Mayor Vincent Kayanja DePaul has officially declared that Entebbe Municipal Council is headed for tough times after Bank Of Uganda (BOU) through Ministry of Finance failed to remit their Shs7.9 Billion that was approved by Entebbe Municipal Council for the financial year 2019/2020.
According to Mayor Kayanja who also doubles as the Secretary For Finance, the locally raised revenue for the financial year 2018/19 was UGX. 5.7Billion and the approved local revenue for 2019/2020 was UGX. 7.9Billion and the increment of 39.5 Percent in the projected local revenue included the one off compensation to Entebbe Municipal Council from Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) of UGX. 2.2Billion which was allocated to the development projects as per approved budget.
Out of the approved local revenue Budget of UGX.7.9Billion, only UGX.3.07Billion (38.5%) was appropriated by parliament to be uploaded onto the program Budgeting system (PBS). This arrangement disregards the remaining Budget of locally raised revenue to a tune of UGX.4.9Billion (61.5%) resulting in a 92.2% cut on recurrent revenue Budget, revealed Mayor Kayanja during a council sitting on Tuesday.
According to the new policy, the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), all Municipal Councils and district local governments are supposed to forward their approved budgets and Locally raised revenue to the Ministry of Finance to be scrutinized and thereafter, the locally raised revenue together with the budget are remitted back to the respective Municipal Councils and district local government accounts. However, out of the UGX.5.3Billion that Ministry of Finance had been approved to be remitted to Entebbe Municipal Council, only UGX.417million was remitted for the FY2019/2020 and as a result, we are unable to operate as a municipal Council, Mayor Kayanja added.
Mayor Kayanja also disclosed that all political leaders from different local governments (Municipal councils and District councils) under the Uganda Local Governments Association (ULGA), met the Parliamentary committee on Public Service over the abnormal budget cuts and that they were given documents from Ministry of Finance, indicating the initial submission of local revenue by all local Governments in Uganda totaling to 182 billion and a corresponding appropriation of 182 billion.
When you go to individual local governments, there is a big discrepancy where Municipal and district councils were appropriated funds from other Local Governments. A case in point is Kikube District which submitted 836million but was given an appropriation of 4.5 billion, Kitagwenda District submitted 221million and was appropriated 1.3billion, Kabale Municipal Council submitted 2 billion and was appropriated 7.7billion , Iganga Municipal Council submitted 799million and was appropriated 4.6 billion, Mayor Kayanja disclosed.
Could The Budget Cuts Be Politically Motivated?
According to Mayor Kayanja, most municipal and district councils country wide have been affected by the abnormal budget cuts and there could be fears that the move is politically motivated to sabotage some municipal and district councils so as to fund Municipal and district councils and other newly created districts and local government councils that are NRM strongholds.
The local revenue that Entebbe Municipal Council collected in the FY2018/19 should be used to benefit the people of Entebbe through effective service delivery and not be diverted to other municipal councils and districts. We have fears that it could be a political move intended to sabotage the various Municipal and district councils to use their locally generated revenue to fund other Municipal councils, district councils and other newly created districts that are NRM Strongholds. This is the first time we are experiencing such a situation and several other Municipal and District councils have also been affected and to make matters worse, we were not given prior notification about the budget cuts and we are wondering why now, stressed Mayor Kayanja.
If Ministry of Finance doesn’t sort out the issues before August ends, then we shall have no option but to tell our business operators in Entebbe to stop paying revenue because it isn’t benefiting them. Because of the abnormal budget cuts, we aren’t able to deliver services such as garbage collection, provide health services, carry out community based programs and also pay salaries and allowances for different Municipal Council staff and councilors, stressed Mayor Kayanja.
What Next?
All the councilors together with Mayor Kayanja unanimously agreed during the council sitting on Tuesday to write a protest letter to the Permanent secretary Ministry of Finance Keith Muhakanizi expressing their discontentment and frustration towards the budget cuts. The councilors and Mayor Kayanja also unanimously agreed to petition the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga over the abnormal budget cuts. The angry councilors urged Entebbe Municipality MP Rose Tumusiime to fast track the petition.
