Parliament’s budget committee has dismissed a supplementary budget proposal worth 288 billion shillings, forwarded to them by the Speaker. The committee members refused to consider the proposal, deeming it illegally submitted.
The supplementary budget was presented without the required approval from Parliament, intended to augment the previously approved supplementary schedules 1 and 2 totaling 4.593 trillion shillings.
Legislators on the committee demanded an explanation from the chairperson regarding the legality of the Speaker’s referral. They pointed out that, according to parliamentary rules, only business referred by the full house should be considered by the committee.
“Mr. Chairman, business to this committee is only referred by the house. The speaker is not the house and cannot act outside the rules,” asserted Ssemujju Nganda, MP for Kira Municipality.
Following consultations, the committee chair declared the supplementary request as unauthorized, or “smuggled.”
“It will be illegal for this committee to start processing this supplementary request until it becomes business of the House. The House will then decide either to process it there or delegate it to this committee,” remarked Isiagi Opolot, the committee chair.
The supplementary budget aimed to allocate funds to several entities: 152 billion shillings for the National Council of Sports, 132.634 billion shillings for the Uganda National Oil Company, 2.5 billion shillings for the Uganda Blood Transfusion Service, and 1.49 billion shillings for the Uganda embassy in Geneva.
Ssemujju Nganda, the shadow finance minister, highlighted inconsistencies, questioning the feasibility of absorbing the funds so close to the end of the financial year.
“It is going to be very difficult for anyone to absorb this money because government procedures intended to protect taxpayers’ money are too procedural. With only 20 days to one month left in the financial year, you can’t fulfill any of the requirements, not even procurement,” Nganda noted.
The funds, according to the minister’s statement, were to be drawn from the petroleum fund, which currently holds up to 400 billion shillings.
In a surprising twist, the committee reversed its earlier decision, deciding to illegally consider the supplementary expenditure that was not referred by the house. The supplementary request is now set to be tabled before Parliament on May 16.
