Mbarara District

Thank you so much, Mr Speaker. I want to bring this to the attention of the Prime Minister that Mbarara Referral Hospital is the talk of the nation today. From an informed point of view, 50 per cent of patients in Mbarara Referral Hospital are from Isingiro, which is one of the biggest districts. We have 30 subcounties and two refugee camps, yet we do not have a district hospital. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, what can we do to have a district hospital in Isingiro, so that we can offload the overwhelming number of people in Mbarara Hospital? I beg to submit.

Prime Minister, I saw the Minister of Health in Mbarara and thought he was doing good work there. Prime Minister, have you delegated him to answer? She is talking about the congestion situation in the referral hospital.

We have plans to elevate some of the health centres IV to hospital status, especially in districts where there are no hospitals. (Applause) Therefore, we shall prioritise Isingiro District, now that she has raised it. About Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, I did an impromptu visit to the hospital and toured it from 10.00 p.m. to 2.30 a.m. on the 11 th of July to do an on-the-spot assessment on how the hospital runs, especially when we have not informed the authorities. We indeed made many observations, some of which have to be fixed by us in the Government, but others are managerial and need action to fix the weaknesses, which can be handled immediately. As Government, we will also try to support not only Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, but other hospitals so that they can function much better. I pledge that we are totally committed to

That is right, Mr Speaker, under Rule 8. Three weeks ago, the Leader of the Opposition raised a matter concerning medical interns. The same was raised last Thursday. I am glad the minister is here. He committed that he would present a policy by the Government today on the interventions that are undertaken to make sure that our medical interns are catered for. I am glad that two days ago, I saw the minister in Mbarara General Referral Hospital where he found two medical interns covering the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). May it please you to ask the minister to give us the developments from Cabinet on the placement of medical interns. Thank you.

Mr Speaker, most of these issues will be answered when I bring a comprehensive statement. I have just said that I am preparing a paper for Cabinet to look at that policy decision. Maybe I can add that this is because, initially, Makerere Medical School was the only university training doctors. But because of the policy on liberalising tertiary and university education, we now have many universities training doctors, both public and private. Therefore, the numbers have grown. So, we are discussing this with the Ministry of Education and Sports to look at how we guide universities on the numbers; how many train for the medical profession, and I will capture all these when I bring the paper. Yes, there are payment issues, and we are proposing many reforms within the ministry. That is why you see me working day and night, even visiting hospitals at night to check the reality on the ground. I will be bringing papers here seeking the support of Parliament. One of the challenges we have in the health sector is staffing. When I went to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, the Director told me that the staffing level is at 26 per cent of the hospital. So, there are all those challenges, and I want your collective support as Parliament that we work together and see how to strengthen the health sector.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is my first term in the Parliament of Uganda, and I would like to appreciate the people of Rubanda for overwhelmingly voting for me and giving me the opportunity to serve. I want to associate myself with the State-of- the-Nation Address of the President because he focused more on agriculture as an enabler, which leads Uganda to the money economy. It is timely because approximately 70 per cent of the population deals in agriculture. To be precise, 33.1 per cent of the people of Kigezi participate in subsistence agriculture. Mr Speaker, I am a practical farmer, and I want to bring it to the attention of the Government that many farmers in our communities are unable to afford knapsack sprayers. A majority plant crops and are unable to spray their crops in a timely manner, resulting in low productivity. Does the Government of Uganda agree with me that each village, for example, Rubanda district that has 478 villages, should have a knapsack sprayer at village level. However, Mr Speaker, I believe development does not effectively progress in isolation of enabling the health capability. Kigezi Subregion has six districts with a population of 1,787,231 people, as per the 2024 Census report. Unfortunately, the subregion has no cancer centre, despite the increasing number of cancer patients, particularly among farmers and peasants in rural communities. Most of these patients have to travel to Mulago and Mbarara to access these services. Mr Speaker, I conducted a fact survey and the findings, based on Uganda Cancer Institute, indicate that cancer in Kigezi Subregion is increasing, with 1,200 new cases every single year – (Member timed out.)

297 THE TWELFTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 09 JULY 2026 can resolve them accordingly. Many of them have been ongoing for a while. The previous administration keeps mentioning them, but the physical engagement on the ground sometimes does not come to light. So, honourable members, you are going to hear from us officially. For some who had already communicated to us before today’s communication, the senior minister is on the ground, besides resolving issues of corruption, also engaging with and addressing boundary disputes. We actually have a meeting tomorrow for the Bugisu subregion, at 2:00 p.m., and part of the agenda is boundary disputes. On the issue of politicians intimidating candidates from other political parties, which my good friend, the Haji from Luwero, raised, I would decry that as well. Personally, as the Minister of State for Local Government and Woman MP for Masaka City, I have about five paid announcements on CBS. The announcements are clearly telling people, “Go and vote for good citizens to be your LCI chairpersons, no matter the political party.” That is what my announcements are saying, yet I am a member of the NRM and even a woman MP on the NRM ticket. Therefore, if the Minister of State for Local Government can encourage people to embrace good Ugandans, whether they are from other political parties, I do not think any other politician should be intimidating our people that, as a must, by hook or crook, they must vote members of a given political party. I kindly urge the honourable member who raised this matter, this is a serious matter bordering on crime, to provide us with that evidence so that we can engage the political leader who is intimidating people. It is a crime. Mr Speaker, the honourable Woman MP of Wakiso raised the issue of men with more than one wife regarding exactly where they would vote. With more than one wife, like Hon. Nsamba is saying, living in different LCs, he is probably an authority on the topic. These men will have to choose exactly where to live. In law, the Attorney-General could back that up, but I think in law we have what they call a principal holding. So, the Haji will have to decide, okay, even if it is a Christian who has many wives, they will have to decide – (Interjections)- the Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs is saying the men should choose the younger wife. She is probably the younger wife in her arrangement. The issue on the elections of LC I majorly surrounds the factor of residence. Where do you live? Where is your residence? If that husband chooses his principal holding or residence, he will have to be registered in that area. The Attorney-General will expound on what the law says about those who might want to vote in more than one area, but I suppose that is criminal. He will expound on it. Mr Speaker, we have a major issue that I even heard Ugandans debating on the radio, and I welcome the Members of Parliament who have brought it to light in this House. The issue is villages with schools located in those areas, especially in the urban centres. Now, we do not want a situation where a candidate is going to use the numerical strength of schools to unfairly overpower a genuine leader, an organic leader from the village. For example, I intervened in an issue in Kumbu, Masaka, where someone wanted to register students from a certain university so they could come and vote for that particular chairman. However, some of these students come from far as Tanzania, Kampala, and Mbarara to study at that university. In one or two years, those students will be gone, and the village will be stuck with a bad candidate as a result of unfair numerical strength from aliens. Therefore, the village chairperson and the village leadership shall be voted for strictly by residents of that village. Members of Parliament and honourable colleagues, I kindly request that in case this august House permits a time for recess or a break, please use it to pass on this information that the people who are going to vote for the

Mr Speaker, the fact is, the President of Uganda has directed that we work on the road that connects to Buhweju from this other side of Mbarara. I am forgetting the place - ( Interjections ) - Bwizibwera-Nsiika-Nyaka –

148 THE BUDGET SPEECH, 2026 Energy development Mr Speaker, reliable and affordable energy is essential for industrialisation and socioeconomic transformation. The Government continues to invest heavily in electricity generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. In the Financial Year 2025/2026, the Government achieved the following in energy development: a) Continued development of hydro, solar and other energy projects alongside preparatory work for future nuclear investments. Installed generation capacity now stands at 2,098 megawatts. The Government’s medium- to long-term target is 52,482 megawatts to support industrialisation, urbanisation and economic growth. b) Completed and continued construction of multiple lines, including the Kole-Gulu- Nebbi-Arua line 132 KV, the Kampala Metropolitan transmission line 132 KV, including two associated mobile substations, Mbarara, Kabarole 132 KV, Karuma-Tororo 400 KV, Tororo resource 400 KV, Mutundwe-Entebbe 132 KV and Lira-Gulu-Agago 132 KV. Good progress has also been made on substations serving industrial parks in Mbarara, Kapeeka, and the Kabalega Petrochemical Industrial Park. c) The share of households in rural areas connected to grid electricity has nearly doubled in the three years from 6.8 per cent in the Financial Year 2021/2022 to 11.4 per cent in the Financial Year 2024/2025. d) Through the Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company, Government commenced construction of four small mini-hydro power sites expected to generate 5 megawatts of electricity. These sites will be completed in March 2027 and will provide reliable power to very hard- to-reach and remote areas. Further, under the Electricity Access Scale-Up Project, 419,592 off-grid solar connections have been made countrywide. Financial Year 2026/2027 Priorities for the Energy Sector Mr Speaker, the Government has allocated Shs 2.07 trillion to energy development and the priority interventions include: i) Expansion of generation capacity by commencing the 380-megawatt Kiba hydro-electricity plant, a floating solar plant at Isimba, and 500 megawatts of utility scale solar in the Elgon and Acholi subregions; ii) Preparatory work for nuclear energy generation at Buyende; iii) Expansion of transmission and associated substation infrastructure; iv) Rural electrification; and v) Industrial power connections. Investing in People Mr Speaker, economic transformation is ultimately about people. A healthy, educated, skilled and productive population is indispensable for sustained growth and shared prosperity. That is why the Government continues to allocate a large share of the discretionary budget to human capital development, i.e. health, education, water and sanitation, and social protection. During Financial Year 2025/2026, the following milestones were achieved: Health Under health, Mr Speaker, the Government sustained its policy of progressively increasing investment in essential medicines and health supplies. Accordingly, funding through the National Medical Stores was increased by Shs 145.33 billion to Shs 862.93 billion in Financial Year 2025/2026. The Government will continue to increase domestic financing for essential health commodities with the aim of substantially

149 THE TWELFTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 11 JUNE 2026 reducing reliance on donor support. This will guarantee uninterrupted access to essential medicines like anti-retroviral medicines, anti-malarial drugs, vaccines, immunisation supplies, laboratory commodities and anti- tuberculosis medicines. The Government continued to modernise healthcare infrastructure and equipment. During the year, 17 regional referral hospitals and 25 general hospitals were equipped with Neonatal Intensive Care Units. In addition, 14 regional referral hospitals received CT scan machines. Construction and upgrading of 31 health facilities across Karamoja is ongoing. The Government also completed high-capacity medical waste incinerators in Fort Portal, Gulu, Mbarara, KCCA and Lira. Busolwe, Gombe and Kawolo hospitals were also rehabilitated. Mr Speaker, the Government continued to promote preventive healthcare through immunisation, disease prevention and nutrition programmes. Immunisation coverage for children under one year reached 94 per cent, while first-dose measles-rubella coverage reached 93 per cent. Government also conducted nationwide campaigns against malaria, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, cholera and yellow fever, and promoted nutrition education for children, pregnant women, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. Government also continued to expand specialised healthcare services in oncology, cardiology and other fields, reducing the need for treatment abroad. The Uganda Heart Institute conducted 634 cardiac interventions, including open-heart, closed-heart, vascular and catheterisation procedures. In April 2026, the Uganda Cancer Institute successfully performed the country’s first bone marrow transplant. Specialised healthcare services will be further strengthened by ongoing investments. The 250-bed capacity Cardiac Hospital in Naguru, Kampala is 44 per cent complete and expected to be completed by June 2027. The International Specialised Hospital of Uganda at Lubowa is 75 per cent complete and will be completed in December 2027. (Applause) Mr Speaker, I wish to repeat this one: The International Specialised Hospital of Uganda at Lubowa is 75 per cent complete and will be completed in December 2027. (Applause) The first phase of the Nuclear Medicine (PET) Centre for cancer treatment is 95 per cent complete with radiotherapy and advanced molecular imaging services. Phase II of the PET centre is 10 per cent complete. Regional cancer centres in Mbarara, Arua and Mbale are under construction, while the Gulu centre is fully operational. Other achievements in the health sector include: a) Expansion of the National e-Health Digital Infrastructure to support telemedicine, health information management, medicine tracking and monitoring of health worker performance; and b) Strengthening the National Ambulance and Emergency Care System through the deployment of additional ambulances. 2026/2027 Priorities for Health The Government has allocated Shs 5.23 trillion for the health sector in Financial Year 2026/2027. The funding will focus on: i) Maternal and child health; ii) Nutrition improvement; iii) Expanded immunisation; iv) Prevention and treatment of non- communicable diseases; v) Provision of essential medicines; vi) Strengthening specialised healthcare services; vii) Improving emergency response systems; and viii) Exploring feasible pathways towards universal health coverage.

152 THE BUDGET SPEECH, 2026 Hoima (145km) and Matugga-Semuto- Kapeeka (41km), among others. UDC also invested in ETATS Construction Company, currently constructing the Bugiri-Namutumba Road (24km) and the Buwenge-Kaliro Road (48km), among others. d) The Government completed the Special Economic Zone at Entebbe International Airport to promote high value exports. Several firms, particularly in the fresh produce exports and light manufacturing, are setting up operations. e) Continued expansion of Presidential Zonal Hubs, which are tackling youth unemployment by providing practical industrial and vocational skills. To date, 82,790 youth have been trained and the number of hubs has grown to 28 nationwide. Mr President, thank you very much for this initiative. Financial Year 2026/2027 priorities for manufacturing and industrial development Mr Speaker, the Government has allocated Shs 1.03 trillion to the manufacturing programme for FY 2026/2027. Priority interventions include: i) Additional capitalisation of UDC to drive industrial development; ii) Industrial infrastructure development, particularly industrial parks including new fully serviced plug and play parks; iii) Value addition to agricultural raw materials and minerals; iv) Supporting market access for Ugandan manufactured products; v) Strengthening the functionality of special economic zones; vi) Industrial research including the establishment of regional industrial incubation hubs. Market access for wealth creators Wealth creators need access to both domestic and export markets. Expanding the domestic market requires higher household incomes and increased purchasing power to stimulate demand for locally produced goods and services. Export growth, on the other hand, requires deeper regional integration to access larger markets within the East African Community, COMESA, and the African Continental Free Trade Area. These opportunities are complemented by preferential and duty-free market access arrangements negotiated with key partners including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Russia, Serbia and the countries in the Middle East. To expand both domestic and export markets, the Government will continue investing in standards, quality assurance, certification and market intelligence to enhance the competitiveness of Ugandan products and services. To this end, the Government has so far implemented the following: i) Strengthened certification services to enhance efficiency. Additional personnel have been recruited and trained to increase capacity of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards to undertake certification, surveillance and enforcement of standards. Following automation, the turnaround time for import inspection reduced from three weeks to four hours. Product testing was reduced from 30 days to 14 days and product certification reduced from 180 days to 45 days. ii) Decentralisation and modernised certification services to enhance access. Construction and equipping of engineering testing laboratories are ongoing and expected to be completed by September 2026. The Government also commenced construction of regional laboratories in Mbale, Gulu and Mbarara. iii) Developed 450 standards for products and services and issued permits to 4,500 products.

153 THE TWELFTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 11 JUNE 2026 iv) Trained 750 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in value addition and processing and certified 750 products. v) Completed construction and equipping of an international accredited National Metrology Laboratory at Uganda National Bureau of Standards. The laboratory is being used to calibrate equipment used in the National Food Safety Laboratory and other agro-food processing laboratories and industries. vi) Commenced operations of the petroleum laboratory in January 2026. Over 40 product samples of petroleum products have since been tested. Priority interventions for Financial Year 2026/2027 include: i) Development of quality assurance infrastructure under the Euro 163.56 million Enhancing Agriculture Production Quality and Standards for Market Access Project; ii) Strengthening the capacity for development of standards and certification of products and services; iii) Completing construction and equipping of the engineering laboratory and continuing construction of regional laboratories; and iv) Accrediting private laboratories to increase access. Environmental protection and disaster management Sustainable management and use of natural resources, land, water, and environment, as well as effective response to climate change, are essential for boosting productivity and value addition. To cushion Ugandans and our economy from climate shocks, the Government invested Shs 9.6 billion this financial year in early warning systems, hazard mitigation and emergency relief items for affected households. The Government also invested heavily in water for production facilities to protect our farmers during drought. In order to protect and restore wetlands, the Government undertook the demarcation of 104 kilometres of wetland boundaries and restored 15,000 hectares of degraded wetlands. A total of 8,319 hectares of degraded central forest reserves were demarcated alongside 404 kilometres of forest boundaries to enhance the protection and management of forest resources. To safeguard our environment and adapt to climate change, the Government has allocated Shs 494.08 billion next financial year. These funds will protect 1.26 million hectares of forest reserves and wetlands; restore 10,000 hectares of degraded wetlands; and demarcate critical riverbanks and lakeshores, particularly along the Nile. We will also upgrade meteorological services and early warning systems to deliver accurate forecasts for agriculture, aviation and climate monitoring. In addition, Shs 361.88 billion has been allocated to the Contingency Fund to strengthen our national disaster response next financial year. I now come to Administration of Justice. Mr Speaker, under the Administration of Justice programme, the following achievements were recorded: i) Expanded access to justice with the proportion of districts having complete justice service points rising from 79 per cent in the Financial Year 2020/2021 to 89 per cent. This was achieved by operationalising new High Court Circuits, now at 29 and establishing 10 additional Magistrates’ Courts, now totalling 268, including in the island communities; ii) Decentralisation of the Court of Appeal is underway in Mbarara and Gulu to improve regional access to appellate justice; iii) Judicial capacity has been strengthened with the appointment of additional Justices of the Court of Appeal (now 20) and High Court (now 88), along with more magistrates to reduce case backlog and serve high demand areas; iv) Resolution of commercial disputes has improved. Between 2023 and 2025, the Judiciary disposed of 38,102 commercial and land cases worth Shs 14.47 trillion, unlocking capital and boosting economic

86 ADDRESS ON THE STATE OF THE NATION, 2026 more politeness to non-performers who want leadership for their own ego and personal interests. This is the “ Kisanja No More Sleep”. The story of the NRM and Uganda starts in the early 1960s. Personally, I started waking up our people in 1959 when I visited Mbarara Stock Farm as a junior secondary one pupil at Mbarara High School. Having come from Ntungamo area, which was democratically outside the money economy, and everybody was on okukolera ekida kyonka (working only for the stomach; subsistence) - combined with the school education, when we came to know about the enclosure movement in the UK (Kusiba Sengenge) , for agriculture, the industrial revolution in Europe, etc. By 1965, the sectarian politics of the political groups notwithstanding, our ideas about the socioeconomic transformation had coalesced. It was clear that the small enclave economy of the British, of the 3 Cs and 3 Ts, was a disaster for the majority of the people. You want proof? Just look at the infant mortality and the average life expectancy in 1962. There were 128 per 1,000 live births, and life expectancy was 46.8 for everybody – on the average. We soon grasped the importance of having vertically and horizontally integrated national economies. In the 20 years of chaos between 1966 and 1986, our views were eventually crystallised into the 10-point programme of Kanyaara, where we wrote this document in 1984. Point No.5 of those 10 points runs as follows: “Building an independent, integrated, self-sustaining national economy”. However, for the people to participate in the vertical and horizontal integration of the economy of the country, they had to join the money economy first and move out of the traditional pre-capitalist economy of working for ekida kyonka; working only for the stomach. Since my nomadic family had migrated from Ntungamo to Nyabushozi, it was good luck that we started our activities there. These involved sensitising the population of the cattle corridor to stop nomadism, make enclosures around their land using sengenge, engage in commercial agriculture with ekibaro , cura, and aimar (calculation for profit and maximum returns). As you can see in the videos, let them show us some of the families we started with, if they are featured in the videos, and their testimonies. (A video presentation was made.)

87 THE TWELFTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 4 JUNE 2026 Isingiro all the way up to Northern Uganda. Much of the work we have done so far was in the South of the Nile, from River Kagera up to Kiryandongo. They have all changed. That man is in the Ngoma area. The infrastructure is not so good, but you can see they are having a lot of money. That particular one is selling 900 litres of milk per day. The price is low, it is not high, but they still get Shs 21 million a month. You can see that girl there; she is educated because of the money which the parents have used to pay for her in the schools and they have moved from the other smaller houses, which the old lady was showing you, to now permanent buildings to live a better life. That is the testimony from the cattle corridor. That is why this time really, I am no longer interested in non-performers. Between 1986 and 1989, we campaigned for prioritising the enterprise of dairy farming for the small and medium farmers, while the big players would continue with their ranching for beef. By 1995, the cattle corridor had started changing. People were getting income per month from the sale of milk, building better houses, paying school fees for children in schools. Indeed, our late Magaga – Magaga is a husband to the other lady whom you saw, and father of Lt Gen. Kavuma – Is Kavuma here? He is a big general now. (Hon. Kavuma rose_) You can see how big he is; there he is. Their family – the wife (the one you saw) and the husband who died – indeed our late comrade Magaga, the father of Lt Gen. Kavuma, came to me and told me that he did not know what to do with the money. When they started getting money from the milk, he could not believe it. He said, “ Hate essente z’inshobeire okundazigire. ” Once you say you are a leader, you are putting a problem on yourself. If you do not become a real leader, God will not like you; I can assure you of this. Either you lead or you stay in your home: Do not try to be a leader when you do not care about the people. Magaga came and said, “ Essente z’inshobeire nzigyire’nta? ” This is because the milk people are paid every 15 days. This had never happened in Magaga’s life. He had never seen it that a villager is paid money every 15 days. “ Nka ow’omushahara .” That is what he told me. It is as if he was working in a government office and being paid a salary. That was the tragedy of Uganda at that time. Only the civil colonial servants would get regular income. This change in the cattle corridor by the traditional families of abatasoma – because these people had never gone to school. Magaga had never gone to school. His wife had never gone to school - was engineered by us, and it was against the advice of the professionals. The professionals did not believe we could change these people. They would tell me; you are wasting your time, those Banyankole cannot change. They were all saying to a man that the Banyankole could not change from their pre-capitalist lifestyle to a money economy. Moreover, when we were doing this, nobody among the colonial elite would agree to support us. It is only Mzee Byanyima who gave us Shs 20, with my colleague Mwesigwa Black, who died in 1972 in our wars. The only person who helped us gave us Shs 20. That was just short of $3 at the time. A dollar at that time was Shs 7, so $3 would be Shs 21. When we said we were going to mobilise the Banyankole to stop nomadism, other people refused to help us. We used Shs 7 per person to use Mungonya’s bus from Mbarara to Rushere through Ruhumba. That was Shs 14. Out of our Shs 20, we used Shs 14 to come from Mbarara to Rushere. Mwesigwa was a smoker, so he took away Shs 1.20 to buy a packet of Sportsman cigarettes. That left us with Shs 1.80. After holding public meetings at Rushere, we used the Bazalwana bus to a place called Katongole, each using Shs 1.20; that is Shs 2.40. In the Katongole area, we started moving on foot up to Naama, where we spent the night leaning against the harvested millet of one of

88 ADDRESS ON THE STATE OF THE NATION, 2026 the peasants, called Kyankuru. Millet is very comfortable when it is not threshed – when it is in the sheaves. After addressing a public meeting at Naama, the group gave us bicycle rides to Mzee Bitasaine’s place near Rwamasha Dam. Moving on foot, we addressed meetings, including a mega one where there is Karo Secondary School now. You should have seen the grandfathers and other adults listening to these young people. I was just 22 years old at that time, and Mwesigwa was slightly older than me. Thereafter, we moved on foot out of Mzee Bitanyoka’s home, where we had made our camp, and spent the night at Rushere with Mzee Mihinga. Thereafter, our remaining Shs 2.40 could only take us up to Bunyakasharara. From there, we walked on foot all the way to Mbarara, spending a night at my kraal in Akairungu near Biharwe, Mbarara area. It was now January 1967, and it was time to take up our temporary teaching jobs and get our own money to easily support our voluntary struggle for our people. Therefore, when I hear leaders talking of allowances to reach their people and get them out of poverty, I almost get nausea – I feel like vomiting, if you do not know. When I look at you, the way you do things, I really feel very – not pleased, but out of politeness, I have been keeping quiet: Now I am telling you. Even those who get government allowances do not go to the field. I hear that many just stay in Kampala. Another mistake is for leaders to give personal money to constituents. As you can see here, we had no money to give to anybody. The only money we had, even when we started getting our own salaries, was for bus transport. Most of the time, I would ride a bicycle from Kazo to Burunga, from Burunga to Rwakitura, and back. The only fuel I needed was no fat on my body. Now you hear a problem; a Muluka chief needs a motorcycle. A motorcycle for what? Let the Muluka chief ride a bicycle. I am really sick and tired of that parasitism. That is why I told you that this is “ Kisanja No More Sleep”, because I have been polite, talking, thinking that people will learn by example. No. This is the time to talk straight to everybody. Why should the Muluka chief have a motorcycle, fuel, and money? Let him use a bicycle. It is better for him. He will live longer if he rides a bicycle. Even a Gombolola chief, the Gombolola is not so big. Why should we have fuel and all of that? Work cannot be done because there is no money for fuel. The only fuel I needed was no fat on my body. We would share food and accommodation with our hosts, the population. God has kept me here, and I am now 82 years old – almost, not exactly, but almost. In spite of the efforts we expended in the resistance, the most important contribution to the people of the cattle corridor was the diagnosis of their problems and the prescription we offered, because we had no money to give these people. The only things we gave them were a correct analysis, a diagnosis, and a prescription. They were enough to arouse their enthusiasm and expectations. That was why they joined the young political party we formed in 1980, known as the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), after political parties were again allowed to exist. No money was given to them, but accurate analysis and prescriptions that were projected solutions, and also reaching out to them. You can imagine a 22-year-old child calling adults and grandfathers, and they came to those meetings. By 1986, the production of milk in Uganda was 200 million litres per annum. It is now 5.4 billion litres saving Uganda $1.56 billion of imports and earning $285 million in exports. Therefore, the work we did not only help cattle raising families but also saved Uganda the import bill of $1.56 billion if we were importing all this milk. Uganda would be spending $1.56 billion.

103. Ruhindi Fredrick Nakawa Division East Kampala NRM 104. Taban Aate Sharifah Woman Representative Koboko Independent 105. Ouma Willy Namayingo South County Namayingo Independent 106. Orone Derrick Gogonyo County Pallisa NRM 107. Tete Chelengat Everline Woman Representative Bukwo NRM 108. Tibyaze Peace Woman Representative Jinja NRM 109. Tom Aliti Candia Maracha East County Maracha NRM 110. Rwakimari Beatrice Ruhaama County Ntungamo NRM 111. Tumuramye Genensio Kashongi County Kiruhura NRM 112. Tumusiime John Bosco Kashari South County Mbarara NRM 113. Teira John Bugabula County North Kamuli NRM 114. Oryema Simon Peter Adum Chua West County Kitgum NRM 115. Turyahikayo Kebirungi Mary Paula Woman Representative Rukungiri NRM 116. Sebamala Richard Bukoto County Central Masaka DP 117. Tiyo William Taylor Odaa Ayivu Division East Arua City NRM 118. Ssebbugga-Kimeze Berunado Budyepo County Nakasongola NRM 119. Tayebwa Thomas Ruhinda North County Mitooma NRM 120. Otto Edward Makmot Agago County Agago NRM 121. Rwamirama Bright Kanyontore (Lt Col Rtd) Isingiro County North Isingiro NRM 122. Tebandeke Charles Bbaale County Kayunga NUP 123. Tukahirwa James Byenjuru Hunter Kajara County Ntungamo NRM 124. Tumukunde Henry Kakurugu (Lt Gen. Rtd) Rukungiri Municipality Rukungiri NRM 125. Tumwesigye Anthony Isingiro West County Isingiro Independent 126. Ssenyonyi Joel Basekezi Nakawa Division West Kampala NUP 127. Osoru Mourine Woman Representative Arua City NRM 128. Ossiya Solomon Alemu Toroma County Katakwi NRM 129. Shyam Jay Tanna Tororo Municipality Tororo Independent 130. Twalla Fadil Tingey County Kapchorwa NRM 131. Waluswaka James Bunyole West County Butaleja NRM 132. Tumwebaze Mwine Youth Representative Western NRM 133. Twinomujuni Francis Kazini Buhaguzi County Kikuube NRM 134. Otafiire Kahinda (Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Ruhinda County Mitooma NRM 135. Silwany Solomon Bukooli County Central Bugiri NRM 136. Otim Bernard Maruzi North County Apac NRM 137. Waiswa Joel Azalwa Busiki County Namutumba Independent 138. Ssemwanga Gyaviira Buyamba County Rakai NRM 139. Wakida Patrick Godfrey Kabweri County Kibuku NRM 140. Walyomu Moses Muwanika Kagoma County Jinja Independent 141. Wandera John Paul Samia Bugwe County North Busia Independent 142. Saazi Godfrey Gomba East County Gomba NUP 143. Wanyenya Shafiga Bungokho County North Mbale NRM 144. Twesige Stephen Buyaga East County Kagadi NRM 145. Twinamasiko Onesimus Bugangaizi East County Kakumiro NRM 146. Wandera Sadala Bugweri County Bugweri NRM 147. Tayebwa Didas Kabumbuza Kooki County Rakai NRM 148. Wanyama Judas Thadeo Youth Representative Eastern NRM 149. Sserukenya David Makindye-Ssabagabo Municipality Wakiso NUP 150. Sekindi Aisha Woman Representative Kalungu Independent

8 ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS 5. Kansiime Annah Woman Representative Rwampara NRM 6. Kanyesigye Mercy Youth Representative Female Independent 7. Kapyagon Brian Kongasis County Bukwo Independent 8. Karim Musa Aringa North County Yumbe Independent 9. Kasajja George Patrick Bulamogi North West County Kaliro NRM 10. Kasigwa Gerald Bihemaiso Kigorobya County Hoima NRM 11. Kasirye Nganda Ali Makindye East Division Kampala NUP 12. Kasukaali Methuselah Mwenge Central County Kyenjojo NRM 13. Kariisa Johnbosco Koy Buhweju West County Buhweju NRM 14. Katushabe Ruth Woman Representative Bukomansimbi NRM 15. Katusiime Annet Mugisha Woman Representative Bushenyi NRM 16. Kawalya Abubaker Rubaga Division North Kampala NUP 17. Kasaija Matia Buyanja County Kibaale NRM 18. Karuhanga Gerald Kafureeka Ntungamo Municipality Ntungamo Independent 19. Khalayi Peace Woman Representative Namisindwa NRMK 20. Kiirya Grace Paddy Wanzala Butembe County Jinja FDC 21. Kiiza Andrew N. Kaluya Kigulu County South Iganga NUP 22. Katushabe Doreen Birungi Woman Representative Lyantonde NRM 23. Kiyonga C.W.C.B. Bukonzo County West Kasese NRM 24. Muhwezi Jim Katugugu Rujumbura County Rukungiri NRM 25. Kenan Opio Busiro South Wakiso NRM 26. Kateshumbwa Dicksons Sheema Municipality Sheema NRM 27. Katusiime Jovia Woman Representative Kiryandongo NRM 28. Kiiza Kenneth Nyendwoha Bujenje County Masindi NRM 29. Kikabi Edward (Dr) Ntwetwe County Kyankwanzi NRM 30. Kinalwa James (Maj. Gen.) UPDF Representative N/A N/A 31. Kinobere Herbert Tom Kibuku County Kibuku Independent 32. Kinshaba Patience Nkunda Woman Representative Kanungu Independent 33. Kiruluuta Yusuf J. Nkerettanyi Kalungu County East Kalungu NUP 34. Kirumira Hassan Katikamu County South Luweero NUP 35. Kisekka Salim Bukomansimbi North County Bukomansimbi NRM 36. Kitiyo Patrick Kapchorwa Municipality Kapchorwa Independent 37. Kiyimba Emmanuel Bukoto County Mid-West Lwengo NRM 38. Kasule Ismail Hoima West Division Hoima City ANT 39. Khainza Agnes Shiuma Woman Representative Bududa NRM 40. Kugonza Emely Buyanja East County Kibaale NRM 41. Kungu Samuel Bamuteeze Kigulu County North Iganga NRM 42. Kwizera Eddie Wa-Gahungu Bukimbiri County Kisoro Independent 43. Kyambadde Amelia Ann Mawokota County North Mpigi NRM 44. Kyarampe Rebecca Woman Representative Mitooma NRM 45. Kyarikunda Loydah T. Woman Representative Mbarara NRM 46. Kisa Stephen Bakubalwayo Luuka South County Luuka NRM 47. Kavuma Samuel (Lt Gen.) UPDF N/A N/A 48. Kitanywa Sowedi Busongora County North Kasese NRM 49. Kizza Hakim Sawula Bukoto County South Lwengo NUP 50. Kuteesa Patrick Kimanya-Kabonera Division Masaka City NUP 51. Kwiyucwiny Grace Freedom Ora County Zombo NRM 52. Kibaaju Charity Kamuhanda Woman Representative Mbarara City NRM 53. Komol Joseph Miidi Dodoth North County Kaabong NRM 54. Karubanga Jacob Ateenyi Kibanda South County Kiryandongo Independent 55. Mwine Mpaka Rwamirama Mbarara South Division Mbarara City NRM

102. Maganda Julius Wandera Samia Bugwe County South Busia NRM 103. Malende Shamim Woman Representative Kampala NUP 104. Mayanja Moses Busiro County North Wakiso NRM 105. Mbalibulha Christopher K. Taban Bughendera County Bundibugyo Independent 106. Monday Julius Rude (Dr) Bukonzo County East Kasese NRM 107. Lule Eria Erick Kiboga West County Kiboga NRM 108. Meeme Sylvia (Col) UPDF Representative N/A N/A 109. Lwansasula Sarah Woman Representative Jinja City NUP 110. Modoi Isaac Lutseshe County Bududa NRM 111. Mpaata Salleh Bunya County South Mayuge NRM 112. Mubangizi Dedan Buwekula South County Mubende NRM 113. Luyimbazi Nalukoola Elias Kawempe Division North Kampala NUP 114. Masaba Muhamood Mutenyo Bungokho Central County Mbale NRM 115. Mbabazi Jacqueline Older persons Representative Western NRM 116. Migadde Robert Ndugwa Buvuma Islands County Buvuma NRM 117. Mudukoi Fred Oduchu Butebo County Butebo NRM 118. Namatovu Mastula Kamuli Municipality Kamuli NRM 119. Mugenyi Joseph Burahya County Kabarole NRM 120. Mudiobole Abedi Nasser Iganga Municipality Iganga NUP 121. Mugira James (Lt Gen.) UPDF Representative N/A N/A 122. Mugisa Margaret Muhanga Fort Portal North Division Fort Portal City NRM 123. Malinga Isaac Maikut Soi County Kween NRM 124. Masiko Henry Moses (Maj. Gen.) UPDF Representative N/A N/A 125. Mushabe Rujoki Ruth Woman Representative Kiruhura NRM 126. Mpindi Bumali PWD N/A Independent 127. Maseruka Robert Mukono County South Mukono NUP 128. Musinguzi Patrick Kashari North County Mbarara NRM 129. Muhenda Ronald Fort Portal Central Division Fort Portal City Independent 130. Muhooza Desire Woman Representative Kiboga NRM 131. Mujungu Jennifer K. Woman Representative Ntoroko NRM 132. Mujuni Asensio Maari Isingiro County South Isingiro NRM 133. Mukisa Robina Hope Woman Representative Namayingo NRM 134. Mukhaye Miriam Woman Representative Mbale NRM 135. Mulemya Ismail Sowed Busia Municipality Busia NRM 136. Mukiibi Eriasa Sserunjogi Butambala County Butambala Independent 137. Mulindwa David Isimbwa Busongora County South Kasese NRM 138. Mirembe Lydia Daphine Woman Representative Butambala Independent 139. Mugabe Robert Kitagwenda County Kitagwenda NRM 140. Mugabi Muzaale Martin Kisule Buzaaya County Kamuli NRM 141. Musa Noah Koboko North County Koboko NRM 142. Musanje Moses Njeru Municipality Buikwe NUP 143. Musasizi Henry Ariganyira Rubanda County East Rubanda NRM 144. Musila John Bubulo East County Namisindwa NRM 145. Musisi George Kira Municipality Wakiso NUP 146. Mutasingwa Diana Nankunda Woman Representative Buikwe NRM 147. Mutego Ronard Hangujja Bunyole East County Butaleja Independent 148. Nakku Fiona Female Workers Representative N/A Independent 149. Mutekanga Zadock Buhweju County Buhweju NRM 150. Mutonyi Rose Masaaba Woman Representative Manafwa Independent 151. Muyonjo Hussein Jinja North Division Jinja City NUP 152. Mwesigwa Mathias Rubabo County Rukungiri NRM

18875 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 5 MAY 2026 Vote 015 - Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Shs 37.90 billion for capitalisation of Uganda Development Corporation as an additional investment in Atiak Sugar Factory. The second category is self-financing and budget-neutral supplementary requests over and above the 3 per cent legal limit, which require prior approval by Cabinet and Parliament. Of a total of Shs 586.16 billion for Supplementary Expenditure Schedule No.5, which is above the 3 per cent legal limit. A total of Shs 123.03 billion is self-financed and thus budget-neutral. The self-financing/budget- neutral supplementary includes the following: Reallocation of Shs 40.21 billion to cater for additional wages for recruitment of health workers under 19 referral hospitals. Honourable colleagues, there is a need to allocate the wage of Shs 40.21 billion currently budgeted for under the Ministry of Health to 19 referral hospitals. This is required to cater for the recruitment and absorption of critical health workers who were previously supporting these hospitals before the suspension of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding for essential health services. The beneficiary referral hospitals are the following; i. Butabika Hospital, Arua Hospital, Fort Portal Hospital, Gulu Hospital, Hoima Hospital, Jinja Hospital, Kabale Hospital, Masaka Hospital, Mbale Hospital, Soroti Hospital, Lira Hospital, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Mubende Regional Referral Hospital, Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, Naguru National Referral Hospital, Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital, Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital, Kayunga Referral Hospital, and Yumbe Referral Hospital; ii. Shs 9.92 billion for various local governments, which are also detailed in Annex I; iii. Shs 1.44 billion as unspent balances under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer Programme (UgIFT), which were returned to the Uganda Consolidated Fund at the end of the Financial Year 2024/2025. This funding is required to enable the local governments to meet their outstanding contractual obligations under the programme for this year; iv. Shs 2.22 billion for the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) project as unspent balances that were returned to the Uganda Consolidated Fund at the end of the Financial Year 2024/2025. This funding is required to enable the local governments to meet their contractual obligations and avoid - (Interruption)

Do you know why I am asking about how much has been allocated? This is because even after that allocation, we do not find the roads being worked on. What did you say about the Kampala-Jinja Expressway? As you look for that, we also need to synchronise the issue of the regional mechanical workshops. You find a district like Bundibugyo with a regional workshop in Fort Portal – It is in Mbarara, not even Fort Portal. You find the one servicing Soroti in Bugembe. We are wondering what happened to the – because Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) used to be very organised. They had regional offices. What happened to those offices? What happened to the equipment that they had? Where are the regional labs? Before we start talking about the roads and whatever, how do we test the materials? Where are those labs or the regional mechanical workshops? Then, what happened to the UNRA roads? Honourable chairperson, you may need to enlighten us on that because we are giving you a lot of money. Now, the fact that you have a lot of money, tell us which roads you are going to give us – when we are doing appropriation – which roads are we working on? I told you about the road leading to Buhweju. You cannot even think of passing there. There is the road from Lira-Otuke-Abim up to Karenga; it is very bad. When you look at Kachonga-Butaleja-Tororo- Namutumba road, it is terrible. Look at where Hon. Joan comes from, Madi-Okollo. That road of Madi-Okollo connecting to Arua - I can tell you all the roads now. Let us look at the critical roads and make sure that we use the money effectively. With all this money that is being given, we must achieve what we need to achieve. You find the roads in Kampala – like my road, somebody is working on McKinnon Road, but I have failed to pass there for a whole two weeks. Nothing is moving. I was wondering why they removed my little tarmac which was there; they should have left it the way it was. Therefore, honourable chairperson, there is a big problem in your sector.

