How different is Opposition’s alternative budget?

“The total resource envelope for the FY2023/2024 is Shs48.9 trillion. Of this, Shs32.8 trillion is internally generated revenue,” Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga said then.

The Opposition’s proposed overall budget figures differ from those of the National Budget, which is higher by Shs3.7 trillion.

Budget focus
While the Opposition’s proposed budget puts more focus on observance of human rights, the National Budget will be centering on the theme; ‘Full monetisation of the Ugandan economy through commercial agriculture, industrialisation, expanding and broadening services, digital transformation and market access.’

The Opposition’s alternative budget recommends interest payment and clearing of all verified domestic arrears while restricting domestic rollover to Shs6 trillion.

On the side of the government, Mr Kasaija said of the Shs52 trillion budget, Shs6 trillion will be channelled towards the government’s development expenditure while external project support financing is obtaining Shs8 trillion. The budget will also settle domestic arrears worth Shs215 billion.

And as the country continues to grapple with unsustainable debt, Mr Kasaija announced yesterday that the government in the coming financial year will reduce domestic borrowing and find access to new sources of funding and limit non-concessional debt to high return projects such as the Standard Gauge railway.

The Opposition shared a similar plan of reducing domestic borrowing [to zero] but also proposed to lower the interest rates to the level that will favour private investments in the country.
The country’s public debt currently stands at more than Shs80 trillion.

Agriculture, health
Mr Kasaija said Shs2 trillion has been allocated to food security, irrigation, climate change mitigation, value chain development, agricultural research and disease control.

The Opposition alternative budget on the other hand proposed to commit Shs1 billion towards, among other things, financing increasing access to affordable agricultural credit by farmers and lining up key laws, including the Contract Farming Bill, to specifically address the challenges faced by farmers.

From the National Budget, the Health ministry has been allocated Shs1.6 trillion.
The government will utilise part of the money to address the plight of medical interns and doctors designated as senior house officers.

“I have provided Shs22 billion to clear outstanding arrears for medical interns and Senior House Officers for the financial year ending June 2023,” Mr Kasaija said.

The Opposition on the other hand suggested that Shs2 billion should be directed towards financing priority areas, including re-organising the structure of health service delivery centres, ensuring appropriate human resources and controlling the spread of malaria-causing vectors through a well thought-out system based on control so as to reduce high out of pocket expenses.

Security, Judiciary
Security, governance, the legislature and the administration of justice, Mr Kasaija said, will receive Shs9 trillion during the next financial year, up from Shs8 trillion for the current financial year.

Part of the money will enhance access to justice by reducing the court case backlog by about 6,000 cases by the end of June 2024 from 50,000 outstanding cases. The Opposition committed Shs2 billion towards addressing challenges in the defence and veterans sector and Shs1 billion for Judiciary.

Transport sector
The Opposition alternative budget will channel Shs3 billion towards catering for priority areas, including refocusing sector funds towards maintenance of roads.  

Mr Mpuuga said this was essential because the condition of the national roads continues to deteriorate if no urgent intervention is under-taken.

From the government, the transport sector will receive an allocation of Shs4 trillion, an amount, which has been budgeted for road maintenance and construction, railway development and rehabilitation, water and air transport development.

Education
While the Opposition said it was committing Shs460 billion towards boosting the education and sports sector, the government will be allocating Shs600 billion in the coming financial year.