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By Julius Mugaga/ KMA Updates.
K ampala, Uganda: CSOs Retreat for three days at Esella Country Hotel in Kira, Wakiso to Generate Position Papers on the Ministerial Statement for the 2022/2023 National Budget.
Albert Siminyu Country Director Action Against Hunger USA-Uganda Mission speaks at the opening of the CSOs Retreat to give positions on the Ministerial Policy Statement at Esella Country Hotel, Najjera
While giving his remarks at the official opening of the retreat, Albert Siminyu, the Country Director Action Against Hunger USA- Uganda Mission posed a challenge to CSOs in as regards to their contribution after all in the development programmes of the government. He says, many times CSOs have failed to answer the question of their contribution.
“The government has always appreciated our proposals but they have questioned us that what is your contribution after all” Siminyu says.
He therefore asked CSOs to look into the projects they are already implementing to answer this question as some of them are in line with the government’s development agenda.
He informed thed them that in the recent engagements with Ministry of local government, CSOs were recognized as strategic partners in the implementation of the Parish Development Model so time for them to work to work around that to realize its aspirations and broader aspirations of national development.
He posed a need for CSOs to work together in some special areas of strengthening food security, health systems, poverty alleviation nutrition and others.
Development Plan Implementation Programme thematic CSOs position on the Ministerial Policy Statement for FY 2022/23.
A drop in teacher numbers to handle schooling post COVID-19, According to a report by National Planning Authority on Safe Reopening of Schools (August, 2021), many teachers have changed profession and are likely not to return to teaching after engaging in more lucrative commercial activities.
These believe that this can be harmonized by tracking fast the validation exercise by the education service commission as this remains critical to inform in teachers that should be budgeted for also that Local Governments should as well be facilitated within the budget to conduct the same exercise for primary schools. 
Members of CSOs attends to presentations during the CSOs Retreat to give their positions on the Ministerial Policy Statement of FY 2022/23 at Esella Country Hotel, Najjera.Photo by Julius Mugaga/KMA Updates.
Members of CSOs attends to presentations during the CSOs Retreat to give their positions on the Ministerial Policy Statement of FY 2022/23 at Esella Country Hotel, Najjera.
Members of CSOs attends to presentations during the CSOs Retreat to give their positions on the Ministerial Policy Statement of FY 2022/23 at Esella Country Hotel, Najjera.Photo by Julius Mugaga/KMA Updates.
Escalated number of child mothers many of whom have likely not returned to school. The prolonged closure of schools subjected the girl child to high levels of sexual abuse resulting in increase in teenage pregnancy by 23 percent. These believe this could be solved by ensuring adequate recruitment of senior women teachers and increasing Budget for psycho socio support to teenage mothers.
Private schools struggling financially, Options that won’t drain resources from the budget that would have otherwise catered to public schools were highly dwelled on to handle the Impact of COVID 19 on private schools for example Private schools tapping into the credit relief by Government for to boost liquidity of private schools and UDB increasing the proportion of relief Funds for the Education sub program from current 2%.
Inadequate funding for School Inspection and monitoring – Education Policy Review Commission costs have not been funded. The First Lady/Minister of Education and Sports instituted the Education Policy Review Commission to investigate several issues within the sector and thereafter generate recommendations – The commission should be furnished with the Shs 12 Bn in costs that is needed to exercise its obligation.
Training of teachers in the new lower secondary school curriculum still lagging – It is however of concern that only 548 teachers have yet been trained as of 2021 according to data from the ministerial policy statement. As for the coming financial year, funding has only been provided for training 500 more teachers; these say the ministry should step-up funding for the training exercise.
Development Plan Implementation Programme thematic CSOs position on the Ministerial Policy Statement for FY 2022/23.