Madam Speaker, in respect to the regional mechanical workshops, we had an extensive discussion on the subject matter with the ministry for works that currently, the regional mechanical workshops do not offer efficient services to the rest of the region. For example, you find that in the Karamoja Subregion, we would expect to travel all the way to Gulu mechanical workshop. In West Nile, we will have to travel all the way to Gulu. Then, Hoima, Fort Portal, we will have to travel all the way to Mbarara. Therefore, we recommended the creation of subregional mechanical workshops born out of the stations that were formerly manned by UNRA.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. On that issue of the “big districts”, when you look at Ntungamo, Isingiro and Kasese, we consider both the size of the district and the population, which increases the economic activities, of course, because the people are many. When you look at Ntungamo, Isingiro, Kasese and other districts whose population is high, you find that when you work on the road, within just three months, you need to go back. Then, there is the issue of the terrain. Isingiro, Kasese and Ntungamo districts are hilly. So, you find that even working on a bridge is very expensive. We have been finding it very difficult to manage our constituencies, because we manage them as sub-districts. The money we get from here, in allowances, we use it to work on our roads. We even hire private graders from Mbarara. We have people who have private graders. One time, I worked on 40 kilometres. Another time, I worked on 60-something kilometres, because my constituency alone has more than 100 kilometres of district roads. That is the challenge. I thank you, Madam Speaker, for encouraging us to make sure that we give those districts extra money first, and then the equipment can come later – because we borrow from the neighbouring districts.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am concerned with the independence of the Judiciary. I have been going to court these days because of the case of Dr Kiiza Besigye. Sometimes you wonder whether you are in a military court or in the normal Judiciary. They no longer grant bail. Sometimes they act as if they are part of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), and that is how people who fought for the freedom that all of you are enjoying sacrificed their lives, like Dr Besigye, who has been in prison for now a year and a half. As we recommend for more funding, there must be a value to the public - and it is not only Dr Besigye who is in prison. The other day, you had Kenyans arrested. The Judiciary issued an order. Later on, the President said they were in a “Fridge.” We have Sam Mugumya, who was a candidate in my party. He was kidnapped from Mbarara, and to date, we do not know where he is. There are hundreds of other young people arrested during elections. They go to the Judiciary over small matters. I have been arrested many times, but I have never been denied bail. This time, almost everything, whether it is public nuisance - I was once charged with public nuisance - they are not releasing. The Judiciary seems to have been captured by the Executive, and I do not know whether Hon. Kafuuzi is here as the Leader of Government Business, or if he is trying to find out in which capacity, but it should concern you. It should concern you that there is an erosion of the independence of the Judiciary and an attempt to replace it with the military because the moment you lose the Judiciary, you are in trouble. Disputes are now being arbitrated by politicians. So, as we ask about the backlog, the quality of judgments, and the denial of rights by the Judiciary, it appears to me and to the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs that there is cause for concern - because you will never know when you are going to be there, and it does not matter whether you are NRM or not. Recently, I remember three NRM Members of Parliament were arrested, and they were treated the way we are being treated. I saw Hon. Akamba being beaten like a chicken thief. So, when talking about the independence of the Judiciary, we are talking about your own right, and it does not matter your affiliation. So, it should concern every Member of Parliament. As we ask for more money for the Judiciary, Madam Speaker, the Judiciary needs to be more accountable. They need to stop being partisan. I have seen Dr Besigye appearing before a judge, and it is as if he has committed a crime against that particular judge - the anger! These cadre judges that you, Hon. Kafuuzi, and others are appointing, one day you will appear before them - we have a colleague -

18649 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 16 APRIL 2026 This project intends to ensure the connection of 1,073,500 new connections of people to the electricity grid. The distribution is as follows: Central Region, 497,106; Eastern Region, 216,616; Northern, 140,337; and Western Uganda, 219,441 new connections, all amounting to 1,073,500 new connections. Under the mineral exploration and beneficiation projects, there is exploration and support for the mineral value chains. This is to improve the value of the minerals that are being obtained by the various artisanal as well as developed miners. This is planned for in Ssembabule, Buhweju, Iganga, Luweero, Kyenjojo, Ntungamo, Kazo, Kiboga, Kassanda, Mubende, Nakasongola, Mityana, and Nakaseke districts. On the Kilembe redevelopment and mineral value addition, the Government intends to support mining, processing, and mineral value addition under the Kilembe project. This will be located in Kilembe, which is in Kasese. There will also be Busia, Mbarara, Iganga, Jinja, Tororo, Rubanda, Kampala, and other mineral processing points in the country. Observations on Vote 017 The committee welcomes -

18651 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 16 APRIL 2026 intended for Laropi and Lefori in Moyo, Akoro and Pangila, and Padibe West in Lamwo. The institutional water supply and sanitation project This one is intended to supply the Arocha prison in Apac and the Iceme health centre and surrounding areas in Oyam. The rural growth centre schemes in Ewanga in Madi-Okollo, Edrayo in Terego, Rodo and Nyori in Yumbe. The gravity and piped water schemes are intended for Ambe GFS in Zombo, the Ogili water supply and sanitation scheme in Agago, as well as Pader. The solar-powered schemes for Achukudu solar RGC in Napak. Colleagues, I am sure that the Hon Faith Nakut is now going to give me a bit- Table 12, in the Eastern region. There are rural growth centre piped water projects that are intended for Bulange in Namutumba, Nango in Mayuge, Bubugo- Itanda in Jinja, and Kagumba in Kamuli. Additional rural growth centre schemes, one intended for Oyama RGC in Kaberamaido. The institutional water supply and sanitation schemes in Ivukula prisons and the surrounding areas in Namutumba. The public sanitation facilities are intended for Mulatsi S.S. in Mbale and Lubani SSS in Jinja. The urban and small town water system schemes under the Water and Sanitation Development Facility East. In Manafwa, Bulangira, Bukumi, Kaproron, Kadungulu, Iyolwa, Mukura, Atutur and Mbale Industrial Park. Central region The ministry intends to undertake piped water schemes in Nankondo in Ssembabule, Moone in Nakasongola and Bulera in Mityana. The institutional water and sanitation schemes - Masaka Army Barracks. The solar-powered water schemes in Kyegegwa, Rakai, Namayingo and Buvuma districts. Then the other additional schemes and extensions are intended for Ngoma, Nyanseke, Busaale, Lunya, Kapeeka Industrial Park extension and Kikuube. In Western and Southwestern regions The major towns and cluster water systems. In Nyakashaka and Rubaya in Buhweju and Mbarara, Mabira, Bukiro, and Nyabisirira, Ntungamo Industrial Park, among others. The integrated water management and development schemes Kaliro-Namungalwe and Kyegegwa-Mpara- Ruyonza-Kabagore. This is the learned DAGs area. Isingiro water and sanitation scheme That is for the Isingiro District. Institutional water schemes in Butanda Secondary School in Kabale, Rugazi Health Centre IV in Rubirizi, and Ishekye School of the Handicapped in Sheema. The rural growth schemes Kyampangara and Nyamushojwa in Kazo, Kasaba in Kyenjojo, Rwentuha in Kyegegwa and Buhanda in Mubende. The solar-powered scheme Bikone and Isule-Katebenyangorongo in Kasese; Kagunga Iremera 1, Iremera 2 in Kisoro; and the Rubanda extension scheme.

18701 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 16 APRIL 2026 On page 27, we have several votes: i) Vote 013, Education and Sports Ministry, where we observed that external funding to development projects of Shs 138.21 billion and Shs 69.01 billion for the operationalisation of UNITE and the TVET council; ii) Vote 164, National Council for Higher Education, and there we observed that Shs 18 billion was for infrastructure development; iii) The National Council for Sports for AFCON preparation activities was Shs 122.89 billion, but that one has been revised; iv) Vote 169: Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board; v) Vote 170 for UPAB, Shs 9.1 billion; vi) Makerere University, we looked at the infrastructure development, where it required Shs 67.01 billion; vii) Vote 302: Mbarara University, Shs 3 billion for construction; viii) Vote 303: Makerere University Business School. We looked at the support for infrastructure development for research, Shs 23 billion; ix) Vote 304: Kyambogo University, for evidence-based research of Shs 3 billion. Busitema University supported research and innovation, also Shs 3 billion; x) Muni University, Vote 306 of Shs 30 billion for the teaching hospital; xi) Vote 307: Kabale University for the expansion of Medical School, Shs 5 billion xii) Vote 308: Soroti University, construction of the School of Engineering, Shs 10 billion; xiii) Vote 309: Gulu University, infrastructure development of the Senate Building, storage facility, and lecture theatres at Shs 10 billion; xiv) Lira University: Vote 310, completion of university infrastructure at Shs 10 billion; xv) Mountain of the Moon University, for construction of the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Shs 10 billion; and xvi) Vote 612 for local government, which was a salary enhancement for primary and the arts teachers, which was Shs 500 35.01 billion. When we move to page 29, I think those are narrations. Page 30 has tables you can read. I am rushing to the recommendations. I will Key planned activities of Financial 2026/2027 Vote 013: Ministry of Education and Sports, the narration is there. Vote 111: National Curriculum Development Centre. We have the narration. Vote 128: Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) Here we note that no funds were provided for marking of the new secondary school curriculum papers. Last time, the markers rioted and there is a need to add UNEB money like we are going to make proposals. Education Service Commission The committee was informed that the Commission is also working closely with Chief Administrative Officers to ensure that human resources - there is that coordination between the Ministry of Education and Sports, CAOs’ offices, and the Education Service Commission when it comes to human resource recruitment. On National Council for Higher Education, the narration is there. On Vote 169: Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board, the narration is there. About National Council for Sports, operationalisation of Hoima City Stadium and related facilities, the narration is there. Vote 170: Uganda Health Professionals Assessment Board, you will look at the narration. Vote 301: Makerere University also has the details there.

18702 CONSIDERATION OF THE BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR FY 2026/2027 Vote 302: Mbarara University of Science and Technology - you can read. Vote 303: Makerere University Business School - you will read on that page. Kyambogo University - the same story. Busitema University - we have such narration. Muni University - you will look at the construction of the multi-purpose health science lab and the rest. Kabale University, Vote 307 - the narration is there. Soroti University, Gulu University, Lira University, Uganda Management Institute, Vote 313 for Mountain of the Moon University - you can read the narration. Observations Madam Speaker, we had general observations, and it was observed that the sub-programme was allocated Shs 989.82 billion at the time of the finalisation of the draft estimates. Of course, we have the ULEARN project, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) - the narration is there. However, there are key critical activities within the sub-programme that remain unfunded, yet they are critical in the attainment of the set targets within the five-year National Development Plan (NDPIV). This is the implementation of free and compulsory Universal Primary Education (UPE), which continues to be underfunded at Shs 309.16 billion. Recommendation The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development funds the various votes under the sub-programme in time within the first half of the financial year, to ensure timely financing towards the planned activities in order to achieve the set targets. The finance ministry is also urged to allocate additional Shs 309.16 billion towards the implementation of free and compulsory primary education and Uganda shillings 14.95 billion towards the implementation of free Universal Secondary Education (USE) and Universal Post O-Level Education and Training (UPOLET) Education. The Ministry of Finance is also urged to allocate an additional Shs 66.30 billion and Shs 21 billion towards the grant-aiding of 100 secondary schools in subcounties without government support, and 300 primary schools in parishes without government ones, respectively. The Ministry of Finance is also urged to release funds to the Technical, Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) Council, to promptly avoid any challenges in the transition to the TVET Act because of limited funding to the council. Vote 013, Ministry of Education and Sports Madam Speaker, the committee recommends that an additional Shs 5.11 billion be provided by the Ministry of Finance to cater for these increments, and supplement its efforts towards vocational skilling as envisaged by the National Development Plan IV. The re-purposing of non-core Primary Teachers College (PTCs) into the eight health training institutions and eight TVET institutions. Recommendation The committee recommends that the finance ministry allocates Shs 65.78 billion towards the re-purposing of the 16 non-core PTCs into eight Health Training Institutions (HTIs), seven TVET institutions, and one seed secondary school. Increment in unit cost of the training grants and indentures, internship fees in health training institutions

18708 CONSIDERATION OF THE BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR FY 2026/2027 Flats, and Shs 7.55 billion towards outsourcing cleaning and security guard services. Kyambogo University On Kyambogo University, the committee recommends that the Uganda Land Commission and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development undertake a comprehensive land audit to resolve overlapping tenure conflicts. Two, the committee also urges the finance ministry to allocate Shs 28.58 billion in a phased manner for the recruitment of academic staff in the medium term to bring the staffing level to at least 50 percent. Gulu University The committee recommends that the finance ministry allocates an additional Shs 2.902 billion to cover shortfalls arising from salary harmonisation, Shs 18.643 billion in the mid-term to increase the university’s staffing level to at least 50 per cent. Secondly, that the finance ministry allocates Shs 28.41 billion for the completion of the construction of Gulu Constituent College in Moroto, and Shs 12.815 billion to complete the construction of the Business and Development Centre. Muni University For Muni University, Madam Speaker, we recommend that the Finance Ministry allocates Shs 14.698 billion towards the completion of the various construction projects which have stalled at the university, and Shs 15.302 billion towards kick-starting the construction of the teaching hospital. Mbarara University of Science and Technology The committee recommends that the Finance Ministry allocates an additional Shs 35.43 billion towards the recruitment of staff in the medium term to increase the staffing level to at least 50 per cent. Shs 0.491 for salary scale harmonisation for non-teaching staff. The Finance Ministry is also urged to additionally give Shs 2.8 billion towards retooling of labs and workshops, with specialised machinery and equipment for teaching, research, and innovation. Soroti University The committee recommends that the Finance Ministry allocates Shs 5 billion for the procurement of the necessary equipment and machinery for instruction of the three new engineering courses. Lira University The committee recommends as follows: i) That the Finance Ministry provides Shs 5.0 billion to promote additional critical staff, and Shs 1 billion to cover shortfalls; and ii) Shs 1 billion to cover shortfalls within the welfare facilities and NSSF; and Shs 1.5 billion for the research and innovation fund. Vote 307: Kabale University The committee recommends that an additional Shs 3 billion be allocated to the university to support its research agenda for Financial Year 2026/2027. Vote 305: Busitema University The committee recommends that the ministry for finance provides an additional funding of Shs 14.862 billion to increase on its staffing levels from 10 per cent to at least 50 per cent. Shs 5.23 billion for strengthening labs and ICT to provide in the provision of its services in IT. Vote 312: Uganda Management Institute (UMI) The committee recommends that finance allocates an additional Shs 15.2 billion for the construction of a new purpose building at Kampala branch, new classroom office at Mbale branch, and new classroom office block at Mbarara branch.

18550 CONSIDERATION OF THE BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR FY 2026/2027 3. Mr Elvis Msukwa - Assistant Accountant; 4. Mr Martin Namacheka - Assistant Librarian; 5. Mr Martin Chilipa - Press Supervisor; 6. Ms Jacqueline Mkwaila - Clerical Officer; and 7. Ms Martha Gombwa - Security Assistant. You are most welcome. They are here to witness our proceedings, and we welcome them to the Republic of Uganda. This is the Pearl of Africa. Join me in welcoming them, honourable members. (Applause) Honourable member from Mbarara, Hon. Basil.

Madam Speaker, there are two main issues. First, the majority of people being forced off the streets are those with stalls in our markets. The Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme (MATIP) built very large markets in Mbarara, Arua, and Fort Portal, among others, but people decided to move out and start selling

18596 CONSIDERATION OF THE BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR FY 2026/2027 In terms of absorption, nearly 50 per cent of the budget was released, and 76.7 per cent of the released amount was utilised, resulting in an absorption of about 23.3 per cent. The ministry had arrears amounting to Shs 100 billion, and Shs 50 billion was released to settle some of them. Of the Shs 50 billion released, Shs 37.7 billion was spent to settle the Posta and UTL former workers, translating into 75.5 per cent performance. This is in the table. Kindly allow me to skip the table, and I will speak briefly on the achievements. On matters of policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks, the ministry ensured that the Cabinet approved the National Communication Policy. The ministry managed to develop and operationalise standards for Optical Fibre installation, maintenance, protection, and disposal. The standards require operators to prioritise deployment within the available underground infrastructure facilities provided by cities, municipalities, authorities, and other Government Agencies. In ICT infrastructure development, and through NITA-U, the ministry was able, under phase five of the National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) project, to install 1,567 concrete poles and maintain 4,387 kilometres of optical fibre cable, serving various Government Agencies. Successfully initiated infrastructure sharing amongst the industry players, including base transceiver stations, tower spaces, power systems, and ducts. The ministry developed a georeferenced postcode database for all parishes and wards across 27 districts in Central Uganda. This is in preparation for the National Addressing System, which the ministry is trying to implement. On research and innovation, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Gulu University and Mbarara University to establish innovation hubs at both universities. The ministry assessed the Artificial Intelligence landscape to ascertain the AI ecosystem to facilitate the development of the National Artificial Intelligence Framework. On Communication and National Guidance, the ministry conducted civic education awareness campaigns in the Rwenzori and Ankole Subregions and produced documentaries on socio-economic transformation initiatives such as PDM and Emyooga . On E-services, the ministry commenced development of the Government Digital Registry, which will serve as a central registry for all Government E-Systems. So far, the ministry has registered 624 systems, which are already on the register. Key challenges highlighted by the ministry include inadequate complementary utilities and services, such as electricity and road access, that support the rollout of ICT infrastructure. Madam Speaker, you know that for us to extend ICT, we need this complementary infrastructure - the electricity and the road access. We also have the challenge of a lengthy consultative and approval process for police formulation and projects. The lack of an application programming interface for some of the systems has constrained system integration. We have inadequate space at the National ICT Hub to accommodate the increasing number of innovators and start-ups, and the high cost of commercialisation and low uptake of local ICT solutions. Madam Speaker, I want to now speak to the proposed budget for the next financial year. Basically, the ministry has seven objectives that it will achieve with the funds provided for the next financial year. These include: i) The automation and rollout of e-government services, including PDMIS and smart city solutions. The ministry intends to develop user applications for the wider government;

Madam Speaker, I have seen the excitement the sitting arrangement that took Hon. Nsibambi to the other side has brought to this side. Wouldn’t it be procedurally right for me to know if the honourable member from Mbarara has also crossed to this side so that we can also celebrate?

18349 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 12 MARCH 2026 iv. Vote 116 – National Medical Stores; v. Vote 127 - Uganda Virus Research Institute; vi. Vote 134 – Health Service Commission; vii. Vote 151 – Uganda Blood Transfusion Services; viii. Vote 401 – Mulago Hospital Complex; ix. Vote 402 – Butabika Hospital; x. Vote 403 – Arua Regional Referral Hospital; xi. Vote 404 – Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital; xii. Vote 405 – Gulu Regional Referral Hospital; xiii. Vote 406 – Hoima Regional Referral Hospital; xiv. Vote 407 – Jinja Regional Referral Hospital; xv. Vote 408 – Kabale Regional Referral Hospital; xvi. Vote 409 – Masaka Regional Referral Hospital; xvii. Vote 410 – Mbale Regional Referral Hospital; xviii. Vote 411 – Soroti Regional Referral Hospital; xix. Vote 412 – Lira Regional Referral Hospital; xx. Vote 413 – Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital; xxi. Vote 414 – Mubende Regional Referral Hospital; xxii. Vote 415 – Moroto Regional Referral Hospital; xxiii. Vote 416 – China-Uganda Friendship Referral Hospital, Naguru; xxiv. Vote 417 – Kiruddu Regional Referral Hospital; xxv. Vote 418 – Kawempe Regional Referral Hospital; xxvi. Vote 419 – Entebbe regional far hospital; xxvii. Vote 420 – Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital; xxviii. Vote 421 – Kayunga Regional Referral Hospital; and xxix. Vote 422 – Yumbe Regional Referral Hospital. I beg to lay.

Madam Speaker, I move under Rule 153(1) of the Rules of Procedure Parliament of Uganda and in accordance with Section 12(13) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015. I rise to lay on the Table, the Ministerial Policy Statement for Financial Year 2026/2027 for the Ministry of Education and Sports Vote 013 and 19 – other Votes under the education and sports skills development sub-programme, namely; i. Vote 111 – National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC); ii. Vote 128 – Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB); iii. Vote 132 – Education Service Commission; iv. Vote 164 – National Council for Higher Education; v. Vote 166 – National Council of Sports; vi. Vote 169 – Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board; vii. Vote 170 – Uganda Health Professionals Assessment Board; viii. Vote 301 – Makerere University; ix. Vote 302 – Mbarara University of Science and Technology; x. Vote 304 – Kyambogo University; xi. Vote 305 – Busitema University; xii. Vote 306 – Muni University; xiii. Vote 307 – Kabale University; xiv. Vote 308 – Soroti University; xv. Vote 309 – Gulu University; xvi. Vote 310 – Lira University; xvii. Vote 312 – Uganda Management Institute; xviii. Vote 313 – Mountains of the Moon University; and xix. Vote 612 – Local Governments. Madam Speaker, I beg to lay on Table.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I also join you in welcoming colleagues back from the political battlefield. I know that most people are out there fighting for their political lives. I quipped and told the acting Prime Minister that she was very smart. (Interjection) Yes, she is very smart, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, today is day number 65 since presidential campaigns kicked off officially. They officially began on the 29 September of this very year, so today is day number 65. You did allude to the campaigns, wishing people to have successful campaigns. We are out there at various levels; presidential, parliamentary and so on. The campaigns kicked off fairly well and peacefully. People were out there campaigning, especially the presidential campaigns and we were happy. In fact, at some point we were here and I commended the Government. I said, “Here I will give you credit because so far, we are not being disrupted. We hope it continues that way.” But alas, it was as if we were triggering them to do otherwise. The campaigns have now unfortunately and unexpectedly become brutal. People are being shot dead, others are injured, many are incarcerated, tear gas has become the order of the day and dogs are being used to attack citizens, akin to what used to happen under the apartheid regime in South Africa. Police trucks are being used for crowd control. When people are standing on the roadsides, waving to their presidential candidates of choice, the police pushes some of them off the road by driving into them and a number of them have sustained numerous injuries. I saw the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Abbas Byakagaba, yesterday. He held a press conference. As we have been making these complaints on why the brutality is setting in in so intense a manner, he made remarks and said the presidential candidate of the National Unity Platform, the party I belong to and speak for, is to blame for the brutality meted out to our supporters because we hold processions. That was according to the IGP, Abbas Byakagaba. I said that there was a problem here. Our colleagues in the NRM regularly hold processions, including yesterday, Madam Speaker. Candidate Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta was in Mbarara and Rwampara and they held processions in anticipation of him. They even had a band leading them in holding these processions. Now, it is honestly hypocritical for the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Abbas Byakagaba, to say “National Unity Platform (NUP), we are shooting at, tear-gassing and using dogs at you and so on because you are holding processions”, yet our colleagues in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) are holding processions. Why these double standards? Why this alarming hypocrisy, Madam Speaker? By the way, I do not want to be misconstrued. I do not fault the NRM colleagues for holding processions. It is campaign time. When a candidate is meant to be in a district, it will be different. That is why the police are notified and so on, to make sure that law and order prevails – because there is political activity. So, I do not fault NRM for holding processions at all because it is campaign time. My challenge is that when NUP and the Opposition hold processions, it is illegal and, so, they must be shot dead, beaten, tear-gassed and so on and for the NRM colleagues, it is okay. This is hypocrisy. All of us should be condemning this. If processions are illegal, it should cut across. My considered view is that they are not illegal.

18196 COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR The Government should tell us – it is good that the Attorney-General and the Prime Minister are here. Are processions illegal if they are by NUP supporters, but if they are by NRM supporters, as we saw in Mbarara yesterday and elsewhere, they are okay and legal?

Madam Speaker, as I quickly wrap up, yesterday, again, I saw something odd. A police truck in Mbarara was ferrying NRM supporters to Boma Grounds, where the NRM candidate was to hold a rally. I got a bit confused. I said: “Now, on the one hand, you are beating our supporters, but you are helping to ferry supporters of another candidate. How does this work?” When we saw His Lordship Justice Simon Byabakama, the Chairperson, Electoral Commission (EC), saying: “After you have voted, please, go home. The police will protect your votes.” People are wondering: “Now, this police is ferrying supporters of another candidate to their rally and you expect that they are going to protect the votes of everybody?” It does not quite make sense.

In Mbarara – ferrying them to Boma Grounds for the rally of candidate Yoweri Museveni. That was yesterday.

I was actually in Mbarara yesterday.

I do not know if you did not see it, but it happened in Mbarara yesterday. Madam Speaker, on the 6.00 p.m. narrative that I saw the IGP talking about, yes, according to the regulations and the guidelines, presidential rallies should end at 6.00 p.m. – all rallies actually. We should endeavour to respect these guidelines. I have a challenge in my camp – and my presidential candidate. Police normally take us off the main roads. A distance that should take 20 minutes ends up lasting three to four hours. Inevitably, you get to a rally late, and this is a complaint that we have raised regularly. Why is it that where other presidential candidates pass, the NUP presidential candidate is not allowed to pass? What is the issue – that you have to take us around in these circles? It is good that we get some procedural guidance on this issue -

18200 COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR Another issue he has raised is the police car ferrying people to the NRM rally in Mbarara. Madam Speaker, I would like to see the evidence he is tabling, as he has not presented any to us. What does he base his call to them on? Is it the colour they were putting on? Which colour was it? Were they Catholics putting on the colour for the Catholic guild for the women?

17968 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT Remember, we were coming out of COVID-19, Ebola, and the chronic strikes. So, I think that we deserve a clap as the Government and Parliament. There has also been tremendous investment in infrastructure in the health sector and in the LOP’s constituency, and we have yet to be one of the best heart hospitals in Africa. I think the Rt Hon. Prime Minister did the ground-breaking in February. It was a loan from the Saudi Fund, and once it is completed, we shall stop referring our heart patients to Turkey and India. Those are some of the things. I think three weeks ago, there was a loan request for a cancer centre in Arua. The one in Mbale will soon be coming aboard. It was in the same loan request by the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and then Mbarara and so forth. Madam Speaker, the issue is appropriation. Once given the right funds, I think the Minister and the Ministry of Health would be on the right track. As I conclude, the 10 th Parliament was able to borrow money, and over 200 health Centres III were built. It is for that same reason that we were able to reduce maternal mortality. I would like to implore the House to avail the necessary funds so that we can revamp all these health centres IV that we are talking about, all the ambulances that we need, and all the general hospitals that we need. I thank you, Madam Speaker.

17867 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 Madam Speaker, looking at the procedures of borrowing the equipment, we have regional offices in Gulu, Mbarara, Mbale, and Soroti. However, whenever the districts go to borrow the equipment, the regional offices do not supply them, and we discovered that many of them are hiring out the railroad equipment. In fact, they are making money instead of helping the government offices. Madam Speaker, the minister needs to be very serious.

Madam Speaker, during the financial year under review, an overall budget of Shs 61.6 trillion, out of which Shs 11 trillion was allocated for the implementation of various projects by different Votes. In the scheme of things, where you had a budget of Shs 61.6 trillion, Shs 11 trillion of this money was in projects. That is how big it is. It is for the first time, and I must thank Members that a committee of PAC has found the time and space to look at audit reports of projects. We just did a sample because the projects are so many. An institution like Makerere University has 61 projects, the Ministry of Water and Environment has 28. The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has so many projects. However, be as it may, the committee observed that the project implementation had faced a lot of challenges, which had led to a lot of – there are figures I have left that are important. We had Shs 11 trillion under projects. Out of the Shs 11 trillion allocated for the project, Shs 7.9 trillion was through borrowed money; through loans. Another Shs 3.09 trillion was from grants; money given to Uganda. I will explain to you that money given to Uganda in the financial year, Shs trillion, how much are we able to use? It is money given, not even borrowed. Be as it may, the committee observed that project implementation had faced a lot of challenges, which led to a lot of wastage and abuse in their implementation. This is because of poor conceptualisation, poor planning, misalignment of priorities in a project component, and as a result, many projects are behind schedule, which almost doubles the initial overhead costs. The committee identified the following challenges in the project implementation by the Government: i) Undispatched loan funds and grants; ii) Misaligned priorities in the project component; iii) Exorbitant costs per unit; iv) High costs of consultancy fees; v) High commitment fees on debt servicing; vi) Incomplete projects despite receiving and utilising all project funds; and vii) Foreign exchange loss, among others. Undispatched loans and grants Madam Speaker, the Auditor-General reported that the Government secured loans and grants from partners worth 7.9 trillion, almost Shs 8 trillion, of which Shs 3.9 trillion respectively was a grant. However - (Interjection) – Hon. Omara, can you listen? This will interest you. Out of the Shs 11 trillion, only Shs 3.8, 48 per cent of the loan money, was spent, and on the grant money of Shs 3 trillion, only Shs 788 billion, 25 per cent of the grant, had been drawn to support specific projects. How do we fail to utilise grants, yet we are averaging 26 per cent? That is on grants; money given to us free of charge. Out of Shs 3 trillion, you only use this and you are here saying that we borrow. This leaves a huge undispatched loan of Shs 4.143 trillion and a grant of Shs 2.29 trillion lying idle in the Bank of Uganda. Loans The Auditor-General in the Consolidated Report Account sampled and analysed 17 Government loans extracted from the Debt Management and Financial Analysis System from June 2022 to December 2024 and noted an obnoxiously low disbursement performance of different loans as shown in the table below. This table was put by the Auditor-General and I have extracted it from the Auditor- General’s report. That tells you, for example, the Mbarara-Masaka transition line had a loan amount of $35 million. Only $122,000 had been utilised, which is 0.03 per cent.

