Govt seeks to terminate Shs4 trillion failed projects

Government has revealed that it intends to terminate at least 17 projects valued at Shs4.2 trillion because they have been inactive for long and failed to yield results.

While presenting the national Budget Framework Paper for Financial Year 2022/2023 before the Budget committee of Parliament yesterday, officials from the Ministry of Finance said the decision was due to a catalogue of financial constraints on the country’s economy.
The State Minister of Finance in-charge of General Duties, Mr Henry Musasizi, said they conducted an assessment to establish the performance of various projects, which prompted them to consider restructuring, renegotiate or cancel funding of some.

“Accordingly, government has identified 17 projects that are at a risk which amounts to $1.214b (Shs4.2 trillion) of which $457m about (Shs1.6 trillion) has been disbursed and $757 million (Shs2.6 trillion) remains undisbursed. Government will carry out further assessment of these projects to renegotiate or cancel the projects in order to fire fiscal space for FY2022/2023,” Mr Musasizi said.
The Butambala county MP, Mr Muwanga Kivumbi, his and Buyaga East counterpart Barnabas Tinkasiimire asked for the specific projects.

“We can’t consider a budget framework paper where government wants to consider 17 projects and they are not elaborated. They want to cancel another expenditure, so we want to know what are these projects which you have targeted and you want to cancel,” Mr Kivumbi said.
In a rejoinder, Mr Tinkasiimire said: “I have three projects in my place, including Muzizi Hydro-power project where they have spent substantial amount of money but when we approached the Ministry of Energy, they are now developing a cold feet. People were moblised and their properties were valued for compensation and now we are trying to moblise people to repose their land. Is this part of the projects?”

However, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, wondered why MPs are vocal about dormant projects instead of lauding the government’s move to save money. “After this careful scrutiny performing, there are projects which will be redesigned, there are those which will be renegotiated, there are those which will be cancelled, then because it is in your constituency, you say that analysis can’t apply? What do you do to such projects? We are going to get better projects for your people,” Mr Ggoobi said.

The Finance officials also indicated that this is one of the measures that the government has undertaken to service the loans.
Out of the Shs43 trillion resource envelope as contained the 2022/2023 national budget framework, at least Shs15 trillion will be committed towards financing the repayment of national debt.