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Opposition MPs Seeks New Law to Regulate Supplementary Budgets

MP Robert Centenary

Opposition MPs are demanding that the law regulating supplementary approval should be changed, arguing that the process has been abused by both public institutions and those dishing out the supplementary funds.

Kasese Municipality MP Robert Centenary on Monday said that Parliament has sidelined all warnings by continuing to approve these numerous supplementary requests. He said that while presenting the alternative policy statement for the Ministry of Finance at Parliament.

According to the Parliamentary committee on Budget, supplementary budget requests hit Shs1.5trillion for 2017/2018.

“Parliament has been bending regulations by approving supplementary expenditures as long as such expenditures fulfill conditions like absorption, unavoidable and unforeseeable,” Centenary said.

Centenary cited out a loan of Shs910bn that was brought to Parliament to cater for salaries and procurement of CCTV Cameras.

“Given that the law in its current form only empowers the House to approve the supplementary expenditures after use by responsible MDAs, there is gross financial indiscipline on the part of agencies, by allowing the release of supplementary expenditures which does not meet the requirements,” he said.

He added that when regulations are amended, it will be easy for Parliament to approve the supplementary budgets to enable government to acquire operational funds in cases of emergencies.

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