17900 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT On the Agago-Gulu transmission line, there was a loan of €40 million, which is a huge amount of money; undispatched is 18 per cent and undispatched is 21 per cent. The Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation loan amount is of €224 million. Dispatched stood at 58. Then, 169 undispatched, and you can go on and on - Project per project to 16. The committee observed that most of the loans will not be absorbed by the end of their tenure. For example, Mbarara-Masaka had performed at only 3 per cent. Luwero-Butalanga Road had performed at 23 per cent. Madam Speaker, I sympathise with the President. You find him at the State of Nation Address reading about roads saying, these are done, these are going to be done. Money will be borrowed but remains on the account. Some of the grants are not being done, and you are busy on a budget day, reading all kinds of roads, power lines, water for money that will not be dispatched, and my sympathy goes to the old man. Generally, the committee observed that the average undispatched loan performance stands at 37 per cent, far below average, indicating significant under performance in project deliverables, and yet those undispatched loans continue to attract commitment charges, which increase the cost of debt servicing. Review of the Auditor-General’s report by the committee revealed an increase in undispatched funds of Shs 1.90 trillion at the end of June 2024, from Shs 14.6 trillion in the financial year to Shs 16.49 trillion. Of the money which you, Madam Speaker, defied all odds to ensure you pass to these government offices, Shs 16 trillion of this money remains undispatched out there. You have done your part, cleared them to go and implement but every day, this Parliament is approving loans for which - you cannot feed an animal that cannot consume the food you feed it. That is why, Madam Speaker, you should at least be cautious in placing those questions because they have no absorption capacity, representing a 22 per cent increment. Also, commitment fees –

17903 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 (GROW) Out of $10.6 million, Shs 38.1 billion was disbursed across four projects during the year under review, but only $1.46 million was disbursed to support micro enterprises for women groups, which is a core component and directly impacts the women, compared to $2.17 million, which is Shs 8 billion, disbursed to the multipurpose service and production facilities component. Madam Speaker, also Shs 576.2 million was spent on the procurement of a supervising consultant for construction works for the common user facilities, which is more than what the women’s group gets on average; Shs 576 million went for that purpose. Madam Speaker, below is the project component allocation and expenditure for the year ended. I have put a figure to it Under the reducing climate change vulnerability of local communities in Uganda through ecosystem-based adaptation in wetlands and forests in the Ministry of Water and Transport, Shs 1.24 billion had been allocated to increase knowledge and awareness of government officers and communities at the project intervention. The committee observed that the activity of increasing knowledge and awareness of community officers had already been catered for under project management costs, monitoring, and evaluation. This has left core project components such as improving technical and institutional capacity at the local and national level to integrate Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EBA) into existing management plans for wetlands and forests, with only $512 million which is Shs 1.8 million as illustrated below. Exorbitant costs per unit cost This one should concern all of us. During the committee interaction and examination of project reports, the committee established that some of the project costs were obnoxiously high. The Auditor-General reported that under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) project, the cost of rehabilitating 1.37 kilometres of road in Arua City amounted to Shs 13.4 billion, with a supervision cost of Shs 3 billion. That means, they constructed 1.37 kilometres of a municipal road, built as is with no compensation it costed Shs 13.3 billion. The supervisor walked away with Shs 3 billion. In Mbarara City, the cost of constructing 1 kilometre of Buremba Road amounted to Shs 4.9 billion, with a supervision of Shs 0.249 billion. In Mbarara, you are achieving it at Shs 4.9 billion and supervision is Shs 0.249 billion. The other side, supervision is Shs 3 billion, and is the unit cost is Shs 13 - (Hon. Peter Ogwang rose_) The detailed report is there. In Fort Portal City, the cost of constructing 2.68 kilometres of road works amounted to Shs 21.4 billion, with a supervision cost of Shs 2.5 billion. While in Mubende, the cost of constructing 2.869 kilometres amounted to Shs 14.24 billion, with a supervision cost of Shs 2.5 billion. These roads measure the same in terms of kilometres, yet obnoxious differs in the cost of construction and supervision. The committee noted that the Ministry of Works and Transport undertook a study to establish the unit cost rates, quantity estimates, regional compulsion and development of a software-based cost estimation and monitoring system. The report established that the average cost of upgrading a paved road with bitumen surface treatment increased from Shs 2.3 billion in the Financial Year 2017/2018 to Shs 3.13 billion in the Financial Year 2018/2019. That was the average cost of constructing a bitumen road in an urban area. Here we are talking of Shs 24.13 billion. You wonder if someone else - Madam Speaker, these figures are approved by the committees of Parliament. Who approves? It is from the Cabinet to Parliament and to all our committees. If I had my way, I would summon the chairpersons of these committees and ask them, how on earth -

17908 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT General reviewed 71 human rights awards, court awards, ex-gratia and compensation ordered by courts and reported that awards worth Shs 1.98 billion remained unpaid for the period ranging from two years to over 10 years. We have these pending and the committee recommends that the accounting officer should budget for the awards, and the Government should provide the requisite funds. The accounting officer, together with the Uganda Human Rights Commission, should establish the details of the beneficiaries for quick settlement to avoid the accumulation of interest. Madam Speaker, whenever we delay payment of these arrears, interest is paid on these arrears. So far, the Government is going to pay Shs 159 billion as interest on these arrears that have not been paid on time. Madam Speaker, the other report is the report of the Committee on Public Accounts (Central Government) on national regional referral hospitals and other specialised hospitals. Honourable colleagues, I am going to summarise. We are looking at the details of the following hospitals in summary. We are looking at the following: Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital, Mbale, Naguru, Jinja, Mubende, Fort Portal, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Kabale, Lira, Gulu, Moroto, Hoima, Arua, Butabika, Mulago, Kawempe, Kiruddu, Soroti, and the Mulago Women’s Specialised Hospital. Implementation and budget performance Madam Speaker, for all the regional referral hospitals we observed - I will begin with the implementation of the approved budget. Regional referral hospitals are expected to collect Non-Tax Revenue (NTR) to support the Government budget. Honourable colleagues, the total NTR was supposed to be Shs 20.406 billion, and there was an over performance of Shs 21.924 billion. However, this should be noted. From the table, the Government projected to collect the above, but Shs 21.924 billion was collected, meaning there was an over-performance. Honourable colleagues, as a committee, we noted that all accounting officers who did not meet their budgeted Non-Taxable Revenue (NTR) targets, or failed to realise their NTR contravened instructions 4.102 of the Treasury operations. The committee noted that less/non-transfer of NTR to the treasury deprives the Government of revenue and also noted that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development failed to provide revenue targets to some of these entities. That is why there was an over-performance and also an underestimation of NTR by these entities. Therefore: (i) The accounting officer should ensure that NTR targets are set based on strong assumptions and benchmarks to enable realistic NTR. (ii) The accounting officers should institute mechanisms to ensure that a billed NTR is fully collected. (iii) The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should always make prompt responses to requests of NTR revisions by entities. (iv) The accounting officers should incorporate all NTR sources during the budgeting process. Performance of the Government of Uganda warrants Madam Speaker, a total of Shs 475.44 billion was budgeted to be released to these referral hospitals and national specialised regional hospitals. However, a total of Shs 470.65 billion was released. From the above table, the Government

Yes, they are not in ICU, but they are very badly off. Among these is Soroti Regional Referral Hospital, Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital, Jinja Regional Referral Hospital and Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital. Those need special attention. Lastly, are the neonatal units in these referral hospitals where the young babies, the neonates, are kept. All these ones need special attention. That is just a summary of the National Referral Hospitals. Madam Speaker, this is a report of a summary of ministries, departments and agencies. I am just going to mention: We have the Office of the President, the Ministry of Public Service, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development,

17913 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 The accounting officer concurred with the observation and explained that the implication of salary enhancement on pension and gratuity were equally highlighted by the ministry, budgeted for and presented to Cabinet for consideration. The committee recommends that the Government should conduct reforms on the policy for enhancing salary for all the calibres of teachers. I, therefore, beg to submit. Long outstanding subscription fees These are payables. We have challenges with subscription fees. The Auditor-General observed that the ministry had arrears of Shs 2.27 billion under the ministry, out of failure to pay for the agreed texts of the Lusaka Agreement on Co-operative Enforcement Operations and this is the ministry for tourism. I beg to submit this as a report of a summary of the ministries as highlighted under. Lastly, this is a report of the Public Accounts Committee (Central Government) on universities. I am just going to read them: Kyambogo University, Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Makerere University, Gulu University, Uganda Management Institute, Kabale University, Lira University, Muni University, Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Soroti University, Busitema University, Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) and Law Development Centre (LDC). Budget performance for universities and tertiary institutions It is the same story of budget cuts across all these universities. There is also a challenge of underutilisation of warrants, where Shs 21 billion remained unutilised across all entities. Recommendations The accounting officers should strictly adhere to the annual budget performance. Performance of Non-Tax Revenue (NTR) In all the universities there is underperformance, where the annual approved budget for all of them was Shs 290 billion, but only Shs 265 billion was collected. The issues of domestic arrears cut across. Issues of students’ halls of residence The students’ halls of residence are very old, dilapidated and there is a limited budget for repairs of these halls. On accumulation of domestic arrears, it is the same story. Under long outstanding receivables, it is the same story. Irregularities in supplementary funding This was submitted by the committee chairperson during the consolidated accounts, where entities received supplementary budgets that they had not requested for, from the humble Ministry for Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Delayed projects were highlighted in the report for projects. Dilapidated structures cut across the board. Madam Speaker, I am trying to summarise in the interest of time. That has been a summary of these reports. I kindly beg that we pick interest and time to read through. I thank, you, Madam Speaker, for the time and thank colleagues who have enabled us to have this work completed. Thank you for listening in.

17728 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT The committee recommends: i) The Office of the Auditor-General should call out a forensic audit into the implementation of UgIFT I and II Projects under the health sector, with specific focus on the upgrade of health centres II to III and construction of the new health centres III to determine whether there was fraud and report to Parliament within six months from the time this report is adopted. ii) The committee recommends that the Ministry of Health should develop a clear roadmap on how the Government intends to address the current infrastructure gaps of health centres III at the subcounty and town council levels across the country, and report to Parliament within three months from the time this report is adopted. iii) The committee recommends that the Government ensure that the presidential directives are implemented within the confines of the law. Madam Speaker, we considered the equipping of upgraded health centres II and newly constructed health centres III. The committee found out that the Ministry of Health procured and delivered medical equipment to the district local governments across the country for installation in the health centres earmarked for upgrade or construction. However, in a number of instances, the medical equipment was delivered to health centres prior to the completion of the projects, which exposed the equipment to the risk of gross mismanagement. See attached annex 5. In other instances, the Ministry of Health delivered medical equipment to health facilities that did not have the required staff in place. Some of these cases included: i) Kyarwabuganda Health Centre II in Mbarara City, recently upgraded to Health Centre III, and partially equipped, was operating with only two staff, a registered nurse and an enrolled midwife, out of the staffing level of 55. ii) Kitabaazi Health Centre II, Masaka City, was recently upgraded to Health Centre III and is fully equipped, but was still operating as a Health Centre II due to inadequate medical staff. iii) Anyagatir Health Centre III in Lira has new infrastructure, but only one medical personnel is on the ground providing all services, including maternity services. iv) Kachuru Health Centre III had partial equipment delivered, but had no personnel to operate it. The committee observed that the Ministry of Health procured and delivered medical equipment to incomplete health centres, or without the required medical staff, which rendered such equipment redundant and at high risk of misuse and vandalism. The committee recommends that the Ministry of Health should carry out an inventory of all the medical equipment procured and delivered to the various health centres, and report to Parliament within three months from the time this report is adopted. Madam Speaker, we also looked at the installation of the Computed Tomography (CT) scans, oxygen plants, and Intensive Care Unit bed equipment. Installation of CT scans The committee was informed that the Government procured, delivered, and installed 15 functioning CT scan machines in 14 regional referral hospitals and Bombo General Military Hospital, including one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine in Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (see Annex 6). The committee found out that CT scan services were only accessible to patients at a user fee ranging from Shs 120,000 to Shs 250,000, depending on the type of imaging or investigation. The charges also varied across regional referral hospitals. For example, at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, among others, patients pay a fee ranging from Shs 120,000 to 150,000 depending on the test done. At Mubende Regional Referral Hospital,

17729 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 7 AUGUST 2025 a standard fee of Shs 150,000 was set across all tests, while in Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Shs 180,000 was charged for non- contrast procedures and Shs 250,000 for contrast procedures. The committee established that in some cases, hospitals gave waivers to selected patients after thorough scrutiny and under exceptional circumstances. The committee was also informed that the charges for CT scan services were a result of the guidelines on the users’ fees provided by the Ministry of Health, after taking into consideration the input and maintenance costs of the equipment. See Annex 7. The committee further found out that in some regional referral hospitals, the infrastructure housing newly installed CT scan machines was not available and lacked trained medical personnel to operate the machines. This compromised the functionality of the equipment and the safety of the patients as well as the personnel operating the equipment. One such case was in Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital. The equipment was installed in an improvised room, lacked specialised medical personnel to operate it, and had already broken down by the time we visited. The committee observed that: i) In some regional referral hospitals, the infrastructure housing the newly installed CT scan machines was not appropriate. This exposed the equipment to a gross risk of damage. ii) There were variations in the fees charged to access CT scan services, as already mentioned. iii) The user fees charged to access the CT scan services were a hindrance to the uptake of the CT scan services, especially among low-income patients. iv) There was a general lack of qualified staff to operate the newly installed CT scan machines. The committee therefore recommends that: i) The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should prioritise the release of funds, Shs 8.7 billion as budgeted for in the Financial Year 2024/2025, for the construction and remodelling of the appropriate infrastructure to house the CT scan machines in all the regional referral hospitals. ii) The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should provide adequate funds to all regional referral hospitals in the budget for the Financial Year 2024/2025 to cater for the routine maintenance of the CT scanner equipment, to ensure their sustained functionality. We looked at the installation of the ICU bed equipment While the Ministry of Health reported that the Government procured and delivered 143 ICU bed units in 14 regional referral hospitals, five selected national referral hospitals, and Bombo Military General Hospital (Annex 7), the committee established that most of the ICU bed units delivered in regional referral hospitals were still boxed and kept in stores, due to lack of standard ICU infrastructure at the respective regional referral hospitals. That means they are not deployed for use. In other cases, the regional referral hospital administration had put some of the ICU equipment to other use. For instance, in Mbale and Masaka Regional Referral Hospitals, the ICU bed equipment that the Ministry of Health delivered was still kept in the stores, because works on the surgical complexes meant to house the new 10-bed capacity ICU had stalled due to a lack of funds. Similarly, in Buhinga and the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospitals, some ICU Bed equipment was still in the stores because they lacked adequate space to accommodate them. The Government had not provided for any future infrastructural development to cater for standard ICUs. Jinja Regional Referral Hospital The committee established that a new 20- bed Intensive Care Unit was still under

17730 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT construction. Yet, even the projected space looked insufficient for the overwhelming patient population, given that the old ICU building was also under renovation. Gulu Regional Referral Hospital The committee uncovered ambiguities in the receipt and usage of the supplied ICU Bed Units. The committee was informed that the hospital received 10 ICU Bed Units, but had only installed four in the ICU. The in charge of the ICU, who was not a qualified intensivist, could not account for the other six beds at the time of the committee’s visit. On being probed further, she disclosed to the committee that the balance of beds was in different locations, including two in the stores due to missing parts, while others were being used in the wards. The committee visited the wards and established that one of the beds had been dismantled and used in the orthopaedics ward, while another was being used in the nutrition room. The committee further engaged the store assistant, who denied having received any ICU Bed Units during his term of office. He, however, disclosed that two beds had been brought into the stores on the day the committee visited. We do not know where these beds were, but when they saw us, they brought them. The committee observed that - I can skip that one and read the recommendations. Committee recommendations The committee recommends that: 1. The minister responsible for finance should provide adequate funds to regional referral hospitals in the budget for the Financial Year 2024/2025 to cater for the construction/ completion of the infrastructure meant to accommodate ICU bed equipment to ensure their installation and utilisation. 2. The Ministry of Health should train and recruit specialised medical workers to manage the ICUs in regional referral hospitals. 3. The Ministry of Health should investigate the handling and management of ICU equipment delivered to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, including donations from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and report back to Parliament in two months from the time this report is adopted. 4. The Ministry of Health should conduct an inventory of all ICU bed equipment delivered to the regional referral hospitals and report back to Parliament in three months from the time this report is adopted. Installation of oxygen plants in regional referral hospitals and the distribution of oxygen cylinders up to health centres IV The Ministry of Health reported to the committee that the Government procured and delivered 20 new oxygen plants to national referral hospitals, regional referral hospitals, and Bombo Military General Hospital. The procurement of four new oxygen plants for Hoima, Lira, Mbale, and Mbarara Regional Referral Hospitals had not yet been concluded (see Annex IX). In addition, the Government had procured and distributed 10,000 cylinders across the country to all levels of health facilities up to health centres IV, as indicated in Annex X. However, the committee found out that none of the newly procured oxygen plants at the various regional referral hospitals visited was operational. For instance, in Buhinga, the plant was yet to be installed; in Mbarara, Masaka and Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, construction of the infrastructure meant to accommodate the Oxygen Plants had not yet been completed. The UPDF Engineering, in the case of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, handled this. Additionally, the Ministry of Health indicated to the committee that the newly procured oxygen plants could not operate on the low- capacity transformers currently in the regional referral hospitals. It required Shs 13.7 billion to upgrade the transformers and voltage stabilisers to a capacity sufficient to run the oxygen plants in all regional referral hospitals. Of this, the

Thank you, Madam Speaker and I would like to thank the committee chairperson for the report. I have two issues. First of all, I want to say that I belong to the Parliamentary COVID-19 Task Force. We recommended Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and oxygen plants. Secondly, we have also recommended CT scans under the Committee on Health. In Kabale Hospital, the CT scan was being done in Mbarara, and you needed to get transport and travel from Kabale to Mbarara to undergo a CT scan. Therefore, I think Shs 150,000 is a good beginning, but it can be reduced. Madam Speaker, my last point is about procurement. We need to plan when we start procuring. There seems to be somebody either at the Ministry of Health or somewhere in a hurry to procure as quickly as possible. When you see the way CT scans were procured - no staff and no infrastructure. In fact, as we talk, at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, the CT scan is done - somebody spent two days there, and the CT scan has been done. What were they waiting for? It was an interpretation of the CT images in a private unit. When you look at the oxygen plants, we acquired a lot of oxygen plants in haste and most of those oxygen plants have now died. Moreover, they have acquired the third ones in some instances, like in Kabale Regional Referral Hospital. We have acquired the third oxygen plant which is too expensive and the other two are already dead. Madam Speaker, my view does not differ from that of other honourable members. We need to plan as much as possible ( Member timed out.)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. If I can move to the issue of the oxygen plants, 24 high-capacity oxygen plants were procured. However, the oxygen plants for Lira, Mbale, Mbarara, and Hoima were procured by the Global Fund, not the Government of Uganda, and they came in after, not at the same time as the government ones. To date, 15 oxygen plants have been installed and are working. Nine are not. This is because each installation requires a transformer, which the Ministry of Energy was not able to provide. Parliament provided for some, and for the others, we are still waiting for the money. The Chairperson of the Committee on Health has pushed for this several times, but it is true that it consumes a lot of power. We have been pushing that the hospitals be put on the industrial line if we are to maintain them. We have yet to have a breakthrough with this request. The issue of the intensive care unit beds. Madam Speaker, you will recall that this funding was provided at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, we needed intensive care unit beds and oxygen as urgently as possible for the patients. Therefore, they were procured with the intention of having to install them in existing buildings. Some were installed, some were impossible. To date, Parliament has provided funding to construct ICUs at Jinja, Masaka, Mbale, Arua, Hoima, and Kabale. The rest, not yet. We have been requesting, and it is there in our budget. When you go through it, you will

17685 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST 2025 Honourable members, you will also recall that you heard His Excellency the President publicly communicate about the matter of the roads. Some of the things that he mentioned are: 1) The dangers of excessive reliance on external financing for all the development projects, citing abrupt and disruptive donor decisions that may impede the realisation of planned projects; 2) The need for self-reliance in financing development projects; He categorised the projects into three: i) The well-done new roads, such as the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway, Kampala- Gulu Highway, the oil roads in Bunyoro, and excellent roads in municipalities such as Hoima, Gulu, Masaka, to mention but a few; ii) The very important roads that were initially good but have now deteriorated, such as Mityana-Mubende-Kyenjojo, Mukono-Jinja, Ibanda-Mbarara, and Mbarara-Ishaka highways. He attributes the deterioration to under-budgeting. iii) The local government roads used to be good, but have deteriorated because of the misuse of the Shs 1.3 billion allocated for maintenance. The President has directed the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to allocate Shs 3.2 trillion required for these roads alone. The President further undertook to have the following roads worked on: i) Mityana-Mubende-Kyenjojo; ii) Ibanda-Mbarara; iii) Ishaka-Mbarara; iv) Mukono-Lugazi-Jinja; v) Mpondwe; vi) Nebbi-Arua; and vii) Ntungamo-Rukungiri. His Excellency the President also indicated that the next manifesto will indicate other planned roads. In light of this, I will request the Minister of Works and Transport to explain to the Members, and then we will open the debate based on the President’s guidance.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am happy that the President has communicated on this matter because we met with him and the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on the issue of these roads. He appreciated that while we may not get all the money in one financial year, he directed that those critical roads be maintained in very usable conditions. The President said we have already started on the Mityana-Mubende Road, so we must finish it. Also, the section between Kyegegwa and Kyenjojo is terrible. As we wait for the funding from the Ministry of Finance, we are moving our unit, which has been working on Jinja Road, to Kyegegwa-Kyenjojo Road to fully rehabilitate that section. We are also already committed to China Railway 18 th Bureau Group, which will work on the Nebbi-Arua Road. They have already started forward maintenance, so they will start rehabilitating the road. A contractor is already working on the Kikorongo-Mpondwe Road. They are doing forward maintenance now, but after that, they will do the full rehabilitation with funds coming in from the Ministry of Finance. We have the Ntungamo-Kagamba-Rukungiri Road. We want to save it before it deteriorates further because it has reached the stage where we can save it with a resurface, just like what we did with the northern bypass, so that road will also be done. As regards Ishaka-Mbarara and Mbarara- Ibanda Roads, we already have a company identified to work on them. It is called Shandong

17690 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT He then categorises the roads, and he says the very well-done new roads, and he talks about them. Then he talks about the very important roads that were initially good but have now deteriorated, such as Mityana-Mubende- Kyenjonjo, Mukono-Jinja, Ibanda-Mbarara and Mbarara-Ishaka. He attributes those deteriorations to under-budgeting. That is why I was saying that you give a lower lifespan because of the low amount of money, rather than giving a higher lifespan by giving enough money for those roads to be worked on. However, they said this money should be given to complete the most important roads, which are mentioned. The roads are there, which the minister has talked about. The President further undertook to have the following roads worked on: Mityana- Mubende-Kyenjonjo. I know you are very interested in the Mubende Road. Ibanda- Mbarara, Ishaka-Mbarara, Mukono-Lugazi- Jinja, Kikorogo-Mpondwe, Nebbi-Arua, and Ntungamo-Rukungiri; there are a number of them and that is why I was referring you to the NDP IV. I am happy there is only one person here, Hon. Masaba. Hon. Masaba, next is you, because you are going to talk with authority. Yes.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Honourable colleagues, I would like to thank the minister. For the first time, he has been very frank to this House. (Applause) I am saying this because He has been keeping quiet. When I told him that in taking UNRA, he was taking a big elephant, he did not know that he would go into this. This time, he was very frank to say, “There is no money.” Last financial year, he missed Shs 1 trillion. This time, he has another trillion missing. How do you expect the roads to be worked on? Two, we have 23 stations. All these stations have old equipment. He has not said it; they have no equipment. Most of them borrow equipment from the districts, which have slightly newer machines. It is high time, Gen. Katumba, you told this House that you need to buy equipment for your stations. If you have the equipment, they will be able to come in. For example, most of the contractors have refused to work, despite your giving them call-off orders, because they have so much money outstanding. Three, this issue of the managers - they are not active. I want to be open to you, Gen. Katumba. You have taken so long to formalise their work so that they can get money for fuel. They do not have money for fuel. The money is in the accounts, but they cannot access it. Gen. Katumba, the sector you are holding is so crucial. I told the people here that if you have children and you want to take them to school, or if they cannot go to a Government school, they can go to a private school. If my mother cannot go to an official hospital, they can go to a private hospital. How about the roads? It is the mandate of the Government to have roads done. In 2001, we gave the ministry Shs 1 trillion. That is what we begin with. Four, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, you better stop being armchair people. Get out of your offices and move around the country. The roads are so important that you do not need to spare any time to give them money. It is high time this Parliament recognised that the roads are key to development. Lastly, Gen. Katumba and Madam Speaker, when you talk about these roads, you mention Ibanda to Mbarara, Ishaka to Mbarara, and Ntungamo to Mbarara roads. Why don’t you talk about Isingiro, where you get your matooke from?

17701 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST 2025 everywhere in this country. However, when you go to Makerere, they do not have a single equipment. They do not train on any equipment. We cannot maintain roads based on foreign maintenance contracts. We need to develop our capacity as a nation so that we can maintain our roads. Secondly, honourable minister of works, why did you omit Masaka City from the National Railway Network? I have seen your master plan. You have networked all other cities. The railway goes to Mbarara, and it does not go to Masaka. We are 89 kilometres from the Mutukula border, which is another very important entry point for trade in this country. However, you omitted us in your master plan. What is the problem?

17709 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST 2025 rescue centres that we need to start marking the lake and also carry out a detailed survey and update of the lake to ensure that the lanes and lines are properly marked. Land titles I have now instructed my team under the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development that they now put the land titles project by project. Identify, for example, the land titles on Kiboga Road, the land titles on the Kampala-Jinja Expressway (KJE), the land titles on Masaka-Sembabule Road, so that we can hand them back to the owners, and we will be communicating that. Luweero-Butalangu Road This road is progressing. It may be slow, but one of the challenges was, of course, land compensation. You know, some of the challenges we had, even with some of the local judges who are refusing us access to land. On that issue, they are progressing but Butalangu to Ngoma is not within this NDP, but I know that we need to connect that, and I know that we need to connect Butalangu to Kapeeka to Kituuma, but those connections are not within this NDP. However, I can assure you that Luweero to Butalangu will be finished. Madam Speaker, Kyabakuza-Matete road, we shall maintain. It was instructed that we have to do up to Mbirizi. We need to do that road because it is a shortcut to someone going to Mbarara if you go through Sembabule. But again, “omutaaka” the challenge is the funding. Thank you very much.

Madam Speaker, our scope covered 10 areas, which I am going to go through in summary form. We looked at the legal and regulatory framework of these cities. On 28 April 2020, the Minister of Local Government, Hon. Raphael Magyezi, tabled a Motion seeking Parliament’s approval of the proposal to create new cities, which Parliament approved on 28 April 2020. The new cities were to be operationalised in clusters beginning 1 July 2020 to July 2023 with Jinja, Mbarara, Gulu, Mbale, Arua, Fort Portal and Masaka, taking effect with the new Financial Year 2020/2021. Madam Speaker, I beg to go to the observations and recommendations. 1. The Legal and the Regulatory Framework The committee observed that despite the fact that the Attorney-General provided his opinion, the minister failed to present regulations to address contradictions between cities and districts. The regulations are intended to streamline the operation of the Local Government Act Section 175(1). Section 175(1) requires the minister to make regulations for effecting the provision of the Act. 2. Whereas the creation of the new cities does not violate any provision of the Constitution of Uganda, their management and administration need to be harmonised. The committee recommends that the Government should introduce an appropriate Bill to govern cities in their uniqueness in operation, structure, and service delivery. Alternatively, the Government should amend the Local Government Act to incorporate administrative and governance legal frameworks for cities. The Ministry of Local Government should come up with regulations on the governance of cities and table them before Parliament within three months from the time this report is adopted. The physical development plans of these cities Madam Speaker, the Ministry of Local Government classifies gazetted cities, municipalities, and town councils as urban areas. The Local Government Act Cap. 243 empowers the ministry to declare an area urban if it satisfies the following criteria; a. Has a minimum of 25,000 people for a town council, 100,000 people for municipality, and 500,000 people for a city. b. Has a master plan for land use. c. Has available water sources and can meet the cost of providing services. d. Preparation of urban physical plans. Madam Speaker, again, allow me to go to the observations. The committee observed that whereas the cities have approved physical plans, developments are not guided by those plans. The ministry has not yet provided funding for new cities to develop physical development plans. For those that have plans, funding was provided by development partners. The majority of the residents in these new cities live in unplanned areas and, as a result, experience development problems that put more strain on the already existing infrastructure. According to the Building Control Act Section 28(3), the chairperson for the planning and development committee of the district council shall be the chairperson of the district building committee. Subsection (5) provides that the chairperson of the urban planning and development committee of the urban council

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank the chairperson of the committee who came in after I was the vice chairperson. I also had the time to visit these cities when I was the vice chairperson, carrying out the same job. However, your report is stronger than mine. Thank you very much, Hon. Abed Bwanika. The issue of land in the new cities, honourable minister, through the Speaker, must be given a lot of attention. In Fort Portal, the old district was in control of the land against the new city, and they were fighting each other. So, who takes control of land? What is the process of taking over assets between the old district and the new city? Properties in Mbarara - they were complaining. The mother district was in control of the offices within the city, while the administrators of the new city did not have where to sit. Could those assets be taken over by the new city because they are within its jurisdiction now? And what happens to the new districts? Honourable minister, concerning the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID), you are making very good roads in these new cities, even in Masaka, we have them, but what kind of contract did you sign with USMID? This is because after the construction of these roads, there must be equipment to do the routine maintenance. As we talk, Madam Speaker, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation is digging out some areas. After digging out parts of those new roads, nobody repairs them; there is no equipment in place to work on those roads after they are handed over to the Government. Places taken over from different annexed areas - in Kalungu, where I come from - Masaka was in a battle, when it came to taking over some parishes from Kalungu District - Kibisi and Kasanje. But from the time they were taken over by the city, they have not changed. There is still dust. You have put some night lights there, but they are all filled with dust. People need to see the difference, but what is happening is that you are putting strict laws in these new areas, stopping people from building the type of houses they are used to before they became part of the cities. Could we see that change take place, honourable minister? Lastly, on governance structures, we need these leaders in those other cities to resemble those in Kampala City. When you talk about the Lord Mayor of Kampala, you notice that he has an official vehicle with the number plates reading “Lord Mayor.” Then in Masaka, Mbale and other areas, the mayors are still looking like the LC V chairman of where I came from, with an old double cabin. As I enter Masaka or Mbale City and any other city, I want to feel that pinch, interest, love, beauty of Kampala and my mayor should also be in that kind of status –

No, they are ten cities. They are: Arua, Gulu, Soroti, Mbale, Jinja, Masaka, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Hoima and Lira. Those are operational, out of the 15. Now, five cities are the ones which are not operational.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank you. As you have rightly stated, my first wife, Namakula Faridah, is a Muganda. I, therefore, join the people of Buganda in extending my deepest appreciation and congratulations to the Kabaka and the kingdom upon attaining 32 years since he was coronated. Similarly, I want to thank you, Madam Speaker, and this Parliament for always being steadfast in fraternising with Buganda and the kingdom, as far as their demands are concerned, and even other kingdoms. I am aware that Buganda still has outstanding demands from the central Government, just like other kingdoms, and this Parliament has been at the forefront of encouraging the Executive to try as much as possible to meet the demands of the people of Buganda and the kingdom and other areas. Madam Speaker, if the Executive and central Government undertook to compensate and pay these kingdoms, there is a lot that they are going to do in terms of social, political and economic development. So, as we mark 32 years of the kingdom, we must also undertake to ensure that the Executive fulfills its obligations. Finally, Madam Speaker, we thank the Kabaka and the Buganda Kingdom for demonstrating that we can actually use culture and tradition to engender an agenda for development. When you look at what has been happening in Buganda generally, the different programmes such as Emwanyi Telimba , CBS PEWOSA Uganda, and others, we can only say, “ Ayi beene tusensebuse”. Madam Speaker, we need to understand that what is happening in Buganda can be replicated in other kingdoms. In fact, I want us – those of us from other kingdoms – as a prince from Busoga, we enjoy a very cordial relationship between Busoga and Buganda. We should be replicating what is happening in this kingdom; borrowing and taking the very good lessons, especially in terms of socio-economic transformation, to our subregions. It is possible for us to do what is being done here. Since we all live here, we have been accommodated; the Baganda have welcomed us, the king does not segregate, we are all happy here, even those from other areas come and contest in this region, and they are voted for, which is not easy. Madam Speaker, one time Mr Ngoma Ngime went to contest in Mbarara but did not succeed. Those are things we should be learning. I thank you very much.

Madam Speaker, he is too tall, so for people who are short like me, when you take a photo with him, you look like a dwarf. (Laughter) In brief, he should prepare a stool. Thank you so much. Madam Speaker, I have another question from Hon. Veronica Nanyondo, the District Woman MP of Bukomansimbi. Her prayer is that there is an effect on the implementation of the new lower secondary school curriculum on primary school leavers. Can the Government update us on this matter? My response is that at the moment, primary school leavers transition from the knowledge- based curriculum to competence-based curriculum in secondary school, under the revised lower secondary school curriculum. The process of revising the primary school curriculum to make it competence-based has already commenced to harmonise curriculum designs across primary and secondary level education. Once this is complete, the learners will be introduced to competence-based teaching and learning from primary school and progress with it to secondary education. I got another question from Hon. Ronald Balimwezo Nsubuga, MP for Nakawa Division East. He says that Uganda has very many experienced jua kalis, but they have no industrial parks and have continued to operate in a domestic setting, with very high electricity and water domestic tariffs. This is something that has crippled their businesses, yet they compete with investors who operate in Government industrial parks. These investors in Government industrial parks have always been incentivised in the form of tax exemptions, low electricity and water tariffs. This makes it harder for the jua kalis to compete favourably with them in the same market. His prayer is; When is the Government going to set up jua kali industrial parks? My response is that in this principle, for all Ugandan investors - if they all go through the Uganda Investment Authority, industrial parks have been designed with spaces specifically planned for setting up Small and Medium- sized Enterprises (SMEs), which cater for jua kali artisan activities. SME parks of 20 acres have been planned in all the operational industrial parks of Namanve, Soroti, Kasese, SINO-Mbale, and others. The Uganda Investment Authority also acquired the Mbarara SME Park of 12 acres that has been handed back to Gatsby Group, the SME artisans from Mbarara. The Government’s vision is to develop new industrial parks in phases, depending on the availability of resources in Gulu, Nebbi, Arua, Madi-Okollo, Yumbe, Pader, Paidha, Dokolo, Rukungiri, Isingiro, Oyam, Lira, Hoima, Buliisa, Kisoro, Kakumiro, Nakasongola, Luwero, Nakaseke, Mubende, Mityana, Masaka, Kabale, Bushenyi, Tororo, Rakai, Kamuli, Kween, Busia, Soroti, Gomba, Kayunga, Kyegegwa , and Iganga, where land has been mobilised by districts and already offered to Uganda Investment Authority for industrial development to foster innovation and equitable, sustainable industrial growth. Madam Speaker, the major infrastructure, for example, workplaces with shared common user facilities such as production equipment, showrooms for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to use as they sell and grow their businesses, will be constructed within the said industrial parks. 10. Hon. Lucy Akello, the District Woman Member of Parliament for Amuru, raised an issue on the lack of radiologists in the regional referral hospitals like Gulu, Soroti, Mbale and others.

