The Minister of State for Finance, Henry Musasizi, has clarified the reallocation of Shs300 billion initially earmarked for the procurement of ambulances. He explained that not all the funds were diverted to bail out Roko Construction Company from its financial distress.
Instead, part of the funds would go to the Bank of Uganda for managing government accounts and servicing the Shs72 trillion budget. Musasizi emphasized that the money for Roko had been previously approved by Parliament.
“The (Shs) 300 billion is for obligations Parliament already approved in the past. Roko preference shares are just one of them. Below is the breakdown of the Shs300 billion under treasury: The budget was (Shs) 256.2 billion, but they cut 300 billion. It was distributed as follows: Roko (for paying for the preference shares as approved by Parliament (Shs56.2 billion), Bank of Uganda charges (for managing accounts for all Government entities and for payment of Government securities) (Shs200 billion). This is the money that enables the government to pay Shs72 trillion in budget,” wrote Minister Musasizi on his X handle.
During the reconsideration of the appropriation bill on Tuesday, Kira Municipality MP and shadow finance minister, Hon. Semujju Nganda, criticized the President’s proposal to prioritize Roko over other public needs.
“The President’s priority is that you move money from ambulances and regional referral hospitals to create Shs300 billion for Roko, a private company,” Nganda stated.
State Minister for Finance, Hon. Henry Musasizi, clarified that these funds were for government obligations under the share subscription agreement, including servicing Roko Bills of Exchange and payment of EFT bank charges by the Bank of Uganda.
Parliament has reallocated Shs750 billion after revisiting the Appropriation Bill, 2024, which President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni initially objected to assent to.
In the 2024/2025 Budget passed earlier, legislators had allocated the Shs750 billion to critical areas, including the procurement of ambulances, maintenance of bridges, construction of sub-county headquarters, and support for income-generating projects for families, among others.
During a sitting of the House on Tuesday, 02 July 2024, Speaker Anita Among read the President’s letter outlining his reasons for rejecting the bill. President Museveni cited issues such as indiscipline in budgeting, sabotage of national priorities, and corruption among lawmakers.
The Bill, which sought to authorize public expenditure from the Consolidated Fund, was first passed on 16 May 2024 and sent to the President for approval on 31 May 2024.
In his 22nd June 2024 letter accompanying the returned Appropriation Bill 2024, President Museveni accused MPs of sabotage and interfering with his duties of budgeting for Uganda, stating that Parliament had reallocated over Shs3 trillion in four years.
“The recent case of the Members of Parliament who were arrested for alleged offences has again highlighted the mistake of MPs interfering with the Constitutional mandate of the President by reallocating funds budgeted for core sectors of the economy. In the past four financial years, MPs have reallocated Shs3.1 trillion. This is real sabotage. When we reconstructed the Kampala-Masaka Road, we used Shs440 billion; therefore, diverting Shs3.1 trillion in four years is equivalent to aborting nine major roads of the Kampala-Masaka type or a much larger number of smaller roads,” President Museveni’s letter read in part.
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