Kira Municipality lawmaker Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has criticised Minister of State for Finance Henry Musasizi, warning him and other ministers against a governance strategy comparable to operating a mobile money kiosk in the Owino market.
Ssemujju’s fury came as a result that during the Thursday plenary, Minister Musasizi tabled a supplementary of Shs288.624Bn schedule for which; Shs132.634Bn meant for the purchase of shares in the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) by the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), while Shs152Bn is intended for the construction of the Hoima City Stadium by National Council of Sports in preparation for the 2027 African Cup of Nations.
Although the House approved it, Ssemujju attacked the Minister and accused the government of exhibiting a high level of fiscal indiscipline by running the national budget through supplementary budgets, saying that had he been the President of Uganda, most of the Ministers involved in these kiosks like supplementary budgets would be serving jail term at Luzira Maximum Prison.
“The Auditor General speaks about supplementary budgets and says that ‘Continued approval of supplementary budgets without a corresponding increase in revenue finance could be attributed to fiscal indiscipline which leads to increased funding gap affecting the earlier budget items.’ He warns that each time we pass a supplementary we give, ministers to remove money from the budget items to their priorities,” he said.
He added; “Budgeting through supplementary is a fiscal indiscipline and people a running this country like a kiosk that every week we pass a supplementary! What has happened in the last 10 days that you didn’t know there would be a need to construct a stadium or to acquire equity in a pipeline because we passed a supplementary just 10 days ago, now you come trafficking another one
If I was in charge, I would send all Ministers to Luzira, 10days ago we passed a supplementary, then after you came with another one, saying wait, we have another one, and you are my Ministers, each one of you would be in Luzira, that is where the warrant of detention will find you,” he said.
However, Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka interjected and defended the minister alluding that the issue of EACOP was unforeseeable because the financing model was clearly to be done by other partners. Unfortunately, because of the change in the world order and economic setting, Uganda has been required to put in equity. He explained that this wasn’t known at the time the budget was passed the past budget.
The Attorney General added, “On AFCON, actually communication coming from my office, the contracts are available for me to sign and I am requiring the Ministry of Education and Sports to show me the source of funds before that contract can be signed. If Parliament is happy to wait, until next financial year, we will lose timelines as far as the deadline to meet that, unfortunately for me, the law to approve a contract for signing without knowing the source of funds.”
Despite the Attorney General’s justifications, the present Parliament has repeatedly accepted many supplemental budgets, revealing obvious shortcomings among ministers and within the planning and budgetary offices of multiple ministries. This pattern raises questions about accountability and efficiency within Uganda’s governmental structure and highlights systemic issues in fiscal planning and execution.