Priotise public expenditure

Government has been urged to priotize its expenditure in order to achieve middle income status by 2020.

The government‘s priority list makes it difficult to ascertain the aggregate returns on expenditure for the specific functions to maximize the existing resources.

The national Budget for 2017/2018 of 30tn has a budget deficit of Sh. 15tn

The Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) Coordinator Julius Mukunda said government should focus on existing priorities like the construction of the new parliament chambers estimated to cost Sh 44.9bn and contribute to other organizations like EALA to a tune of sh. 3.5bn.

 

He made the remarks during a press conference at the Uganda Debt network Kampala on Sunday. He condemned government’s plan to buy a chopper for the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga at sh. 19bn this financial year.

Government should exercise the best practice of sharing the chopper funds to underfed sectors that are in need of infrastructural facilities said Mukunda.

“We implore government to be sentive enough to take immediate action of providing food to hunger stricken families in Uganda. This should include seeds and planting materials as the season begins in March”, said Mukunda.

 

He said that according to the minister of agriculture the population of those who need food relief has increased to 1,500,000 since November 2016.

With the glaring state of affairs, government should focus on urgent issues that seek to improve human welfare and productivity.