EOC tasks lawmakers to explain budget glitches

The Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) has asked the Parliamentary Commission to explain why the budget of the two programmes, which did not pass the gender and equity compliance, was passed without consulting them.

The two programmes include Regional Development with 31 percent and Manufacturing with 26 percent.
Speaking to the media during the engagement meeting with legislators on EOC post-Budget Framework Paper (BFP) gender and equity compliance assessment feedback in Kampala yesterday, the EOC chairperson, Ms Safia Nalule Juuko, said in this Financial Year 2023/2024, the Commission received the National 20 BFP for assessments of their compliance with gender and equity requirement, but only 18 items where passed.

“The Commission recommended issuance of the certificate of gender and equity compliance for 18 programmes for the FY2023/2024 that met the minimum requirements where the compliance pass mark for 2023/2024 was at 50 percent,” she said.

She added that the Commission believes the other two programmes, which failed gender and equity compliance,  “had to appear before Parliament to explain their fate on failure to perform well before their budget was passed, but this was not done’’.

“The Commission was concerned on why Parliament passed the programme budget without sanctioning the two programmes, which failed the 2023/2024 assessment yet it’s their mandate and it’s the reason for summoning the officials to hear their explanation,” she added.

Ms Nalule added that during the assessment process of BFP, the Commission focuses on five categories of people if they are considered in the budget planning of the government Ministries, Departments, agencies and local government, and these include; women, youth , ethnic minorities, older persons, and People with Disabilities.

Mr Moses Basise, the director of Corporate Planning and Strategy at Parliament, who led the delegation, said programme-based planning came under NDP III and the committees.

“The committees of Parliament are still on the sector whereas the planning side is on programme and the two have not been harmonised,” he said.

He added that the two systems have not been hermonised because of the law in the Public Financial Management.

“It is now a year since the clerks have already written to the Finance minister and National Planning Authority to handle the matter, to come out with the right legislation that will cover the programme approach of committees in Parliament, but up to now, we have not yet received the response,’” he said.

EOC mandate

Accordingly, pursuant to the Public Finance Management Act 2015 (PFMA), the Commission assessed the National and the 20 Programme Budget Framework Papers for compliance with gender and equity requirements for the Financial Year 2023/2024.

The above statutory provisions emphasise the mandate of the Commission, which is to give effect to the state’s constitutional mandate to eliminate discrimination and inequalities against individuals and to take affirmative action.