The President Seeks 83bn for Donations

The President Seeks 83bn for Donations,39bn Needed To Refurbish Entebbe State House Complex

The parliamentary committee on presidential affairs has recommended parliament allocate State House Shs83bn for presidential donations.

The statehouse budget has increased from Shs410bn in the current financial year to Shs429bn in the next financial year 2022/2023.

Vote 001 Statehouse has been allocated 657bn to spend in the financial year 2022/2023. Although the president has been allocated Shs53bn for donations, the chairperson of the presidential affairs committee Jessica Ababiku has recommended the budget committee of parliament to allocate more Shs30bn for the president’s donation to total to 83bn. She says the president needs more money to fulfill his outstanding pledges.

But committee members expressed mixed reactions and questioned the huge amounts of money given to the president for donations yet they have no beneficiaries in their areas.

However, Ababiku made an appeal to the committee of budget to approve the request for more than 30bn for presidential donations because it’s their people that keep requesting financial support from the president.

The committee of presidential affairs has also recommended parliament appropriate more Shs27bn to clear the funding gap of the Shs39.3bn needed to refurbish the state House. Ababiku says the money is needed to maintain  Entebbe State House Complex, Repair Nakasero Lodge, and 23 upcountry state lodges.

The office of the president under Vote 002 also seeks Shs31bn to facilitate RDCs, Recruit two office assistants for them, provide them office accommodation and facilitate their secretariat. But MPs raised a lot of questions on this budget.

The same vote is also grappling with the funding gap of 5.1bn out of the 8.3bb which is needed to facilitate the operations of the presidential advisors.

However, members of the committee of budget have rejected the allocation of 1.2bn to the ministry of ethics and integrity to mitigate corruption and instill morals in the citizenry.