Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, on Wednesday, said the primary objective of the budget month activities is to account to the people who pay taxes.
He was speaking as chief guest at the launch of the budget month exhibition, which brought together over 200 government entities and civil society, at Kololo Independence grounds, in Kampala.
Rugunda said through such exhibitions, government brings together the participation of citizens in the budget process making.
“The role of my office is to coordinate the various government Ministries and Agencies to ensure service delivery is guaranteed”, he said.
He said government has made tremendous strides in generation of electricity, provision of universal healthcare, education and agriculture among others.
He pointed out that government is committed to make interventions aimed at increasing economic growth by enhancing agriculture production, productivity and agro-processing; Investment in physical and social infrastructure, to reduce the cost of doing business, facilitate trade and export, tourism and improve social service delivery and Industrialisation to speed up economic transformation.
Matia Kasaija, the minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development said; over the years, government has engaged in activities aimed at promoting budget transparency, through increased citizens’ interactions and engagements.
He said the objective of these initiatives is to increase citizen’s participation in the development of their country, through paying taxes and monitoring the use of public resources in the delivery of public services. He commended Uganda’s budget, saying Uganda was ranked as the second best country in Africa under the Open Budget Index in 2017, after South Africa.
Julius Mukunda from the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) called on government to address salary inequality challenges. He said there is need for a salary commission to be set up, under the Ministry of Public service, to review salaries of civil servants.
