(Kampala) – Parliament has passed the National Forestry and Tree Planting (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which transfers the functions of the National Forestry Authority (NFA) to the Ministry of Water and Environment. The move is part of the government’s ongoing effort to rationalize public agencies and streamline operations for better efficiency.
The Minister of State for Water and Environment (Environment), Hon. Beatrice Anywar, explained that integrating the NFA into the ministry aligns with the objectives of Uganda’s National Development Plan III. The plan emphasizes resource optimization, institutional coordination, and reducing the duplication of roles to improve public service delivery. “This will eliminate duplicate roles and foster coordinated administrative arrangements, policies, and procedures for effective management and financial accountability within government agencies,” Anywar said during the plenary session on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
She outlined several benefits of merging the NFA into the Ministry of Water and Environment, including better supervision of central forest reserves, more effective service delivery, and improved monitoring. The integration is also expected to save the government approximately Shs3 billion by addressing salary discrepancies and improving procurement processes.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, Hon. Geoffrey Feta, backed the merger. He highlighted the potential savings the government could realize from the move. The committee’s report estimated that the merger could save Shs22.1 billion in the 2024/2025 financial year and Shs26.4 billion in 2025/2026. Additionally, terminal benefits for NFA staff are projected to cost Shs4.3 billion in the same financial year.
Hon. Feta also addressed the issue of illegal land titles within forest reserves. He noted that 120 illegal titles were canceled in 2019, and efforts to revoke over 609 more titles in central forest reserves are ongoing. Members of Parliament expressed support for the rationalization, criticizing the NFA’s failure to protect Uganda’s forest cover from destruction.
Hon. David Kabanda (NRM, Kasambya County) accused the NFA of issuing dubious licenses, which contributed to environmental degradation. Similarly, Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi (NUP, Butambala County) pointed out that the NFA oversaw significant deforestation in Buganda.
However, not all members agreed with the merger. Hon. Christine Kaaya (NUP, Kiboga District Woman Representative) presented a minority report opposing the rationalization. She argued that the NFA had shown significant improvement in its financial performance, achieving an 83 percent increase in non-tax revenue over the last four years. “The NFA’s growth trajectory, with projected non-tax revenue of Shs20.332 billion for the financial year 2024/25, demonstrates that it should not be rationalized,” Kaaya said.
Despite this opposition, the bill passed with majority support. The NFA currently manages 506 Central Forest Reserves (CFRs), covering approximately 1.265 million hectares, which represent 26 percent of Uganda’s total forest cover.
This rationalization is part of the broader government strategy known as the Rationalisation of Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX). It aims to address functional duplication, enhance governance, and align government agencies with the goals of the National Development Plan III to ensure the strategic use of resources for sustainable socio-economic development.
