Tempers flared between backbench MPS and the Executive when Parliament reconvened on yesterday to consider the Appropriations Bill 2024.
The speaker of Parliament, Annet Anita Among recalled the legislators from recess to reconsider the Appropriations Bill 2024.
While the Parliament had approved the Bill in mid-May, President Museveni refused to assent to it protesting the fact that the Parliament had made a reallocation to the budget to the tune of over 750 billion shillings.
The President in the opening paragraph of his letter to the Speaker of Parliament highlighted what he described as a “mistake” of MPS interfering with the constitutional mandate of the President in budgeting for the country by reallocating money for core sectors of the economy.
Museveni in a letter dated June 22nd that in the last four financial years, the MPS have reallocated a total of Ug. Shs. 3.7 trillion noting that this is real sabotage.
The president’s letter referred to the arrest of three Members of Parliament accused of asking for a kickback from the Uganda Human Rights Commission Chairperson, Mariam Wangadya. Museveni said he had raised the matter of MPS shuffling the budget in 2020.
An atmosphere of suspicion hung in the air as the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among steered the House to correct the “anomaly” that had emerged as the executive arm of the government accused the legislature of usurping its role of appropriation.
Anita Among repeatedly said there was not any aspect of corruption related to the way the legislators reallocated the budget.
Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija, moved the motion as per article 91(3) B of the constitution and rule 143 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure. Kasaija had a tough time moving the motion. MPS kept on disrupting him.
With the allegations of corruption during the budgeting process, still fresh, the president’s refusal to assent to the Bill needed to operationalize the 2024/2025 was suspect.
Ibanda North MP, Xavier Akampulira then stood up the Minister was saying the President was not happy.
Akampulira had suggested the President’s compliments to the parliament on the budget day be expunged from the Hansard. The Speaker did not however rule on the matter as she ensured that the House did not turn rowdy.
Matia Kasaija reminded Parliament of Article 156 of the Constitution and Parliament’s Rules of procedure. He said the schedule of the appropriation Bill must contain the allocations as appropriated by the Committee of Supply.
Under normal circumstances, the Speaker of Parliament would have referred the President’s request to the Budget Committee but the rules of Parliament also provide for the House to reconstitute itself into a committee of supply.
The Speaker chose to move to the Committee of Supply as several MPS stood up seeking to interrupt the Minister who was expected to speak to the motion.
Within the Parliament, some MPS were overheard alleging that the Parliament’s budget Committee had turned into a scene of crime.
The Committee chaired by Patrick Isiagi has 66 members including the three who were remanded. The Committee masterminded the reshuffling or alterations of the budget.
Seemingly angered, Patrick Isaigi stood and said “Honorable colleagues let’s be fair to each other.
When you call the budget committee a scene of crime, and corrupt let’s come up clear.
Who does what in the process of budgeting? Let’s remind ourselves of the process of budgeting” Isiagi pleaded.
Some MPS again interrupted him. “Why is it becoming bitter when we are making things clear? “Asked Isiagi as he finally yielded the floor the the State Minister for Finance in charge of General Duties, Henry Musasizi.
Musasizi indeed confirmed that the budget committee had reallocated aspects of the 2024/2025 budget whose Appropriations Bill was endorsed on 16th May 2024.
He confirmed that among the sectors affected was the capitalization of Uganda Development Bank to the tune of 30 billion.
The Ministry of Energy had suffered most of the shifting of its budget. For example, the rural electrification vote had suffered a 15 billion reduction.
Musasizi highlighted several other sectors that had been affected by the actions leading to the president’s refusal to assent to the Appropriation Bill.
It should be noted that money had been shifted to government units like the purchase of tractors to constituencies. That raises the suspicion that the MPS were shifting resources closer to their constituencies.
“As members of Parliament, we are representatives of the people. We are only reviewing what they have presented to us. To remove that money from where we have put as Parliament, it means that we are useless actually; the budget should have not been brought,” said a female MP.
The speaker insisted that the budgeting process is a consultative one. “We want to know where the money is coming from. And where is going,” Anita Among guided.
As the debate proceeded, it was clear that MPS were about to concede to have the budget revised as per the president’s request.
Kiira MP, Ssemujju Nganda however threw the spanner in the works when he suggested that the 300 billion shillings that the executives asked to be shifted was to be paid to Roko Construction, a local construction firm
Remember this Parliament gave Roko 270 billion. This is a private company,” Ssemujju said.
The Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka told Parliament that the money was in line with a motion by Parliament that the government should buy shares into Roko.
In justifying the shuffling of the budget allocations, Patrick Isaigi said the committee had made the reallocations to cater to what he described as critical “unfunded priorities’
The Committee had made a reallocation of eight billion for the construction of 140 sub-county offices. It had provided 2.5 billion shillings for grant-aiding primary schools, 16.5 billion for grant-aiding secondary schools, and 10 billion shillings for the construction of 13 seed schools.
The Uganda Allied Health Examinations Board will suffer a setback as the Parliament shifted 900 million shillings meant for salaries shifted to its original vote.
The Uganda Nurses Examination Board will not have the two billion shillings meant for monitoring nurses and midwives. Equally Uganda National Examinations Board will not operate as expected as the funds that had been allocated by MPS were reinstated to where they belonged. The Ministry of Health will have fewer ambulances to buy.
The funds that MPS had reallocated 27 billion shillings for the purchase of the ambulances at constituencies will not be available in the budget.
The Ministry of Karamojong will this time around not purchase any iron sheets because the money provided under that reallocation will not be available.
The Committee had provided 8 billion shillings. Prime Minister Robina Nabanja under whose docket the Karamoja is defended the move.
At the end of the debate, all the money that had been reshuffled was reinstated as per the president’s request.
