Government’s Increasing Expenditure Worries CSOs

Members of the different CSOs addressing the Media at Eureka hotel on Sunday

Civil Society Organizations led by the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), and Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) have raised concern over government’s increasing level of expenditure.

Thid was revealed over thr weekend at a press conference held in Ntinda, Kampala on the analysis of the 2022/23 budget framework paper.

The CSOs recommended a strategy to reduce on government expenditure brought about by public wastage.

According to the budget framework paper, the total domestic revenue in FY 2022/23, 73% of the projected budget is towards consumptive expenditure and only 27 percent is for development.

The CSBAG budget Policy Specialist, Patrick Rubangakene, said that government has delayed the rationalisation process of agencies, commissions and authorities as one of the measures for reducing expenditure.

“Therefore, we call upon the government to expedite the rationalisation process by providing a clear roadmap for the process to eliminate redundancies and improve efficiency,” he said.

Rubangakene noted that there is still a hangover of the sector wide approach to work being exhibited by government entities, citing an example of districts which don’t have approved development plans.

“We call on the National Planning Authority together with the ministry of Finance to expedite the implementation of the program-based approach,” he said.

Martin Kityo, from the Food Rights Alliance said the government should put in place adequate staffing of nutritionists, water officers and health inspectors if the country is to realize a zero hunger strategy.

He said CSOs have noted that staffing gaps remain a challenge.

Allan Ssebulime from PELUM Uganda commended the government for the alignment of the FY2022/23 NBPF to the approach but called upon it’s institutions to pay suppliers within 10 days from the date of invoice to avoid accumulation of domestic arrears.

He called upon government to prioritize the funding of smes through provision of low capital and adequately capitalizing Uganda Microfinance support center in order to aid the SMEs that are struggling to recover.

Mariam Akiror, Action against Hunger Advocacy and Communications Coordinator, criticised the government’s Parish Development Model (PDM), saying the criteria for allocation of the funds are not clear.

She said the government is proposing to give parishes the same amount of money even though parishes have different population thresholds.

Peter Echeru from CEHURD uganda, emphasized the need for government to prioritise funding to the ministry of health, and the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services to increase blood accessibility, given that haemorrhage continues to be the leading cause of maternal death, contributing 42% of all deaths

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