State House, OPM to take Shs144 billion for donations
What you need to know:
Use. Mr Solomon Muyita, the senior communications officer of the Judiciary, says the listed judges use the donations package for charity
Taxpayers will pay up to Shs144b for donations in the election year budget.
According to annual projected figures contained in the draft Budget for 2020/2021, State House alone will be given Shs143b to spend on donations.
State House is followed by the Office of the Prime Minister, which has been allocated Shs1.95b while Kampala Capital City Authority will receive Shs1.08b. The Judiciary has been allocated Shs108m for the same purpose. Out of the donations package for Judiciary, Shs60m is earmarked for the Chief Justice and Shs30m for the deputy Chief Justice, while Shs18m is to be spent under the office of the Principal Judge.
However, what is baffling is why these donations are not catered for under the budget allocations for their respective ministries or sectors if they are of public interest.
Mr Solomon Muyita, the senior communications officer of the Judiciary, told Daily Monitor that the listed judges use the donations package for charity.
“It is part of the money they use for charity or contributions at a book launch wherever they have been invited and expected to contribute,” Mr Muyita said.
None of the above offices which will be allocated money for donations has a statutory Charity Fund responsible for managing distribution and determining the recipients.
“The Chief Justice or Deputy cannot fundraise at a political function; but take an example where a judge has written a book or activities under the Uganda Law Society or Judges Conference and they have to contribute, that is part of the money the judges use,” Mr Muyita insisted.
In a related development, the office of the Inspector General of Government has also been allocated Shs10.8m.
However, Ms Munira Ali, the Inspector General of Government (IGG) spokesperson, said the money is mainly for community outreach activities.
“Sometimes the IGG is invited for community activities such as sensitisation about corruption in rural areas, where we definitely have to make some financial contribution,” she said.
Ms Ali said the allocated money is less compared to activities that take place throughout the year.
The entire projection for donations if injected into decent employment would pay up to 1,000 people, with each taking an annual package of Shs12,250,000.
Uganda continues to nurse soaring unemployment levels at 3 per cent annual growth, which according to the World Bank is among the highest in the world.
