Parliament
has approved 1.6 trillion shillings supplementary budget request by government
for the current financial year 2018/2019. Part of the money will cater for the
on-going President Yoweri Museveni’s countrywide tour on wealth creation.
The approved Supplementary is in addition to the current 2018/2019 budget of
32.7 trillion shillings that was approved by parliament last year.
The approval during the plenary session chaired by Deputy Speaker Jacob
Oulanyah followed a presentation of a report by parliament’s Budget Committee
Chairperson Amos Lugoloobi approving the funding and a minority report by
Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal and Butambala County MP Muwanga Kivumbi objecting
to the funds.
In his report to parliament, Lugoloobi noted different supplementary requests
by government part of which is a Shillings 33.28 billion for State House of
which 15.7 billion is Classified Expenditure, Shillings 17 billion for field
operations, accommodation and feeding of the team accompanying President
Museveni on the countrywide tour and others.
Lugoloobi appealed to parliament to approve the funds.
Despite an approval of the majority report, MPs Ogwal and Kivumbi, in
particular, appealed to parliament not to okay the supplementary funding for
State House saying that the continuous supplementary requests were soiling the
presidency also noting that the said wealth creation tour was purely
political.
Ogwal also said that the intents of the supplementary budget were foreseeable
and therefore do not qualify for supplementary funding.
Kivumbi also alleged that part of the funds requested were meant to pay off
suppliers and arrears accumulated during the recent National Resistance
Movement (NRM) parliamentary caucus meeting in Kyankwanzi that endorsed
President Yoweri Museveni as the party’s sole candidate in the coming 2021
polls.
“We are still advising that the Fountain of Honour should separate his
chairmanship of NRM as a party and being the President of Uganda. His
activities of NRM should be divorced from the budget. It should be separated
from the Office of President.” said Kivumbi.
However, the State Minister for Finance in-charge of Planning, David Bahati
together with Sate Minister for Housing, Chris Baryomunsi defended the
supplementary request for President Museveni’s Wealth creation tours saying the
tours are only meant to sensitize masses about wealth creation and that during
these meetings, members come out and endorse the President as sole candidate
which they have no control over.
Opposition Chief Whip, Ibrahim Ssemujju asked NRM MPs not to pretend that the
President is not campaigning saying that the fact remains he is using public
resources to campaign.
Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa also attacked Opposition MPs saying that
they were also using their positions of incumbency to disadvantage their
political opponents.
After the heated debate, Deputy Speaker Oulanyah put a question to the
requested supplementary budget and the majority MPs approved the request.
-URN
