The opposition on Friday maintained its criticism of this year’s government budget referring to it as consumption rather than a productive and developmental budget.
MPs on Thursday approved a total of 10.4 trillion shillings as the total estimates of incomes and expenditures for the financial year 2011/2012. Government said this year’s budget was reflective of the increased revenue collection in the country, saying the economy was continuing to grow.
But the Opposition Shadow minister of Finance, Geoffrey Ekanya, said the NRM government was allocating money in the wrong areas, mostly consumptive.
Ekanya explained that government was over spending its budget on paying off political patronage through recruiting many government officers, right from the ministers down to district officials, many of whom take large salaries.
// Cue In: “It is basically budget indiscipline…..”
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Ekanya said that out of the total budget, 65 per cent of domestic revenue was going towards salary and wages, with only 35 to development of roads, extending water, health sector, power and environmental protection. He said there was no money to promote planting of trees for example.
Ekanya said that government was leaving only the donor money to go towards infrastructure development through their 21 per cent contribution, a dangerous trend since donor monies can sometimes be uncertain.
He said he was sad that their fight to get some money put to enhancing teachers’, police, army and health workers’ salaries was rejected by government.
However, the Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi says that government would prioritize civil servants’ salaries in next year’s budget.
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