Use commonsense in budgeting decisions, Museveni slams Parliament

In his  June 22 letter accompanying the returned Appropriation Bill, 2024, Mr Museveni accused MPs of sabotage and interfering with his duties of budgeting for Uganda

In a strongly worded letter to Parliament which some legislators have considered harsh and a form of blackmail, President Museveni has condemned the actions of Members of Parliament who reallocated funds to a tune of Shs750 billion from core sectors of the economy to other areas like health, schools, among others.

In his  June 22 letter accompanying the returned Appropriation Bill, 2024, Mr Museveni accused MPs of sabotage and interfering with his duties of budgeting for Uganda, saying that in four years, Parliament has reallocated over Shs3 trillion.

The President's letter highlights the severe implications of this financial reshuffling, describing it as a direct sabotage of national priorities.

Mr Museveni equated this diversion to aborting the construction of nine major roads similar to the Kampala-Masaka Road, which cost Shs440 billion.

Such actions, he argues, undermine the country's infrastructure development and economic progress.

"This is a real sabotage," railed the President. "When we reconstructed Kampala-Masaka Road, we used Shs440 billion, therefore, diverting the Shs3.1 trillion, in four years, is equivalent to aborting nine big roads of the Kampala-Masaka type or a much larger number of the smaller roads,’ part of the letter from Museveni reads."

The President said both the Attorney General and the courts have previously provided guidance on this issue on reallocation.

"There are three mistakes involved here these are; indiscipline in budgeting, sabotaging the national priorities and now, the suspicion of massive corruption. I am therefore writing to request that this practice stops accordingly,” he said in the rant.

Citing Article 91(3)(c) of the 1995 Constitution, the President announced his decision to decline assent to the Appropriation Bill, 2024.

He emphasised that any reshuffling of the budget should involve the input of the Executive, highlighting the need for both legal compliance and common sense in budgeting decisions.

The President criticised the MPs for using Budget reallocations to gain popularity in their constituencies at the expense of national interests.

"Apart from the legality and the constitutionality of the issues involved, there is no commonsense," he said.

"Sprinkling money by MPs to get cheap popularity in their constituencies will make us lose the focus on the core items. How can patriots be part of these mistakes?" Mr Museveni asks.

The President called for an immediate halt to this practice, urging MPs to focus on the nation's core priorities.

He questioned the patriotism of those involved in these budgetary missteps, calling for a renewed commitment to the country's development goals.

This confrontation between the Executive and Parliament over budgetary control has brought to light significant issues of governance. MPs have raised concern over the tone of the President in the letter.

They say, the President's tone and language are concerning, as they reveal a desire to undermine the independence of Parliament and consolidate power.

By characterising the MPs' actions as sabotage, was the President attempting to intimidate and bully Parliament into submission?

Even when the Constitution is clear: institutions must function independently, doesn’t Parliament have the authority to make decisions on budget allocations?

“The strongest justification for not sending this bill to the Budget Committee is that there is a very serious allegation of grave corruption of the budget Committee," MP Jonathan Odur argued on the floor of Parliament.

"And the wording of the President’s letter that specifically mentions allegations of corruption and he isn’t doing it for the first time, when he came to pay tribute to the late Cecilia Ogwal, he accused Parliament, in your presence that the Parliament is corrupt. When we went for State of Nation Address he said that, on Budget day, he said that. And in the letter, the accusation is on all members of the Budget Committee."

However, the legislators coiled their tails before the plenary sitting was adjourned to July 23.

Parliament was hastily reconvened from a recess they had only taken abruptly to attend to the Appropriation Bill per the President's demands after he refused to assent to it yet the financial year had already taken off.

But the reconsidering of the bill left many questions lingering on people’s minds. By heeding to the president’s call; and legislators finally reconsidering budget according to the president’s demands, hasn’t Parliament failed to stand firm and assert its authority?

Wasn't this a missed opportunity to fail to push back and not kowtow to the whims of the President?usasizi.