Members of Parliament during a plenary session chaired by the Speaker Anita Among at Parliament on July 3, 2024. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA
There was horseplay in the plenary yesterday when Speaker Anita Among convened the House to reconsider the Appropriations Bill, which was later passed.
This was after the President had earlier declined to assent to it until Shs750b, which was re-allocated by MPs fwas reinstated in the Bill.
Once assented to by the President, the Appropriation Act is a law indicating the amount of money to be spent by each government ministry, department and local government. It also authorises the withdrawal of these funds from the Consolidated Fund.
From the commencement of the plenary, some lawmakers led by the Speaker accused the Executive of attempting to usurp the powers of Parliament, which goes against the doctrine of the separation of powers.
They also claimed that the President’s claim that MPs on the Budget Committee had reallocated about shs750b to suit their needs, was not supported by evidence.
The antipathy by some lawmakers towards retabling the Bill began to grow after reports emerged that the President had declined to assent to the Appropriation Bill 2024 after MPs on the Budget Committee had reallocated funds.
The President’s letter to the Speaker over the matter sharply divided the House. For the lawmakers against it, the missive was an attempt by the presidency to bend the rules and compel an independent arm of government to behave like an appendage of the Executive but for those in support, the reconsideration of the Bill was a triumph meant to halt the decadence that continues to seep across the hallowed corridors of Parliament.
In the June 22 letter addressed to the Speaker, President Museveni explicitly accused Parliament of sabotaging government priorities by reallocating funds from key areas.
“There are three mistakes involved here. These are indiscipline in budgeting, sabotaging the national priorities and now the suspicion of massive corruption. I am, therefore, writing to request that this practice stops accordingly,” read the President’s letter.
He further wrote: “In the last four financial years, the Members of Parliament have reallocated a total of Shs3.7 trillion. This is a real sabotage… sprinkling money by MPs to get cheap popularity in their constituencies will make us lose the focus on the core items. How can patriots be part of these mistakes?”
Parliament Speaker Anita Among. PHOTO/HANDOUT
The Speaker implored the House to debate and pass the Appropriations Bill without first referring it to the Budget Committee as it is required.
“The relevant committee to which I am supposed to send the Bill is the Budget Committee, but the Budget Committee is not fully constituted… The Budget is not yet fully constituted because not all sectoral committees have their leadership in place,” Ms Among argued, which was supported by the Erute South MP, Mr Jonathan Odur.
“I would feel extremely uncomfortable that this reference is made to the Budget Committee. I support the idea that the committee of the whole House processes the matter,” Mr Odur said.
MPs rubber-stamp?
Butambala Woman MP Aisha Kabanda had earlier on fired the first shot at the Executive when she accused President Museveni’s directive of attempting to turn the August Assembly into a rubber-stamp and disparaging MPs as corrupt.
“The President’s letter blames corruption on the whole House. I even doubt whether at this time we have the moral authority to discuss what the President has sent back to us after he has accused us, all of us, of being corrupt,” Ms Kabanda said. “In a way he wants his Bill, the Statutory Bill, to pass as he brings it. Does Parliament have any mandate to appropriate? According to that letter, the President says we don’t have the mandate to tamper with his Budget the way he brings it to us. We honestly need legal interpretation whether this House has the mandate to appropriate.”
This prompted the Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja, to rush to the Dispatch Box to defend the President.
“I want Members [of Parliament] to appreciate that the President respects this House. That is why he sent back this Bill for reconsideration. If he was not respecting us, he has other options, he can warrant. But he decided to bring it back because he respects this House,” she said.
Inside Shs750b reallocation
The State Minister of Finance in-charge of General Duties, Mr Henry Musasizi, attempted to justify why some votes, which had been removed by MPs, were reinstated. But this elicited more suspicion from lawmakers, including Shadow finance minister Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, who questioned an astronomical vote worth Shs300b meant to be doled out to Roko Construction Ltd, which in 2022 received a shs200b bailout from government.
ALSO READ: CSO condemns budget misappropriation
In response, Mr Musasizi said: “These are funds for government obligations under the share subscription agreement in servicing ROKO Bills of Exchange, and payment of EFT bank charges of Bank of Uganda, among others.”
