President Museveni
Unflinching in his new anti-graft war, President Museveni read the riot act to lawmakers, and in no uncertain terms vowed not to sign the Appropriation Bill, 2024, unless Parliament reinstates the Shs750b that was reallocated from the government priorities in the 2024/2025 Budget.
Clad in one of his signature long-sleeved white shirts, which some Cabinet ministers associated with his determination to fumigate the government, the President, who sources described as livid, was chairing the Monday Cabinet meeting at State House where he reiterated his war against corruption, impunity and abuse of public trust.
The President’s hard stance on a draft piece of legislation that provides access to the Consolidated Fund threatens FY2024/2025 Budget execution and clearly throws the planned activities into jeopardy since the current financial year ends on June 30, only four days away.
An Appropriation Act is a law containing the amount of money to be spent by each government ministry, department and local government, and authorising the withdrawal of that money from the Consolidated Fund.
The object of the Appropriation Bill was to provide for the authorisation of public expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of a sum of Shs30.314 trillion to meet the expenditure for the year ending June 30, 2025, and to appropriate the supplies granted by Parliament.
By press time last evening, Speaker Anita Among had reportedly not received the President’s reservations in writing. However, in the event that the President returns the Appropriation Bill for consideration, the Speaker will have no choice but to recall the House from recess and avert a looming Budget crisis.
Parliament, under Article 79(1) of the Constitution, has the power to make laws on any matter of peace, order, development and good governance of Uganda. The Constitution gives the President 30 days to assent to the Bill. However, under Article 91(3) of the Constitution, the Bill may become law without the President’s assent if he/she returns it to Parliament two times.
While some lawmakers accused the President of attempting to usurp the statutory power of Parliament in the budgeting process, others talked of a longstanding problem that needs urgent attention, citing abuse of appropriation power and influence peddling in the Budget committee.
Opposition hit back
Shadow attorney general Wilfred Niwagaba (Independent, Ndorwa East) explained: “Parliament is not a rubberstamp institution and in consideration of the Appropriation Bill, it is mandated to examine and amend it as it does other Bills,” he said.
He added: “If the President doesn’t assent to it, the entire Article 91 of the Constitution is elaborate enough on what happens, but ultimately, once Parliament doesn’t agree with his areas of concern for reconsideration, it ultimately becomes law under Article 91(6)and(7).”
He further said: “Reallocation is part of the budgeting processes because Parliament as the people’s representative must have people in mind while budgeting and that is why it can’t be rubber-stamping as the Executive would want. If Parliament had no power to reallocate, then it would not have any role in the Budget processes. The Executive would then prepare its Budget (whether it addresses people’s interests or not), come to Parliament and read it and go to implement.”
Early this month, Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary in the Finance ministry, who is also the Secretary to the Treasury, accused MPs of tampering with the National Budget, moving the government priorities and replacing them with their own needs in their constituencies.
A senior official at Parliament accused the Ministry of Finance of inciting the President and talked of a racket at the Finance docket that continues to prey on public resources. She said the Budget quarrel is not about the Shs750b that was reallocated, but about the Shs400b that Parliament cut from Treasury operations.
Minister tells MPs to respect govt priorities
Mr Godfrey Kabyanga, the State minister for National Guidance, yesterday confirmed the President’s concerns about the Appropriation Bill and ruled out any Budget crisis as the country prepares for the new financial year.
“I don’t think we shall go into any [budget] crisis because at some point, the Executive and the Legislature will harmonise positions…. if the President doesn’t sign the Appropriation Bill, then it will come back to Parliament and be harmonised, there are provisions in the law that can handle that,” Mr Kabyanga said.
Providing context to the President’s concerns in Cabinet, the minister explained: “I think the President was trying to caution MPs to respect what the Executive has allocated, they don’t really need to change the same things, after all, they are serving the same government… the Budget is actually for the Executive, which has a manifesto to implement and the development plans…”
He added: “Those changes, if they are there anyway, should not be selfish, let the whole changes be appropriate and serve the wider interest but issues of changes to serve personal interests, I think that is uncalled for and very unfortunate.”
Shs750b reallocated
In Cabinet, the President, according to sources, talked of Shs750.47 billion that was “irrationally” cut from the various votes and reallocated to district or constituency projects linked to members of the Budget committee and unidentified ministers.
Senior officials in the Ministry of Finance told The Monitor last evening that in a period of three years, Parliament has diverted more than Shs3 trillion, cumulatively from priorities of government to fund their own preferences and at times towards susceptible areas where public funds can be tapped without notice.
To understand the extent of the problem, the ministry officials have called for a wider investigation into the activities of the Budget Committee. However, members of the Budget Committee yesterday accused Finance ministry officials of duplicity and cited a recent incident where Parliament found evidence of over-budgeting and reallocated Shs900b from Treasury operations to finance other unfunded priorities. Finance ministry officials, however, protested the move and petitioned other authorities.
The House decision was overturned through unclear circumstances and later used Shs600b, worth of taxpayer’s money to bail out a private investor.
Parliament speaks out
Chris Obore, the director communications and corporate affairs at Parliament, said: The President has not found any communication challenge with the Speaker of Parliament ... .If it is returning the Bill, it is a common practice between the Executive and Legislature. On assumption that what you are saying [President allegedly threatening to reject the Bill], the President normally writes to the Speaker that ‘I am returning this Bill because I am not happy with this clause’ and that is how the Parliament and the Executive operate; not through the corridor. To the best of my knowledge today, unless things change a few hours after we speak, my supervisor, the Clerk to Parliament, has no record of any returned Bill from the President.”
Functions of Parliament
1. To pass laws for the good governance of Uganda.
2. To provide, by giving legislative sanctions to taxation and acquisition of loans, the means of carrying out the work of the government.
3. To scrutinise government policy and administration through the following:
(a) Pre-legislative scrutiny of Bills referred to Committees of Parliament;
(b) Scrutinising of the various objects of expenditure and the sums to be spent on each;
(c). Assuring transparency and accountability in the application of public funds; and
(d). Monitoring the implementation of government programmes and projects.
Some of the key areas where MPs reallocated funds to
• Maintenance of Leadership Institute.
• Construction of 140 sub-county offices.
• Arrears to National Housing and Construction Corporation.
• House rent for Principal Judge and Chief Justice.
• Non-Emyooga grants to support Microfinance Support Centre.
• Procurement of 4-wheel tractors, matching implements (planters, hullers, harrow, trailer, ploughs, rippers, retavator).
• Construction of 13 seed secondary schools.
• Licensing, sensitisation and registration of vehicles.
• Construction and equipping youth resource centre in the eastern region.
• Enhance funding for special enterprise grant for older persons.
• To procure and supply 11 million assorted tree seedlings for planting in all constituencies across the country.
• Compensation for damages due to human-wildlife conflicts and park accidents.
Source: Budget Committee Report on the Annual Budget Estimates for FY20024/2025
