Finance asked to explain budget cuts
Apr 27, 2008
Officials from the finance ministry have been asked to explain why budgets for different ministries’ are cut.
By Mary Karugaba
Officials from the finance ministry have been asked to explain why budgets for different ministries’ are cut.
The officials, led by finance minister Dr. Ezra Suruma, were accused of crippling the ministries’ activities.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee on physical infrastructure, Nathan Byanyima, accused the officials of “randomly allocating money in their offices without going to the field.â€
“You sit in the office and allocate money to ministries without considering their priorities. This random allocation should stop. We need to prioritise issues,†Byanyima said.
Suruma was meeting committee chairpersons and permanent secretaries to discuss the 2008/09 budget allocations.
Perezi Ahabwe (Rubanda East) said the trade ministry’s budget was reduced from sh41.7b last year to sh33.6b this year.
Loi Kiryapawo (Budaka) observed that several activities remained under-funded. “After a few months, you will come back with a supplementary budget for approval, where do you plan to get the money? We are being accused of getting bribes to pass supplementary budgets.â€
However, Suruma told the MPs that it all depended on the resource envelop.
“We cannot moan over budget cuts when we cannot create resources,†he said.
The secretary to the treasury, Christopher Kassami, said budget ceilings were a function of resources.
“The money went to priority sectors. We cannot satisfy all permanent secretaries.â€
According to the Ministry of Finance, the Government plans to increase the budget from sh3,255b last financial year to sh3,864.2b this year.
Kassami said this year’s budget would focus on enhancing economic growth and generating employment to increase people’s income.
Officials from the finance ministry have been asked to explain why budgets for different ministries’ are cut.
The officials, led by finance minister Dr. Ezra Suruma, were accused of crippling the ministries’ activities.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee on physical infrastructure, Nathan Byanyima, accused the officials of “randomly allocating money in their offices without going to the field.â€
“You sit in the office and allocate money to ministries without considering their priorities. This random allocation should stop. We need to prioritise issues,†Byanyima said.
Suruma was meeting committee chairpersons and permanent secretaries to discuss the 2008/09 budget allocations.
Perezi Ahabwe (Rubanda East) said the trade ministry’s budget was reduced from sh41.7b last year to sh33.6b this year.
Loi Kiryapawo (Budaka) observed that several activities remained under-funded. “After a few months, you will come back with a supplementary budget for approval, where do you plan to get the money? We are being accused of getting bribes to pass supplementary budgets.â€
However, Suruma told the MPs that it all depended on the resource envelop.
“We cannot moan over budget cuts when we cannot create resources,†he said.
The secretary to the treasury, Christopher Kassami, said budget ceilings were a function of resources.
“The money went to priority sectors. We cannot satisfy all permanent secretaries.â€
According to the Ministry of Finance, the Government plans to increase the budget from sh3,255b last financial year to sh3,864.2b this year.
Kassami said this year’s budget would focus on enhancing economic growth and generating employment to increase people’s income.