Govt told to involve masses in budgeting

Aug 24, 2010

Local leaders in Acholi and Lango have asked the Government to involve masses in the drafting of the national budget in order to empower them to demand accountability from their leaders.

BY CHRIS OCOWUN

Local leaders in Acholi and Lango have asked the Government to involve masses in the drafting of the national budget in order to empower them to demand accountability from their leaders.

Gulu district chairman Norbert Mao said participatory budgeting is one way of reinstating people’s power. He urged development partners and non-governmental organisations to sensitise masses on how to have a say in what goes on in the country.

“The other most powerful organ is the LC1 leadership, whose power has to be reinstated to summon leaders to give accountability. How can we turn citizens into powerful voices and not just clients?” Mao asked.

He challenged members of the community to demand and recommend to leaders what they need, instead of begging. “In Uganda, it is those with power that decide what to do for the community, whether correctly or not,” Mao said.

This was during a meeting to review the national budget at Churchill Court Hotel in Gulu on Friday. The meeting, under the theme, ‘development priorities in the context of peace recovery and development plan’, was organised by Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, a non-governmental organisation.

The Pader resident district commissioner, Santo Okot Lapolo, said discussion of the national budget should start from the village and parish levels, where the real issues concerning the people are.

He, however, noted that many districts pass unrealistic budgets, which are not always achieved. For instance, he said, last financial year, Pader district passed a budget of sh26b, but only sh11b was realised.

Chris Otim, the Gulu district planner, blamed development partners for not paying attention to their programmes.

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