Rationalisation of govt agencies: MP committee halts consideration of Bills
Feb 23, 2024
Section 76(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015 (PFMA) stipulates that “every Bill introduced in Parliament shall be accompanied by a certificate of financial implications issued by the minister”.
Muruli Mukasa, Minister of Public service during the meeting yesterday. (Photos by Miriam Namutebi)
Dedan Kimathi
Journalist @New Vision
_________________ (L-R) Mukasa Muruli, public service minister, Nobert Mao, Justice and constitutional affairs minister and Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Attorney general Ibrahim Ssemujju, Kira municipality MP
Parliament's legal committee has halted the consideration of rationalisation Bills under its docket.
The development comes after MPs discovered that the certificate of financial implication issued by the finance ministry didn't indicate the cost implication of abolishing or merging some agencies.
The committee's vice chairperson made the ruling on Wednesday, February 22, 2024, during an interaction with Justice Minister Norbert, Attorney General (AG) Kiryowa Kiwanuka, and Public Service Minister Wilson Muruli Mukasa.
The trio was due to submit a raft of rationalisation Bills that were tabled in Parliament on Tuesday this week.
These form part of the 15 Bills seeking to give effect to the Government Policy on Rationalisation of Government Agencies, Commissions, Authorities, Boards, and Public Expenditure (RAPEX).
At the core, these public sector reforms (PSA) seek to save shillings one trillion in public funds, reduce duplication, and improve service delivery across all sectors.
Bills for discussion
Specifically, the meeting was supposed to dissect the National Tribunal Bill 2023 which seeks to merge the Tax Appeals Tribunal and the Electricity Disputes Tribunal.
Documents seen by New Vision Online show that the latter will be in charge of adjudicating over all disputes subject to a tribunal.
Also among the talking points was the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2023 which seeks to merge the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOP).
The latter also seeks to amend the Constitution by rationalising the administrative framework for the performance of the Law Reform Commission by establishing a department responsible for law reform in the justice ministry.
Certificate of financial implication
The meeting ran into a brick wall after a litany of legislators objected to proceeding owing to missing certificates of financial implication.
Section 76(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015 (PFMA) stipulates that “every Bill introduced in Parliament shall be accompanied by a certificate of financial implications issued by the minister”.
Also, it is supposed to indicate revenue estimates and expenditure over not less than two years after the coming into effect of the Bill when passed and elucidate its impact on the economy.
“I think we need to have it because we had a similar situation yesterday in the physical infrastructure where the ministry came and they didn’t have it. So, we had to send them away,” Elijah Okupa (Kasilo County) said.
This forced the Deputy Chairperson Yusuf Mutembuli (Bunyole East, NRM) to briefly suspend the hearing for about 20 minutes for these critical documents to be availed.
Concerns about shallow documents
“Since colleagues, this is something very important, we cannot just presume because the Attorney General is saying we have specific certificates and what I am seeing here is general. Maybe we can stand over 5 minutes and you produce that certificate…. Let our clerk go and find out if there is any,” Mutembuli guided.
However, on resumption, lawmakers including Ibrahim Semujju Nganda (Kira Municipality, FDC) and Asuman Basalirwa (Bugiri Municipality, JEEMA) objected to what they dubbed as 'shallow' documents.
Their ire was specifically directed at the certificate of financial implications for the National Tribunal Bill 2023.
A copy seen by New Vision Online shows that the document was issued two days earlier by Finance Minister Matia Kasaija.
It, however, does not spell out retrenchment costs and severance package which it says shall be accommodated within the medium-term expenditure framework ceiling for the public service ministry.
“In fact, in my ordinary interpretation, this will turn out to be like what the Baganda call ekiro ekitwala munaku. That’s what Hon. Muruli Mukasa has brought … This is nothing like money in this ‘ekiro ekitwala munaku’ (idle letter),” Semujju noted.
“When you look at what Section 76 is talking about it even indicates the time. That in itself should be able to come out in the certificate which, with due respect, is not reflected here,” Basalirwa said.
Ruling
AG Kiryowa tried to argue in vain that the cost could as well be nil.
“If I tell you that it will have no cost. The only difference here is that I have indicated in words, not figures. So he has indicated that there is no cost,” Kiryowa argued.
This narrative was, however, deemed redundant by Semujju and the deputy chairperson Mutembuli.
“Even when you're winding down a parastatal, there are costs. There are people you are compensating, there are domestic arrears to deal with, you simply can’t walk to Parliament and say there will be zero cost and tomorrow you present a budget,” Semujju countered.
“Can I request the Attorney General and your team to begin working on this particular issue as soon as possible?” Mutembuli ordered.
Journalists survive lock-out
The ruling came after an off-record interaction where the AG Kiryowa Kiwanuka himself concurred that there is a need to ascertain that all Bills have this accompanying document to avoid legal roadblocks in the future.
Before this, Kiryowa out of fear that the segment would be recorded had called for journalists to be locked out but Semujju, a journalist by profession, rose to their defense.
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