KAMPALA – President Yoweri Museveni has exposed shocking information about Uganda’s government agencies and authorities, revealing a parasitic system that has hindered the country’s progress.
“I had given you the figures of money spent on ministries compared to the money spent on the agencies and authorities. You remember, the figures were sh.2.6trillion for the Ministries and Sh.2.2trillion for the Agencies and Authorities by 2016, according to the Saleh committee that woke us up,” Museveni tweeted.
The President expressed concern over the disproportionate allocation of funds, highlighting that agencies and authorities had only 3,905 employees, while ministries had 18,532 employees, plus undisclosed numbers of soldiers.
“In our usual resistance culture of always being guided by facts, I have now inquired more. What was the number of employees in the respective clusters this money was being spent on? The answer: In Agencies and Authorities, the employees were 3,905!! In Ministries, the number was 18,532 plus the undisclosed number of soldiers,” he stated.
He emphasized the need to adjust salaries for public servants, particularly scientists and soldiers, and improve tax collection. Uganda’s tax collection, currently at 11% of GDP, lags behind European countries like Denmark (46.3%), France (45.4%), and Norway (40%).
“We have now adjusted the salaries of the government scientists and, to some extent, the soldiers. As our revenue collections improve, which they will after removing the corruption in URA, which is itself an Authority but collecting only 13.9% of GDP as tax, we shall be able to pay the other Public Servants better,” Museveni assured.
The President criticized the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) for poor performance, citing tax evasion and corruption. He set a target of collecting at least 20% of GDP in taxes, potentially generating 42.55 trillion shillings.
“By the end of this financial year, our GDP will be USD 57.5 billion. 20% of that would give us USD 11.5 billion. At the exchange rate of Ug.sh. 3,700 per dollar, that would give us tax revenue of Ug.sh. 42.55 trillion. If we hit 25% of GDP, then the situation will be quite different,” Museveni explained.
He also addressed local governments, comprising teachers, health workers, and employees, which received 3.35 trillion shillings in 2016, with a staggering 192,160 personnel.
“To give more information about the categories of budget recipients, there are those who are paid, not through the Ministries, not through the Agencies, but through the Local Governments. These, by 2016, were getting Ug.sh. 3.35trillion. Who were those? Those were: the Government teachers, the Government Health Workers, the Local Government employees, etc. And they were 192,160 in number!!” Museveni tweeted.
Museveni proposed consolidating government structures, revising standard operating procedures, and improving pay to create an efficient public service.
“I can assure the country that with the consolidation of the government structures under the Ministries, Departments and Local Governments, with our revised SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) known as standing orders in the civilian language and with improved pay, the Public Service will be as efficient as UPDF,” he stated.
He rejected contract-based employment for public servants, advocating for permanent and pensionable positions with strict accountability.
“I do not accept the concept of contracts for our Public Servants. I do not want them to be on tenterhooks, having to ingratiate themselves with the bosses, etc. They should remain permanent and pensionable but the Standing Orders, like those of UPDF, should make them fully and promptly accountable,” Museveni emphasized.
In agriculture, he suggested assigning vets and agricultural officers to sub-counties, leveraging local leaders and village agents for monitoring.
“If you take agriculture, there will be a vet and an agricultural Officer per sub-county or even more. If I remember our bush sub-counties of Gombe, Kirolo, Makulubita, Semuto – Kapeeka, the distance between Matugga and Kapeeka is 28 miles. If you divide that by 5 sub-counties, you encounter on the way, that means a diameter of 5 miles for each. How can one vet and one agricultural officer, not to talk of a possible bigger number, fail to monitor crops and livestock in that area if they are equipped with a pikipiki each, with enough fuel?” Museveni asked.
He reflected on Uganda’s coffee industry, once plagued by corruption, and his efforts to liberalize coffee buying.
“Besides, there is another question: ‘Do people know why Robusta coffee is called Kiboko?’ It is because the colonial government used kiboko to make the people grow the coffee.”