Elusive Equity: A Tale of No ‘Equal Opportunities’ Because of the Dissimilar Tastes and Preferences by The Leaders and The Led

Over the years, there has been a great deal of documented unfairness in the country and nobody has bothered. Even as Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Uganda has bothered, dared and recommended the gaps to be closed in their reports every single year, the trend has instead stood deeply rooted in the country where the leaders don’t care, much as their subjects, or, those that are led continue to suffer this relegation.

While presenting the 2023/24 annual report on the state of equal opportunities in Uganda, the EOC highlights and stresses this unfairness status quo as having even continued in the country across the different sectors last year. Functioned on monitoring, evaluating and ensuring that policies, laws, plans, programs, activities, practices, traditions, cultures, usages and customs, EOC released the 11th annual report last week.

Key highlights from the report are the declines in compliance to gender and equity budgeting requirements, salary disparities, and the effect of corruption on service delivery. Themed “Fostering Inclusive Growth for Sustainable Development,” the EOC conducted an assessment of the national budget for gender and equity responsive planning and budgeting.

Key issues

High cost of debt repayment at 34trillion out of 72 trillion translating to 47.9% of the national budget, which affects the governments’ ability to fund critical sectors like education, health infrastructure development among others. Uganda has a huge wage bill which is equivalent to 11% of the total annual budget which affects service delivery.

Although Uganda has implemented the policy of decentralization since 1997, negative development where decentralized functions are being brought back to the center has been noticed in this report. Such has usurped the powers and functions of the local government by MDAs which affects the LGs in prioritizing and meeting the targets set by the NDP ll.

Also noticed by the Commission is a negative trend in the budgeting cycle where most MDAs and LGs return unutilized money or funds to the treasury. On budgetary performance levels, during the 3023/24 F/Y review, out of the total warrants of UGX.49.226Tn issued by the treasury, UGX.43.404Tn was spent by Government, resulting into an unutilized balance of UGX. 5.822Tn, representing of 88.2%.

This negatively affects service delivery and Government commitments towards addressing critical development concerns. In the current budget, out of the total annual budget of 72Tn, only 5.9Tn was allocated to 176 LG Votes of which 3.3Tn was for wage and only 1.5Tn was for nonwage.

This limits local governments’ ability to effectively deliver services or implement development programs but also punches holes on the Government’s commitment to true decentralization in Uganda. There is considerable and deliberate delays and high cost of implementing of government projects in almost all sectors ranging from education, Infrastructure and health.

Furthermore, during the budgeting and planning process, the Commission observed a notable mismatch between national priorities and regional development needs. For example, some regions prioritize water, road construction, and schools, while others have different needs. Unfortunately, these priorities are often set centrally, without adequately reflecting regional concerns.

Recommendations and desired action

Enhancing budgeting and planning in Uganda, with several actions to be taken would be key in bridging gaps in equity and equality as the country seeks to improve lives. Stop the creation of districts, cities and first strengthen and develop the existing ones is paramount.

The Government policy on Rationalization of Government Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX) should be extended to districts, sub counties, municipalities, Ministries and Departments where there exists a lot of duplication and wastage of resources. This will call for the establishment of constitutional review Commission to carry out a comprehensive amendment of the Constitution.

Minimize the supplementary budget since it has a negative impact of deviating from the original plans. Under NDP IV, the country’s national development goals should prioritize fewer areas, concentrating on those with the highest multiplier effects in promoting employment, economic growth, wealth creation, and agro-industrialization.

This targeted approach will ensure more effective resource utilization and drive sustainable progress for all Ugandans. And, to conclude, that is and will be if the top bras in the country shows a strong will to implement the recommendations.

Author Profile

Daniels N Tatya: Mr. Daniels N. Tatya is an affluent Sports Writer, Commentator and Editor. His over 15 years of covering almost major sporting events makes him a revered and an authority on investigative Sports journalism in Uganda. He can also be reached via [email protected] +256(0)758268315