Rugunda tells ministries to prioritise budgets

May 07, 2015

PRIME Minister, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda has told ministries that the only practicable option for them is to prioritise within the affordable resources

By Joyce Namutebi

 

AS ministries and agencies bombard government with requests for additional funding to cover shortfalls in their budgets, the Prime Minister, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda has told them that the only practicable option for them is to prioritise within the affordable resources.

 

He was responding to queries raised be the legal and parliamentary affairs committee on the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS), the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Parliamentary Commission on the budget framework paper and on their policy statements.

 

Budgetary issues for which the MPs sought answers from the government included the JLOS house, a home for EC and a home for Uganda Registration Services Bureau and a new chamber for Parliament, salary enhancement for EC, Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Judiciary and Ministry of Justice, and EC funding for the roadmap towards the 2016 elections.

 

Rugunda, who led the team of officials from the respective departments and agencies said: “I therefore strongly recommend that the only feasible option for JLOS sector like any other sector of government is to prioritise their activities within the affordable resources.”

 

He observed that “government is on the basis of its ability gradually and steadily addressing bottlenecks to economic growth which once overcome will lead to improved revenue collection.”

 

“Improved revenue collection therefore will mean improvements in resource allocations to sectors. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut to this approach and therefore JLOS and Parliament like any other sector have to operate within the hard budget constraints that we face,” Rugunda said on Thursday.

 

Present was finance minister, Matia Kasaija, the Attorney General, Fred Ruhindi and his deputy, Mwesigwa Rukutana.

 

On funding for EC roadmap, Rugunda explained that the agreed original budget between the Ministry of Finance and the commission was Sh376.65b for the presidential, general, parliamentary and local government council elections. He said that finance has provided Sh329.57b and that the balance of Sh47 would be provided from savings within this financial year’s budget (2014/15).

 

The premier, however, said that inspite of the shortfall of Sh1338b in FY2014/15 as per the road map, the commission failed to absorb what has been released.

 

The commission, he said, had indicated that it had a saving of Sh32.35b resulting from delayed recruitment of parish and sub-county supervisors who worked on the National Security Information system. ‘These funds will meet part of the shortfall indicated above,” Rugunda said.

 

The MPs, however, told the minister of finance and EC to within three weeks reconcile their positions with a view that the minister will fully fund the electoral process.

 

Kasaija warned the departments and agencies that certain items may be suppressed and told them to prepare for it.

 

“We are operating within a limited envelope. I appeal to you that when we come to you to present our tax proposals; you give us all the support necessary.”

 

On the JLOS house, Kasaija agreed that the government will provide a UD$10m guarantee for its construction. The MPs learnt that the Government is spending US$7m annually on rent for JLOS institutions.

 

The MPs gave him three weeks within which to give an answer regarding accommodation for the EC. They wanted to know why the commission was house in “squalid” conditions. “The EC is the midwife of our democratization process. Can we have it housed in a decent accommodation,” Lwemiyaga MP, Theodore Ssekikubo said.

 

The MPs observed that the EC, with its sensitive equipment, is being accommodated in a swamp. They warned that should there be floods, the institution would suffer.

 

The MPs also the Ministry of Finance to look for Sh9b to settle court awards in order to safeguard Sh4.2 trillion contingent liabilities.

 

They also told finance to find money for the lower administrative unit elections. 

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