There is the money that the President talked about; money which was meant for Mbarara, Kakyeka Stadium. We want an explanation on what happened to that money of Kakyeka. I also know that we gave money to Masaka. We also want an explanation on what happened. Can we go to the next item? Thank you, honourable minister. II) THE STATUS OF PREPAREDNESS FOR ELECTRONIC VOTING IN THE 2026 GENERAL ELECTIONS

Honourable minister, yesterday, I talked about the road from Mbarara to Bushenyi. It is basically potholes. As we wait for money to work on the whole road, why don’t you work on those small potholes so that the road is usable, the way you are working on Kampala-Jinja Road?

Madam Speaker, we are now in that process. We started with Gayaza-Kalagi Road, which had also deteriorated. Now, we are doing Jinja; we are left with only one or two sections at Bulyantente and somewhere near Kigombya. Mabira was done. I think there is a section in Mabira where the Kenyans had an accident when they were doing the pilgrimage. So, we are in that process. We want to reduce on contracting for every simple work. I remember we had potholes between Mijera and Kafu and those were done by ourselves. The unit went and treated those potholes. When we move from Jinja Road, we intend to move to Kyegegwa, between Kyegegwa and Kyenjojo, because that section has also greatly deteriorated – (Interjection) - no, the Kabale- Mbarara Road has a contractor who is working on it.

17547 Tuesday, 29 July 2025 During this season, I have been able to move throughout the country, and I found out that the roads are in a sorry state, especially after these rains. You find that some roads are impassable. I went to Hoima, and they were working on the road since the takeover of UNRA, but the dust on the road, you cannot even see a car in front of you. That will cause accidents. Most of the roads that were being worked on have been abandoned. We may need to have a report from the Ministry of Works and Transport. (Applause) The issue has always been that we do not have money. You find that Kampala-Hoima Road is terrible, Kampala- Jinja Road is terrible, Mityana-Mubende Road, Moroto Road, Kafu – all those roads. We would like to understand what is happening. Masaka Road - even connecting from Mbarara to Sheema, the road is bad. You wonder what is happening. We allocate money but the roads are not being worked on. Where is the money going to? Therefore, we need a statement from the Government on what is happening with the roads. The accidents that are happening – You find that there is a truck that maybe has a mechanical problem, parked with no signs informing road users of an accident or a parked truck, and that causes accideSnts. We need to handle that to avoid the accidents that are happening in the country, because we are losing a lot of people. Honourable members, as you may be aware, Uganda, alongside Tanzania and Kenya, IN THE PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA Official Report of the Proceedings of Parliament FIFTH SESSION - 3RD SITTING - FIRST MEETING Parliament met at 1.59 p.m. at Parliament House, Kampala. PRAYERS (The Speaker, Ms Anita Among, in the Chair.) The House was called to order. COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

Madam Speaker, I would like to add to the issue of roads. What we need to hear from the ministries of works and finance is, what happened to the budget that we allocated to the roads? Most of us who come from the districts know that some of the funds for the last quarter were not released for maintenance. We would like to know; after rationalisation, what happened to the money that we had budgeted for under the Road Fund? What about the money that was allocated under UNRA? Did the ministry receive it or not? Secondly, do we still have axle control limits in this country because we have raised this before? Some of our feeder roads are being destroyed by Sino trucks; they are too heavy. In some of our constituencies, there are no more bridges. We have raised this before, but no one is coming out to regulate heavily loaded trucks that are damaging our roads. Finally, honourable minister, you need to give us assurance. The Rt Hon. Speaker talked about the issue of road safety. We used to have a unit under UNRA on road safety. When you go around the country, for example Mbarara– Bushenyi Road, they have been doing road repairs. However, they jump here and repair a pothole there, but there seems to be no one in charge of supervision or even making sure that they put road safety markers. As a result, we have lost people to accidents when these roads are being repaired. As you come here with a statement, tell us what is happening so that we can assure our people that the ministry is fully in charge and that you actually received the funds that we allocated. If you did not, then let us ask the Minister of Finance to tell us what happened to the funds that we voted for the ministry.

17526 BUDGET SPEECH ii) Enhance access to electricity through implementation of the $638 million Electricity Access Scale-up Project covering grid expansion, connectivity and clean energy options for one million new electricity connections. Further, the Government will continue investing in priority transmission lines and sub-stations, particularly to the industrial parks, growth centres and other strategic manufacturing facilities like the clinker factory in Moroto, Karamoja; the fertiliser factory in Kampirigisa, Mpigi; Simba Cement Factory in Mbarara, Western Uganda; Dei BioPharma in Matugga, Wakiso District; and; the Coffee Factory in Ntungamo, among others. iii) Commence development of new power generation plants to meet the growing demand. These include new hydropower plants at Ayago and Oriang in Nwoya District, and Kiba in Oyam District, the development of nuclear power in Buyende District, and the rehabilitation of Kiira- Nalubaale Power Plant. Industrial Development and Manufacturing Madam Speaker, with regard to industrial development and manufacturing, the following achievements have been registered: i) The Government has operationalised eight industrial parks, which include Namanve, Luzira, Bweyogerere, Mbale, Soroti, Kasese, Mbarara, and Jinja industrial parks. We have also supported the development of three privately-owned industrial parks, which are Liao Shen Kapeeka in Nakaseke District, MMP in Buikwe District, and Tian Tang in Mukono. ii) To-date, a total of 628 companies/industries have been allocated land within the various industrial parks, 47 per cent of which are in manufacturing. Out of all the companies allocated land, 307 are fully operational, 195 are undertaking construction, and 122 have commenced preparatory activities. The parks have attracted a total capital investment of $4.5 billion and created 181,403 jobs. iii) Madam Speaker, several industrial parks have become centres of innovation, hosting firms that have introduced new technologies and products, such as: a single HIV pill (Quality Chemicals Ltd); GIS transformers (Orion Electricals); plastic-to-fabric recycling (Fei Long Investment Ltd); locally manufactured electric vehicles (Kiira Motors); the first powder-free surgical gloves (East African Medical Vitals); and import substitution products like fridges, transformers, toiletries, textiles, ceramics, televisions, and blankets. iv) The government has supported industrialisation by investing in strategic manufacturing facilities through Uganda Development Corporation with a total investment of Shs 1.2 trillion. Madam Speaker, next financial year, I have provided Shs 308.9 billion to further support infrastructure development in industrial parks, including roads, waste management, drainage, and utilities; and Shs 187 billion for capitalisation of Uganda Development Corporation (UDC). Security, Good Governance, and Rule of Law Madam Speaker, security, good governance and the rule of law are the foundation for socio- economic transformation. Everybody knows that. During this financial year, the following achievements were registered: i) Strengthened and modernised the security infrastructure to protect Ugandans, investors and our visitors from any security threats. We have invested in security apparatus and more sophisticated intelligence network and border control mechanisms. ii) Provided adequate funds to security institutions, including the Military, Police, Prisons, and intelligence agencies for operations, and improving the capacity and welfare of men and women in uniform. iii) Promoted regional and international relations, including playing a strategic role in peace processes in Somalia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Equatorial Guinea;

17528 BUDGET SPEECH Administration of Justice The following achievements were registered: 1. The Judiciary has significantly scaled up Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms like mediation, plea bargaining and small claims procedures, reducing justice costs and speeding up dispute resolution. For example, in 2024, a total of 3,391 cases were resolved through mediation. In addition, plea bargaining achieved a success rate of 87 per cent; 2. Completed the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Rukungiri High Court, and Budaka and Patongo Magistrate Courts. Five new High Court Circuits in Wakiso, Entebbe, Kumi, Lugazi, Patongo and 10 Magistrates’ Courts were operationalised, bringing the total to 268 courts countrywide. Construction is ongoing of regional Appeal Courts in Gulu and Mbarara, Soroti and Tororo High Courts, and Karenga Magistrate’s Court. This will further reduce travel distances for justice; and 3. There is increased use of technology in the delivery of justice. The Electronic Court Case Management System is now operational in 20 courts, boosting filing rates by 20.6 per cent. Additionally, 20 courts have video conferencing systems, enabling online case handling which has improved efficiency. Madam Speaker, I have provided Shs 602.7 billion next financial year, under the Administration of Justice Programme, for strengthening Alternative Dispute Resolution, increased use of technology in justice delivery, building more courts to improve access to justice and increasing the civil jurisdiction of magistrates’ courts. Legislation and Oversight The Legislature has registered several achievements during Financial Year 2024/2025. Parliament held 75 sittings and passed 35 Bills, concluded three petitions, passed 45 resolutions and adopted 53 reports. Most importantly, the turnaround time for enactment of legislation has reduced significantly. Banange , Parliament tugikubire mu ngalo . (Applause) I commend you, Rt Hon. Speaker, for this tremendous achievement. Madam Speaker, I have provided a total of Shs 1.03 trillion next financial year for legislative processes, public engagements and outreach, providing parliamentary oversight of democracy and governance, ensuring accountability for public funds and implementation of public programmes. Management of Natural Disasters Madam Speaker, to protect Ugandans from disaster, this financial year, Government invested Shs 200.3 billion in early warning systems, mitigation interventions, the provision of relief items to the affected households and communities in the disaster-prone areas. In the next financial year, I have provided Shs 20.7 billion plus a contingency fund of Shs 169 billion to support disaster management. I have also provided Shs 12.4 billion for improving meteorological services and early warning systems to improve efficiency and accuracy of weather forecasting for agriculture, air travel and climate change tracking. Elimination of Domestic Arrears Government has put in place a strategy to eliminate domestic arrears in three financial years starting FY 2025/26. Payment of domestic arrears will prioritise suppliers of goods and services, contractors and compensations for land and to all claimants. I have increased the allocation for domestic arrears to Shs 1.4 trillion from Shs 200 billion provided this financial year. To prevent accumulation of new arrears starting next financial year, my ministry shall implement the following measures and they are not easy measures: 1. enforcement of the commitment control system; 2. sanctioning accounting officers responsible for creation of any arrears;

17537 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 12 JNUE 2025 did not want our children to be homosexuals – We did not say other people’s children. Some of our friends who had given us market access took us off the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) list. Imagine how you can rely on such a person for business. Today, you trade with him; tomorrow, he stops you because of your internal policy, not anything affecting him. On the above question, when we studied the African tribes, including my own, the Banyankole- Bahororo, we discovered that intra-tribal trade was either limited or completely absent. Why? It is because these communities sometimes produce similar products. The Banyankole-Bahororo, for instance, all have milk, beef, bananas, etc. A does not buy from B, and vice versa. Therefore, identity, being one tribe, does not necessarily solve the problem of prosperity. Happily, we discovered a real solution, and this was Uganda, a multi-tribal unit, which was already there. You had the Banyankole-Bahororo there, but you also had other people. Even in the colonial times of the small enclave economy, the business complementarities among the tribes were already coming up. I was able to pay for education on account of two categories of actors: Category one was Amos Kaguta, my father, who had cattle which he inherited from his ancestors. Hence, those cattle were “ enshuji”, the cattle of “ Jajja”, inherited from ancestors. He could, therefore, sell some of them and pay my school fees. The problem, however, was that there was neither a single Munyankole-Muhororo cattle trader at that time nor was there a developed beef market in the area of Ntungamo. Do you people know where Ntungamo is? You may not find it on the Uganda map. At that time, Ntungamo did not have cattle traders or a meat market. That was how the second category of rescuers came in; the people who rescued me to go to school. These were two Baganda. One of them called Walusimbi Mpanga, and another one called Bukyenya. The Banyankole would call him “Bukyenya”, but the Baganda would call him “Bukenya.” Bukyenya had a grandson who is a big fellow now in the Government. I think he is in the Equal Opportunities Commission. If that Munyankole- Muganda is here, he should come and they see how Banyankole-Baganda look like. If that boy is here, let him come and they will see him. Then there was also a white man, Shea. Walusimbi bought cattle for the Kampala beef market and Bukyenya for the Mbarara market, and Shea for the Kilembe Copper Mines workforce. It was these three people who supported my education. Walusimbi bought the cows to be sold in Kampala. Bukyenya bought and took to the small Mbarara market. Shea would take the cows to Kilembe market. Even at that time, the complementarity among the tribes was becoming clear. Even in the pre-colonial times, the inter-zones trade had become clear. Textiles, “ emyienda ”, were coming from the coast in Zanzibar. The glass beads, “enkwanzi”, were from the same source, and so were the guns. Ivory, “emino ”, however, was coming from the interior of the African continent and so were salt, backcloth, hoes, etc. It is this historical mission of the need for prosperity that led us to discover the first ideological principle of the NRM movement – as the minister was saying; patriotism – love Uganda. Why? It is because you need it for your prosperity, as a market, among other advantages. However, learning from the history of other countries and also seeing what is happening in Uganda once it settled down and started recovering, we discovered that the internal market is not enough. As we speak today, Uganda has got a surplus of milk, maize, bananas, beef, sugar, cement, steel products of certain types, etc., like the minister told you. Where do we sell all of these? It was during this period that the NRM asked the Ugandans the following questions: One, have you heard of East Africa?

Oh, that is the grandson of Bukenya. Zahariya ogambiire abantu . He is half-Muganda, half-Munyankole. Bagambiire Bukenya okuyagiire Mbarara . Tell them in English.

Thank you, Your Excellency, the President. My name is Habib Sseruwagi, and I am Bukenya’s grandson. I am privileged, Your Excellency, that my grandparents migrated and found themselves in Mbarara. We are actually more fluent in Runyankole than Luganda, although I am called Habib Sseruwagi. I thank you, Your Excellency, for giving me an opportunity.

Ba Jajja baagenda ddi e Mbarara?

Ewaffe , Katete, Mbarara.

17494 ADDRESS ON THE STATE OF THE NATION In Tororo, where we have got large deposits of limestone, and Kabale, where we have got iron ore, the Government has facilitated the use of these minerals for making cement and steel, respectively. In Kabale, we have put in place the infrastructure for mining the iron ore from which domestic steel manufacturers have started making high- quality steel. There are now 10 gold refineries in the country producing gold, which is refined to 99.9 per cent purity. There are gold mining activities in Busia by a Chinese company called Wagagai, and the Government embarked on the registration of artisanal miners in Buhweju, Busia, Mubende, Kassanda and Karamoja. Registration will be expanded to cover all artisanal mining areas in the country. In Moyo, there are gold reserves and huge limestone deposits, apparently, which are raw material for cement production in Madi- Manzora. We currently have three cement manufacturing plants, namely Tororo, Hima, and Simba Cement, a high-quality tin smelting plant in Mbarara with an annual capacity of 1,600 tons. A number of cement factories are coming up in Karamoja. The Government is also facilitating the establishment of a modern mineral laboratory in Entebbe, which is in the final stages of accreditation to international standards. This financial year, the Government started the capitalisation of the Uganda National Mining Company. This company will take an equity stake of up to 15 per cent in all medium-scale and large-scale strategic mining operations in the country. This is to ensure that as we attract foreign direct investment capital, the country benefits directly, in addition to monitoring what is happening in the sector. The company will be capitalised to a tune of Shs 500 billion over five years. Oil and gas With regard to oil and gas production, the Government is investing in the requisite infrastructure for commercial production. Kabalega International Airport is near completion, and 700 kilometres of tarmac roads have been constructed in the Albertine area. The civil works for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) are scheduled for completion next financial year, both in Uganda and Tanzania. The Ugandan National Oil Company commenced the petroleum bulk trading business in August 2024. The objective is to ensure the security of fuel supply, reduction in the petroleum pump prices, and ensure the quality of petroleum products on the market. Since the Government started implementing this initiative, Uganda has experienced some reduction in fuel pump prices. We rejected the old mistake of a whole country like Uganda buying petroleum products from middlemen in Kenya. Can you imagine? Your people were buying petroleum for the Republic of Uganda, a member of the United Nations, from middlemen. Can you imagine? You cannot believe what happens in Africa. I did not believe it. And you know, in these ministries, there are people called commissioners. Have you heard of them? Commissioner of ignorance or what? (Laughter) When I came to know of it, I said, “This would not happen. Why not buy from refiners? Don’t you know where the refineries are or the bulk suppliers?” You can’t believe it. Africa is really a continent of wonders; a whole country buying petroleum from middlemen! I did not know of this, and I was sitting there, “President, President.” (Laughter) In the minerals sector, the Government’s investment next financial year will prioritise the following:

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for that guidance. As we speak, apparently we have lost most of this public land due to a lot of fraudulent processes that have been done to dispose of them. Development happens on land, not in the air. Therefore, for purposes of this particular request by KCCA that has been brought to the attention of the Parliament, I ask honourable colleagues that we support and authorise them to go ahead and dispose them off because due diligence has been done by the committee, and the purpose for which it is going to be disposed of is very clear to us. In the cities of Mbarara, Kampala, Lira, Soroti, Gulu and Arua, most public land has been fraudulently disposed of. We should put our feet on the ground and form a committee so that we are able to go through them. If we do not do that and this process of disposing of public land in a fraudulent way continues, the Government will lose a lot of public land. Madam Speaker, it is also true that we cannot leave this public land in the cities redundant for long, yet we can authorise investment on it. You cannot talk about development when there is no land. As long as there is due diligence and

17330 MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED ANNUAL BUDGET, 2025/2026 c) Rwenkunye-Apac-Lira-Acholibur Road – Shs 166.25 billion; d) Kisoro-Nkuringo-Rubugiri-Muko Road - Shs 1,260.98 billion; that is a long road; e) Moyo-Yuumbe-Koboko Road – Shs 125.08 billion; f) The rehabilitation of Mityana-Mubende Road (100 kilometres) - Shs 21 billion; g) Proposed upgrading of Kyenjojo (Kiruhura) Bwizi-Rwamwanja-Kahunge (68 kilometres), Mpara-Bwizi (37 kilometres) – Shs 109.14 billion; h) The upgrading of Iganga-Bulopa-Kamuli Road (57.2 kilometres) Shs 42.55 billion. Colleagues, the list of the high impact projects is in the report; i) There is also Rehabilitation of District, Urban and Community Access Roads (DUCAR), which will continue under the Ministry of Works and Transport. So, DUCAR roads - Shs 91.78 billion; j) The road fund management has also been given Shs 91.78 billion. On tourism, colleagues, following the ATEINI strategy, tourism has been boosted. Tourism Development a) Shs 11.16 billion for the Mount Rwenzori tourism infrastructure. This includes improving the existing trails and establishing shorter ones, improving the existing bridges, taking into consideration the issue of the flash floods, providing eco-friendly accommodation facilities, improving the safety of tourists by establishing rest points along the trails, among others; b) Shs 21.52 billion for the development of the museums and heritage sites for cultural tourism; and c) Shs 10.15 billion for the development of the source of the Nile tourism infrastructure that includes construction of the modern piers, docking places for boats and other amenities. Human Capital Development On health, a few highlights are here. Some of the highlights include: i) Shs 1,012.19 billion for the Global Fund for Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria; ii) Shs 194.2 billion for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) vaccines and health sector development; iii) Shs 57.89 billion towards Uganda COVID-19 response and emergency preparedness; iv) Shs 65.65 billion for the construction and equipping of the Uganda Heart Institute; v) Shs 42.14 billion towards infrastructure development at Uganda Cancer Institute; vi) Shs 116.94 billion towards rehabilitation and construction of general hospitals. This is a new resource to all the general hospitals in the country. A sum of Shs 116.94 billion has been allocated for construction and rehabilitation; and vii) Shs 30.75 billion for the establishment of regional oncology and diagnostic centres in Arua, Mbale and Mbarara; viii) Shs 623.51 billion for essential medicines and health supplies for all health centres, general hospitals, regional referral hospitals and national referral hospitals. Colleagues, it is worth noting that the Ministry for Finance has restored Shs 100 billion of the fund that was removed from National Medical Stores last year. It has been restored into the budget and this is really a great development; we thank the ministry for that. Education a) Shs 244.94 billion towards the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project Phase 2; b) Shs 12.87 billion towards the development of the Primary Schools Project; c) Shs 54.44 billion towards funding the Vocational Projects Phase 2; and d) Shs 7 billion towards the Uganda National Examination Board infrastructure project.

17332 MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED ANNUAL BUDGET, 2025/2026 to report, as a committee, and these are the observations on those proposals. Committee observations During the harmonisation process, the committee observed the following on the adopted reallocations by Parliament, as highlighted in the table below. Vote 013 – Minister of Education and Sports The Committee of Education and Sports had recommended that Shs 10 billion be re- allocated from educational materials and other services to another area. In interacting with the education ministry and the ministry for finance, the committee observed that a provision of Shs 24.1 billion had already been allocated for primary education materials, thus reducing the pupil-to-textbook ratio from 1:17 to 1:12 - (Interjection) - Hon. Ssemujju, I will tell you the meaning if you can chance to cross the Nile. You have not yet crossed the Nile to that side of Uganda. (Laughter) So, any reduction in this budget will negatively impact the availability of textbooks, thereby hindering learning outcomes. Furthermore, the roadmap for reviewing the primary curriculum is yet to be concluded by 2030. So, Madam Speaker, we beg to differ with the reallocation there because the programme of reviewing the primary curriculum is yet to be concluded by 2030. What we need now is to reduce the material-to-pupil ratio from 1.1:17 to 1:12 and maybe go to 1:1. That is the ideal. So, we beg that this House adopts that this resource not be reallocated, meaning that the existing shortfall must still be addressed. Vote 013 – Ministry of Education and Sports The committee had recommended that, under Project 1853: The Uganda Smart Education Project in Five Institutions of Higher Learning, Shs 2 billion be removed and reallocated to other areas. However, in interacting with the ministry, we found out that the project was allocated a budget of Shs 3.5 billion already and an additional Shs 2 billion has been allocated in the corrigenda, in order to support the project and make it a vital investment and infrastructure in ICT, in line with the Government’s ATM strategy. Actually, Madam Speaker, instead of reducing by Shs 2 billion, in the corrigenda, the Government was again proposing to give another Shs 2 billion, in line with the Government’s ATM strategy. This includes the construction of smart ICT classrooms, digital enhancement equipment, and the training of ICT lecturers in Kyambogo University, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mountains of the Moon University and Muni University. Therefore, we recommend that this House stays that cut. Vote 013 – Ministry of Education and Sports Item 221006: Commissions and Related Charges The committee had recommended to remove Shs 1.952 billion from recurrent and reallocate to other areas. The cut on this item affects Shs 2.95 billion, which was provided to reimburse mileage allowances for the members of the Education Policy Review Commission, for use of personal vehicles on the commission’s work. The cut will result in partial compensation. Madam Speaker, we found it hard to proceed on this because it was just a reimbursement to the commission’s members. We also beg that the amount stays. Vote 103 – Ministry of Education and Sports Item 221008: ICT Supplies – Recurrent budget of Shs 2.5 billion Again, we were told that this would be a double cut on the Uganda Smart Education Project, and it will also affect the procurement of IT supplies, under the ministry.

Hurnsn Capttel Dcvelopnent Hedth Servlcer: i. UGX 1,Ol2.l9bn - Global F\rnd for TB, AIDS and Malaria; ii. UGX 194.26a - GAVI Vaccines and Health Sector Dwelopment iii. UGX 57.t9ba - tourards Uganda Covid 19 Response and Emergency Preparedness; iv. UGX 65.55bn for constnrction and equipping of the Uganda Heart Instihrte (UHD v. UGX 42.l4bt towards infrastnrcture dwelopment at Uganda Cancer Instihrte (UCI); vi. UGX 116.94b4 towards rehabilitation and constmction of General Hospitals; vii. UGX 30.75blr for establishment of Regional Oncologr and Diagnostic Centers in Arua, Mbale and Mbarara viii. UGX 623.51b4 for essential medicines and health supplies for all Health Centers, General Hospitals, Regional Referral Hospitals and National Referral Hospitals; Education: a) Ushs /f,,.$$a towards Uganda Secondary Eclucation Brpansion Project phase II b) Ushs l.Z.t7bn towards Dwelopment of Primary Schools Project. c) UShr gQ,.$la towards funded Vocational Project Phase II d) UShs 7.OOba towatdr Uganda National Exarrrination Board Infrastructure Project II Dldtel Transformetloa UGX 197.Otbn has been allocated to the Government Network (GovNet) project towards orpanding the digital infrastnrcttrre outreach, strengthening infrastruchrre among others. digital services in priority Energr, OII aad Gas lrevelopmeat: a) UGX 686.35ba towards midstream petroleum #L Some of the planned include, Supervision of in Uganda, 'f\S s EACOP ffi .-\fiJE). of the 31 N

Votc ' . '- _-':i'- UculnUo rmrt(UGXOOOI RGfGrrl Horpltdt 403 Arua Hoqrital 11,525,914 404 Fort Fortal Hospital 12.943.6L9 405 Gulu Hospital L4.57L.970 406 Hoima Hospital 13,313,426 407 Jinja Hospital 18.335.966 408 Kabale Hospital 12.100.368 409 Masaka Hospital 13,452,7L2 410 Mbale Hospital 16,738.569 4Lt Soroti Hospital 9.9t2.492 412 Lira Hospital L5.522.676 413 Mbarara Recional Hospital 18,645,268 4t4 Mubende Rcsional Referral Hospital L2.292.t33 415 Monoto Resional Rcferrd Hospital 11.150.847 4L6 Nacuru Referral Hospital L4,902,927 417 Kinrddu Refenal Hospital 27.401.331 418 I(awern c Rcferral Hospital 26.564.466 4t9 Entebbe Reeional Referral Hoepital 17.281,838 420 Mulaso Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital 30.925.771 42L Karrunga Referraf Hospital 14.772.948 422 H Yumbe Referral ffudoar Abroad 1 501 Ugqnda Mission at the United Nations, New York 18.306.699 502 Uganda High CotDrlission in the United Kinedom L5.640.947 503 Uganda High Comrnisaion in Canada . Ottawa 10.323.859 504 Uganda High Cornrnission in India. New Delhi 8,877,777 505 Qgrnrniggign i11 1 506 in Tanzania , Dar es gnlaarn \ 12.790.806 507 Ugand**IiEh Qsrnrnisgiqn in Niqeria. Abuia /'a^, \ 6,699,770 ( ,$ t 2,A # -ffuT a8e

Voh OccaAUoo t hmt{UexoOOl 538 ru Mission in o00 Local Gwcraroatr 601 Arua city 42,627,79L @2 Fort-Fortal city 24.409.O33 603 GUU city 30.o16.334 604 Hoirna city L6,320.994 605 Jinja citv 48,585.173 606 Lira city 32.637.923 607 Masaka city 32,L23,397 608 Mbale city 4L.146.292 609 Mbarara cibr 39.917.390 610 Soroti city 22,695,436 70L Apac Municipal Council 9,229.883 702 Bueiri Municipal Council 6.521.357 703 Bushenyi- Istralra Municipal Council 13,883,756 704 Busia Municipal Council 8.729.34L 705 Eqtebbe Municipal Council L4.992.O40 706 Ibanda Municipal Council L7,O36,2LO 707 Iganga Municipal @rlncil 8.179.080 708 Ihbale Municipal Council t7.830.374 709 I(anuli Municipd Council 8,837,237 7LO I(apchorwa Municipal Council 10.959.904 7LL IGscse Municipal Council L6.2L9.979 7L2 Kira Municipal Council 26,4L3,268 713 Kisoro Municipal Council 5,652,058 7L4 Kitgum Municipal Council 8.661.003 7t5 Koboko Municipal Council 10.108.ele I 716 Kotido 97 n r 1 I N\ F a J rj; -iz- G ,s

Votc eoAf,iltoa rmil|Uq*omT t46 Rrblic Service Counission (PSCI 2,541,500 t47 Local Crovemmcnt Finance Corraission(LGFCl 1,500,000 148 Judicial Service Corrmission(JSCI 2,496,31O 150 Nationd Envinonment Manasemcnt Authoritv NEMAI 8,130,148 151 Uganda Blood Ttansfirsion Service (LrBTSl 4,L26,676 153 Rrblic Procurement & Disposal of Assets IPPDA) 1.295.400 154 Uganda National Bureau of Standards fi.INBSl 35,550,000 156 Ustnda I:nd Cornrnission rurc| 26,920,OOO 157 NAgeqd Forestnr AuthoritvNFAl 2t.287.691 158 I4tE41tel Security Organization (ISO) 10,241,000 159 External Security Organization (ESOI 702.O72 163 qp4dajgtir€Eents Benefits Rcgulatory Authoritv 720,OOO L64 Natiorml Council for Highcr Eclucation 100.000 166 National Council of Sports 45t.226903 167 Science, Technologtr and Innovation 40.998.100 168 Usanda Freezones a4d Drport Pnomotion Authority 2.357.698 169 Uganda Vocational end Technical Assess"rent Board r0.330.876 301 Makerere U4iircrsity 33.9L9.237 302 Mbarara UnfuersiB 34.740.706 303 Makerere UniversiBBusiness Sctrool 1.881.595 304 Kyanbogo Unftrcrsity 3.989.831 305 Busitema Unfuersjty LL.404.826 306 Muni Unftrcrsity 3,768.286 307 IGbale UniversitV 2.056.269 308 Soroti Unftrcrsitll 10.987.980 309 Gulu Unftmsity 2L.836.718 310 Lira Unfuersity 4.412.239 311 law Derrclopment Centne. 4.357.193 3L2 Uganda Mana8ement Instihrte 313 Mountains of the It@oqUnfurcrsity 5.151.599 401 Mulago National Rsferral Hospital 23.3t5.487 402 ffi Butabika R.fcErl 403 Arua 4,790,096 404 Fort Portal Hospitel A ) 114,518 405 ) Gnlu Hospitat -^ /-K ',lJ w_ 108,000 52 lPa \s & ^*dE'. It

Vot :, utilttfffm frffid(UAXmO'l 406 Hoima Hospital r08.000 407 Jinja Hospital 108.000 408 Kabale Hospital 108.000 409 Masaka Hospital 108.000 410 Mbate Hospital 1.408.000 4LL Soroti Hospital 108.OO0 4t2 Lira Hospital 108.O00 4L3 Mbarara Reeional Hospital 108.000 4L4 I&leode Reeional Rcferral Hospital 135.000 415 Moroto Regional Referrat Hospital 130.139 4L6 Nqgq4LLReferral Hospital 7.2L6.OOO 4L7 IEryddfr Referral Hospital 1.377.O00 418 I(awem.pe Refql Hospital 810,OOO 419 Entebbe Resional Beferral Hospital 810.000 420 Mulaso Specializd Women and Neonatal Hospital 2,O4L.200 42L Kanrnm Referraf Hospital 300,000 422 I flrloar Abrocd 501 Uganda Mission at the Unitcd Nations, New Yo,rk 1.092,000 502 Umnda Hish ConEission in the United Kinsdom 503 Usanda Hish Commission in Canada. Ottawa 17,687.4L3 504 Umnda Histl ComEission in lrdia. New Deltri 505 Uganda Hisb Commission in lGtrya,Nairobi 3,390.O00 506 Usanda Hinh Commission in Tanzania . Dar es Salaam 6,390,000 so7 Uganda High Cpmmission in Nigeria, Abuja 508 Uganda High Commksion in South Africa, Pletoria 150,000 509 Uganda Hiih Commission in Rtrnanda, Kigali 510 Uganda Embassy in the United States , Washington 511 Upnda Embassy in Egrpt, Cair! 5L2 Ueanda Embassv in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa 513 Uganda Embassy in China. BeiiinE lt. 514 UFnaa Embassrr in Snilzerlsnd. Geneva utl 400,000 515 Uganda Embassy in Japan. Tokyo WD 516 5L7 Uganda Embassy in Denmark, Copenhagen ,f -H I 7 518 uganda EmbaEsrrin Belsium, Brussels /V \ ' 7 \-- 4.g68.s87 N s N$ a 53 d

Madam Speaker, the information I am giving the House is that when the human rights committee of Parliament visited Luzira, there were prisoners who shouted, saying: “We have been here for 28 years.” When we interrogated, we found out that some of them, including a one Byaruhanga, had been in prison for 28 years and had never visited court. They said they were there on the minister’s orders. We were told there are very many like those. They had been there for 28 years, 26 years – the Attorney-General knows when they say “minister’s orders”. There are people who are in prison on the minister’s orders. I do not know who that minister is. (Interjection) Yes, and they have never gone to court – leave alone those who go to court and return to prison. These ones have never left Luzira, for 28 years. We are asking; can’t he come in, as the Attorney-General, and advise on whether they cannot try them? This is in order for us to deal with congestion. Actually, three are from Buhweju, including one Byaruhanga and three from Mbarara. Our concern, Madam Speaker, is that if they cannot be prosecuted, then they should be released so that we can decongest these prisons.

