The Minister of State for Finance (General Duties), Henry Musasizi
Government through the Ministry of Finance on 24th June 2025 tabled before Parliament a proposal to borrow up to US$20million (UGX70,379,786,000) from the Arab Bank for Economic Development of Africa (BADEA) to finance the rehabilitation, expansion and equipping of Bugiri General Hospital. However, it has now emerged that out of the UGX70.4bn, Government plans to spend UGX2Bn on holding of meetings and seminars, while UGX200Million has been earmarked for the construction of a generator house.
Isingiro South MP, Alex Byarugaba, made the revelation during a meeting held between the Ministry of Finance and Parliament’s National Economy Committee, who tasked fellow MPs to take interest in the unit costs attached to items that accompany the loan requests.
“The unit costs, can you imagine, Honourable Minister (Henry Musasizi), yesterday we were looking at a loan for rehabilitation and construction of this hospital, Bugiri Hospital, and you know what, they were saying they want UGX2Bn for seminars and workshops. Rehabilitation of a hospital, to launch that project, they wanted two billion; to build a guard house as you enter the hospital, a generator house. This man is looking for two hundred million Ugandans,” said Byarugaba.
The consideration of the Bugiri loan comes at the time when the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday tabled three loan proposals in which Government is seeking Parliament’s approval to borrow over UGX1.418Trn to construct and equip Mbale and Arua Oncology centres, construction of Busega-Mpigi Expressway and boost livestock farming in Uganda.
To finance the UGX72.376Trn national budget for 2025/26, Government intends to borrow UGX32.075Trn which is equivalent to 44.3% of the national budget while UGX34.051Trn will be raised through tax revenue collections by Uganda Revenue Authority, thus accounting for 47% of the total budget requirements.
