Finance Ministry and Head of Civil Service Meet Government Accounting Officers On Budget Execution

FINANCE MINISTRY AND HEAD OF CIVIL SERVICE MEET GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING OFFICERS ON BUDGET EXECUTION

The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development together with the head of Civil Service met all the Accounting Officers of Government (Central and Local Governments) on the implementation of the budget for FY 2024/25 at Imperial Royale hotel in Kampala.

The purpose of the meeting was to communicate and seek feedback on the budget execution circular for FY 2024/25.

The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi in his presentation said the economy has fully recovered from the various shocks, crises and false alarms. He said last financial year the economy grew by 6% up from an average of 4.1% between FY 2019/20 and FY 2022/23.

He said the impressive growth was on account of higher growth in all sectors. The services sector grew by 6.6%, industry increased by 5.8%, while agriculture grew by 5.1%.

The PSST also noted the strong recovery of the economy has been on account of good economic management, adding that government has been deliberate with its fiscal and monetary policy.

Ggoobi said inflation at 3.9% in June,2024 has been contained within the target rate, adding that the Uganda shilling and interest rates have also remained relatively stable.

“Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to Uganda boomed to USD 2.9 billion last year, making Uganda the 4th top country in attracting FDI in Africa,” said the PSST, adding that the economy has created more jobs as a result of the various wealth creation initiatives such as PDM and Emyooga under implementation.

"Exports have increased to over USD 7.5 billion up from USD 4.9 billion in 2023," said the PSST, adding that the economy is projected to grow by between 6% and 7% in FY 2024/25, rising to double digits over the medium term.

Ggoobi said this projection is on account of the tenfold growth strategy, government has adopted to grow the size of the economy to USD 500 billion by 2040.

“The task is now upon all of us to ensure that the economy of this country keeps on the steady-state growth path and transforms into a stable middle-income economy,” said Ggoobi.

On the issue of rationalization of public expenditure, the PSST said H.E the President has assented to 19 bills to rationalize particular entities and Shs 26.9 billion has been provided to facilitate this process.

Regarding the recent payroll audit Ggoobi said there should be no ghost workers on payrolls at this point.

"Ensure staff are paid their rightful salaries, pension and gratuity, avoid paying staff who are not officially recruited," said the PSST.

The Executive Director National Planning Authority Dr. Joseph Muvawala highlighted the NDP IV roadmap and emphasized the issue of service delivery standards for every government entity as well as strengthening the planning function in all votes to guide proper budgeting.

The Town Clerk Kira Municipal Council, Benon Yiga on behalf of Local Government Accounting Officers raised the issue of additional wage for recruitment in new town councils, more funds for road maintenance & salary enhancement for local government Accounting Officers.

The Head of Public Service, Lucy Nakyobe in her remarks asked Accounting Officers of government to be at the forefront of fighting corruption.

She said whereas there are several officers involved in corruption, the buck stops with the Accounting Officers. 

She urged the Accounting Officers to increase vigilance over the actions of all officers under them including Human Resource Officers and Managers; Members of District Service Commissions and Boards of Agencies and Commissions; Accountants and Procurement Officers etc.    

She said the categories of staff who are involved in corruption are within their watch and supervision, adding that on several occasions, Accounting Officers are involved.

"Please note that the code of conduct and ethics for Uganda public service, sets out standards of behavior for public officers whom you supervise and manage in the Uganda public service," said the Head of Public Service.

She challenged Accounting Officers to uphold professionalism, standards and expectations of the civil service and serve government and the people of Uganda without boundaries.