17248 THE HIDESAND SKINS (EXPORT DUTY) (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2025 overs from NDP III. However, due to the large funding gap, it will be impossible to undertake the activities in the work plan, with the potential catastrophic effects on the state of roads across the country. In line with this shortfall, the Ministry of Works and Transport has made allocations prioritising payments of arrears and acquisition of land for ongoing works. Most of the ongoing projects have not received sufficient funding to cover the planned scope of work. For example, the Mityana-Mubende Road requires an allocation of Shs 130 billion but was only allocated Shs 21 billion. Kampala-Jinja requires Shs 90 billion but was only allocated Shs 7 billion. Mbarara-Ishaka was not allocated any resources, despite being in very bad shape. The allocation projects are located in Annex 3 and if no extra funds are allocated, the result will be an increase in the domestic arrears, including interest on the unpaid sums. Impact of the funding gap Madam Speaker, the funding gap I have described will negatively impact the ministry’s ability to undertake land acquisition, complete ongoing projects, carry out urgently required maintenance works on the network, and commence strategic projects like from Bobi- Corner Ayer to support our expected AFCON 2027. This budget shortfall will also affect the implementation of externally funded projects, as resources are required for counterpart funding and land acquisition for the projects. Honourable members, if the extra allocation is not made now, the Government of Uganda will have to pay more in the long run due to the following factors; 1. Interest on delayed payments will increase. The estimated interest in the Financial Year 2025/2026 due to delayed payment is approximately Shs 48 billion. 2. In cases where contractors demobilise, when work resumes, it will include the extra scope of work to cover the damage done to the structure when the contractor was not on the site. You may have seen this in Ibanda; 3. Contractors’ claims for the demobilisation and also reputational damage to the country, which will cause contractors to increase their future bid prices to cater for the risk of non-payment; 4. Delayed utilisation of external finances, which results in increased financing costs for the loans; and 5. Increased accidents at the abandoned sites and across the road network where interventions are required. In addition to the direct costs mentioned above, Madam Speaker, there is a larger risk of losing the value of the road assets that the Government of Uganda has invested in over the last 15 years. The total paved network currently stands at 6,306 kilometres, as of Financial Year 2024/2025. This paved network is increasingly at risk of deterioration due to under-investment in timely maintenance. As a result of the underfunding, already, 615 kilometres of the paved network have deteriorated beyond maintenance levels and will require expensive interventions in the form of rehabilitation or, in some cases, full reconstruction. Madam Speaker, it is much cheaper to undertake periodic maintenance interventions such as resealing and local repairs compared to the full rehabilitation that is usually required when a road is neglected. The cost of the periodic maintenance ranges from Shs 646 million to Shs 1.14 billion per kilometre, while the cost of rehabilitation ranges from Shs 2.28 billion to Shs 2.66 billion per kilometre. The periodic maintenance activities renew the life of the road. A good example is the Kampala Northern Bypass, where the periodic maintenance currently being implemented will give the road a new lease of life at a reasonable [Mr Ecweru] MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

17249 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA W EDNESDAY, 14 MAY 2025 cost, compared to waiting until the road requires full rehabilitation later on down the road. If no periodic maintenance activities are done on the national road network in the Financial Year 2025/2026, projections indicate that, in addition, 500 kilometres of paved roads, currently in fair condition, will degrade to the point of requiring full rehabilitation. This loss in asset value, Madam Speaker, has been estimated at around Shs 1.007 trillion over that financial year, that is, 2025/2026. My prayer, Madam Speaker, is that, together, the challenges I have described require urgent intervention to mitigate the adverse effects of the current funding shortfalls. I propose the following strategy to help mitigate this, and we have shared this with the different committees: 1. Provide additional resources to enable contractors on the ongoing projects such as Mityana-Mubende, Kampala-Jinja, Karuma- Pakwach, Najjanankumbi-Busabala, Kira- Matugga, Tororo-Busia, to complete them on schedule; 2. Providing funds for land acquisition and counterpart funding for ongoing externally financed projects to ensure the external resources are not left lying idle. For example, Rwekunye-Apac, Lira-Puranga, Muyembe-Nakapiripirit, Kiruhura-Kamwenge, Namagumba-Budadiri, just to mention but a few; 3. Provide funds for key maintenance projects such as in Mbarara-Ishaka, Nebbi-Arua, Mubende-Kyenjojo, et cetera, and emergency bridge repairs; 4. Provide funds for payment of outstanding arrears to reduce the accumulation of interest and maintain the service providers’ confidence in the Government’s commitment to pay for works done; 5. Prioritisation of funding for maintenance and ensuring funds are released in a predictable manner to enable proper planning for maintenance activities. Assurances Madam Speaker, the Ministry of Works and Transport commits to conducting road safety inspections at all work zones to ensure that adequate warnings in the form of signage and other safety devices are installed. The ministry will also continue to conduct inspections of black spots across the road network to install mitigation measures to ensure that the safety of our road users is guaranteed. Madam Speaker, I would like to assure you and all the honourable members that the Ministry of Works and Transport is committed to utilising the allocated resources in the most effective manner possible for reliable and safe works, transportation infrastructure and services. I beg to submit.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The annual crime report of the Uganda Police Force 2024 shows that since 2020, the total number of people who have died in road accidents is 22,306. Five thousand one hundred fifty four (5,154) people have died in 2024 only. This reflects a fatal increase of 7 per cent from 4,000 in 2023 to 5,000 in 2024. This is very alarming. In 2023, the Speaker convened a meeting of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), the Ministry of Works and Transport, the Police, the Leader of the Opposition, the Ministry of Health, the Chairperson of the Committee on Physical Infrastructure, and the Shadow Minister for Works and Transport. Resolutions were made and adopted by this House. The Minister of Works and Transport pledged to implement those resolutions. However, those resolutions have never been implemented in respect to the accidents. Even before I go to the second one, the minister should update us on those resolutions; how they were implemented, if they were implemented. Secondly, the minister is lamenting. He convinced us here, together with the Minister of Public Service, that whatever they were doing in rationalisation was in this country’s best interests and that they were promoting effectiveness in the ministry. At least UNRA was managing the debt. Now you are failing to even manage the debt. Where we come from, through Sheema District, Mbarara District, to Buhweju, the road is impossible. It is a national road. Now, you say that you have no money, and so you will not be moving from Mbarara to Bushenyi. You are lamenting. Finally, the arrears: the high cost of financing the foreign companies. Why don’t we support the local companies? All these companies you are talking about have arrears amounting to almost Shs 1.581 trillion; most of this is to foreign companies. I [Mr Ecweru] MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Thank you. Honourable member, you do not need to walk to Kampala for you to be seen as strong. He can see you are strong. When you look at him, you see he is a very strong man. However, Hon. Ecweru, Hon. Feta raises a critical issue. I just wanted to know about Mbarara. When are you reopening Mbarara Aerodrome? Also, these aerodromes you are making are small. When I see Uganda Airlines rushing abroad - If they could start with the domestic ones, the money they would make - it is even much more sustainable. (Applause) Just local ones, but that will only be possible if you could enlarge the existing infrastructure. I heard you are trying to make one in Kanungu. For God’s sake, you have a private individual who put in a lot of money to put up an airstrip. Why don’t you tarmac that for now so that the tourists can be going to Kanungu and show support for the private sector? You have supported many. I saw Mr Garuga Musinguzi’s airstrip. If you could work it out with him and you tarmac it, the tourists would be landing there. You would make money. Hon. Rutahigwa, followed by Hon. Gabriel Okumu and Hon. John Faith Magolo.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mine is about the Mbarara-Kabwohe– Bushenyi-Ishaka Road. This road was in the National Development Plan I, II, III, and it has now been carried forward to NDPIV. When the report was being read, I was very sure, 100 per cent, that I would see this road in this budget. To my dismay, it is nowhere to be seen. In 2021, His Excellency, the President, directed Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA) then to rehabilitate the road, but the road is in a sorry state. It is too potholed despite its economic benefits. This morning, I took the initiative to call the regional traffic officer to give me the statistics of how many people have perished on that road. In Bushenyi alone, 23 people have died since January to date. Shema - 32, Rubirizi - 14, Mitooma - 7 and Buhweju - 8. In total, between January to date, 84 have perished on that road. Those are the ones that are known, but some are not known. Mr Speaker, it is very unfortunate and regrettable. Honourable minister, kindly, look for money from somewhere, because this road cannot wait - and work on this road. This is a road that connects very many tourist destinations. It is a road that connects to the Residence District Commissioner, Mpondwe Border - (Member timed out. )

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Honourable minister, I am going to talk about the Mpigi-Busega Express. That road caused the diversion of the Masaka- Highway, so that all cars going to Masaka- Mbarara go through the Mpigi Town Council. The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) had requested only six months, but it is now almost one and a half years. Surprisingly, there is no work going on the Mpigi-Busega Express. We are worried because the traffic is too much, causing congestion and accidents in the Mpigi Town Council, and the road itself in Mpigi Town Council has been damaged, yet UNRA is no longer there. The second is on what we spend on the delay of the Mpigi-Busega Express. Colleagues, we spend almost Shs 75 million daily taking care of these delays. We spend almost Shs 2.3 billion monthly, care of the delay for the Mpigi- Busega Express. How are we going to handle this? What are we doing about it since we are in the budgeting process? Is this road abandoned? Nothing is taking place, honourable minister, and the Ministry seems comfortable. Lastly, there is the Bujuko-Katende Road. It was part of the maintenance program by the Mpigi-Busega Express contractors. Since they are no more, the road is in - (Member timed out.)

17175 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 16 APRIL 2025 Presidential pledges The committee recommends that the Government, through the ministry for finance, commits to fulfilling all the presidential pledges that were made with the earlier unfulfilled pledges taking the first call. Specific issues on the universities Makerere University The committee recommends that the ministry for finance allocates an additional Shs 15 billion to enable the university to undertake renovation and the construction works to full completion, since it is an old university and most of the infrastructure needs rehabilitation. Mbarara University of Science and Technology The committee recommends that the ministry for finance allocates additional Shs 4.1 billion for recruitment of at least 26 new staff and promotion of the staff who meet the criteria. Makerere University Business School (MUBS) The committee recommends that the ministry of finance allocates Shs 9.199 billion to MUBS for its institutional development project for acquisition of the assets and equipment of PWDs. Kyambogo University Recommendation The committee recommends that the finance ministry allocates an additional Shs 9.9 billion for a perimeter wall to avert encroachment on the university land for the university to be able to effectively manage its resources and maintain it in a secure environment. The committee also recommends that an additional Shs 9 billion be given to fulfil the presidential directive for the renovation of the student halls of Kyambogo. Busitema University The committee recommends that the finance ministry allocates an additional Shs 10.32 billion to the university to recruit additional staff and an additional Shs 15 billion to address its infrastructural challenges in its six campuses, including the Maritime Institute and the Kabwangasi Primary School Teachers’ College. Muni University, which has several uncompleted buildings The committee recommends that the finance ministry allocates: i) Shs 4.6 billion for the completion of the main building; ii) Shs 1.6 billion for the completion, renovation and expansion of Madi-Okollo farm; iii) Shs 2.55 billion for completion and renovation of Erepi Primary Teachers’ College; iv) Shs 2.3 billion for the completion of the Multipurpose Health Science Lab; v) Shs 0.9 billion for the completion of the construction of a welding workshop, to roll out engineering programmes; vi) Shs 2.75 billion to construct a modern ICT hub; and vii) Shs 0.363 billion for lab equipment to support increased health research and training for medical professionals. Kabale University The committee recommends that: i) Additional Shs 18.772 billion be provided to Kabale University as seed capital for its infrastructural development; ii) Shs 1.78 billion for the university to clear its previously inherited arrears from private expenses of the university; and iii) An additional Shs 0.65 billion to meet the demands of the Government-sponsored students.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, I also want to thank you for alluding to the presidential pledges that normally get lost along the budgeting process and also in the ministry. An example is a polytechnic institute in Nyarushanje Subcounty in Rukungiri that has been a presidential pledge for a very long time. In the last two years, the President wrote several letters to the ministry, asking them to start the process of operationalising the said institution. However, up to now, nothing is going on. We have no update from the ministry and the report does not also say anything about Nyarushanje Polytechnic Institute being affiliated to Mbarara University of Science and Technology. I would like to ask the ministry: what is the update on the President’s pledge about the said polytechnic institute? The report also mentioned that they need money to rehabilitate primary schools, which I agree with. However, we have these schools that are always washed away by the storms. When this happens, we run to the ministry of relief and disaster and they give us iron sheets and the like. What is the role of the ministry in providing other building materials? I believe the iron sheets are not enough to put up these structures that are washed away by the hailstorm. What is the ministry doing about these schools? Lastly, I also agree that we should give them money to train teachers in the new curriculum for schools. However, we also need teaching and reading materials for both the teachers and the pupils. We also need sensitisation of the parents. You can all attest that when Ordinary Level results were released – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and the committee for the report. My concern is with the committee’s recommendation in regard to the presidential pledges. I do not know which criteria they used because there are several presidential pledges that I particularly picked interest in, because I sit on the Committee on Budget, and they have been recurring. For example, there is the Karamoja Peace and Technology University. There is a big presidential pledge to that university. There is also a presidential pledge on the University of Saint Joseph in Mbarara. There is also a small pledge of Ankole Western University (AWU). The President pledged Shs 100 million through Hon. Matia Kasaija.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Madam minister, you are aware that you closed Bwera Teachers College yet Kasese District has 1.4 million citizens. Kaborole District, which has a Government university - the Primary Teaching College (PTC) there was closed same as that for Bushenyi and Mbarara. So, our request, Madam Minister, is that the very PTC that you closed, ungraciously, can be upgraded into a public university because the foundations and infrastructure are lying there, idle. Secondly, honourable colleagues, let us not allow this budget to pass without an increment or a package for the Arts teachers. They go to the same markets, school from the same schools, they have the same needs as they relate to the science teachers. In this particular budget, not even for next year, Mr Speaker, let us have something for our Arts teachers. Finally, this is for you, Mr Speaker, and the message is from Monsignor Dr Landus Bwambale. He said that when you or Madam Speaker are presiding, I have to raise this, that the Catholic schools and other faith-based schools should be supported. They educate fellow citizens. It is a pity that the Government abandons supporting religious schools – (Member timed out.)

17007 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 15 APRIL 2025 for the community health extension workers programme, to strengthen disease prevention and promotion of public health activities. Vote 134 – Health Services Commission The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development provides Shs 3 billion for the procurement of vehicles for the board members of the Health Services Commission, in a phased manner, starting with Shs 1 billion in the coming financial year. Vote 127: Uganda Virus Research Institute The committee was informed that the Uganda Virus Research Institute has five acres of land at Kamwanyi in Entebbe, which is occupied by bonafide occupants, who have made it impossible for it to develop. The committee recommends that Shs 5.4 billion be provided to Uganda Virus Research Institute to pay off the bonafide occupants, and secure the land for development. On page 25, there is inadequate funding for research. We can go straight to the recommendations. They need an additional Shs 1.6 billion for research. The second is that the Uganda Virus Research Institute mandate should be amended to cover bacteria, viruses, protozoa, insects, and other microorganisms. You may think that they deal only with viruses, but there are also some other microorganisms. Uganda Heart Institute We can go to page 26. The newly approved staff structure is understaffed, and wages are an issue. The committee recommends that an additional wage amounting to Shs 22.89 billion be provided to Uganda Heart Institute to enable them to fully operationalise the new approved staff structure, and enable timely functionalisation of the newly expanded Heart Institute complex, located in Naguru. Super specialised training The committee recommends that an additional Shs 0.56 billion be provided for the training. The training takes about three to five years. On the regional cardiac centres, there are two established cardiac centres. There is land in Hoima and in Mbarara, but they need - if you can go to the recommendations, you will see that Shs 51 billion for the construction of the two cardiac centres. Power connection to the new home in Naguru The committee recommended that Shs 2.8 billion be provided to Uganda Heart Institute to connect the new Naguru Centre to a dedicated power line. The Uganda Cancer Institute It has two centres, one in Gulu and the other in Mbarara. The committee recommends that Shs 7.1 billion be provided to enable the Uganda Cancer Institute to operationalise the Gulu and Mbarara centres. This will help bring cancer services closer to the people in order to decongest the main cancer centre in Mulago. Inadequate medical supplies for the Cancer Institute They need Shs 15.9 billion to be provided. There is the issue of funding for the Fred Hutch Centre. The Uganda Cancer Institute Fred Hutch Centre in Kampala was established with funding from the US Government. The committee was informed that USAID funding for the Fred Hutch Research Centre had come to an end. They needed Shs 6.5 billion, and only Shs 1 billion was provided. In the recommendations, they need Shs 5.5 billion extra. Staff wages - they are understaffed. The committee recommends that Shs 42 billion be provided to Uganda Cancer Institute, in a phased manner, beginning with Shs 10 billion.

17016 APPROVAL OF BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR FY 2025/2026 Number two, is the challenge of spreading too thin and achieving nothing. In our health centres at the district level, to get equipment that can do the simplest diagnosis is becoming a problem. Computed Tomography (CT) scans are failing us. If somebody in Lyantonde gets a brain injury, we have to send them to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, which cannot give them a scan. They have to send them to private clinics to do the scan, which costs almost Shs 700,000. An ordinary Ugandan, honestly, moving from Lyantonde to Mbarara and then to a private hospital to get treatment is not helping us. Even the Shs 1 million that we are putting into the Parish Development Model (PDM) to do wealth creation is not helping them because they are spending a lot of money on health, yet we are not helping them. Honourable minister and Government, let us fast-track health insurance. Let us help our people. We deal with infrastructure. All that we are going to mention has a lot to do with infrastructure. The health centres IV that they had started upgrading are right now on a standstill. When we keep pushing the Ministry of Health, the issue is that we still do not have money. When we go to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, they tell us, “We have no resources,” so what do we do? Every day, we are digging deep into our pockets.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the committee for their report. Mr Speaker, I want to entirely agree with you that we must prioritise the purchase of the PET Machine so that we end the challenge that Ugandans face. There is actually wrong diagnosis going on in this country. By the time they discover that somebody has cancer, the disease would have reached stage three or stage four. Therefore, we must find the Shs 62 billion. What is available is Shs 30 billion. What they need is Shs 92 billion. Let us put aside everything for the sake of ensuring that there is proper diagnosis. (Applause) Of course, we have been told that they receive 7,000 cancer patients annually and these are the ones that are diagnosed. However, there are people who have cancer out there and they even do not know. Secondly, can we focus instead of doing so many things at the same time? Uganda Cancer Institute already has a regional centre, fully constructed and commissioned, in Omoro and another one in Mbarara. There is a funding gap of Shs 15.9 billion. What has been provided is Shs 9 billion. Can we prioritise that? What goes on at the Uganda Cancer Institute – honourable colleagues, if you get there, you will actually feel sorry for them. It is terrible. It should not be a centre of excellence for oncology in the East African region. I support the committee’s report, saying we should prioritise. For Uganda Heart Institute, they just want to start constructing. Can we focus on the Uganda Heart Institute at Naguru and have it operational, first, before we think of starting other centres outside? Uganda Heart Institute is already running – I talked about the two. Can we first prioritise that and have it operational before we think of Hoima and another centre that they are thinking about? I want to move to the other – the digital X-ray machines. Thank you, Ministry of Health, for procuring this equipment. We have had a challenge of X-rays in this country. When I was the Minister of State for Health (General Duties), we took a new digital X-ray machine to Tororo. Unfortunately, five years down the road, this equipment has never worked. Just a small thing – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the committee for giving us a very good report. My first question is to the Minister of Health: Sometime back, you called us to Nakasero to receive ambulances. When will Oyam District get the pledge of the ambulance? People are asking day in, day out. Secondly, I would like to address myself to the issue of counterpart funding arising from President Trump’s Executive Order because it has affected HIV infected persons. It has affected malaria and Tuberculosis control – where we have children, women, and others also infected. The committee has recommended Shs 9.6 billion, Mr Speaker. I think when you look at our population, and the people affected from these diseases, this Parliament can find room to provide this money. Thirdly, I would like to add my voice to the issue of cancer in this country. We recommended that the PET machine be bought. The whole of last year, I was in the Uganda Cancer Institute with my late dad and the congestion there – We are now in the rainy season; when it is raining, you will find attendants outside and beaten by rain. If there is something that this Parliament can do, again, let us buy this machine and secondly, focus on decongesting the Uganda Cancer Institute in Mulago by providing money for Mbarara Satellite Centre and then the Northern Regional Centre. When we look at the Uganda Cancer Institute, from congestion to lack of drugs, inadequate staff, you will find that we have a big problem as far as this disease is concerned. Then, finally, I would like to talk about the maintenance of equipment. We have bought equipment in many regional referral hospitals but we do not have the technicians to service and maintain them. It, therefore, looks like we are moving one step forward and two backward. Money has been spent but the equipment works for about two to five months or even a full year and then they are down and remain there. When the patients come in, they are referred to private facilities. I would like to thank you and I pray that this Parliament finds room to accommodate the budget, especially for the Uganda Cancer Institute in Mulago. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I also want to join my colleagues in thanking the committee chairperson for the report. Around April last year, the members on the Committee on East African Community Affairs came to Mbarara and met with the former workers of the East African Community about their arrears and gratuity. Since then, I have never heard anything concerning their plight. I would like to know how that issue is going to be handled because very many people come to my place, meet me, and ask about their money. Recently, they wanted to write a petition and bring it to your office. I thank God that the chairperson presented the report. However, I did not hear any concern about those old people who worked for the East African Community. Thank you.

16835 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 9 APRIL 2025 On the overall performance of the budget under the UPF, we recommend reallocating funds from the assistance to Uganda Police Force projects to critical UPF areas. Uganda Police Force must create a comprehensive successor project for nationwide investments. The second recommendation is that the Uganda Police Force should expedite the preparation and approval processes of the CCTV Phase III Project to ensure its inclusion in the national plan budget. We reviewed the traffic and road safety and, therefore, recommend as follows: 1. An additional Shs 7.577 billion for transport equipment be provided; 2. Shs 1 billion for an IOV inspection lane and certification centre to be provided; 3. Shs 18 billion for 10 mobile inspection stations for IOV to be provided; 4. Uganda Police Force should link the EPS to the NIRA database; and 5. Uganda’s driver licensing system should be adjusted to capture details of foreigners who commit traffic offences. On police accommodation and the ongoing construction projects, we note that 74 per cent of the police officers lack institutional accommodation. However, the Uganda Police Force is working on a police accommodation project. This project is excluded from PIP. The Ministry of Internal Affairs plans to build 69,000 housing units for the Uganda Police Force and Uganda Prisons Service, and the DCIC, through a PPP arrangement. We, therefore, recommend that the Uganda Police Force accelerates the completion of the accommodation project to comprehensively address police accommodation challenges in the year 2025/2026. On the subcounty policing model – this is a flagship security solution to the country, initiated by His Excellency, the President, and it is now under implementation. The model aims to use limited resources in subcounties to improve policing services for communities, including establishing a police station in each area, following: 1. Deployment of a minimum of 18 personnel; 2. Two motorcycles per police station; 3. A counter phone and radio communication; 4. An office; and 5. Staff accommodation for at least 18 personnel. The Uganda Police Force has tested this model in Greater Masaka in the Financial Year 2023/2024, establishing 892, which is 41 per cent of the 2,190 subcounties, nationwide. In the Financial Year 2025/2026, Shs 5 billion is allocated for the construction of 30 model police stations and completing 11 in greater Masaka, along with acquiring 333 motorcycles and communication equipment. However, there is a funding gap of Shs 557 billion. We, therefore, recommend that Shs 587 billion be provided for the nationwide rollout of the subcounty policing model. On crime management, we recommend that Shs 17 billion be provided for CIID investigations and Shs 2.3 billion for crime intelligence in the Financial Year 2025/2026. On the Canine Unit, we see that expanding the Canine units to 36 locations of Budaka, Bukomansimbi, Butambala, Zombo, Adjumani, Madi-Okollo, Pakwach, Vurra, Kaberamaido, Koboko, Terego, Maracha, Moyo, Ayivuni, Buyende, Kaliro, Namutumba, Ngora, Hima, Namisindwa, Kwania, Agago, Nwoya, Amuru, Kyankwanzi, Apac, Kole, aerodromes and border points of Jinja, Soroti, Arua, Mbarara, Kisoro, Mpondwe, Katuna and Mirama Hills nationwide, requires an additional Shs 2.259 billion. The unit faces challenges with unreliable transport for sniffer dogs to crime scenes. Reliable transport is needed at the district stations, requiring Shs 28.44 billion for equipment in 29 regions.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am now back. I asked to raise this procedural issue. When you came into office, constitutionally, all of us, as a membership, are obligated to support you. We support you and we will continue to support you. My procedural issue is the multiple directives that you have given to the ministers. I want to bring to the attention of this House, and by extension, the Executive, three fundamental things: First, the state of our road network. It is extremely appalling. When you are going to Kasese, through the Mubende Road, it is impassable. You may try to use the Mbarara Road but it is also impassable. I do not know whether we are waiting for a situation where your Members will come here and ask for helicopters to fly them to their communities. Is that what we are waiting for? I do not want to believe that because we are here as people’s representatives. If you give me a helicopter —

16765 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 12 MARCH 2025 Vote 141: Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) – Shs 38.137 billion The committee observes that the Uganda Revenue Authority requires Shs 38.13 billion for payment to RIPPLE NAMI INC in respect of the 25 per cent of the net rental income taxes collected for greater Kampala area over and above the baseline. The committee recommends approval of Shs 38.17 billion to Vote 141: URA. Vote 144: Uganda Police Force – Shs 190.969 billion The committee observed that the Uganda Police Force requires Shs 190.969 billion to meet operational shortfalls for the Financial Year 2024/25 with respect to food, crime intelligence and investigations, utilities, classified assets, vehicles for DPCs and domestic arrears. The committee recommends approval of Shs 190.969 billion to Vote 144: Uganda Police Force. Vote 302: Mbarara University – Shs 3.998 billion The committee observed that Mbarara University requires Shs 3.998 billion for non-tax revenue collections which are over projections in the Budget and have been confirmed by the Accountant-General. The committee recommends approval of Shs 3.998 billion to vote 302. Vote 415: Moroto Regional Referral Hospital – Shs 481 million The committee observed that Moroto Regional Referral Hospital requires Shs 481 million to cater for renovation and replacement of old and dilapidated structures and the old drainage system. The committee recommends approval of Shs 481 million to Vote 415: Moroto Regional Referral Hospital. Vote 506: Uganda High Commission, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Shs 749 million. The committee was informed that Uganda High Commission in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania requires Shs 749 million to enable the vote meet budget shortfalls on rent, financial constraints in the Uganda Consulate in Arusha and organisation and participation in the 5 th Session of the Uganda- Tanzania Joint Permanent Commission. The committee recommends approval of Shs 749 million to Vote 506. Vote 512: Uganda Embassy in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa – Shs 2 billion The committee was informed that the Uganda Embassy in Addis requires Shs 2 billion to cover budget shortfalls on rent, AU peace and Security Council activities and to cater for salary shortfalls. The committee recommends approval of Shs 2 billion to Vote 512. Vote 513: Uganda Embassy in China, Beijing – Shs 219 million The committee was informed that the Uganda Embassy in China, Beijing, requires Shs 219 million to cater for unpaid premiums on medical insurance to avoid legal action against the vote. The committee recommends approval of Shs 219 million to Vote 513. Vote 515: Uganda Embassy in Japan, Tokyo – Shs 1.5 billion The committee was informed that the Uganda Embassy in Japan requires Shs 1.5 billion to facilitate the 2025 Osaka World Expo in view of economic and commercial diplomacy. The committee recommends approval of Shs 1.5 billion to Vote 515. Vote 516: Uganda Embassy in Saudi Arabia – Shs 273 million The committee was informed that the Uganda Embassy in Saudi Arabia requires Shs 273

16771 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 12 MARCH 2025 Vote 409: Masaka Hospital – Shs 600 million The committee was informed that this hospital required Shs 600 million for running the regional equipment maintenance workshop which repairs and services medical equipment for referral hospitals and health facilities in Greater Masaka. So, the committee recommends Shs 600 million to Vote 409. Vote 417: Kiruddu National Referral Hospital – Shs 2 billion This money is needed to enable the hospital to procure dialysis consumables to cater for the increased number of patients and also support other satellite sites in Lira, Mbale and Mbarara hospitals. The committee recommends the approval of Shs 2 billion to Vote 417. Vote 505: Uganda High Commission in Kenya – Shs 1.8 billion The Uganda High Commission in Kenya provided Shs 1.8 billion as funding that will be used for remedial works on the restoration of Uganda House, which was destroyed during protests in Nairobi to avoid deterioration of the building. The committee was further informed that these funds arose from a saving from tax exemption on building materials and appreciation of Uganda shillings against the Kenya shillings. The committee, therefore, recommends approval of Shs 1.8 billion to Vote 505. Vote 600: Local Governments – Shs 9.536 billion The committee was informed that this money was provided to various local governments for additional local revenue to local governments that are projecting to collect more local revenue for the financial year. The local governments are listed in annex 1. Therefore, the committee recommends Shs 9.536 billion to various local governments, as provided in the annex. Vote 808: Amuru District – Shs 1.271 billion The committee was informed that Amuru District required Shs 1.271 billion to cover the shortfall on the verified wage bill. The committee recommends the approval of Shs 1.271 billion to Vote 808: Amuru district to cover the verified wage bill. Vote 837: Isingiro District – Shs 2.348 billion The committee was informed that Isingiro District required Shs 2.348 billion to cover the shortfall on the verified wage bill. The committee recommends approval of Shs 2.348 billion to Vote 808: Isingiro District to cover the shortfall on the verified wage bill. Conclusion Madam Speaker, I request that the House approves the supplementary expenditures under Schedule No.3 for Financial Year 2024/2025, totalling to Shs 4,254.968 billion, as outlined in table 3 and detailed by Vote in the supply schedules of the proposed supply schedules. I beg to report. (Applause)

16785 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 12 MARCH 2025 time we give you a schedule, we know that you know how to read. 1. Vote 144 - Uganda Police Force – Shs 62,969,000,500; 2. Vote 166 - National Council of Sports – Shs 68,894,694,780; 3. Vote 167 – Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation – Shs 60,000,000,000; 4. Vote 301 – Makerere University – Shs 5,000,000,000; 5. Vote 302 - Mbarara University – Shs 3,997,829,950; 6. Vote 409 – Masaka Hospital – Shs 600,000,000; 7. Vote 415 – Moroto Regional Referral Hospital – Shs 481,000,000; 8. Vote 417 – Kiruddu National Referral Hospital – Shs 2,000,000,000; 9. Vote 505 - Uganda High Commission in Kenya, Nairobi – Shs 1,800,000,000; 10. Vote 506 – Uganda High Commission in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam – Shs 749,000,000; 11. Vote 512 - Uganda Embassy in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa - Shs 2,000,000,000; 12. Vote 513 - Uganda Embassy in China, Beijing - Shs 219,000,000; 13. Vote 515 - Uganda Embassy in Japan, Tokyo – Shs 1,500,000,000; 14. Vote 516 - Uganda Embassy in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh – Shs 273,000,000; 15. Vote 517 - Uganda Embassy in Denmark, Copenhagen – Shs 904,000,000; 16. Vote 523 - Uganda Embassy in Germany, Berlin – Shs 2,959,000,000; and 17. Vote 524 - Uganda Embassy in Iran, Tehran – Shs 1,038,000,000; and 18. Vote 537 - Uganda mission in Havana, Cuba – Shs 314,000,000. Sub-total (Central Government) – Shs 2,489,823,488,735.

Mr Speaker, pursuant to Section 13 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015, as amended, and Rule 146 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda, I beg to lay the Ministerial Policy Statement for: 1. Vote 013: Ministry of Education and Sports headquarters; Vote 111: National Curriculum and Development Centre; 2. Vote 128: Uganda National Examinations Board; 3. Vote 132: Education Service Commission; 4. Vote 164: National Council for Higher Education; 5. Vote 165: Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board; 6. Vote 166: National Council of Sports; 7. Vote 301: Makerere University; and 8. Vote 302: Mbarara University.

We used to attend workshops in Masaka and Jinja. They used to take us to Mbarara in Pelican Hotel. So, I would like all of us to take this as our responsibility and sensitise our communities to avoid these accidents.

16612 THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY MEDIATION AGREEMENT BILL,2024 MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION [Mr Migadde] and analysis of the labour market needs for the health sector and the development of the East African Community non-communicable disease registry. Component three is project implementation which will involve providing resources to ensure effective project management at the country level. Under this component, additional financial resources will be used for effective projects at UCI and other public partner institutions for training and research, including Makerere University of Health Sciences, Mbarara University of Science and Technology and Gulu University. As the minister has already highlighted, the loan is concessional. Allow me to proceed with observations and recommendations. One is an increase in the number of additional financing requests. The Committee notes that of late, the Government has tabled before Parliament a number of proposals requiring additional financing to the already ongoing projects. A case in point is the Laropi-Moyo-Afoji- Katuna-Muko- Kamuganguzi Road Project, the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Project loan, Masaka-Mutukula Road Project; addition to this one and the Masaka-Mutukula Road Project, in addition to this. This has been attributed to delays in the implementation of the projects, lack of adequate planning and preparedness for these projects, and variations in the scope of work, among others. These lead to cost overruns resulting in requests for additional funds, ultimately increasing the financial burden on the Government. The committee, therefore, recommends that the Government should minimise variations in, therefore, recommends that Government should minimise variations in projects except in unavoidable circumstances, such as changes in scope or design, which may necessitate requests for additional funding. A case in point, in terms of infrastructure, the scope changed by 80 per cent for this project. The plan was not to build a new structure so they ended up building a new one. Two, the performance of the projects in the health sector. The committee noted that most of the ongoing projects in the health sector have faced slow progress and this is attributed to low disbursement rates. Delays in the procurement process, incomplete or errors in designs, and compensation issues that make sites inaccessible. Bureaucracy, delayed payment due to lack of funding mostly brought by conditions precedent to disbursement, among others. Delays in implementing or executing critical health projects have a significant impact on service delivery. The committee recommends that for efficient and effective implementation of this project, the implementing agency should ensure adequate identification and evaluation of risks that occur throughout the project cycle so that they are adequately mitigated to avoid further delays. As the committee was considering this request, we toured the Mulago Cancer Institute, we saw the situation there with patients on the floor, in the corridors and everywhere. Based on that, in addition to what the minister highlighted, as noted, the Government’s efforts to improve health outcomes in the country and in the East African community, at the regional level, the proposed projects provide a vehicle for implementing key disease control strategic priorities of regional level, the proposed projects provide a vehicle for implementing key disease control strategic priorities of regional institutions. Mr Speaker, the committee, therefore, supports and recommends to this House to approve the Government’s request to borrow up to

Honourable members, let us avoid some kind of embarrassment in the House. From the documents I looked at, there are people who did interviews and three of them were subjected to the final interviews. They went through the senate, had a written interview, and from the written interview, they had to go to a secret ballot. Consistently, one person was leading in all three interviews. However, when it came to giving the instruments, they said, “You are not the right person.” Let us see how to settle this thing quietly without embarrassing ourselves further because if it is a person we had earmarked or who was earmarked who did not go through then – (Laughter) Rt Hon. Prime Minister, as you come in, I also got a petition from Mbarara University. There is a strike at Mbarara University. There was also a strike at Kyambogo. Save for Hon. Musasizi, who acted on Mbarara very fast, there is still a strike at Kyambogo. Look at all these universities and see what you can do best and how you can handle the issues. (Member rose_) What we want is a solution . Excuse me, do not switch on the microphone, my son. There is also Gulu.

