Government has in total allocated UGX1.073 trillion to various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the implementation of election related activities in the run up to the January 2021, general election.
This is according to the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update released by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
The report, signed by Moses Kaggwa, the Acting Director of Economic Affairs says that the amount required by the various MDAs involved in preparation and conduct of the general election for the electoral roadmap from financial year 2019/2020 to financial year 2021/2022 is UGX1.255 trillion. The biggest share of this amount totaling UGX772.24 billion is under the Electoral Commission (EC).
The breakdown further indicates that UGX224.25 billion was budgeted and released for election related activities in financial year 2019/2020 while in the current financial year 2020/2021, a total of UGX849.17 billion was budgeted bringing the total to UGX1.073 trillion. Of this amount, UGX768.42 billion has already been released to the various MDAs involved in election activities.
The Public Finance Management Act requires the Minister of Finance to Publish a pre-election economic and fiscal update not earlier than four months before the polling day for a general election. The update details all the election related spending including the expenses of the Electoral Commission for the cost of the general election and any other expenses of a vote related to the election.
“All MDAs involved in the electoral process were allocated funds as requested in financial year 2019/2020 and financial year 2020/2021. This is with exception of Uganda Police Force whose budget was cut by Parliament by UGX67.10 billion, and the Electoral Commission which programmed to receive some of the funds in financial year 2021/2022 to cover post-election costs,” the report shows.
The Ministry of Finance reveals that as of November 2020, a total of UGX456.87 billion had been spent on elections-related activities and the bulk of this amount totaling UGX274.11 billion was spent by the EC followed by the Uganda Police Force with UGX154.79 billion.
The other entities that have spent funds include Ministry of Internal Affairs UGX1.82 billion, National Citizenship and Immigration Control (NCIC) UGX1.9 billion, Uganda Prisons Service UGX11.35 billion, National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) UGX12.22 billion and the Department of Government Analytical Laboratory (DGAL) UGX670 million.
Over UGX 1 Trillion Spent on 2021 Polls
Candidates were, among other things, allocated vehicles for transport during the campaign period. Courtesy photo