This CSO position paper on the Development Plan Implementation Programme position on the Ministerial Policy Statement FY 2022/23 was developed through a participatory process involving Uganda National NGO Forum with technical guidance and stewardship from CSBAG secretariat and the following concerns were cited out;
Poor Public Debt Management. Large public debt stock constrains Government’s ability and effectiveness to finance the implementation and management of policy initiatives. The Auditor General’s report (FY 2020/2021) revealed that public debt has continued to rise from UGX 33,509 Billion in FY 2016/17 to UGX 69,600 Billion in FY 2020/21
These task Government to effectively implement critical poverty-reducing initiatives, implement more growth-enhancing spending and tax reforms that promote investment and revenue mobilization to avail resources for service delivery in an effort to promote socio-economic growth.
Poor Public Investment Management, Uganda’s public infrastructure projects are largely funded by external donors which necessitates the need to have an effective and efficient Public Investments Management System (PIMS).
The require Ministry of Finance needs to establish the source of funding to mitigate non-compliance of remission of funds to the Project Preparation Fund. This fund will ensure that projects are prepared in advance ready for financing and Explore the possibility of earmarking a percentage of resources for the PPF in addition to enactment of A legal framework on PIMs by Parliament.
Large amounts of Unaccounted for Funds, According to the Auditor General’s Report for 2021 revealed that accounting entities delayed accountability of UGX.3.37Bn paid out for implementation of various activities in the LGs by the end of FY 2020/21 which is contrary to Section 43(2) of the of the Local Governments Financial and Accounting Regulations, 2007 which require administrative advances to council employees to be authorized by the executive and accounted for within a month and the Public Finance and Accounting Regulations, 2016.
In this, they require Parliaments need to summon the PS/ST to compel accounting officers to provide proper accountabilities as condition by the law and to ensure that such errant Officers are called to account accordingly.
Inadequate Preparation for the Parish Development Model Implementation, According to National Budget Framework Paper FY2022/23, UGX 465.48 billion is being earmarked for operationalization of the financial inclusion pillar (NBFP, FY 2022/23). We note that under Pillar 3 of the PDM on financial inclusion, Enterprise Uganda is the leading agency tasked to provide business development services.
But under this pillar, they find (Entrepreneurship skills training centred on profitability(‘Ekibalo’), Enterprise identification and selection, business planning, time management, business modelling, business management, risk management, mastering the numbers, bookkeeping, goal setting, implementation).
These say such services need to be provided to different enterprise groups in the 10,954 parishes and 2,148 sub-counties across the country however they are concerned about the capacity of Enterprise Uganda to provide Business Development Services since its physical coverage is thin on ground and staffing is low to meet this huge demand and the assignment looks overwhelming.
Government needs to identify other private sector players like CSOs to supplement Enterprise Uganda on the assignment to fill in the gap.
Petroleum, Energy and Mining thematic CSOs position on the Ministerial Policy Statement for FY 2022/23.
The thematic group on Petroleum, Energy and Mining sector highlight that while the Mineral Development Program is prioritized under NDPlll as one of the key growth areas for industrialization through value addition, there is no corresponding financing in the budget to achieve these aspirations.
They informed that Uganda has significant deposits of commercially recoverable quantities of precious minerals like gold which are not yet exploited, or indeed are being exploited with the knowledge of government and say it is important for ascertaining the quantities of minerals being got from several mines across the country.
These came up with different key concerns in associated with the three sectors which include;
Petroleum Sector
Escalating Fuel Pump Prices. From December 2021, fuel pump prices have continued to rise unabated at an average of UGX4,420 and UGX4,150 by December 2021, respectively now at an average of UGX5,195 for petrol and UGX4,500 for diesel as affects all economic sectors including commodity prices, yet the rise in costs is not matched by an equal rise in earnings.
These believe Government needs to retain some level of control in order to regulate fuel businesses by, for example, routinely setting up fuel price ceilings and supporting UNOC to establish pump stations across the country that offer competitive fuel pump prices.
Lack of sufficient Fuel Stocks. Having fuel reserves stocked at specific locations is a good strategy to stabilize the country’s economy and security. Uganda currently relies on fuel stocks in the fuel storage facilities controlled by government in Jinja and other privately owned facilities but these reserves are very low.