Thank you. Mr Speaker, I am comforted by the statement of the minister informing us that the Electoral Commission has perused through the recommendations made by this House and has made commitments to implement them as much as they can. I want to particularly point out an area of concern that there are areas that have informed us of difficulties in accessing both network and electricity. Those particular regions should be given special consideration when they review and evaluate the whole programme. Secondly, I want to implore the minister to come back and inform us officially as Parliament. I know the Electoral Commission may make a statement but it denies Members of Parliament the opportunity to interface. As soon as the Electoral Commission is done, it would be prudent for the minister to come and inform the House. One particular issue, Mr Speaker, that I would like to emphasise, and I will illustrate it with an example - In the last cycle of elections, Lira City East Division, which is a constituency of 117,000 voters was a result of a merger of five administrative units, five subcounties, two divisions and three subcounties to form one division. The Electoral Commission provided a demarcation for local councillors to the city. These were five. In the current demarcation, they have collapsed all the five into only one, meaning the local government councillor has the same number of voters and area as the area Member of Parliament. The implication is - as you know, Mr Speaker, in the local government elections - for you to be eligible to be nominated, you must be a registered voter in an electoral area. So, the councillors are now panicking because they come from different areas and now they only have one area. This is an area I wanted the minister to take particular interest in. The Electoral Commission says they are basing on Section 120 of the Local Governments Act, which gives them the mandate to demarcate based on the number of voters and other parameters. However, there is a big concern now. Imagine a local councillor going to the city council will now have to campaign in 87 polling stations in Lira City East Division alone. If you go to Lira City West, and I believe the same is happening in Kampala, Mbarara, and in all the new cities - Therefore, I want to implore the minister to go back and work with the Electoral Commission and inform the House how they will address that impasse of the local government councillors who are now in panic. In fact, many are going to lose out and the risk is that a city council is likely to have less than two members in plenary. Once the vice chairperson is appointed and the Executive is constituted, the entire city might have only a total of five councillors. They cannot form government, in other words. This is an area that I wanted the minister probably to clarify on or to consult with the Electoral Commission and address us on, in consultation with the Minister of Local Government. Thank you.

16003 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2025 persistent human-wildlife conflict in national Parks and wildlife game reserves, in Uganda. The Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry was assigned to consider the matter, with guidance to emphasise aspects related to the Government’s compensation to victims of human-wildlife conflict, specifically to establish whether victims of human-wildlife conflict were compensated and related matters. The committee informs this House that whereas the matter raised by the Hon. Geoffrey Okello Charles was limited to havoc caused by elephants, among some residents of Nwoya District, the committee considered other wild animals involved in incidents of human- wildlife across the country. Mr Speaker, in accordance with the instruction of this House, the committee wishes to present its report on the matters. I will go through the terms of reference because they will guide us in the report. Mr Speaker, the committee was guided by the following terms of reference. To establish the extent of damage, loss or death suffered by victims of human-wildlife conflict; 1. To establish whether the Government compensates victims or survivors of victims, for losses suffered on accounts of human-wildlife conflict; 2. To establish Government adherence to the legal framework on the compensation of deaths, injury, loss, and damage to property, arising from incidents of human-wildlife conflict, and 3. To consider the matters that are incidental to human-wildlife conflict in areas adjacent to wildlife parks. I will skip the methodology because of time but just to bring it to the attention of the House, in the methodology, the committee extended an invitation to members representing areas adjacent to national parks, where incidences of human-wildlife conflicts have occurred interfaced with the committee. The districts are listed there; the districts are listed. I will now go straight to the observations, findings, and recommendations of the committee, with your guidance. Number one term of reference, extent of damage, loss, or death suffered by victims of human-wildlife conflict in areas adjacent to national parks and game reserves in Uganda In the course of considering the matter with the ministry responsible for wildlife, and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the committee established that some incidents of human- wildlife conflicts have resulted in injury, loss, and damage to property. The committee further established that livestock has been preyed upon by predators and destruction of crops by herbivores. A list of claims received by UWA is attached hereto and marked as Appendix F, which I will lay. The committee received testimonies from affected persons on incidences of human- wildlife conflict that have occurred in areas adjacent to national parks and wildlife game reserves in Uganda. For instance, the death of Amunyo Longoli and Denis Angok, killed by buffaloes. Mr Jacob Mugizi from Mbarara was equally killed by a buffalo. We have baboon attacks on Spensa Mwesigye in Rubirizi District. Displacement of families occasioned by human-wildlife conflicts During the committee’s visit to some hotspots in Nwoya District where incidents of human- wildlife conflicts occur, the committee was informed that seven families sought sanctuary at Gonycogo Community Primary School in Gonycogo Village, Lutuk Parish after their homesteads were destroyed by elephants. The committee was informed by UWA that the Wildlife Compensation Verification Committee

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I have closely and patiently listened to the chairperson and Hon. Ssemujju, and you realise the paradox that the priorities are not funded, and that is why they are called “unfunded priorities” and the less-priority activities are funded. For me that is a paradox. However, I would want clarification on money to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) because it was not well explained; so, I would like the Attorney-General or Hon. Ssemujju to explain exactly why we are paying money to DRC, because it did not come out clearly. Secondly, Hon. Ssemujju talked about arrears. Mr Speaker, you recall the issue of tea seedlings; we have arrears for tea seedlings and the honourable minister came here and asked suppliers to supply and be paid later and had given them one year but it is now four years – the tea-seedling suppliers are suffering specifically in Greater Bushenyi. Mr Speaker, I am sure you know this very well because when the minister came here, you were in the Chair. I am also concerned about the Bwizibwera- Buhweju-Kabwohe road. I can see the MPs from Mbarara, Sheema and Buhweju but this has been a priority road in all the national development plans. That road was pledged in 1989 and it is now 2025. The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development knows about this road; it has been a priority in the National Development Plan (NDP) III. I really want to understand – from NDP I to IV – I want to understand what the problem is, as we continue to plan for this country. Mr Speaker, the issue of a draft budget; I do not want to go back to what has been dealt with but when we were dealing with the budget that was returned, the Minister for ICT said that Parliament cannot change anything in our

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity. I would like to thank the chairperson of the committee and Hon. Ssemujju for the reports that they have laid before us. I am going to address three issues. The first is about the presidential pledges. Recall that presidential pledges have been issues discussed here over time and by the time the President makes a pledge, we expect that the ministries, departments, and agencies are represented in such engagements. But over the years, you will find that these presidential pledges are not made priorities. When we were meeting the universities, apart from, I think Mbarara University of Science and Technology – one or two universities - all the other universities have big presidential pledges that the Ministry of Education and Sports has never captured. I think on page 178 of the report, which was presented by the Chairperson, the Committee on Budget, there are two private universities selected to benefit from the presidential pledges. Somebody questioned the criteria for selecting such institutions for benefiting from such yet, all the Government universities that have pledges of Shs 14 billion to Shs 15 billion have

But you do not have time. You can only give what you have; your time was already up. – No, honourable member, the clarification I was making was simple. These clubs do not even make money. In fact, golf clubs all over the world do not make money, but they protect the area through green spaces. Go to Fort Portal, Arua, they are the only ones – Mbarara, Kampala or Entebbe. I played golf with the Speaker of Singapore, and he said, “I really cannot believe it; I am next to a zoo, and I am in a very green area”. The oldest club in East Africa – Tororo. But in the end, if you do not support their maintenance, they will be stolen like the one of Gulu. They did not see any value; so they shared it. They built houses even in Lira. You are going to lose them. Now, they are being protected using the little money that comes from members. If you tax it, then you are taxing the land, and it will be gone. That is it. These clubs will be nowhere. In fact, you do not budget for them. They are just held in trust and protected by the public. Hon.

Fr Onen? FR CHARLES ONEN (Independent, Laroo-Pece Division, Gulu City): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting me this opportunity. I join my colleagues to thank the chairperson of the Committee on Budget and Hon. Ssemujju. There should be consideration for the Local Governments. In 2021, new administrative units were created – new cities, divisions, municipalities and districts – and yet in all these cities, only administrative units are operating without road equipment. For nearly four years, they have been hiring that equipment. If the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development could consider giving road equipment to the new cities. People have been talking about the cancer issue. Last year, I was with my brother at Uganda Cancer Institute for six months; eventually, he passed on. I was with him and the issue of crowding – I am a witness. We need an infrastructure expansion policy for the cancer centre. So far, the Government has prioritised regional centres in northern, eastern and western Uganda like Mbarara, Mbale and Gulu. At the same time, all these centres are

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. I want to build on Hon. Mujungu’s submission. Earlier, Hon. Fox Odoi had talked of policy and Hon. Mujungu has brought it out – the 2009 policy. He has also raised the issue of cut-offs. In 1979, Mbarara was razed to the ground. Masaka, which is Masaka City now – (Interjections) - Mr Speaker, I beg for your protection. Masaka town was razed to the ground and so was Mbarara town. During the war of 1979, the Western Axis led by His Excellency, Gen. Yoweri Museveni, and then the Axis through Mutukula led by Gen. Oyite-Ojok - Saba Saba razed down those two towns. When you go to - because Kasese was not being talked about as people who suffered, the good thing is it has now been brought out very well by Hon. Mujungu. In 1979, West Nile suffered during the liberation. Then in 1980, during the general elections, West Nile was invaded by the Government forces, and the people were chased to Congo. All the MPs from the UPC political party came unopposed because there were no people to vote; the West Nile area had been razed down. Therefore, when we talk about cut-off points, let us go to Independence and then verify what level of damage was done in each area. Even in Kampala here, some of the buildings were flattened and the owners have not been talked about. I beg that the Attorney-General goes back - we have a cut-off point and then see who lost what during these various wars since Independence.

15843 THE E LEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY , 29 JANUARY 2025 why they did not roll over because when the Attorney-General was reading his response for one financial year, I noted that while Shs 50 billion was budgeted for, nothing was released. Why wasn’t it rolled over to the subsequent financial year? Then, another question to the Attorney- General is: when it came to compensation of the identified and verified claimants, did you also use the pro-rata basis because you used it for districts? If yes, then, how come some claimants did not get compensated because if it is on a pro-rata basis, everyone would get within the limits of what is available? Did you also apply it when it came to top-up, as you said? Mr Speaker, compensation is touching. My senior, Hon. Fox Odoi, said that what we are discussing is actually ex-gratia. I support the committee that we need a comprehensive policy, to that effect. If what has been identified by Hon. Mujungu is not sufficient, we then need that comprehensive policy. This is because it would imply that the criteria would be very clear. It would have the law, and if need be, would have the regulations, which would really simplify everything. Hon. Cuthbert Abigaba, thank you for bringing up that issue. When one comes from Ankole, they will not think that it was ever affected. Hon. Basil Bataringaya raised issues here. When we were young - I am sure, Mr Speaker, you remember - Mbarara was in tatters. There was a group of people called the Anyanya - you would not go to Mbarara. It was put down. The Allied Defence Forces (ADF) from the Tororo Subregion terrorised Ibanda and some parts of Ankole. Hon. Cuthbert said during the Christmas celebrations of 2023, the ADF activities were still going on there. Hon. Cuthbert, for your information, more than half of the people who died were from Ibanda. Mr Speaker, in the circumstances that we need to have this comprehensive policy, we should note that even Western Nile was affected. Do not hear these issues of only northern, Teso and some others. That would mean, considering a cut-off - all those would be catered for within the policy and the Government would handle the issue of compensation with guidance either to finality or in bits. Otherwise, minus that, it will be done in bits or piecemeal, and it will remain ex gratia without any formula. Thank you.

Honourable Member for Mbarara, Member for Busia and Member for Agago.

Mr Speaker, I am not in the habit of authoring generic reports. I am a slave of detail. In all our reports we have indicated to this House, naming persons, giving the dates on which they were arrested – Wilfred Byamukama arrested on 12 March 1997; the case, murder; mental issue, schizophrenia; the court circuit, Mbarara. If you calculate from 1997 to the current date, it gives you 26 years. We have stated and named the specific prisoners. However, Mr Speaker, you were talking about sleeping on the job, even the Commissioner- General of Prisons has constantly reminded the ministry for justice and the Judiciary. We task them every six months to write to the Judiciary and point out the plight of these prisoners and they have been doing that consistently.

15788 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT [Ms Atukwasa] devastated and desperate to the extent that they think probably taking the law in their hands is the solution. Therefore, as we agitate to say that bonds should be given to people, we also need to consider the village thieves. I think the President’s idea is really factual. People who steal goats and chickens go scot-free because the moment they enter; they are given bond. Attorney-General, we need to be very considerate on that matter. As you cry, on the other side, that bond should be for everybody, the issue of the lack of small claims courts comes in here. Mr Speaker, the Attorney-General should be able to elaborate on this issue. If somebody has taken my goat and it is Shs 150,000, must I go through the whole process? The police stations, for instance, in Mbarara City, are full of young people who cannot process and clear all of these small claims so that they go back home. Mr Speaker, I beg your indulgence that you task the Deputy Attorney- General to substantiate this matter of the small claims and the issue of bond. The other issue, Mr Speaker, most times in this House, most of you are lawyers and are referring to the law, but also sociologists exist. The functions of the prisons are very key. There are four most cardinal reasons but I will use just two. One is the issue of deterrence and rehabilitation, and recently we talked about restitution. If you are confined in jail for three months, 15, or 28 years, which you should not be, are we solving any problem, or addressing the cardinal reasons why people go to jail? Therefore, Mr Speaker, I support that the committee goes back and brings the lists of individuals who are in these prisons. The person being spoken about here comes from Mbarara and I do not think she or he is the only one. Therefore, the committee should do us justice. Go back and bring these lists so that we task the Judiciary to drop these cases so that we know we are doing work and not just here speaking. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I want to support the minority report. I equally want to ask this: in supplementary budgeting, how do we include development expenditure? I thought this development expenditure should be foreseen because these are foreseeable things. Why should we put them there? Yes, I need this Standard Gauge Railway - I actually needed it yesterday for our people but we cannot include it in a supplementary budget. Look at this classified expenditure. Are we really working for the people down there or we want to work for a small population of Ugandans while the big population looks on? The ministers should really spare us a little. When we go to public health facilities - this even makes me think about how Hon. Bernadette Bigirwa, a former Member of this House, died yet she was a movement supporter. She died in Mbarara Hospital because there was no power. Probably if there was power, she would have been operated on in good time to save her life, in the 7 th Parliament. Yes, I was not in Parliament, but I got to know that very well. When it comes to social services, we are all affected equally, especially those regarding health. When you go from Mulago Hospital to health centres II, public – (Member timed out.)

We can go to Page 20 of the report, which is on the general observations on the status of abattoirs. We start with functionality and suitability of the infrastructure. I am not going to read everything; I will just summarise. The committee established that there are no standard designs of abattoirs/slaughterhouses in the country. It was noted that most of the local governments construct poorly designed infrastructure which do not meet the basic public health requirements, which compromises hygiene and sanitary conditions. All the facilities visited had variations – some were old, some new, some moderate, and some small. Only 12 (63 per cent) of the 19 facilities visited had standing structures - Masaka, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Masindi, Hoima, Jinja, Iganga, Mbale, Lira, Soroti, City Abattoir and Kalerwe. With the exception of the new facility in Hoima, the rest of the structures were in poor condition manifested by the poor wall conditions, poor roofs and floors, and lacking tiles and terrazzo.

15676 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT The majority of the facilities were operating without power services because of a lack of connection to the power grid, while others such as Mbale City abattoir were disconnected due to unpaid power bills. Sanitary Facilities The major sanitation facility was VIP latrines. Out of the l9 facilities visited, only nine (that is 47 per cent) had VIP latrines. The condition of the latrines, however, was very poor, manifested by lack water supply, dilapidated structures, smelly and many lacked demarcations for the male and female staff. Some facilities such as the Hoima City abattoir did not have a latrine facility while others such as City Abattoir, Kalerwe, and Mukono had a shared facility with the market vendors. Functionality of the waste management and disposal processes The facilities visited lacked proper waste disposal systems. By the nature of their operations, slaughterhouses generate a lot of solid and liquid waste such as rumen, dung, blood, and condemned internal organs, among others. The poor disposal poses significant environmental concerns such as pollution, operational hygiene and sanitary conditions in and around the slaughter facilities. Waste segregation and storage With the exception of the Mbarara new City Abattoir, nearly all the facilities lacked a waste storage management system. What was common in all the facilities was that the waste was cast in open spaces but segregated according to type. For example, Masaka and Mbarara city abattoirs had segregated spaces for keeping hooves and cow dung. In Mbarara, the segregated liquid was, for instance, channelled into a fish pond which was built for the purpose of consuming waste from the abattoir while the excess was channelled into the lagoon. Disposal Only three (16 per cent) of the facilities visited had drainage systems. Some of the facilities which had drainage systems and lagoons to which liquid waste was disposed include Masaka City abattoir, Mbarara City modern abattoir, Jinja City abattoir and the Pork Master Ricks in Masaka. The drainage systems for other facilities were in a poor status. The City Abattoir drainage runs into Nakivubo Channel while the drainage systems of Masaka, Kalerwe, Masindi were stagnant and visibly too old to provide appropriate drainage which caused stenches and pollution. Availability of incinerators and records The majority of the facilities had no functional incinerators to destroy condemned internal body organs, carcasses, and condemned animals unfit for human consumption. Only Iganga Municipal abattoir, KCCA, and Kalerwe had smal1 incinerators which were visibly less functional and inadequate. Considering the huge traffic of cattle, especially at the City Abattoir, the need for a modern and functioning incinerator is important for taking care of the condemned animals and inedible carcasses. Other facilities such as Iganga, Lira, and Mbale destroyed solid waste and condemned parts by burning, causing unnecessary environmental pollution. Lagoons The slaughtering process involves bleeding, skinning, dressing, and postmortem inspection. At this stage blood, urine, faecal matter, and other secretions are produced. Inadequate sanitary and hygiene conditions can lead to direct meat contamination and further expose the workers to various diseases and antibiotic- resistant strains of bacteria. Improper waste disposal and non-compliant effluent discharge can further result in water and air pollution and water-borne diseases.

15677 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 22 JANUARY 2025 Slaughterhouses can, therefore, impact public health and environmental health. During the oversight, the committee observed that some facilities had lagoons into which they disposed of the wastewater. That is Lira, Masaka, Mbarara, and Masaka pig slaughter facilities, Fort Portal, Iganga and Mukono. Others such as the City Abattoir and Kalerwe did not have a natural lagoon, hence disposing their liquid waste into Nakivubo Channel and Kalerwe swamps, respectively. The cases of Kalerwe, Masindi, Masaka and Hoima were worse because the drainage had stagnated. The drainage areas were visibly very dirty and stained with black material. The Masindi Municipal abattoir drainage was blocked; therefore, all liquid waste had stagnated. The stagnated waste and water emits a bad smell and is also a breeding area for maggots, which were evident, and a constant presence of houseflies. Recommendations (i) The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) should come up with dedicated standards for waste management for the different levels of slaughterhouses. (ii) All the facilities should have functional incinerators for the destruction of both animals and carcasses unfit for human consumption. (iii) The operators of the slaughterhouses should invest in value addition so that they add value to some of the by-products like animal hides, skins, and milk. This will facilitate sustainable utilisation of slaughterhouse waste and the challenge of solid and effluent waste management will be managed. This can take the form of processing solid waste such as cow dung into farm manure and others such as inedible carcasses for fish ponds, while the blood can commercially be processed into chicken feeds. (iv) District, city, and municipal authorities should provide Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials to guide the personnel on the dos and don’ts of waste disposal and handling of liquid and solid waste from abattoirs. (v) NEMA should constantly conduct environmental impact assessments before construction and develop sustainable practices that minimise habitat disruption. Environmental concerns The committee notes that Section 9 of the National Environment Act (NEA), Cap 181 stipulates NEMA as the principal agency in Uganda for regulating, monitoring, supervising, and coordinating all activities relating to the environment. Specifically, the establishment of abattoirs is regulated by the Authority under Section 113, Schedule 5(7)(f) of the NEA, which provides for activities and slaughterhouses to undertake an Environmental and Social Impact assessment (ESIA) before the commencement of their activities. Therefore, NEMA has a key role to play in ensuring that abattoirs operate in a healthy environment and that they do not negatively impact the environment. The committee was informed that as of September 2024, only 21 abattoirs in different locations had conducted and submitted to the Authority, ESIAs for consideration of decision. The ESIAs identify potential significant environmental and social impacts of abattoirs/ slaughterhouses and how these impacts can be mitigated to prevent or minimise harm to the environment. Recommendations i) NEMA and local authorities such as District, City, and Municipal Health and Environmental Offices should conduct constant monitoring and supervision to ensure that all guidelines concerning

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the wonderful work that you did there. Listening to the chairman read the report, I kept wondering whether we have abattoirs in Uganda or we just have slaughterhouses or slaughter slabs. It is a big problem. I would like to hear from the chairman and the committee following Dr. Isamat and Hon. Nyakikongoro’s issues about the stamps. I am wondering because I have not heard where they disposed of the carcass. If you ever found out, how many carcasses were disposed of in Kampala or Mbarara in a year? Definitely, they should have been able to detect some animals with problems or which were sick. Do you have that record? Two, I do not know of any slaughterhouse in Uganda that has slaughter machines because you always see people fighting with animals. They tie them, put them down and slaughter them. Do we have slaughter machines in any of these abattoirs here? (Laughter) I also want to find out whether you ever visited - because we are trying to benchmark. The only place could maybe be Quality Cuts. I do not know whether you visited Quality Cuts here to find out whether there is anything to learn from them or if it is just a name. Talking about public health, the other issue is on the places where they sell this meat, just within Kampala here. Mr Speaker, when you hosted the Speakers’ conference here, we took a team to the Equator crossing. As we were getting back, because of the jam in Kyengera, we decided to use Kasanje Road to get to Entebbe Road via Nakawuka. My Lord! They were shocked at the way our meat is being

2 TERMSOFREFERENCE: The General objective of the oversight was to assess the general status of abattoirs/ slaughter houses in the country. The Specifrc Objectives included: i. To assess the functionality and suitability of the facilities, infrastructure. ii. To establish functionality of utilities (water, electricity, sanitary facilities). iii. To establish the functionality of the waste management and disposal processes; level of sanitation and hygiene, waste disposal and management. iv. To assess the availability and competences of the human resources. v. To determine the availability and compliance to the legal and regulatory provisions. vi. To establish the quality assurance processes followed by abattoirs 3 METHODOLOGY: In execution of the Instruction, the Committee; a! Constituted regional teams. b! Developed a structured observation checklist that was used to obtain information about key parameters in the selected abattoirs/ slaughter houses. cl Conducted oversight visits to slaughter facilities in selected districts and cities that included; Mukono, Jinja, Iganga, Mbale, Soroti, Lira, Gulu, Mbarara, Masaka, Fort portal, Hoima, Masindi and Kampala. dl held meetings with stakeholders such as District, Municipal and City Veterinary Officers, facility owners, traders and workers to obtain detailed information about the operations of the slaughter facilities. el Held meetings at Parliament with: i. Ministry of Water and Environment ii. Ministry of Health Rg

Recommenddtlons Masaka Citg authorities should expedite the completlon of the Pork Master Ricks to achieae at least, the modest stand.c,rds oJ a modern slaughter house. 6.2 Mbarara City Mbarara City has four slaughter house facilities but only two facitities (a private and a government owned facility) were visited by the Committee. a) Mbarara City Modern Abattoir: The Mbarara Modern Abattoir is a Private establishment and is currently the major service provider for slaughter house services to Mbarara City. It slaughters between 20 to 30 cattle and about 30 goats daily and employs between 80 to 100 workers. The facility was generally in a good condition and manifests characteristics ofa fair to good abattoir house structure. The good conditions of the facility were attributed to the proper management by the facility owners. The Managers of the facility informed the Committee that people are hesitant to bring animals to the abattoir because of fees and costs involved, a farmer is charged 8,000 Ugx per cattle. Notwithstanding the costs involved per animal, the culture of non-use of the abattoir by some farmers was seen as dangerous because it exposes the public to consumption of meat from unknown sources and standards. b| Kakoba Slaughter House The Kakoba slaughter house is the only government facitity located in Kakoba Division in Mbarara City. The facility is small but sits on an approximate land size of 10 acres. The facility was generally in very bad state surrounded by bushes, poor drainage and waste dis posal. The poor ff-g

lv more suitdble and stdnd.drd. abattoir should be built to meet internatlonal standards of expot t. Jor Kannpala, KCCA should proulde tenders to operate and rnaintain the rrbrrttoirs and not onlg limit them to reuenue collectlon to enable mrrlntend.rl.ce of the factlities. 5.13GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATUS OF ABATTOIRS: 6,13.1 Functionalityandsuitabilityofthe Infrastructure: The Committee established that there are no standard designs of abattoirs/ slaughter houses in the country. It was noted that most local governments construct poorly designed infrastructure which do not meet the basic public health requirements which compromise the hygiene and sanitary conditions of the facilities. AII the facilities visited had variations; some old, some new, some moderate and some small. The facilities are either owned by government, privately owned or tendered out. Most of the facilities visited slaughter at least 10 to 30 cattle and about 10 to 15 goats per day. Taken together, the number of animals handled by the facilities selected in the five regions fall in the category of small size abattoirs which sit on an average of 1-2 acres of iand and handle up to 30,000 animal units per year. Only 12 (63%) of the 19 facilities visited had standing structures; (Masaka, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Masindi, Hoima, Jinja, Iganga, Mbale, Lira, Soroti, City abattoir and Kalerwe). With exception of the new facility in Hoima, the rest of the structures were in a poor condition manifested by poor wall conditions, poor roofs, floors and lacking tiles and terrazzo. Al1 the facilities had slaughter spaces, however, with the exception of the new facility in Hoima City, the slaughter as for all other facilities were 20 NFJ

below the standards of a modern abattoir. Taken together, only 21 percent of the facilities had identifiable slaughter spaces, namely Masaka and Mbarara (Central and Western Uganda), Jinja and Iganga (Eastern Uganda) City abattoir in Kampala. However, the slaughter spaces were very small, lacked concrete and hard slabs. Generally, the features of the facilities visited fall short of the characlerization of a modern abattoir. with exception of the new facility under construction; Kyentale Ward in Hoima City, nearly all the facilities visited had poor equipment and infrastructure establishment which is typical of local and traditional slaughter houses with old fashion means of operation. A modern city abattoir should have at least automated systems such as cold rooms for storage, pulleys for hoisting carcass, reliable water and electricity as opposed to the manual operations which cause delays and compromise the meat quality. Further, a modern facility should have a laboratory for testing animal health and the meat products. This includes diagnosing and confirming the suspicious cases to maintain public health measures. In the current form of the abattoirs, animals and the carcass are examined on the basis of physical characteristics which may not be sufficient to make empirical conclusions. A mini veterinary laboratory will be vital for diagnosing blood and meat to confirm the suspicious cases and maintain public health measures. Abattoirs can be a source of zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted from animals to humans) and may expose workers to harmful pathogens. Further, none of the slaughter houses had specific structures for birds (poultry) and goats and only few had slaughter structures for pigs, these were in Masaka (Pork Master Ricks) Soroti and Mukono Municipalify, but all had small shelters with roofs erected on poles. Ei 21

animals at night against existing provisional laws and regulations jeopardizes the safety of the meat products. 6.13.2,3 Sanitary Facilities The major sanitation facility was VIP latrines. out of the l9 facilities visited, only 9 (47o/ol had VIP latrines. The conditions of the latringJhowever, was poor, manifested by lack water supply, dilapidated structures, smelly and many lacked demarcations for the male and female staff. Some facilities such as the Hoima City abattoir did not have the latrine facility while others such as City Abattoir, Kalerwe and Mukono had a shared facility with the market vendors. The latrine at Kalerwe had a huge crack underground posing a risk to users. 6.13.3 Functionality of the wastc managenent aud disposal processes. The facilities visited lacked a proper waste disposal systems. By nature of their operations, slaughter houses generate a lot of solid and liquid waste such as rumen, blood, dung, blood, condemned interna-l organs, cow dung, among others. It is concerning that these are improperly disposed. The poor disposal poses significant environmental concerns such as pollution, operational hygiene and sanitary conditions in and around the slaughter facilities. 6.13.3.1 Waste segregation and. storage with the exception of the Mbarara new city abattoir, nearly a1l the facilities Iacked a waste storage management system. What was common in all the facilities is that the waste was cast in open spaces but segregated according to types. For example, Masaka and Mbarara city abattoirs had segregated space for keeping hooves and cow dung. In Mbarara, the segregated liquid was, for instance channeled into a fish pond which was built for the purpose of consuming waste from the abattoir while the excess were ch eled into the lagoon. EJ

Lira and Mbale destroyed solid waste and condemned parts by burning, causing unnecessary environmental pollution. 6.15Lagoons The slaughtering process involves bleeding, skinning, dressing/ evisceration and post mortem inspection. At this stage blood, urine, fecal matter and other secrehons are produced. Inadequate sanitary and hygiene conditions can lead to direct meat contamination but further expose the workers to various diseases and antibiotics resistant strains of bacteria. Improper waste disposal and non-compliant effluent discharge can further result in water and air pollution and water borne diseases. Slaughter houses can therefore impact public health and environmental health. During the oversight, the Committee observed that some facilities had lagoons into which they disposed the wastewater (Lira, Masaka, Mbarara, Masaka Pig slaughter facility, Fort Portal, Iganga and Mukono). Others such as the City Abattoir and Kalerwe did not have a natural lagoon, hence disposing their liquid waste into Nakivubo channel and Kalerwe swamps respectively. The cases of Kalerwe, Masindi, Masaka and Hoima were worse because the drainage had stagnated. The drainage areas were visible very dirty and stained with black material. The Masindi Municipal abattoir drainage was blocked therefore all liquid waste had stagnated. The stagnated waste and water emits a bad smell ald is also a breeding area for maggots, which were evident and constant presence of houseflies. @ 26 FRr"

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH ON THE OVERSIGHT VISIT TO ASSESS THE STATUS OF ABATTOIRS/SLAUGHTER FACILITIES IN THE COUNTRY No Name Constituency Party Signature 1 Hon. Dr. Ruyonga Joseph Hoima West NRM 2 Hon. Dr. Opio Acuti Samuel KoI"ffSh, Ind .#q#|- 3 Hon. Bebona Babungi Josephine Bundiburyo NRM 4 Hon. Laker Sharon Balmoyi DWR-Gulu NRM 5 Hon. Isaac Otimgiw Padyere NRM \ I 6 Hon. Nebanda Andiru Florence DWR-Butaleja NRM 8 Hon. Kayagi Sarah Netalisire DWR- Namisindwa NRM r\a__,/ 9 Hon. Rutahigwa Elisa Rukungiri NRM 10 Hon. Ayebare Margaret DWR-Mbarara NRM w{* 11 Hon. Dr. George Didi Bhoka Obongi NRM @' t2 Hon. Chelain Betty Louke DWR-Amudat NRM 13 Hon. Sekyanzi Benard Kirya Budyebo NRM T4 Hon. Dr. Ninkusiima John Paul Ibanda South NRM sill 15 Hon. Nandagire Christine Ndiwalana Bukomansimbi North NUP 16 Hon. Dr. Kagabo TWaha Mzee Bukoto South NUP l7 Hon. Dr. Kamara Nicholas Thadus Kabale Municipality FDC 18 Hon. Dr. Batuwa Timothy Jinja West FDC llPage

,Annex 2: Summary of the status of the abattoirs visited s/N ParaEeter Findiugs 1 Premises/ struct urc (Availability of facilities such as shade, dressing area, holding area, floor) Only 12 of 163%f of the 19 facilities had standing structures. However, with exception of the new facility in Hoima, the rest of the structures were in a poor condition manifested by poor wall conditions, poor roofs, floors and lacking tiles and terrazzo. a 2 Slaughter Area a A11 the facilities had slaughter spaces. However, with the exception of the new facility in Hoima City, the slaughter areas for all other facilities were below the standards of a modern abattoir. Taken together, there were only 4 (21%l facilities with identiiiable slaughter spaces, namely Masaka and Mbarara (Centeral and Western Uganda), Jinja and Iganga (Eastern Uganda) City abattoir in Kampala. However, the slaughter spaces were very small, lack of concrete and hard slabs. 2 Level sanitation hygiene of and a The major sanitation facilify was VIP latrines. Out of the 19 facilities visited, only 9 (47%) had VIP latrines. However, the conditions of the Iatrines were poor, manifested by lack water supply, dilapidated structures, smelly and many lacked demarcations for the male and female staff. 4 Waste Disposal and management a With exception of the new Facility in Hoima City, no facility had an established waste disposal and management system. Very few facilities had

Abattoir, sometimes the staff use jerricans when the NWSC water goes o[f. 7 Availability electricity of I Only of 4(219/o) of the facilities were connected to the national power grid. These include Masaka City Abattoir, Mbarara City Modern Abattoir, Kibimba City Council Abattoir, Kalerwe, City Abattior and Jinja. 8 PPEs a There was good use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) the sta-ff at most facilities. 9 Government Public Health Measures a The facilities were supervised by District, City and Municipal Veterinary Officers which do the animal examination, carcass inspection and approval for public consumption. 10 Processes at Facility, holding, isolation area I Only 3 (16%) of the 19 facilities had established processes from reception. These include Masaka and Mbarara, Jinja in, City Abattoir. Most of the facilities had no adequate holding areas for livestock and while some did not have separate spaces for holding cattle and goats and most did not isolation spaces. l1 Equipment/mac hinery I With exception of the new facility (under construction), all the facilities visited lacked the required equipment for meat processing. For instance, none of them had a cold room for meat storage, functional pulleys for hoisting meat. AII the activities at the facilities are malually done. t2 ICEs o None of the facilities had visible information, communication and education materials or signposts on the dos and don'ts at the facility.

Thank you so much, Madam Speaker. My issue is with respect to the Bwizibwera-Nsiika-Nyakambu- Kabwohe Road and then Nyakabirizi-Nsiika Road. On 19 June 2024, the Uganda National Roads Authority wrote to the finance ministry about this road – and this was the letter addressed to the minister for finance. “The Uganda National Roads Authority has concluded the procurement of a contractor for the above-named project. China Railway 18 th Bureau Group Limited has been evaluated as the best bidder for the civil works for the upgrading of Kabwohe – that road – from gravel to paved standard at a contract price of Shs 249,774,854,000. The Solicitor-General has advised that we confirm financing with your ministry and obtain approval from Parliament before clearing the signing of the above contract. Being a priority project in the National Development Plan III, UNRA needs guidance on the way forward. The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to forward this issue to you for guidance.” Madam Speaker, this is a road that has a contractor. The price is already agreed on; it is pre-financing. The letter was written on the 19 th of June. It covers the districts of Mbarara, Buhweju, Sheema and Bushenyi. The finance ministry has refused or failed to respond to this letter, yet all that is needed is just a commitment because it is pre-financing. My concern, Madam Speaker, is to the ministry. Why has the ministry – (Interjections) - yes, I am sure the Speaker is listening; she is always listening.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Let me add my voice to wish everybody a happy new year. This is an important loan but I am at a loss when I see no minister of water in this House. Yet, these are the people to implement and to preside over that big project. In the 10 th Parliament, you voted money for Isingiro water, a big project from Kagera. Isingiro is one of the most hit areas, water- stressed. The loan was approved, and the project started. It is the National Water and Sewerage Corporation that is doing the work to get water from Kagera to Mbarara. The beneficiaries of where water is coming from, Isingiro, the project is at a slow speed under the Ministry of Water and Environment. Some of us were talking of rationalisation, and knew ministries were dormant. I cannot imagine having a loan like this, and you do not have any minister in the House. There are three ministers in the Ministry of Water and Environment, but because we have an efficient agency in the National Water and Sewerage Corporation, some of us get some comfort that work will move. But it is important for them to be here. My people of Isingiro, normally vote very wisely; they might be disappointed when they cannot get water from their area, but it goes to Mbarara. What will happen to people with bad hearts? I thank you, Madam Speaker.

