President Yoweri Museveni convened a meeting with the National Resistance Movement (NRM) parliamentary caucus at State House Entebbe to discuss the ongoing rationalization of government agencies and public expenditure. The rationalization process, initiated following a September 10, 2018 Cabinet decision, aims to merge or collapse over 60 government agencies and commissions, with the goal of improving efficiency and cutting costs.
The rationalization has led to layoffs and generated petitions from affected workers. The government’s objective is to bring all agencies under the ministries for streamlined governance. Details and resolutions from the meeting were not immediately disclosed.
In recent times, the Auditor General, John Muwanga, highlighted concerns about wastefulness and inappropriateness in supplementary budgets in his latest audit report to Parliament for the financial year ended June 30, 2023. The report indicated that Uganda’s total public debt reached UGX 96.168 trillion as of June 2023, growing at a higher rate than the gross domestic product (GDP).
The total debt comprises a domestic debt stock of UGX 43.696 trillion (45.4%) and an external debt stock of UGX 52.472 trillion (54.6%). The Auditor General noted a consistent increase in total debt, rising by 107% in the five years from 2018/19 (UGX 46 trillion) to June 30, 2023 (UGX 96.168 trillion). GDP grew from UGX 132.09 trillion in 2018/2019 to UGX 184.89 trillion in 2022/23 during the same period, representing an increase of UGX 52.805 trillion (39.98%).
The report emphasized that the public debt is growing at a higher rate than GDP, driven by increased government expenditure compared to domestic revenue. Muwanga cautioned that under these circumstances, the servicing of public debt may not be sustainable in the short and medium term unless checked.
