Civil Society Organizations under their umbrella; the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) on Sunday advised the Uganda Government to undertake immediate public expenditure cut reforms to mitigate the looming negative effects likely to face Ugandans, brought about by the decision by the World Bank to halt new public financing to the Government.
Julius Mukunda, the Executive Director, CSBAG, while addressing a press conference at their Ntinda Head Office in Kampala, said the decision by World Bank to suspend financing of Uganda’s public projects has far-reaching consequences on the realization of the country’s vision 2040 and achieving of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“World Bank has over the years offered financing to support Uganda’s development agenda and to date, Uganda has 30 active World Bank Projects and 13 projects in the pipeline which amount to $USD 13.9 Billion (UGX 51Trllion). $USD 9.5 Billion (UGX 35 Trillion) of this is for the 30 active projects and $USD 4.43 Million (UGX 16 Billion) is for the 13 projects in the pipeline which are affected by the World Bank decision,” he said.
Mr. Mukunda further said the World Bank freeze of funds will likely take out a significant number of $USD from our market, because as of June 2023, the gross value of gross forex exchange reserves at the Bank of Uganda was $USD 4,074.6 Million.
“The strength of the Bank of Uganda to stabilize the financial market is hinged on its ability to access $USD Dollars, hence any speculation about shortage of Dollars will likely lead to the depreciation of the shilling as we have seen in the past week,” he added.
He called on the Government to re-examine its spending patterns with the main objective of further cutting down on its public administration costs.
“This is the time to review the public service salary structure to harmonize and promote equal pay based on hierarchy. This should go along way with revising downwards the current emolument package for especially Cabinet, Parliament and Civil Servants, excluding staff in health, education and security,” pointed out Mr. Mukunda.
On her part, Angella Kasule Nabwowe, the Acting Executive Director, Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), said the World Bank Loan halt will negatively affect the education sector, where traditional schools funded projects will be disrupted. She called for an immediate remedy to address the crisis that will face the education sector, if no money is earmarked aside by the Government to run School projects.
“This is the time for Accounting Officers to walk the talk of minimizing wastage and misuse of public resources, which is the norm especially in public procurement, poor project management,” she said.
Jonas Mbabazi, a Research Fellow, Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), said World Bank Loans suspension would increase poverty in households, especially among women and children and youth who make up the majority of Uganda’s population.
He called for more financial discipline and cutting of Government expenditures on workshops, conferences and huge fleets of cars, used to escort Ministers and other Public Servants.
Gilbert Musinguzi, representing Uganda Debt Network (UDN), national policy advocacy organization that works towards prudent management of public debt, rationalizes the many state Agencies by merging them together with their mother ministries.
This wil enable the Government to save lots of money that would then be channeled to development of other priority sectors”, he said.
He called on the Government to have no lenient approach to perpetrators of corruption in public entities, to enable Ugandans achieve the desired Vision 2040.
“We are confident that there is still room for dialogue between the Government of Uganda and the World Bank to reconsider its decision on halting funding to Uganda and were encouraged by the statement of our Head of State, on seeking dialogue with the World Bank…,”reads part of CSBAG concluding joint statement.
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