Okay. The industrial courts, LDC interventions that contribute to justice service delivery, court-related forensic analysis interventions, LC courts, DPP interventions that contribute to justice service delivery are more directly related to the administration of justice programme. Therefore, the committee recommends that all the interventions currently under the governance and security programme that relate to the enhancement of equitable access to justice for social economic development and the strengthening of justice service delivery systems should be transferred to the administration of justice programme. It is an issue of alignment of the 18 programmes, as highlighted above. Regionally balanced development The committee observes that although commendable progress has been registered in reducing poverty, regional disparities have, however, remained and increased vulnerabilities across regions. The chairman had mentioned it, so, I will not read it. The committee recommends that the Government prioritises the development and implementation of regional development plans, including comprehensive regional physical plans, to ensure balanced economic growth, equitable service delivery, and equitable resource distribution. I would have asked for an investment map, but the committee did not allow. Promotion of games and sports The committee observes that the National Development Plan (NDP) IV provides for several interventions for promoting games and sports but does not provide interventions relating to physical exercises for health reasons, amateur sports for mass participation and professional sports for commercial benefit. In addition, the committee observes that the NDP IV high-impact projects focuses only on the establishment of four regional sports stadia and 14 district sports grounds in the traditional sub-regions of Uganda. These do include international and national stadia. Further, the committee observes that the desired high-level programme results by the year 2029- 2030 provide insufficient information in regard to niche sports rankings. This hinders the effective monitoring of the high-level program results. Therefore, the committee recommends two interventions. a. That the NDP IV is amended to incorporate interventions for physical exercises for health reasons, amateur sports for mass participation and professional sports for commercial benefit. b. NDP IV high-impact projects should be amended to include three international stadia, Namboole, Hoima, and Akii- Bua, 10 KCCA artificial surface grounds (Rubaga, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa and Central Divisions) and 15 national stadia (Arua, Moroto, Soroti, Mbale, Tororo, Iganga, Jinja, Lugazi, Luwero, Masaka, Mbarara, Ntungamo, Kabale, Kasese and Fort Portal. Railway master plan The committee observed that the NDP IV mentions that in order to lower the cost of doing business, the focus will be on improving the transport infrastructure. However, the NDP IV is silent on the need to develop a railway

Thank you, Mr Speaker. In Kisoro, we do not have a dialysis machine, so people have to be referred to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital yet it is a service that requires one to visit the hospital so often. We are requesting that the Government considers giving Kisoro a dialysis machine.

Mr Speaker and honourable members, dialysis is a specialised treatment for only consultants and we do not have consultants in district hospitals. Yes, they are hospitals but they are only at regional referral hospitals. That is why we have categories of hospitals; we have the district hospital, we have the regional hospital and we have the national specialised hospitals. Some treatments cannot be done even in Mbarara and one has to come to Mulago. As we move, we shall be there but we are not yet there.

15305 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2024 Therefore, we are still moving with debts. Despite this, we have been able to complete our calendar with the national rally championship which ended in Hoima last weekend. We also finished our motocross championship the weekend before in Mityana. That was the fourth round. We have done our Go-Kart Championship. We still have some pending events. There is one more round of the Enduro Championship. There is a motorsport sprint on boxing day which is the last sprint and it is a very big event for any members who might be around Kampala on boxing day. Get yourself to Busika and enjoy some of the high-octane motorsports. We have one autocross left, which is going to be in Mbarara. There is also an international event which is the Central Africa Championship, where Uganda is defending the Central African Championship, which is going to be held in December in Mombasa. With these pending events, I am really appealing to you, Madam Speaker, that finance meet their obligations, because when you look at some of our young athletes, they put in a lot of effort. They have really trained and prepared themselves for these events. Of course, many go through a lot of injuries, others are recovering from injuries, as motorsport is not a very simple, gentle sport. However, they represented Uganda very well. In Morocco, the team which was there was well-respected, even though, as a team, we had to disassemble our bikes completely. Most teams went with their bikes partly assembled, but to save on cost and space, we completely disassembled. When we arrived there, the bikes were also delayed; on arrival, we were putting them together on the race day. Many of the teams were shocked, but we had a lot of support from other teams and the mechanics also came and helped us put our bikes together. On the track, I want to really congratulate the young people. They did not disappoint. They really held our flag up high and they represented Uganda very well. (Applause) In the future of motorsports, I request that the support is timely and we continue to build this sport. We are going to endeavour next year to get the championship. I also would like to point out that because finance have often declared that they have supported us with a lot of money, it is very hard to do anything because people assume that the federation has money. We have got all sorts of people crawling around looking for that money not knowing that we are struggling just to get our calendar complete. Therefore, Madam Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity and I thank you for allowing us and these young people to join the House in our official motocross jerseys. Thank you.

15270 THE NATIONAL TEACHERS’ BILL, 2024 Condition number three is about the project’s operation manual. It has been prepared and adopted by the Government and the project implementing entity in the form and substance acceptable to IDA, and this has been done. I also provide information on progress toward the legal covenants of the PAD and show the activities like the activity of recruiting the project management implementation unit, the various specialists who have already been recruited to implement the project. The table also shows the other activity of establishing and maintaining a project steering committee and technical committee, the responses are in the third column. All the required preliminary activities, like preparing and furnishing the World Bank with the annual work plans and budgets, have been done. I think the honourable members can read that table to see the various activities and what has been done. Under this project, we are also going to procure laptops to facilitate digital transformation. The status is that the process was going on but the individual who had tendered was dissatisfied with the decision. He appealed to PPDA and the Tribunal. And the Tribunal found merit in the appeal. Now, NITA-U has appealed to court, so there is a court process regarding that procurement. This is common in this country, where people always seek court redress and appeals. This is part of the delays that occasion most of these procurements. That is where we are in terms of the Uganda Digital Acceleration Project (UDAP). UDAP, like I have said, has three components: building digital infrastructure, strengthening e-government systems, and addressing digital inclusion for the refugee-hosting communities. The other project in the National Backbone Infrastructure(NBI)Phase 5 project is the optic fibre extension, which is supported by the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China, to the tune of $150 million. This is a key Government project that seeks to further expand the NBI across underserved areas of Uganda. As I said earlier, this is Phase 5, funded to the tune of $150 million. We expect to extend this internet fibre to the rest of the country so that communities that are not yet hooked on this NBI can get connected. Under Phase 5 of the NBI/EGI, the following activities will be undertaken. a. Expansion of the backbone. We intend to extend and build up to 5,845.75 kilometres of optical fibre cable, covering an additional 63 districts across the country. There are other districts which will be covered by the other World Bank supported up to 20 and when you add what is already covered, we should be able to cover the whole country. b. We shall also build 21 NBI transmission sites across the country. c. We also do what we call last-mile connections. Last-mile connections mean that you have the main transmission routes, like, say, Kampala-Masaka-Mbarara; that is the main transmission route. But there are roads that lead to districts and communities. We shall be building the main transmission optic fibre but also do last-mile connections to districts, health facilities, schools, and other public installations. d. We shall extend connectivity to all sub- counties across the country and e. Expand the Wi-Fi coverage by an additional 1,754 public Wi-Fi sites across the country and also install solar power in all the new NBI transmission sites as an alternative source of power, upgrade the network monitoring system and environmental management system for the entire network. f. We shall also build a data centre in Namanve, so that we upgrade the existing data centre, MINISTERIAL STATEMENT [Dr Baryomunsi]

One relates to the Ministry of Works and Transport. There is a lot of extortion on the weighbridges in Lukaaya and Mbarara by the officers in charge of those weighbridges. The extortion is ordinarily targeted against our traders with medium-sized vehicles-

Last month, the two ships were lowered. Unfortunately, because Government owes contractors a lot of money, Terrain Services that was constructing the dock has withdrawn because they have not been paid their balance of Shs 2.9 billion. They cannot complete the work yet His Excellency the President is supposed to go and commission these ferries in November, on his tour to the Eastern side. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, can you use your powers to direct the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to release this money such that it is not an embarrassment to Government, such that the contractor goes back on site and completes this project properly? Finally, again I want to thank the Government for starting the students’ loan scheme under the Higher Education Student Financing Board. This is a list of the students who have been provided for, for this loan scheme. The unfortunate part is - when we adopted the report of the Committee on Public Accounts (Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises - COSASE) we realised there was unfairness in the distribution. This thing was supposed to be on a quarterly basis. However, it is surprising that there are districts that have been given 65 slots and others one. We do not know where this unfairness is coming from. I can see in: i) Karenga, only one person; ii) Kapelebyong, four; iii) Lira, they are 25; iv) Mbarara, 36; v) Ntungamo is 75; vi) Wakiso, 75; vii) Amudat, three; viii) Amuria, six; ix) Buliisa, three; x) Bushenyi, 39; xi) Busia, 58; xii) Buvuma, three; xiii) Serere, eight, and xiv) Hoima, 21. Last time we said, let us be the last. I have a list for all these districts. This is very unfair because this was intended to harmonise and bring equity. When you look at where the Executive Director comes from, there are 58. Why? That was the same problem in our COSASE report. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, before they report, call these people to order and let this thing be equitably distributed on a quarterly basis. The population census has just been released today. You will get to know the population. Even where the honourable minister comes from, they are very few. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, we beg you. There is even a student from Kasilo who got 16 in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (PCM). He is admitted to Mbarara University. He applied for engineering and he was left out. We want to request you to take action. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to request my brother that I bring this in good faith following what we discovered in COSASE. I was part of that team. I gave the example of one young man who was admitted to Mbarara. He applied and was not taken. There are a number of cases. Hon. Musasizi here raised the same issue regarding Ibanda. Madam Speaker, allow me to lay on the Table the list of the Higher Education Students’ Financing Board list of successful loan applicants for the Financial Year 2024/2025. I beg to lay.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question to the Prime Minister is concerning the Buhweju tarmac road. Buhweju is the only district in Ankole that has no tarmac connection. So, the connection of Buhweju and the surrounding districts of Mbarara, Ibanda and Sheema is a problem. This road is not only a presidential pledge or a manifesto, but it is a priority in the National Development Plan III. The Prime Minister has talked about this road, and the President has called it a priority road many times, but the road construction is not taking off. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, who is delaying the start of construction on this road? Who is sabotaging the Government? Who is sabotaging the development plan?

Mr Speaker, the Auditor-General reviewed the staff establishment of the following public universities to ascertain their completeness and relevance to the entity established and noted the following: Universities This is how it is presented: approved structure, filled position, the gap, and the percentage of the field position. 1. Soroti University has an approved structure of 1,312. The number of positions filled is 242, the gap is 1,700, and 18 per cent of filled positions. 2. Busitema University has the approved structure of 3,559, filled positions are 503, the gap is 3,056, and 14 per cent percentage filled. 3. Kabale University has approved structure of 2,076, filled positions are 506, the gap is 1,570, and 24 per cent filled. 4. Kyambogo University which was a bone of contention, the approved structure 2,598, filled positions are 913, the gap is 1,685, and 35 per cent filled. 5. Makerere University, Kampala has approved structure of 5,835. Filled positions are 3,141, the gap is 2,694, and 53 per cent. That is why our boss was once there in that department. It is the best university - ( Interjections ) - No, there is Law Development Centre (LDC). 6. Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) has an approved structure of 2,609, filled positions are 581, the gap is 2,042, and 22 per cent. 7. Gulu University has an approved structure of 1,568, filled positions are 571, the gap is 977, and 36 per cent. 8. Lira University has 991, field positions are 265, the gap is 726, and 26 per cent. 9. Law Development Centre (LDC) 202, field positions 135, the gap is 67 and the percentage is 68. Mr Speaker, from what I have just read, it is only Makerere University that is staffed at over 50 per cent of the approved staff structure. What this means is that for the other universities, there is very little they can do to achieve the output. For example, Busitema and Soroti Universities as well as Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), which have 14, 18 and 22 per cent staffing levels respectively are depriving learners of the much-needed services. We are aware - the rest is history. That is the information that fills the staffing levels of all public universities drawn from a special audit done by the Auditor-General on the directive of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am not speaking as the Vice-Chairperson, Budget Committee. Before coming to the Budget Committee, I was the Chairperson of the Committee on Information, Communication and Technology. You sent us to all the public universities in the country and we found three key things: One, some of these universities collect more NTR and they budget for it, but when they - you know, you made a statement yesterday – finance minister - when they request for this money, that money is not forthcoming. We found dire situations in Kabale, Mountains of the Moon, Soroti, Gulu, Muni, and Busitema Universities. The report was presented by the current Chairperson of the Committee on Information, Communication and Technology, Hon. Alex Niyonsaba. There is a problem of the return of NTR and some of these universities have stagnated because they do not get their NTR in order to expand their facilities. Some of them are teaching students in tents. Two, because of the ban on recruitment, universities like Mbarara lost very senior PhD staff who had just qualified and had come back from Europe. However, because they did not have a wage, they could not recruit and we lost them to the neighbouring countries. It was painful. Others went to the United States of America. I think there are more issues that we could discuss with respect to these universities. There is the question of the responsiveness of the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development in returning NTR - even to expand the facilities that are there. Secondly, the question of ban on recruitment. We are losing the most senior cadre staff - and even the application of retirement to professors in universities is dangerous because you find some of the young professors who have just come from abroad, but just because they have reached 60 years, they are treated as civil servants. Most of them are forced to retire at a time when they should provide support to young academics in the universities. How do you retire a professor at 60 years, when he is still able to support this country? They are being treated as civil servants. Mr Speaker, I think we need a more comprehensive analysis of some of the issues facing the universities today.

14376 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT Makerere University had a budget of Shs 377.35 billion. It got a warrant of Shs 368,910 billion. Unwarranted amount of money was Shs 8 billion. The warranted money was 98 per cent. The unwarranted one was two per cent. Gulu University had a budget of Shs 78.482 billion. It got the warrant of Shs 69.291 billion. The unwarranted amount was Shs 9.19 billion. The warrant performance was at 88 per cent. UMI had a budget of Shs 36.93 billion. The warranted amount was 36.718 billion and the unwarranted one was only Shs 182 million. In terms of percentage, it is 100 per cent. Kabale University had a budget of Shs 63.2 billion. The warranted amount was Shs 54 billion. Unwarranted amount was Shs 8.55 billion. The warrant percentage was 86 and the unwarranted was 13.5 per cent. Lira University had a budget of Shs 30.815 billion. The warranted amount was Shs 30.776 billion while the unwarranted was Shs 39 million. The warrant, in terms of percentage, is nearly 100 per cent. Muni University had a budget of Shs 25.940 billion. The warranted amount was Shs 24.733 billion and the unwarranted amount was Shs 1.207 billion – a warrant percentage of 95 per cent. Mbarara University of Science and Technology had a budget of Shs 59.4 billion. The warranted amount was Shs 57.547 billion and the unwarranted amount was Shs 1.85 billion. The warrant percentage was 73 per cent. Soroti University had a budget of Shs 24.758 billion. The warranted money was Shs 22 billion, while the unwarranted was 2.73 billion. The warrant was at 92 per cent. Busitema University had a budget of Shs 61.5 billion. The warranted amount was Shs 52.44 billion, while the unwarranted was Shs 9.1 billion. The warrant percentage was 85 per cent. Mountains of the Moon University had a budget of Shs 45.9 billion. It was warranted at Shs 44 billion. The unwarranted was Shs 1.8 billion. The warrant percentage was 96 per cent. LDC had a budget of Shs 29.663 billion. The warranted amount was Shs 29.651 billion and the unwarranted was just Shs 12 million. This was a 100 per cent warrant. Mr Speaker, the total amount of money budgeted for universities was Shs 1,058,000,000,000. What was warranted Shs 1,010,902,000,000. The unwarranted was Shs 47 billion. The percentage of the warranted amount was 96 per cent, while the unwarranted was 4.4 per cent. The accounting officers attributed the shortfall to non-release of funds by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Committee’s observations The committee observed that the shortfalls in revenue imply that these public universities could not fully finance their programmes, which, in turn, affected service delivery. The committee further observed that a total of Shs 47.116 billion remained unwarranted across the universities. For example, Busitema, Kabale, Soroti and Gulu Universities had the biggest percentage of annually leased budgets of 14.8 per cent, 13.5 per cent, 8.4 per cent and 11.7 per cent respectively, as illustrated in the table above. The committee, however, commends the Government for the 100 per cent release to Kyambogo University and Lira University including Uganda Management Institute and the Law Development Centre. Recommendations The committee recommends as follows: The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should provide adequate funding to public universities as appropriated by Parliament to enable the implementation of planned activities.

So, we can go to Makerere University Business School. Mr Speaker, for Makerere University Business School, we have already established that it diverted Shs 5 billion, for which we have made a recommendation. The detail of what is in here is what we are trying to establish, so I do not need to read it. The same applies to Gulu University, Lira University, which I have spoken to, and Muni University because I have established the figures. Mr Speaker, can I read a little bit of Mbarara University?

The Auditor- General noted that included in the receivable of Shs 8.4 billion under the Statement of Financial Position and Note 22 of the financial statements are uncleared bills of Shs 1,127,000,000 relating to financial years prior to June 2023. The accounting office explained that the outstanding receivables were due to failure of the students’ loan scheme to pay for the students they sponsor and other private students who failed to pay tuition. Committee’s observations The committee observed that longstanding debts may eventually result into bad debts, thereby denying the university resources for implementation of planned activities. Outstanding payables I think these are from statement of accounts - outstanding payables for Mbarara University of Science and Technology. I do not think they are of a general nature. Mr Speaker, we have also noted that from Mbarara University of Science and Technology - but for diplomatic reasons, I am careful about it. There is a continued engagement of the Cuban doctors on expired contracts. Honourable colleagues, you will read about that. There is something wrong.

Thank you so much, Mr Speaker. I join colleagues in applauding the PAC committee for the report. I want to start with where the honourable colleague ended. Can we set a standard, maybe we say for the report to be taken as credible, the Auditor-General’s report should at least be 50 per cent? However, how can you go and audit less than 20 per cent and you want to give an overview of the utilisation of funds in a particular organisation? We need to set a ceiling. Most importantly, on the issue of teacher- student ratio, I do not know whether we are aware that students of Mbarara University of Science and Technology are on strike – a particular faculty; the Faculty of Computing and Informatics - on grounds of learning space? They are alleging that for four years, there is a building that was completed but students are forced to study from a library. Can you imagine university students are studying from a library and a building was completed and it is not being handed over to the Government? The students allege that the Government of - I do not know whether it is the China Government - the constructors, still demand money from us for us to utilise the building.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. We passed money here for the recruiting of teachers in the grant-aided seed schools, but to date, despite the Education Service Commission conducting interviews, the teachers have not been deployed. May we know why that is so? Two, on the issue of universities, my belief is that when they talk about these regional universities, it is just by location. Any Ugandan should be able to go to any of them regardless of the location. That is how we shall be able to build nationalism in this country. However, people think that when a university is in Soroti, it is only meant for Iteso. No! It is only based in Soroti, but any person should be able to go and study from there. I think that mentality should change. The location of a university does not mean you must have a quota. You should be able to go anywhere in this world. Some of us who can crisscross and study across this country feel so comfortable and free because from Teso to Kabarole to Mbarara to Kampala, you feel all round; this mentality of taking universities as a local government should stop. Mr Speaker, on the issue of the Student Loan Scheme, I want you to give me time next week. I have a list here of students who have benefited from the loan scheme. How can Moroto District have only one student being given? Then you find a district like Tororo has been given 47. How? Karenga, one. Is that a quota? When you look at Butambala, six. Look at Serere, it has eight. But you find some districts have 75. Ntungamo has 65. How can this be a loan scheme that is based on a quota system? Mr Speaker, next week, give me time. I will read the list to the House, district by district, and you see whether this is really a quota system. This is unfair and these were the matters that were raised. You find a district like Busia has

14402 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT 33. That is where the Executive Director of the Student Loan Scheme comes from. We raised that matter in the COSASE report, I thought it would be taken but they have repeated it this year. This cannot be accepted. The Committee on Education and Sports must take this thing seriously. Mr Speaker, next week, give me ample time I want to present a detailed report, district by district, and you see. Even where you find they have given Moroto one, what is the course they have given? Science Education, Compound Engineering – (Laughter) - How? This must stop. I have a case of a student who was admitted to Mbarara University of Science and Technology for Electronic Engineering. He got 16 points, but he was not picked. Instead, they gave someone something which you cannot understand. Mr Speaker, those are the comments I wanted to make regarding this. But next week, give me the time. Thank you.

Mr Speaker, first of all, I thank you for giving us an extensive debate on education and basically PAC. I also thank the chairperson of the committee and the Members. Let this be on record, Mr Speaker, there is no valid reason the First Lady will give for not coming to Parliament as a minister and attending committees of Parliament. Members of Parliament or chairpersons of committees cannot be summoned by a minister. It is null and void ab initio . At one time, we were invited to attend a meeting with the First Lady at Kololo as Members of Parliament of the Committee on Education and Sports, and we rejected this. As the Committee on Education and Sports, we agreed that we shall continue doing our work. The onus is on the Minister of Education and Sports failing to appear before the committee. Records will remain there. Mr Speaker, the issue we should address seriously, and is factual, is that these universities came politically. How do we make them survive? We shall continue lamenting and crying but the products will come out and affect each and every one of us. We know what is in Makerere and Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST). There are challenges. Some of these universities, like Soroti University, are diverting from the intention and course units that we had prepared for them, because they have to get students to study there. We have to go back and address these factors. Mr Speaker, and honourable minister, the issue of recommendations of the committees are very pertinent. Let us look at why we have accounting officers who have godfathers - committees of Parliament make recommendations that these people should be sacked or are incriminated but they continue serving. We should not protect those people. They should leave office and be arrested through our recommendations, the way the Kazindas were taken there and others. Virements and mischarge should not be even appearing any further. Honourable minister, you know how we handled that. We used to work together when I was in PAC. Now, I am back there. These are areas that have directive procedures that must be followed to be carried out by an accounting officer - if you want to make a mischarge, you seek authority from the Accountant-General and then you proceed. On page 25 of Hon. Muwanga’s report, the issue of land - I do not know how you are going to direct - it will be within your discretion, Mr Speaker, whether you want to put a select committee. All these recommendations on land; getting land titles or demarcating and saving land for these institutions should be given first-hand attention. It can be either in the Committee on Education and Sports where I belong, give us time to go and carry out a status report on the land issue of institutions. When it comes to municipalities and cities like Kampala, a lot of land is being taken over and the head teachers have nothing to say because they fear losing their jobs. I thank the honourable minister. You look at the report by the committee of education. For the three months we gave you, you utilise them further to give us a formidable report based on this so that we solve the issue of having dilapidated institutions. The chairperson of the Budget Committee is there. I went to that committee, as the Shadow Minister of Education – ( Member timed out.)

14411 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER 2024 I would also like to thank Hon. Kubeketerya, the Chairperson of the Committee on Education and Sports, for bringing out the key issues affecting the sector. Mr Speaker, I am so passionate about the Public Accounts Committee, where I served for seven years and a half as a member and I am so passionate about the Office of the Auditor-General, where I chaired the sub-committee which supervised that office for five years. I remember way back when I was in PAC with Hon. Kasiano as Chairperson, we experienced the same situation, that Hon. Kivumbi is facing. The Auditor-General is also a human being and is prone to some gaps here and there. But being a staff and officer of Parliament, when these situations occurred, there was a way we used it to deal with them. I would like to invite my friend, Hon. Kivumbi not to kill our officer. When we see gaps, let us have an engagement in your office before the meeting. That is how we would deal with them. Sometimes we would ask him to go back and review some files. He gets us good conclusions which would help us move forward. Please don’t kill our own. I really appeal to you to support the Auditor-General’s office to improve. My point two, Hon. Kivumbi, has agreed with me on budget management, especially on the use of the non-wage budget. I really appreciate him for that. We know we have not funded these entities to the extent they would wish, but also following them; looking at them to ensure that what we give is properly utilised, is fundamental and Hon. Kivumbi does not miss any word or action on this. I would like to really appreciate him. Mr Speaker, ever since I was taken away from the backbench, I no longer have an opportunity to speak as I used to. But I would like to thank Hon. Okupa who today, has represented a case which is in my constituency. I have a very poor woman who struggled to educate her child in one of our rural schools in Rubanda. And this child did Physics, Economics, and Mathematics (PEM) and scored 17 points. He was not admitted on a normal Government sponsorship. So, he applied for a loan scheme at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Unfortunately, this boy was not taken. Imagine 17 points from Rubaare Secondary School in the village. PEM – Sciences - you are admitted for Science but you are not taken. Here we are, the woman starts crying and as a Member of Parliament, I have to look for something small and yet we have the scheme, when we passed the Act that established the loan scheme. I used to sit somewhere there and we vehemently supported this idea. But here we are and you hear what is happening. I thank you, Hon. Okupa, for bringing up some of these things. Lastly, commitment from the finance ministry, pursuant to the Public Finance Management Act, we shall definitely do the - you call it what? Treasury Memorandum. A statement of action which we required our accounting officers to undertake in implementation of the Auditor-General’s recommendations. The last one, Hon. Dr Keefa Kiwanuka said that last time, we passed omnibus - Mr Speaker, unless the rules have changed, the audit report submitted by the Auditor-General is supposed to spend six months in this Parliament. The moment six months pass, it is deemed to have been considered by this House, and all his recommendations and observations are carried. I want to believe that is why you as the presiding officer had to work around the clock to beat this deadline. Mr Speaker, thank you so much for the opportunity. I have also had a chance to share my experience and express my feelings about some of these things. Thank you so much. I submit.

14414 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT hospitals is the charge being placed on basic medical services that could ideally be so critical in diagnosing diseases; the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), other equipment and the scanners. They now charge everything to be accessed. This increase in NTR is basically because basic accessible medical equipment in all hospitals, today, is charged and that is a key point. It is not a positive on that note. People should not cheer up that NTR is in hospitals where you are charged when you want an x-ray, MRI and whatever equipment; those who cannot afford it, know what happens. NTR transfers to the Treasury The Auditor-General noted that two entities, including Uganda Blood Transmission Services and Moroto Regional Referral, did not transfer their NTR to the Treasury. On the other hand, only six entities, including Mbale, Jinja, Gulu, Hoima, Kawempe, Soroti regional hospitals and the Uganda Cancer Institute transferred all their collected NTR to the Treasury. The committee observed that underperformance in NTR negatively affects the implementation of planned activities. The committee further noted that accounting officers who did not meet their budgeted NTR targets or budget for NTR at all contravened Instruction 4.10.2 of the Treasury Instructions, 207. Further, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development failed to provide proper revenue targets to some regional referral hospitals. In other instances, low NTR targets were set ignoring other revenue sources like hospital private wings. Committee recommendation 1. NTR targets should be set in consultation with both the accounting officers and the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to enable realistic NTR budgeting; 2. The accounting officers should institute mechanisms to ensure that all billed NTR is fully collected during the period in which it relates; 3. The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should always make prompt responses to requests for NTR revision by entities; and 4. The accounting officers should consider all their NTR sources at NTR budgeting to avoid cases of NTR under collection. Performance of Government Warrants The Auditor-General reported that the Government had allocated a total budget of Shs 558.107 billion to 19 regional referral hospitals and five specialised health institutions, out of which Shs 584.681 billion was warranted, which is 98.31 per cent, implying a shortfall of Shs 9.426 billion, which is only two per cent. The detailed breakdown of this figure per hospital is under Table 2 of the main report. The committee noted that 16 entities received less than their budget. These include Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital, Mulago National Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda Heart Institute, Kiruddu, Butabika, Masaka, Entebbe, Mbale, Naguru, Jinja, Mubende, Kabale, Mbarara, Gulu, Lira and Moroto Regional Referrals. The committee observed that revenue shortfalls inhibited the effective implementation of the entity’s planned activities and thus affecting service delivery. Revenue shortfalls further place spending pressures on entities, which promotes diversion and mischarge of funds. The committee recommends that the Government should always fully release funds as approved and in a timely manner to all referral hospitals. Utilisation of warrants Many accounting officers attributed their underutilisation of resources - where we put ACT - you go to the main report - to late releases of resources from the ministry for

14415 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER 2024 finance, the existing ban on recruitment, delayed recruitment by the Health Service Commission, excess releases by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, for example, at Mbale Referral Hospital, and delayed supply of goods and services, among others. The committee observed that under-absorption of funds does not only distort planning and budget implementation but also denies services to other deserving beneficiaries. The committee recommends that pursuant to Section 45 of the PFMA 2015, accounting officers should adhere to the annual budget performance contract signed with the PS/ ST. This is a standard one that we have recommended there. Implementation of outputs Mr Speaker, during the financial year under review, the Auditor-General assessed the level of implementation of outputs across regional referral hospitals and other specialised institutions and noted that many accounting officers either partially implemented activities or did not implement at all, despite having received the required funds for the entities and even spending them. Details of this, per the entity, can be found in Table 5 on the main report. Honourable colleagues, get interested in Table 5 because it is the source of abuse of public funds. This is where an entity is given money – a full amount of money – it utilises it for specific activities and outputs, but they are not implemented. Instead, they divert the money. The committee noted that the non- implementation of planned activities implies that expected services to the beneficiary communities were not attained. It also points to cases of diversion and misallocation of funds by the accounting officer since they received the monies and spent them. In the earlier submission by members here, people tried to justify that this diversion could be for beneficial use. It is illegal. If you are to divert money – if you are to do a virement – the PFMA tells you how you can. Anything outside the law is illegal. The audit report we do is a financial audit. We do not do a value- for-money audit. The committee further observed that although the Auditor-General mentioned the sampled number of outputs, which were with their respective activities, the corresponding funds allocated for their implementation were not indicated by the auditors, making it difficult for the committee to determine the level of diversion and waste. Relatedly, some outputs and activities that were partially implemented could not be quantified due to the generic nature of reporting. For instance, Mbarara Referral Hospital had 15 outputs out of 29 activities partially implemented, but no value was attached to the partial implementation. Therefore, the committee found difficulty in ascertaining the funds unutilised in relation to each entity. The committee recommends as follows: 1. Accounting officers with partially implemented or unimplemented outputs should be held responsible for the action, inaction or omission that occasioned the anomaly; and 2. The committee further recommends that accounting officers should always itemise and cost activities for easy tracking and accountability. Mr Speaker, when you go to the main report, you will notice that we have established the amounts of money that were diverted. The sums are there for each hospital – how much was diverted, mischarged and possibly embezzled. Delayed delivery of drugs The Auditor-General examined the stores’ records at Fort Portal, Mubende and Mbale regional referral hospitals and reported delays in the delivery of medicines and sundries by the National Medical Store. Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, particularly, had

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Good job to the chairperson and his team - the committee - for that report. I would like to draw my attention to the issue of the ICU. Mr Speaker, you have seen how far Northern Uganda is from the Central, where most of the functional Intensive Care Units are. If you look at Moroto, Lira, Gulu and Arua regional referral hospitals, these are very far places and we all know what an ICU does. What we have in place are not ICUs. The equipment is there, but we have high- dependency units. A few months ago, we lost a patient in Karamoja, and in my opinion, as a doctor, we should not have lost that lady. We had to transport her all the way from Moroto, Soroti, Mbale, and Jinja, regional hospitals, without functional ICUs until Mulago. She was still alive by God’s grace, but she eventually passed on. Therefore, these are the things we need to be addressing ourselves to. The other one is dialysis. The health committee two years ago set up dialysis in Mbarara, Mbale and Lira, and the plan was to eventually roll out, but I think because of funding this financial year, it was captured as an unfunded priority. As a matter of urgency, we need to have dialysis at regional level hospitals. Adjumani General Hospital, like the woman MP said, is operating in a very dilapidated structure, and it needs urgent attention, at least the maternity unit. Mr Speaker, as I conclude, I am happy that the Committee on Public Service will address the issues of recruitment, but some of these health centres IV, like Pajule, have medical officers who have not been formalised into service, and they want to leave. When you ask the district local government, there is local government politics involved. Honourable members, we need to also discern the fact that part of the health system, the biggest bulk, is in the local government. Therefore, recruitment is a function of the District Service Commission. The contractor of the seven-story building in Gulu is being taken to court because of Shs 3 billion that has not been paid out by the Government. As a matter of urgency, can we please find this money for both Arua Regional Hospital and Gulu Regional Referral Hospitals, for their staff complexes. Thank you.

I am the one who removed that one. (Laughter) But it does not answer why it has been delayed all this time. You get somebody from - the one who is answering for UDC to answer in the coming days when you are still here. Now, I would like to appeal to my people in northern Uganda to get out of the hangover of the war because many parts of Uganda have gone through war. Masaka town was destroyed completely. There was not a single building left standing in Masaka during the war with Idi Amin and so was Mbarara; every building was knocked down. In Luweero, we had a very bad and vicious war which lasted five years. Some of these members of the Cabinet were with me when we went to Ngoma, which was part of Luweero. It is now quite recovered.

Madam Speaker, you are right to say that we should have a national spirit. Look at the development in the North and its people squarely. They have visited very many places in Uganda and they have admired what is happening in places like Mbarara, and Bushenyi. They see that if this is done here with the type of land that they have, it could be a big milestone. I have been privileged, Madam Speaker, to visit all these regions: Karamoja, West Nile, Lango and Acholi. Indeed, livestock farming is viable and the movers of this motion are right to request this for the people that they lead. It is the reason that I stand to support them. Madam Speaker, I will be quick to add that when I was in Karamoja, I discovered that it is normally hit with heavy drought. Other than having to increase resources for livestock farming, the Government must intentionally move to have this region access sustainable water sources. Madam Speaker, I want to see something tangible. When we talk about livestock farming, we are not talking about one cow in each household. What type of cow? We are talking about, maybe, five to 20 heifers, which if possible, can be zero-grazed such that these people can be engaged in heavy milk production, which they can sell to get the money that can help in increase capacities of these households so that they can have decent housing, educate the children they produce in their homes and have the capacity, in case they are invaded by any form of sickness, to treat themselves.