These ask government to fast-track the completion of the Nakasongala depot to complement the existing fuel storage infrastructure, develop policy and legislation to guide and govern fuel reserves in the country and determine a threshold for fuel stocks in the country that should maintained at all times.
On the Energy Sector
There is fragmentation of the energy sector by different institution which are playing duplicated roles, generation, transmission, distribution, UMEME, Escom, and each with a vote but these need to merged since most of them play relatively same roles.
High tariffs for electricity as the current domestic tariffs are 21 US cents kW as this hampers investment and also leads to environmental degradations since people may resort to fuel energy like wood and others so government should lower the tariff to 6 Us Cents kWh
Unclear government definition of program to clean energy and they recommend that structures under construction should incorporate solar energy.
There is misleading definition of access to electricity which is based on transmission lines according to Ministry of Energy yet there is limited household connectivity as currently, electricity connectivity stands at 57% of which 19% is in the grid and 38% is off-grid.
Customers meeting the cost for connectivity but there would be free Electricity Connections as currently it is the individual customer who meets the costs of being connected to electricity to average cost of UGX.2.5m for a connection that requires one pole connection.
These propose that Government should offer connectivity to the consumers at free cost in lieu of the land offered as way-leave. This will encourage power uptake and coverage in Uganda.
There is limited expansion of the transmission line as current number of consumers connected is still low as of the FY 2020/21 the number of customers connected to the National electricity grid is 1,657,178 compared to the National population (8.8m households), which is equivalent to 18.8% grid power connectivity (actual grid power access .
So they propose to Government to expand the power distribution to enhance coverage and utility and therefore offset the cost of deemed energy.
Postponed Electricity Connections Policy 2018. These say Government commissioned an Electricity Connections Policy in 2018 under the Rural Electricity Agency (REA) that is aimed at increasing the number of customers connected to the power supply from the annual average of 70,000 to 300,000 customers so there should be the revival of the implementation of the Electricity Connections Policy 2018 as government works towards free electricity connections.
On Mining Sector
Ban on Exportation of Unprocessed Minerals:
Currently there is a ban on exportation of unprocessed minerals so they seek that the ban should be selectively suspended on export of unprocessed minerals until government and private sector are in position to process and add value to the minerals in Uganda.
Critical Minerals. Different stakeholders classify certain minerals as “critical” depending on demand and availability so they propose that studies be undertaken to ascertain the mineral reserves of critical minerals of national and international interest.
Meagre Budget for Mineral Development Program. While mineral development is an important priority in the NDPIII, the program is allocated a very small proportion (0.1%) of the total budget for NDPIII so they believe its budgetary allocations should be increased in order to realize the development aspirations of the country.
Limited number of Mining Inspectors. The number of Mines Inspectors in Uganda is small to satisfy the needs of the sector and they recommend that more would be trained and recruited at national and local government level.
Limited Workforce Skills Development. Skilling of Ugandans in Petroleum, energy and mining sectors including entities on Uganda national supplier data base on how to offer goods and services to the sectors needs to be done and a similar workforce skills development strategy and plan for the energy and mineral sectors needs to be developed.
Unclear Uganda National Mining Company (UNMC) .The formation of Uganda National Mining Company (UNMC) was inspired by lessons from the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) so there is need to;
Fast-track the formation of the UNMC, Complete development of regulations for the UNMC including guiding documents, strategy and development plans, Decide on the financing mechanism of the UNMC.
Disaster and Risk Response position on the Ministerial Policy Statement for FY 2022/23.
It is well known that disasters undermine- development given the effects they have on economies and individuals, we call for disaster risk reduction mainstreaming into government policies, plans and programmes. Uganda faced multiple humanitarian crises between 2019 and 2020, including refugee influxes, disease outbreaks and meteorological disasters. Disasters hinder progress towards development and affect many aspects of wellbeing.
So they following issues were cited out and they believe if taught there could be a sustainable management of disasters in the country;
Inconsistencies in the operationalization of the Contingencies fund. The Public Finance Management Act, (PFM Act, 2015 as amended) establishes for a Contingency Fund to respond to unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure, including natural disasters. Section 26(i) provides for replenishment of the Contingencies fund with an amount equivalent to 0.5% of the appropriated annual budget of Government of the previous financial year.
