Finance minister Matia Kasaija has said they are speeding up the merger of government agencies to fight corruption which continues to eat into the core of service delivery.

“Money is allocated, dispatched to spending agencies and they play around! The other terrible issue we have is corruption. We are speeding up rationalisation of government agencies, but it will come with reduction in salaries and even job losses,” he said on Thursday, February 1.

He made the remarks during the civil society organisations’ pre-budget dialogue in Kampala under the theme "Repurposing the 2024/25 Budget: What are the key priorities for inclusive economic growth and service delivery?". 

The minister, who was speaking as a chief guest, said he has been clear on the need for the government to stop wasteful expenditures. He argued that money will never be enough, but intelligent people, should prioritise and allocate money to areas that can’t wait.

“Money is never enough, but as intelligent people, we prioritise depending on the importance. As long as I am your Minister of Finance, I won't borrow indefinitely to mortgage your country,” he said.

The rationalisation process, which the Government embarked on following a September 10, 2018, Cabinet decision to merge or collapse more than 60 of its agencies and commissions, has resulted in layoffs and petitions from affected workers.

The government wants to bring all the agencies under the ministries so that it cuts costs and improves efficiency.

The ruling National Resistance Movement has already summoned the party’s parliamentary caucus for a meeting at State House Entebbe on Friday (February 2) over the rationalisation of government agencies and public expenditure.

Latest audit report

The Auditor General, John Muwanga has underscored the wastefulness and inappropriateness of supplementary budgets in his latest audit report to Parliament for the financial year ended June 30, 2023.

Muwanga revealed that Uganda’s total public debt stood at sh96.168 trillion as of June 2023 and that it is growing at a higher rate than the gross domestic product (GDP).

He said the sh96.168 trillion comprises a domestic debt stock of sh43.696 trillion (45.4%) and the external debt stock of sh52.472 trillion (sh54.6%).

He also noted that there has been a consistent increase in the total debt as evidenced by an increase of 107% in the five years from 2018/19 of sh46 trillion to sh96.168 trillion as of June 30, 2023.

Relatedly, he said, the GDP grew from sh132.09 trillion in 2018/2019 to sh184.89 trillion in 2022/23 in the same period, representing an increase of sh52.805 trillion (39.98%).

“This implies that the public debt is growing at a higher rate than GDP. The increase in the debt is due to increased Government expenditure compared to the domestic revenue to finance the fiscal deficit,” he wrote.

Muwanga also said the major driver of the external debt growth is to finance the budget (budget support), warning that under the circumstances, the servicing of public debt may not be sustainable in the short and medium term, if not checked.