Parliament on Friday suspended its rules of procedure and hurriedly passed the budget providing a total of 11.4 trillion shillings as government expenditure for the financial year 2012/2013.
Parliament has finally agreed to end the debate on the budget after a three-week standoff over a 39.2 billion shillings additional funding to the health sector.
Parliament has for the past three weeks been battling with cabinet over an additional 39 billion shillings to the health sector, cutting it from the defence and electoral commission budgets.
The passing of the 2012/2013 budget on Tuesday hit a snag after parliament and cabinet disagreed again on the source of 39.2 billion shillings for health workers.
Legislators from the ruling NRM party are promising not to change goal posts on additional funding for the health sector as they prepare to meet President Museveni.
While parliament pushes for the reallocation of 39.2 billion shillings to the health sector, cabinet is uncomfortable saying this could cripple critical sectors.
The Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs has today noted that the escalating cost of living is adversely eroding the meager salaries paid to the Uganda Police personnel.
As the new financial year begins Hoima residents want the district to allocate more money towards fixing the poor roads in the area. Hoima district local government on Friday laid before Council its 2012/13 financial year budget totaling to 19 billion shillings.
President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday used his address during the Budget presentation to warn political leaders and civil servants to stop frustrating investors and consumers. Museveni referred to the two groups as the most significant in economic development of a country.
Education sector takes the largest share of the 2012/2013 budget with close to one thousand seven hundred billion shillings allocated to it in the coming financial year. Part of the money will see primary teachers’ salaries increased.
The 2012/2013 budget has attracted mixed reactions from legislators and policy makers in the country; with some saying it is pro-poor while others observe that the budget will oppress the poor.
The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Maria Kiwanuka on Thursday presented the 2012/2013 financial year budget, putting more emphasis on what she calls priority sectors including Education, Roads, Energy, Agriculture, Water and Health.
In his State of the Nation address in Kampala, Museveni said that Salons were growing by 9.6 percent in Uganda and yet the Agriculture, a critical sector for an agro-based economy like Uganda, was only growing at 1.4 percent. He referred to such a growth as a paradox that should be changed because the fast growing sectors were not bringing in a lot of money in revenue to government.
With the next financial year just three weeks away, a Makerere University don has advised that the best the government can do to boost the flagging economy is to stop dishing out investment incentives and tax exemptions and encourage production.