Recommendation: Underfunding the Contingencies Fund tends to distorts implementation of the approved budget for the current year as evidenced by requests and approval of supplementary funding relating to natural disasters and emergencies. Government should secure and explore ways of ring- fencing the funds meant for the Contingencies fund especially approving the new disaster risk reduction and management bill.
Weak legal framework to manage natural disasters, The complexity of disaster induced problems require a comprehensive and coordinated disaster management policy and legislation. The absence of a law has created a big gap yet the National Disaster Preparedness and Management Policy provides a basis for the formulation of a Comprehensive Disaster Management legal framework.
They therefore recommend that the OPM develop a roadmap with a budget for development of the National Disaster Preparedness management Bill. Recommendation: OPM needs to expedite on the process of development of the National Disaster Preparedness and Management Bill such that the responsible MDAs have legal mandate on disaster preparedness and response.
Ineffective Early Warning Data Dissemination. They say, Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) as a responsible entity for establishing and maintaining weather and climate observing stations network, collection, manuals, and production of weather and climate information, (including warnings/advisories) to support social and economic development has not done enough to effect this.
So they propose that Government through Office of the Prime Minister needs to increase availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems to the very lower local government structures and disaster risk information to mitigate losses due to disasters.
UNMA needs enhance mechanisms of Disseminating of early warning information to the very lower local government structures where disasters occasionally strike in the country.
Limited capacity of Disaster Risk Response so they recommend that Office of the Prime Minister that is Mandated to handle issues of disaster Management need to support the lower Local Government in building orienting and operationalizing them to ensure they are able to conduct assessment, collect disaster data and report timely.
Poor coordination of disaster response among Different agencies of government and other humanitarian actors was also cited out and they say There is need to strengthen coordination and engagement amongst all partners and the government. In addition, there is need for clarity on the responsibilities of OPM department of Refugees and the LGs.
Agro-industrialization position on the Ministerial Policy Statement for FY 2022/23.
Agricultural Sector carries vital significance to the growth of Ugandan economy as Vision 2040 indicates that the sector has the potential to transform the country to middle income status within 30 years country but the issues below need to be tackled to enhance this;
Limited access to agricultural extension services . These believe that adequate extension service delivery is pivotal to increasing agricultural production and productivity because actualizing the goal of Parish Development Model needs a robust extension service delivery system, the system currently operates at a ratio of 1:1800 as opposed to global bench mark of 1:500 therefore there should be recruit of more extensionists and Retool extension workers.
Limited access to Water for agricultural Production. They commend Government for introducing the Parish Development Model as a delivery approach for transitioning households out of subsistence to income economy but argue that Government allocates UGX 5Bn to recruit more extension engineers at district local governments to address the current staffing gap for easy decentralization of irrigation and water for agriculture production services to farmers and enhance operation and maintenance of water for agricultural facilities.
Limited access to affordable agricultural finance. They believe that access to affordable credit is essential to promote agriculture transformation from majorly subsistence to agro-business, export trade, and more profitable agricultural enterprises.
So they seek relevant MDAs (MAAIF, MOFPED, BOU, UDB, MTIC) should fast track the NDPIII intervention of revising the Agricultural credit Facility (ACF) to fund all levels of the agriculture value chains and Recapitalize the ACF (and the Grain Trade Facility) by UGX.150Bn as recommended in the Agro-industrialization program Costed Implementation in FY2022/23.
Limited access to Market, They realize that there are key areas which are not funded for example; trade negotiations which are key to ensure market access, there is a gap in the planned and established Common User facilities; commercial; attachees who are critical in providing market intelligence; and the cooperatives which are equally critical when it comes to production.
They cited that in the NBFP, government has provided resources to UDC to establish more agro based industries yet the already established factories are operating below capacity so they recommend that the earmarked resources be used to support the existing factories to run under full capacity so as to deliver on their mandate in addition, Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB) should be adequately supported to provide timely market information.