BY JOACKIM KULE
Kasese District Council has laid budget estimates of shillings over 103 billion for the forthcoming 2024/2025 Financial Year.
The budget estimates which were laid today during a council sitting at the District Multipurpose hall in Nyamwamba Division have seen an increment of shillings 08 billion compared to the current Financial Year budget of over shillings 95 billion.
In her budget speech during a council sitting, Ms. Sharon Musoki, the Secretary for Finance, Planning and Administration, explained that the forthcoming budget would be implemented under the theme, “Full Monetization of Uganda’s Economy through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialization, expanding and broadening services, digital, and Market access.
Ms Musoki noted that they were expecting to meet the laid budget estimates from three major sources including Local Revenue, Central Government Transfers and Donor Disbursements.
According to her, they expect to get 5.1% of the said money from Local Revenue, 91.62% from the Central Government Transfers and 3.3% from Donor Disbursements.
She also highlighted that 61.2% of the projected budget would be spent on the payment of salaries for staff, 26.3% would go to the recurrent non-wage expenditure to support decentralized services at the district and lower local governments while 13% was allocated for domestic development including the donor supported project activities.
According to the draft revenue and expenditure estimates, the Administration sector would take 12.8%, Finance 0.7%, Council 1.2%, Production and Marketing 5.4%, Health 24.0%, Education 40.8%, Roads 3.5%, Water 1.4% and Natural resources 2.4%.
Others are Community Based Services with 1.8%, Planning 0.9%, Internal Audit 0.2%, Trade and Industry 0.1% and Lower Local Government Transfers 4.8%.
However, she revealed that council was facing major development challenges including the inadequate resource envelope due to the limited revenue base, erratic weather changes that lead to prolonged drought, reduction in the levels of productivity, increasing levels of gender based violence against children, girls and women.
Hon. Johnson Mayora, the Kasese District Council Speaker, however, noted that the budget estimates would be scrutinized by the committees before the end of May and thereafter council convenes for approving the budget.
ENDS