President Museveni (centre) and First Lady Janet Museveni (2nd left) interact with Speaker of Parliament Anita Among (left) and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa (right) after the National Budget presentation at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds on June 13, 2024. PHOTO | DAVID LUBOWA
Lawmakers were also shocked to learn that the Local Government ministry has been allocated Shs4b for workshops and seminars; Shs4b for advertising and public relations and Shs3b for consultancy services. Budgets on superfluous items such as workshops were meant to be scrapped as part of government’s austerity measures during this financial year.
However, Mr Musasizi said: “This resource is for funding PDM [Parish Develoment Model] monitoring and sensitisation activities. Monitoring of PDM activities will not be fully undertaken if this resource is not reinstated.”
Mr Musasizi implored Parliament to reallocate Shs10b to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) to handle, among others, post-census activities.
“After census, the bureau is supposed to update the geography to allocate the population numbers up to the smallest unit, i.e village. It must also undertake the post-enumeration survey, which is an international requirement to validate the coverage and accuracy of the census results. Failure to undertake these activities will undermine the census results,” Mr Musasizi said.
The other votes reinstated include, among others, Shs30b for the recapitalisation of Uganda Development Bank, Shs20b for the Agriculture Credit Facility meant to support agro-industrialisation; Shs150b to Finance the approved loans for the development of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline; Shs6.8b under the Namanve Thermal power; Shs4b for the establishment of minerals regulations for precious stones and other minerals, Shs15b for rural electrification and connectivity.
Other allocations include ShsShs25b for tourism development, Shs5b for strengthening the adjudication of the Leadership Code Act and publication of the national corruption survey, Shs4b for counterpart funding to finance urban water supply in urban areas, and shs190b for the same item rural areas.
Museveni letter to the Speaker
The Rt Hon Speaker,
Parliament of Uganda,
KAMPALA:
22 June, 2024
REF: BUDGET REALLOCATION BY PARLIAMENT
The recent case of the Members of Parliament who were arrested for some alleged offences has again highlighted the mistake of Members of Parliament interfering with the constitutional mandate of the President of budgeting for the country by reallocating monies budgeted for the core sectors of the economy.
In the last four financial years, the Members of Parliament have reallocated a total of Shs3.7 trillion. This is real sabotage. When we reconstructed Kampala-Masaka Road, we used Shs440 billion. Therefore, diverting the Shs3.1 trillion in four years is equivalent to aborting nine big roads of the Kampala-Masaka type, or a much larger number of smaller roads. You know very well the important roads that we have been struggling with.
You have seen how much the Tirinyi-Pallisa-Kumi Road has helped the people of the area by avoiding the need to pass through Mbale City when they are travelling to Soroti. You have seen how the Musita-Mayuge-Namayingo-Busia Road has helped the people of that area. You have seen how the Mukono-Katosi-Nkokonjeru-Nyenga road has helped the people of that area.
Yet, for the Tirinyi-Pallisa-Kumi Road, we used Shs443.42 billion only. How much more happy would you have the Ugandans be if you have tarmacked the Kumi-Ngora-Serere-Bugondo Road, the Soroti-Amuria-Acanpi-Patong-Abim Road, the Kanoni-Mityana Road, the Nyansi-Kassanda-Bukunyu-Kiboga Road, the Ssembabule-Lyantonde-Rakai Road, the Luweero-Butalangwa-Ngoma-Masindi Road, the Nsika-Nyakabirizi Road, the Nakivale-Bakayi Road, the Fort Portal-Kijura road etc.
I have written [on] this issue (see my letter dated 28th April, 2020), the Attorney General has guided on the matter, the courts have guided. Yet, the practice goes on. There are three mistakes involved here. These are:
1- Indiscipline in budgeting,
2- Sabotaging the national priorities,
3- And now the suspicion of massive corruption.
I am, therefore, writing to request that this practice stops accordingly. As per Article 91(3) of the Constitution of 1995, I decline to assent to Appropriation Bill 2024 and return it to Parliament and request that no reshuffling of the Budget should ever happen again without an input of the Executive.
Apart from the legality and constitutionality of the issues involved, there is common sense. Sprinkling money by MPs to get cheap popularity in their constituencies will make us to lose the focus on the core items. How can patriots be part of these mistakes?
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,
President, Republic of Uganda
