, budget support, net domestic borrowing, domestic refinancing, local revenue for local governments, among other sources of funds. 

In his engagement with the committee on Tuesday (April 13), Musasizi said: “During consideration of the adopted committee report on ministerial policy statements, the committee on budget identified several critical areas that require additional funds. 

In the budget, it is not possible to provide for everything that we would desire to see in the budget. 

However, to the extent possible, this time round, we have as much as practicable, tried to consider all the concerns the committees have come up with,” he noted. 

Musasizi said the finance ministry had exhausted all possible ways of finding new resources to finance the budget and appealed to spending agencies to work within the resources available to meet their expenditure demands. 

“I, therefore, pray that the committee considers our proposals of additional funds, but from our side we have exhausted all the available resources to create more new resources to finance the budget. So, whatever can be done, it must be within the resources already provided,” Musasizi added. 

According to the list of the beneficiaries of the additional allocation, the parliamentary commission has the lion’s share of sh117b, to cater for the reinstatement of their budget cut.

Ramathan Ggoobi

Buganda Kingdom sh38b 

Musasizi said the Government has also provided sh38b as compensation for land belonging to Buganda Kingdom. 

He, however, noted that Government plans to clear the verified claim in four years, starting financial year 2025/26. 

Musasizi insisted that the verified arrears for Buganda kingdom amounts to sh160b. Buganda Kingdom has however, contested the amount. 

Last week, the Katikkiro, Charles Peter Mayiga, posted on his X-handle that the Government owes the kingdom sh500b. 

Mayiga said the Government should take the matter seriously and settle the claim to enable the kingdom do its work. 

“We demand from the Government sh500b. We request that this money is paid to enable us work on our issues. This matter, I request that this time, the Government considers it urgent and pay the Kingdom it’s money,” he wrote. 

Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka, when contacted, declined to comment on the figures. 

Available records show that the Government owes kingdoms billions of money in rent and properties occupied by its institutions. The properties were confiscated by Obote and Amin regimes, but were later returned. 

It was agreed that the Government pays rent for the occupied properties. Responding to the matter, Israel Kazibwe Kitooke, the information minister of Buganda, described the move by Government as good news. 

“That is good and encouraging. We welcome the payment, because it will help us finance a number of activities that are aimed at getting our people out of poverty. Negotiations have been going on and I am happy that the Government has taken action, because this claim has taken so long. We encourage it to even clear the balance,” Kazibwe said.

Coffee in Northern Uganda  

Musasizi said the finance ministry, through the agriculture ministry, has agreed to provide sh60b to purchase coffee seedlings for farmers in northern Uganda. 

State minister in charge of northern Uganda Kenneth Omona, while addressing MPs during the regional Parliament sitting in Gulu last year, informed the House that although the guns have gone silent, poverty levels have continued to tinker in the region, affecting millions of people. 

Omona appealed to the Government to guide the population on which cash crop they should grow to help them earn money. 

“No agreed cash crop has been given to the citizens from which they can earn money. They just gamble on crops. For example, they were given 43 million coffee seedlings, but when you ask where is the coffee? You cannot see?” 

President Yoweri Museveni, while addressing the same Parliament session, said the people of northern Uganda should intensify the growing of coffee using his signature four-acre model. 

“For the four acres or less, seven activities should be conducted, which include coffee-one acre, fruits-one acre, pasture for dairy-one acre and another acre for food crops. In the backyard, you put poultry for eggs and piggery, then if you are near a wetland, do fish farming. If you do that, you get millions of shillings even if you do it on a small scale,” he added. 

Later, the Government identified northern Uganda, traditionally known for growing cassava, cotton, sorghum, and millet, among others, as a potential area that could help the country meet its target of producing 20 million bags of coffee annually by 2030.

Henry Musasizi

Nuclear medicine 

Musasizi said the Government has also provided sh62b for nuclear medicine/Positron Emissions Tomography project to bring the total budget to sh92b, Kampiringisa-Mpigi Fertiliser factory sh104b and Uganda AIDS Commission sh6b for counterpart funding for the country. 

Another sh10b is to clear outstanding obligation for Uganda Telecommunications Corporation Limited and sh3b for Jua Kali programme, among others. 

In the March this year, revised fi gures that pushed the budget estimates for FY 2025/26 to sh71.7 trillion, significant in the increment was the allocation of sh1.4 trillion to address the problem of domestic arrears from sh200b that was allocated in the budget framework paper (BFP), amortisation sh900b and domestic debt refinancing sh3.4 trillion, among others. 

Amortisation refers to the principal amount of the debt being repaid in instalments over the life of the loan. It can be contrasted with a bullet repayment. 

The increments are similar to those experienced during the debate for 2024/25 financial year budget. It started with sh52.7 trillion in the BFP. 

It grew to sh54.5 trillion in the draft estimates and sh58 trillion in the appropriation Bill, finally becoming sh72 trillion in the last-minute corrigenda.

MPs react 

During yesterday’s meeting of the budget committee, the deputy chairperson, Remigio Achia (Pian County, NRM) commended “encouraging” signs that the Government had acted on Parliament’s recommendations. 

“After the acrimonious disagreement of last year with us, the minister and the President, a number of recommendations we made have been considered. For example, we were strong on providing sh100b for medicines for health centres,” he said. 

Buganda parliamentary caucus chairperson Muwanga Kivumbi (Butambala) welcomed the commitment by the Government to pay Bugaanda, but said it would have been better to clear the arrears in lumpsum. 

“Piecemeal payment deprives the kingdom of the opportunity to make meaningful investment. But we appreciate the gesture,” he said. 

MPs Denis Nyangweso (Samia Bugwe Central) and Patrick Isiagi (Kacumbala), however, expressed concern over Government’s failure to provide funds for fuel and maintenance of ambulances. 

Omona, the state minister for northern Uganda, welcomed the provision of funds to boost coffee growing in the region, noting that studies have shown that coffee can do well in northern Uganda. 

“We have had long engagements on how to expand coffee production in northern Uganda. There are people already growing coffee, but we want more people to get involved,” he said.