Skip to main content

Finance Minister Kasaija summoned over discrepancies in the Budget


Parliament Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, has directed the Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija, to explain discrepancies contained in his Budget speech presented last week and the National Budget for 2020/2021 as approved by the House.  

“The Minister is required to come here tomorrow to explain the variances between the Appropriation Bill we passed here and the speech he made on the budget day,” said Kadaga adding that “We also want to know if the President assented to this Appropriation Bill, where did these figures come from?”
The directive follows a complaint raised by the Chairperson of Parliament’s Budget Committee, Amos Lugoolobi, who cited figures mentioned by Kasaija on Thursday 11 June 2020 that differ from those within the approved budget.
Lugoloobi said that whereas Parliament appropriated Shs400 billion for payment of arrears owed by government to private sector firms, the minister mentioned Shs673 billion in his address.
He added that although Parliament approved Shs38.5 billion towards the export promotion strategy the minister mentioned Shs138 billion for the activity.
On the roll out of the Social Assistance Grant for the Elderly (SAGE), Parliament approved Shs66 billion but Minister Kasaija put it at Shs107 billion.
Lugoloobi said that the Minister made an error when he mentioned Shs94 billion as credit allocated to small and medium scale enterprises through Saccos, because Parliament appropriated Shs40 billion towards the same intervention.
Lugoolobi highlighted several other discrepancies in the budget speech including Shs225 billion for talent support yet the approved budget had Shs100 billion.
He said it was dangerous to have such a budget speech as there are legal implications regarding the budget process.  
“We have a law governing the budget process, if there are changes by government they must be communicated for approval to Parliament before they are pronounced to the public,” said Lugoloobi.
Legislators said it was insufficient for the minister to simply explain the inconsistences to Parliament, proposing that he appears before and offers an explanation to the Committee on Rules, Discipline and Privileges of Parliament.
“I do not think it is sufficient for him to just come here and explain, let him face the Rules Committee, because this is a constitutional matter; it is a serious matter of national importance,” said Patrick Oshabe.
Bugabula South County MP, Maurice Kibalya, remarked “there are things we can allow to be taken for granted but not manipulating the budget, we can’t have the budget that we debated and approved only for the minister to come on the last day to fool us.”
Kadaga noted that this was a unique case saying that for long time, the Minister’s speech delivered on the budget day has been in agreement with Parliament’s approved budget.
She advised that Parliament will base on the minister’s statement to decide if he should appear before the Committee on Rules.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We shall tax foriegn competition - Museveni

Government of Uganda will encourage and promote import substitution as well as emphasize export promotion, in a bid to improve economic growth, according to President Yoweri Museveni. While speaking to Members of Parliament via a virtual presentation at State House after the Budget reading, Museveni expressed optimism with the country’s economy despite the effect of the global coronavirus pandemic. We are moving without much input from the outside world and because of that, we are going to be very strict with import substitution. I am glad the Minister of Finance has talked of putting a tax on imported items which we can make here,” said Museveni. He said this would promote industrialization that would increase on value addition and manufacture of goods locally that can be marketed through a comprehensive national export promotion strategy. The President also said Uganda’s exports were performing well, highlighting coffee where the country currently exports 7 million bags ...
Post a Comment
Read more

State house of Kenya Confirms Four Covid-19 cases

Four people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at State House, Nairobi. According to State House spokesperson Kanze Dena, the four cases were recorded during a mass COVID-19 testing held on Thursday, June 11. The infected officers were admitted at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital in Kiambu County for treatment. “The tests are conducted on all staff including His Excellency the President and members of his family,” said Kanze Dena, in a statement. “Families and close contacts of the affected officers are also being attended to accordingly.” The State House spokesperson has assured the public that President Uhuru Kenyatta and the First Family are safe and free from COVID-19. Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 infections in Kenya on Monday rose to 3,727 after 133 more patients tested positive for the disease. Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, speaking in Nyandarua on a tour of the county’s health facilit...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hipipo Music Award 2020 to be held on the 29th May 2020.

Since the government’s directives to cub the spread of COVID-19 speaks against public gathering, the HIPIPO music Award finale that was earlier on schedule for 16th March, 2020 at Serena Hotel, Kampala Will now be held on the 29th May 2020. This time its going to be a live virtual events awarding winners in over 40 HiPipo music categories across Africa as voted by the fans. The event Will have top notch performance from Sheebah karungi, Kenneth Mugabi, Rođen Y, Triplets ghetto kids, Kian Banks, Triple S and many others. The event is said to be live on HiPipo official Facebook page on Friday 29th, May, 2020 at 8:00pm of which it Will later be uploaded on HiPipo’s Youtube account and other media Platforms and everyone Will enjoy from the comfort of their homes. https://www.facebook.com/156998022354/posts/10161369379872355/?app=fbl
Post a Comment
Read more