14006 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT we have brought Parliament to the people. We do not want people to come to Parliament; we have brought it to them. Legally and procedurally, the regional sittings of Parliament are anchored in Article 95(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995. Some of us were not even there, but the framers understood that at one time we could decide to sit in Gulu, Mbarara or Masaka. Rule 17 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Uganda also empowers the Speaker to convene Parliament at such a place and time through a proclamation – which we have already done. You may recall that at the start of today’s sitting, a proclamation was made – and it has always been done. That is why we always sit in Kololo. It is the same legal basis upon which Parliament sits in Kololo Ceremonial Grounds and Kampala Serena Hotel. In any case, Gulu City, where we are holding this historic sitting, is part of Uganda. Therefore, no one, in their right state of mind, can attempt to deprive the beloved people of Northern Uganda of the opportunity of hosting this landmark sitting. How I pray that those who are boycotting, do not come to Gulu or the greater north only when it is campaign time. Honourable members, this is the first of the planned four regional sittings that Parliament will host this financial year. In the second quarter, we shall go to another region. The next sitting will be communicated – where we shall be sitting. It may be in the east, west or central. At all these regional sittings, Parliament will prioritise matters of urgent and utmost importance to the specific region hosting the sitting. Honourable members and the local communities of Northern Uganda will confirm that over the last few weeks, various parliamentary committees have been conducting oversight roles on various areas of service delivery in the region. The relevant committees will present their reports in the course of the next three days. We will discuss them and appropriate action will be taken by the Executive – and, to confirm all this, that is why the President will be here tomorrow to hear the issues that are arising out of the northern region. Remember, we have been budgeting for most of these activities. We now need to understand whether there is value for money in whatever we have been appropriating money for. These reports, alongside the various motions, will be exhaustively deliberated upon by the House and resolutions will be passed and transmitted to the relevant Government agencies or departments for action. Pursuant to Rule 220 of the Rules of Procedure, the House will require actions taken on the reports from the relevant agencies of Government on the status of implementation of the findings from the committees that have been on the ground – and from what we have discussed in this session. I, therefore, urge Members of Parliament from across the political divide to actively debate and deliberate on the issues affecting this region. We can find solutions for the benefit and well- being of the people of the greater north. In the spirit of constructive engagement, we encourage all stakeholders to desist from opposing progressive initiatives aimed at fostering cohesion and growth, and embrace unity and cooperation in the furtherance of inclusive decision-making and progress. Unity is strength. Let us build a Uganda that will work for everybody. You cannot be seen fighting the decision of holding a sitting in an area or Gulu - Gulu – Kaunda Grounds – where the Pope was in 1993 and Gulu, which is on the map of the political history of Uganda, and you say, “We are boycotting”! Well, while it has been boycotted, I see all the Members of Parliament here. I salute you, Members of Parliament. (Applause) [The Speaker] COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

14050 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT In Gulu City, 162 lights had been replaced using local revenue from property tax. However, vandalism of the solar batteries was reported as a major challenge experienced by the USMID project during phase I. Gulu City alone had 15 criminals arrested and are being prosecuted The USMID project has no component for land acquisition and, so, the local government depends on the goodwill of the people. Where the people refuse, the carriageway is reduced since there is no provision for land compensation in the project. Further, the committee was informed that, often, road construction works involve relocation of utilities. However, during the process of implementation, the utility companies demand that local governments replace them with upgraded and more expensive installations. The committee recommends as follows; 1. Local governments should continue sensitising the population of the individual benefits of paved roads to increase on the goodwill of project-affected persons. 2. Utility companies that are upgrading their utilities should work hand in hand with the relevant stakeholders. 3. Concerned government ministries, departments and authorities should work together and come up with clear guidelines and engage with one another so as to address disagreements between local government entities and utility companies. Madam Speaker, allow me to take this opportunity to thank Gulu City for the good management of the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) Project. I thank Gulu City, because in other parts of the country where we went for oversight, there is a delay. For example, in Mbarara, Ntungamo and Kabale, there was a serious delay. We can say that Gulu City is a benchmarking point for successfully implementing the USMID Project. Madam Speaker, allow me to touch briefly on the regional mechanical workshop, then I will conclude. I will invite Members to go through the report because of time constraints. Gulu Regional Mechanical Workshop was established in 2001, as a regional workshop servicing 12 districts at the time, in the subregions of Acholi, Lango, Karamoja and West Nile. The beneficiary districts have since increased to 38. The workshop’s primary responsibility is major repairs on equipment since the districts have a percentage of road maintenance budget to cater for the minor repairs. The committee was informed that the workshop does not have sound supervision vehicles, making it difficult to supervise equipment. Like I noted earlier on, Madam Speaker, the committee recommends that at least each subregion should have its own mechanical maintenance workshop. Madam Speaker, the committee also interested itself in the rail lines. The rehabilitation of the Meter-Gauge Railway from Malaba- Soroti- Lira is ongoing. What is concerning is the pace at which the project is being undertaken. We visited the logistic hub in Gulu. We thank the Government for this beautiful facility, but this logistic hub can only function when it is well fed by a properly rehabilitated rail line. Madam Speaker, we visited Gulu Airport and we interfaced with officers from the Civil Aviation Authority. The committee recommended that this particular airport facility should be upgraded to an international airport. We also got information from Arua Airfield, which is being upgraded under a public-private partnership. Madam Speaker, the committee recommends that the Government expedite completion of Arua International Airport by fully compensating projects affected persons in addition to providing the necessary funds. Other aerodromes that the committee interested itself in are the Kitgum Airfield; the Kidepo Airfield which is being upgraded to an international standard; and also Pakuba. [Mr Awany] COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, honourable minister, for the statement. Just to remind ourselves that there were some other two issues that were really falling in line with the statement that we needed from the minister. There was an issue from the honourable member from Mbarara, who was worried about schools that do not have energy-saving equipment, and she was worried about the way schools use biogas in cooking. And so we thought that the minister would also come up with a response because they have some program for establishing energy-saving equipment for our population. I have also observed that tracking progress in our ministry, needs improvement. If you give a chance to Members to ask, what shows that there is an improvement in electricity connectivity? The indicators that I will give sometimes cannot be traced in any report. That one makes people feel probably that there may not be an improvement. Therefore, we need to come up with these indicators and the contribution by every program but in totality what the all the program – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is very clear to us that today it is me and tomorrow is someone else. In my language, I can loosely translate to say that when a stick beats your co-wife, you are supposed to burn it into ashes because you could be the next target. One of the things that has missed from the minister’s statement is the nature of the emergency of the state of the road to Kiteezi. I am even wondering how they got there to rescue the people. The road is in such a terrible state that it is an emergency itself. For over seven years, those garbage trucks go throwing garbage and now they have diverted and pass through Kyanja spreading the methane and all the dirt. Honourable minister, with due respect to the work you have done, that is one thing you have missed and you ought to track it. Secondly, I think we all need to be true to ourselves. For instance, you pass the city and KCCA has just had a project where they are putting little bins alongside the road. It is a shame how money can be wasted. The basics of waste management - if it cannot come from KCCA, then you wonder who will follow. It is very clear and my sister, Hon. Christine Kaaya, has said the same; you should set up a learning example by putting bins that separate garbage into different categories. However, if you cannot do that, which other Ugandans will do it in their home? My question is, after all the cries- Kiteezi has been on the red flag. I have lived along that road for as many years as possible but you still fail the Government and make us look bad; you should be held accountable. (Applause) As I conclude, I said that we should “burn this stick” right here- in Mbarara City now, we are in disarray. People have chased us from the Kenkombe dumping site, including where we bury people. If Kampala that is an attraction at an international level - what will happen to us; Mbarara, Lira and Nakasongola which is yearning to have a city? I think every coin must be accounted for. I have no kind words for the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA); we need to see you act. People have died- we need an action plan. If we can have Kira Motors produce a bus in this country, why can’t we manage our waste? Unfortunately, we are no longer going to be killed by natural disasters; we are now going to be killed by man-made degradation of our motherland. When mother earth cries, it is unstoppable. I implore you to save us from coming here again. The Government should produce an action that translates into a budget. At least, we have one plant that can process our waste - and we are losing job opportunities for young people. Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. My condolences to the families that lost their dear ones. I do not know whether the Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs knows what waste management means. I picked up an interest in waste management three years back when my daughter was in year four and had a home assignment on waste management. I think waste management starts with waste collection, then transportation, and treatment. I want to thank the Attorney-General, for the information he has just given, that the Government has already approved the project for generating electricity in the area. My humble request - we have a problem; rescue those who are still down there yet we already have challenges of resources. We do not have resources because of corruption in the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). Therefore, my prayer is: can Parliament be exemplary? You have a budget to move around this country to hold regional parliamentary sittings. I am told though yet to confirm - I know it is very difficult even now, for us as Members of Parliament, to know the budget of this Parliament because we do not have access to it. I am told you have a budget to host regional parliamentary sittings in Gulu, Mbarara, Mbale, and Masaka. My prayer is: can we be exemplary and sacrifice that money to rescue the people in Hon. Muwada’s constituency? That is my humble prayer. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Hon. Kakembo talked about the new cities. That new cities were created and approved by the Tenth Parliament. There is need to operationalise these cities to enable us prepare for the forthcoming general elections and demarcation of constituencies. He asked, when will we operationalise Entebbe City? My response, Mr Speaker, is that the Government in April 2020, created 15 cities in Uganda to be operationalised in a phased manner. The 10 cities of Arua, Mbarara, Gulu, Jinja, Fort Portal, Mbale, Masaka, Hoima, Lira, and Soroti, took effect on 1 July 2020. These were to be followed by the five cities of; Entebbe, Moroto, Nakasongola, Kabale and Wakiso, meant to be operationalised as follows: On 1 July 2022, it was supposed to be Entebbe City. 1 July 2023, it was supposed to be Moroto, Nakasongola, Kabale, and Wakiso cities. However, in August 2020, the law (The Local Governments Act Cap 138) was amended, and midterm operationalisation of administrative units and local governments abolished. The newly created administrative units and local governments can only take effect six months before the general elections, and this amendment affected the next phase of the five cities. The Ministry of Local Government is currently carrying out the technical studies and consultations with stakeholders in the five cities, to prepare them for the operationalisation of 1 July 2025, subject to the guidance by Cabinet. Question number 6 is still from Hon. Ojok, Member of Parliament, Omoro County. His prayer is; what is the status of Government intervention in realisation of transitional justice law, to address the question of war reparations in Acholi Subregion? My response is that on 17 June 2019, Cabinet under Minute 239 (CT-2019), (Cabinet Memorandum CT (2018)38), approved the National Transitional Justice Policy as follows: a) Noted the key aspects of the National Transitional Justice Policy. b) Approved the National Transitional Justice Policy. c) Approved the wide dissemination and publication of the National Transitional Justice Policy. d) Approved the fast-tracking of the legislation on the National Transitional Justice Policy. e) Directed the ministers of Internal Affairs and Justice and Constitutional Affairs, to provide a transitional period between the implementation of the National Transitional Justice Policy, and the enactment of the relevant laws on the transitional justice to give the Government ample time to identify the most sustainable source of funding for the undertaking. The National Transitional Justice Policy is an overreaching framework of the Government of Uganda designed to address peace, justice, accountability and reconciliation needs of post conflict Uganda. Mr Speaker, it is therefore, seeking to engage with all parts of the country that have been affected by civil strife, conflict, and not only the Acholi Subregion. Since the approval of the policy, it has been disseminated and efforts are being undertaken to present principles for a proposed Transitional Justice Law. It should be noted that the principles for the policy were withdrawn from the Cabinet in February 2023, to enable the responsible ministries to harmonise certain issues, including administrative arrangements for the law.

Thank you. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, you can share with Hon. Rwemulikya - I saw as if he had some – Mbarara representative and then Hon. Magoola.

Mr Speaker, whereas I am a beneficiary of the Nyendo-Villa Maria-, however, when this loan was brought on this very Floor, I raised issues about that road, of why not include Nyendo-Villa Maria- Kyamulibwa-Kabulasoke. The reasons that I gave here were that when Katonga bridge broke, people were driving 228 Kilometres from Kampala to Masaka through Ssembabule. And yet, when you drive from Kampala through Kalungu from Nyendo to Kabulasoke it is only 48 kilometres. People were going an extra 60 kilometres because of the breakage yet the shortest distance to Masaka is that road, which is part of Nyendo-Villa Maria. I wrote a letter to the Committee on National Economy and Hon. Migadde will bear me witness. I would like to know whether they have paid attention because Nyendo-Villa- Maria Road is tarmacked but it broke down because of the traffic incurred during the breakage of Katonga-Masaka. Mr Speaker, as I conclude, I would like to know: why leave out a road, which is a short- cut, when there are challenges on Kampala- Masaka Road which is shorter than going through Ssembabule to Masaka and then Mbarara? Fortunately, we are all beneficiaries of that road, which is very key. I did write to you but you did not invite me to justify; tell me, through the Speaker.

When will operationalization of Entebbe City take effect? RESPONSE: Rt. Hon. Speaker and Honorable colleagues, Government in April 2O2O Created 15 Cities in Uganda to be operationalized in a phased manner. The 10 Cities of Arua, Mbarara, Gulu, Jinja, Fortportal, Mbale, Masaka, Hoima, Lira and Soroti took effect on l"t July 2O2O. These were to be followed by 5 Cities of Entebbe, Moroto, Nakasongola, Kabale and Wakiso meant to be to be operationalized as follows: l"t July 2O22-Entebbe City l"t July 2023- Moroto, Nakasongola, Kabale, Wakiso lities. However August 2O2O, the Law (The Local Governments Act Cap 138) was amended and midterm operationalisation of Administrative Units and Local Governments abolished. The Newly created Administrative Units and Local Governments can only take effect six months before the General elections. This amendment alfected the next phase of 5 Cities. The Ministry of Local Government is currently carrying out the Technical Studies and consultations with stakeholders in the 5 Cities to prepare them for operationalization on l"t July 2025, subject to the guidance by Cabinet. 11

1 Kayunga Regional Referral RRH Ka5runga Hos ital t6 Lira Regional Referral Hospital RRH Lira City 17 Masaka Hospital Regional Referral RRH Masaka City 18 Mbale Hospital Regional Referral RRH Mbale City 19 Mbarara Hospital Regional Referral RRH Mbarara ciw 20 Moroto Hospital Regional Referral RRH Moroto District 2t Mubende Hospital Regional Referral RRH Mubende District 22 Soroti Hospital Regional Referral RRH Soroti City 23 Entebbe Paediatric Specialized Hospital Surgery Specializ ed Hospital Wakiso District 24 Entebbe Hospital Regional Referral RRH Wakiso District 25 Yumbe Hospital Regional Referral RRH Yumbe District 22

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have heard the matter of national importance raised by Hon. Bataringaya. First of all, I want to correct the dates. The bridge was not washed away two years ago. It was washed away last year in May, so, it was not two years ago. This is what we are doing: as you have rightly said, Hon. Bataringaya, when the safety of the bridge was compromised, we did the following: 1. Created a diversion for most of the heavy trucks to go through the longer route of Mpigi, Ssembabule, Masaka and then re- join Mbarara; 2. Put a temporary crossing for light vehicles including pedestrians; and 3. Put up a bailey bridge, which serves the crossing of all trucks, including heavy trucks. A bailey bridge is not a permanent structure. That bridge was compromised because of the change in the environment – meteorological changes; the change of behaviour of Katonga River. We had to study the meteorological behaviours of that river so that we can make a new structure, which is resilient and can stand the test of time. We could not rush into re- establishing more or less the same bridge, which had been compromised. Therefore, what has been done is that a contractor has already been identified and given the contract to conduct the new design of that bridge. This was a design-and-build contract. The design was made, reviewed and passed. The construction of the bridge will start around October when everything else has been done. The contractor is not only addressing Katonga Bridge, but will also address the challenges in

13454 PRESENTATION OF THE BUDGET SPEECH FY 2024/2025 of Excellence for Cardiovascular Care at the Uganda Heart Institute located in Naguru and fast-tracking the completion of the East African Centre of Excellence for Oncology in Kampala and associated regional centres in Gulu, Mbarara, Arua and Mbale . (Applause) Iyii, engalo ezo nga si z’amaanyi; they do not encourage me. (Laughter); ii) Under the Uganda Inter-Governmental Fiscal Transfers (UGIFT) Programme, 371 health centres II were planned for construction and upgrade to health centres III status. So far, 261 health centres II have been upgraded to health centres III and are fully operational. I hope the Minister of Health can certify this. An additional 110 are ongoing at different stages. Meanwhile, 11 hospitals were rehabilitated in Busolwe, Kapchorwa, Kambuga, Buwenge, Koboko, Amuria, Kotido, Kaberamaido, Kawolo and Kitgum Districts; iii) Three regional blood banks in Arua, Soroti and Hoima have been completed; iv) The Government distributed a total of 25 million long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito bed nets countrywide for the prevention of malaria; and v) The Government also provided 116 new ambulances to 100 constituencies, another 10 ambulances for the regional referral hospitals and six for the Command Centre at Naguru, among others. Madam Speaker, to further enhance the health of Ugandans, a total of Shs 2.946 trillion has been provided for the next Financial Year 2024/2025. The following interventions will be prioritised; i) Promotion and implementation of interventions for the disease prevention and health education initiatives against communicable, non-communicable and neglected tropical diseases and injuries. ii) Provision of essential medicines where an additional Shs 100 billion has been provided; iii) Improvement of the welfare of the health workers including medical interns and doctors designated as senior house officers. I have provided more wage allocations to facilitate the recruitment of staff for the upgraded health centres III; iv) Construction and rehabilitation of more health infrastructure and provision of medical equipment to improve quality of care and provision of specialised healthcare. These include, among others, the Uganda Cancer Institute and Regional Cancer Centres, the Uganda Heart Institute, Intensive Care Units and an imaging centre for referral hospitals; v) Digitisation of the national health system to facilitate service delivery and tracking of medical supplies and health workers’ performance; vi) Construction, rehabilitation and equipping of dilapidated hospitals across the country including the Kampala Metropolitan Area; vii) Strengthening of the network of medical reference laboratories including the establishment of the East African Community Regional Centre of Excellence for Virology at the Uganda Virus Research Institute and the National Public Health Institute in Uganda; and viii) Establishment of a pharmaceutical industrial park and strengthening the National Drug Authority Regulatory Framework. Education The Government considers education as a key opportunity equaliser for all Ugandans, equipping them with the knowledge and skills required for productive employment as well as enabling them to live longer, happier and affluent lives. For this reason, the following

13464 PRESENTATION OF THE BUDGET SPEECH FY 2024/2025 iii) Maintenance of 13 aerodromes, including Arua, Gulu, Pakuba, Masindi, Lira, Kidepo, Moroto, Soroti, Tororo, Jinja, Mbarara, Kasese and Kisoro. Madam Speaker, with regard to water transport, the following were accomplished during the financial we are talking about - we are winding up: i) Completed the construction of three strategic ferries, namely; Amuru-Rhino Camp Ferry and two ferries for Bukungu- Kagwara-Kaberamaido (BKK) route on Lake Kyoga; ii) Completed the construction of the Maritime Training Institute in Namasagali, and commenced construction works for the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at Mwanza; iii) Completed 46 per cent construction works for search and rescue centres at Kaazi and 25 per cent at Kaiso, Panyimur and Zengebe landing sites; and iv) Continued with the development of new Kampala Port at Bukasa. With regard to railway transport, the following were accomplished during this financial: i) Acquired a 161-kilometre corridor for the standard gauge railway between Tororo and Mayuge; ii) Twenty eight per cent completion of rehabilitation of Tororo-Gulu Metre Gauge Railway; and iii) Completed emergency refurbishment and rehabilitation of the Malaba-Kampala- Namanve Metre Gauge railway. Madam Speaker, during Financial Year 2024/2025, more focus will be put on maintenance of the roads we have built, building a few new strategic roads, accelerated rehabilitation of the metre gauge railway and commencement of construction of the Standard Gauge Railway. I have provided a total of Shs 4.989 trillion for that purpose. In particular, the following transport infrastructure will be undertaken: Roads and Bridges i. Tarmacking of an additional 306 kilometres of roads under the ongoing projects; ii. Completion of upgrading of 210 kilometres of the following roads: Muyembe- Nakapiripirit (92 kilometres) and 25 kilometres of service roads; Kira-Matugga Road and improvement of five junctions (21 kilometres); Tororo-Busia Road (26 kilometres) and Mayuge and Busia town roads (18 kilometres); Kawuku-Bwerenga Road (6.6 kilometres) and Namugonde- Bugiri Road (1.6 kilometres); selected town roads (7.5 kilometres), in Pallisa and Kumi (12.2 kilometres); and remedial works on Ntungamo-Kabale-Katuna Road (65 kilometres); iii. Commencing the upgrading/construction of 643 kilometres of the following road projects: Kisoro-Lake Bunyonyi Road Kisoro-Mgahinga National Park Headquarters Road; Koboko-Yumbe- Moyo Road; Yumbe-Ure Road; Kitgum- Kidepo; Namagumba-Budadiri-Nalugugu Road; Katine-Ochero Road and 2.9 km of town roads in Kaberamaido and Kalaki towns; Kyenjojo-(Kihura)-Bwizi- Rwamwanja-Kahunge and Mpara- Bwizi; Iganga-Buloopa-Kamuli; and Jinja-Mbulamuti-Kamuli-Bukungu; and Jinja City roads; Kisubi-Nakawuka- Natete; Nakawuka-Kasanje-Mpigi; and Nakawuka-MawuguluNanziga-Maya- Kasanje-Buwaya roads; iv. Upgrading to bitumen standard (tarmac) 16.9 km of roads in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area, and Gomba District; v. Completing the construction of 20.2 km of Kayunga-Nabuganyi Road; vi. Completing the construction of Kakiri- Masulita-Mawale Road (23 km);

13466 PRESENTATION OF THE BUDGET SPEECH FY 2024/2025 iii. Improving the quality of power supply through the systematic operation and maintenance of existing power infrastructure; iv. Increasing access to clean energy by supporting clean cooking technologies; v. The development of five micro-grid power plants using wind and solar hybrids in Karamoja; and vi. Preparatory activities for the 8,400MW Nuclear Power Plant in Buyende District. Industrial development and manufacturing Madam Speaker, in our tenfold growth strategy, the Government is going to step up efforts to accelerate the diversification of the economy, add value to raw materials to boost exports and import substitution to continue reducing our import bill, and also build more basic industries to produce items that Ugandans use daily such as sugar, soap, cooking oil, clothes, medicines, construction materials, et cetera. Our industrialisation efforts are being undertaken mainly through the private sector, but with the State playing a de- risking role. The Government, through the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), is undertaking targeted investments to increase Uganda’s manufacturing capacity. During the financial year we are ending, the following investments have been undertaken by UDC to increase local manufacturing capacity: i. The Atiak Sugar Factory has acquired modern mechanised equipment for the sugarcane fields in Amuru and Lamwo districts and installed modern irrigation systems; ii. Four tea factories have been supported to expand and process tea for both domestic market and export. These are: Kayonza Growers Tea Factory; Kigezi Highland Tea Factory; Mabale Growers Tea Factory; and Mpanga Growers Tea Factory; iii. Continued support to Mutuma Commercial Agencies (Ltd) in Luuka District to produce intermediary and final products such as surgical cotton, cotton cake, soap stock, and cotton-seed oil; iv. Investment in Bukona Agro-processors Ltd in Nwoya District to process cassava and cereals into ethanol for cooking. It produces 40,000 litres of ethanol per day; v. Investment in Budadiri Arabica Coffee Mills (Ltd) in Sironko District to process coffee for export; vi. Additional investment in Soroti Fruits Factory (Ltd) that is processing six metric tons of fruit (mangoes and oranges) per hour into fruit concentrates and juice; and vii. UDC has also invested in East African Medical Vitals (Ltd), manufacturer of examination and surgical gloves, to increase the company’s production capacity to create jobs and also save the country foreign exchange through import substitution. Madam Speaker, the Government is also continuing to develop industrial parks to provide investors with the required infrastructure and utilities. Work is in progress in Namanve Park (with 190 companies operating); Liao Shen Park in Kapeeka (19 companies); Sino-Uganda Industrial Park in Mbale (18 companies); Luzira Park (11 companies); Bweyogerere Park (eight companies); and MMP in Buikwe (seven companies). Other operational industrial parks include Jinja, Soroti, Kasese, Mbarara, and Tian Tang-Mukono Industrial Park. So far, over $3.5 billion has been invested in these parks in the form of foreign direct investment. Over 266,812 direct and indirect jobs have so far been created. Security, good governance, and rule of law Madam Speaker, peace and security, as well as the rule of law, are the foundation for all other

13467 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 13 JUNE 2024 things we aspire to achieve. It is the bedrock for socio-economic transformation, democracy, and all the human rights and freedoms we all cherish. Accordingly, as we have done before, the Government will continue to prioritise peace, security, and the rule of law. Next financial year, I have provided a total of Shs 9.588 trillion, of which Shs 481.4 billion will be for the administration of justice to ensure that Uganda remains a peaceful and accountable country with law-abiding citizens. Some of the priorities in these programs include: Security of person and property i. Strengthening the capacity of security agencies to address emerging security threats and ensuring combat readiness of security agencies to protect life and property; ii. Enhancing military capacity through the acquisition of various assets and strengthening the surveillance infrastructure; iii. Supporting joint military operations in the region; iv. Building an effective crime response system targeting sophisticated crimes such as terrorism, other transnational crimes, arms proliferation, illegal entry into our country, money laundering, cybercrime, espionage, smuggling of contraband, human trafficking, and others; v. Supporting the civil authorities in combating threats as well as managing the refugees in line with our refugee policy; and vi. Improving the welfare of the military, police, prisons, ISO, and ESO personnel through salary enhancement. Justice Law and Order Strengthening justice, law, and order service delivery systems by: i. Recruiting 10 more High Court judges in commercial and land divisions to enhance adjudication of commercial and land cases to eliminate the backlog; ii. Recruiting five more justices of Court of Appeal in line with the Judicature (Amendment) Act, 2024; iii. More investment in court automation to cover an additional 10 courts to enhance efficiency, reduce human contact, and by extension reduce incidents of corruption; iv. Promotion of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism to complement the formal adjudication of cases; v. Starting construction of regional Courts of Appeal in Mbarara and Gulu; High Courts in Hoima and Masindi; Chief Magistrate Courts in Amolatar, Bubulo, Rakai and Katine; and Magistrates Grade I Courts in Busembatia, Nyarushanje, Rubuguri and Adwari; vi. Promoting the use of scientific evidence in the investigation and prosecution of cases, including the construction of the National DNA Data Bank at the Government Analytical Laboratories at Wandegeya; vii. Mass enrolment for and renewal of national IDs and the automation of immigration and business registration services; and viii. Reforming laws and due processes to ensure faster and expeditious resolution of disputes, among others. Natural Disaster Response and Management Madam Speaker, I am about to close. During the Financial Year 2023/2024, the Government supported 53,930 households with relief food

13477 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 13 JUNE 2024 recommended by the NRM ever since 1995, will create so many jobs that will exceed the job levels of Uganda. Uganda does not have enough - Once we develop our full capacity, Uganda will not have enough workers. By the way, this one happened during the time of the British. When they introduced a few activities here like coffee, cotton and sugar growing, that is how Africans from Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan came here. That small money economy during the British time, created so many jobs that the internal people were not enough. That is why our brothers had to come from Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan to work here. Even now, if we all become wealth creators in the four sectors, there will be many jobs. I have given the example of Mr Nyakaana in Fort Portal, using one acre to employ 15 people. We calculated that if seven million people did that, we would create more jobs than the whole population of Uganda now. However, as of now, we already have 922,000 people employed in manufacturing. Show those factories again if you have them; show them on the screen. These are all new factories. In 1986, we had only 80 factories when we launched the Uganda Manufacturers Association, we now have more than 8,000 like those. These are already employing 922,000 people and something. The whole of the public service - army, police and civil service – has 480,000 people. So, the factories are now employing two times the number of people working in this public service. So, those saying, “Jobs, jobs, jobs”; the jobs are there, but you must be qualified for them by doing the right thing. All those are new jobs. You can see all of them are brand new factories; they are not old. These are the factories now, giving us 922,000 jobs. The services - the hotels, tourism, transport and banks - are now employing five million people. Show one of the factories; the one which was there now. Put it back; the one, which was showing - those are hotels. Go back to the one you had shown. It was a factory where workers were seated. No, there is another one, which is bigger. Anyway, they are all the same. You can see how many people – jobs are there. Look at that group now; all those young people. (Applause) “Jobs, jobs, jobs”; just talking. (Laughter) They do not listen and then they have their wonderful papers, like the wonderful - what do you call it? – Daily Monitor ; that Monitor group. Hovyo hawo, wajinga hawo . (Laughter) They are like enemies of Africa. The other day, I saw them when they tested Karuma power, 600 Megawatts. I think there was some blackout or something. So, they were celebrating in their paper, Daily Monitor , that “you see, the transmission network cannot handle the power” and I had heard that opinion. It is very interesting to see how the enemies of Africa link up. So, the logic of the Daily Monitor newspaper is like what I used to hear from some of the civil servants in the Government who are also on the side of the Daily Monitor . They were saying, “But if we have the power station at Karuma, how shall we evacuate the power?” If you cannot evacuate it, have the factories near there. They can all be around Karuma if you do not have to carry it far away. When the Owen Falls Dam was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1954, electricity was only in Jinja. That is why the original factories concentrated there. We did not have electricity in Mbarara; we did not have it in Kabale. We did not have it but it was enough that it was in one part of Uganda and all the factories congregated there. That is a step forward. If electricity is there but you cannot distribute it far away, let the people from nearby use it. That is not a problem; that is a step forward. It is not something to mourn about and demonise. Now, out of the five million employed in services, 40,000 of them are employed in ICT, then 66,000 are employed in mining and quarrying. This is just endozo . Endozo is a word

Thank you. On Hon. Mwijukye, when I got a call from the church on what was happening, we asked that he be evacuated to Mbarara, where he was admitted temporarily and received first aid. Then we sent our parliamentary ambulance to pick him up and he has since been admitted in Nakasero Hospital. As of this afternoon, he said he had a severe headache. We intend to have him rechecked. And if it means referring him out, we will do that. We will make sure that our Member is safe. We checked on him, it was a very bad incident. Attorney-General, these people used pangas , I do not know where the panga killings are coming from again. It is happening in Hon. Loy Katali’s district. Honourable, what did you say?

13390 THE EXCISE DUTY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2024 feed at the Aquaculture Research and Development Centre in Kajjansi; establish and/or upgrade seed storage, threshing and drying facilities to ensure sustainable supply of quality seed under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries - Shs 134 billion. Transport infrastructure development The Government plans as follows: 1. Start construction of the SGR and continue implementing preparatory activities for SGR; that is update of feasibility studies for the western and eastern routes, and undertaking environment, social, economic impact assessments; acquisition of right of way for SGR (206 acres) of land are already acquired in seven districts. That is Tororo to Mayuge, among others – Shs 2.221 trillion; 2. Maintenance of 13 aerodromes; that is Arua, Gulu, Pakuba, Masindi, Lira, Kidepo, Moroto, Soroti, Tororo, Jinja, Mbarara, Kasese and Kisoro – Shs 3 billion; 3. Construction and upgrade of national roads and bridges – Shs 1.27 trillion. Some of these include – (Interjections) - colleagues, this is on roads. The Government plans to spend Shs 1.27 trillion and I will mention some of the roads: a) Hoima-Wanseko Road – Shs 141.1 billion; b) Kampala Flyover – Shs 69.8 billion; c) Construction of 66 selected bridges – Shs 54.2 billion; d) Rwenkunye-Apac-Lira-Acholibur Road – Shs 238 billion; e) Kisoro-Mgahinga National Park Headquarters Road – Shs 83.26 billion; f) Moyo-Yumbe-Koboko Road – Shs 180.6 billion; g) Upgrading of Kyenjojo-Kiruhura-Bwizi- Rwamwanja-Kahunge, Mpara-Bwizi – Shs 50 billion; and 4. Upgrading of Jinja-Mbulamuti-Kamuli- Bukungu Road from gravel to paved standard – Shs 34.5 billion. Continuation of the rehabilitation of over 450 kilometres of national roads. Some of those roads include: a) Kampala-Jinja Highway – Shs 20 billion; b) Busunju-Kiboga-Hoima – Shs 25.05 billion; c) Mityana-Mubende Road and Mityana Town Roads inclusive – Shs 42.38 billion; d) Alwii-Nebbi road and upgrading of Pakwach and Nebbi Town Council roads in total – Shs 17 billion; e) Rehabilitation of Karuma-Pakwach Road – Shs 20.05 billion; and f) Reconstruction of Matugga-Semuto- Kapeeka Road – Shs 61.12 billion; 5. Rehabilitation of district, urban and community access roads will continue under the Ministry of Works and Transport. There is Shs 142.3 billion; and 6. Shs 1 billion to each district, city and municipality for road grading, murram and compacting. In total, Shs 176 billion has been allocated for this purpose; Colleagues, in the last financial year, they are roads that the Ministry of Works signed contracts for and work has started. Those ones are worth Shs 33 billion, but they are not yet completed and not even paid. There are those where contracts have been signed but work has not commenced. They are worth Shs 33 billion. There is a whole list in the annex. There are also roads where the contracts have been procured but have not been signed, worth about Shs 13 billion. In the last cash release, the Government gave this particular vote Shs 19 billion, whereas the total requirement is Shs 79 billion. So, the budget at base is Shs 26 billion. We must recommend Shs 34 billion to cover those roads. The list of those roads covers the whole country. 7. The following ferries development/ construction will be undertaken. The total for this ferry is Shs 11.8 billion. That is: a) Substantial completion of two Bukungu- Kagwara-Kaberamaido (BKK) ferries and their landing sites; SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT [Mr Achia]

13424 THE EXCISE DUTY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2024 – they have never seen – they look at Hon. Ssekikubo, but they want to see him physically. If we can have a session in four different regions. (Applause) We are going to have four regions - our first sitting. We are going to have four regions. We will have Northern, Central, Western and Eastern regions. In Eastern, Hon. Masaba will host us. In Central, we shall take you to Masaka. In the West, we will take you to Mbarara and in the Northern, we are going to be in Gulu, Lukiiko Hall. Honourable members – [Honourable members rose] - I am still communicating. After the reading of the budget, the sitting that we are going to have will be in Gulu, then we will move on. Let us go to the people. If we are going to, say, a region like Gulu, we must capture everything that affects the northern region and discuss them. The ministers responsible – so, Hon. Omona, I am tasking you to ensure that all issues concerning the northern region are captured, and you must have all the ministers present to respond to all that people in that region want. THE MINISTER OF STATE, OFFICE OF

ry.n'v &e o[l- ,tn \ "si ;NN .s t i t: i. t. I 8 (: t Amouat (OOO'f Vote Descrlptlon 63,620,755 160 Uganda Coffee Development Authority(ucDA) 4,831,755 161 Uganda Free Zones Authority Uganda Microfinance Regulatory AuthoriW to,466,294 162 163 Uganda Retirements Benefits Regulatory Authority 15,381,657 t64 National Council for Higher Education t5,891,289 31,529,180 165 Uganda Business and Technical Examination Board National Council of Sports t78,684,L72 t66 t67 Science, TechnolF5/ and Innovation 3r7,742,939 301 Makerere UniversiW 340,375,803 302 Mbarara University 56,499,64t t2t,453,L76 303 Makerere University Business School ) so+ Kyambogo UniversiW 131,616,555 305 Busitema UniversiW 5t,495,729 31,269,650 306 Muni University 307 Kabale University 58,701,033 308 Soroti University 28,662,468 309 Gulu University 63,844,236 Lira University 34,420,tO4 310 311 Law Development Centre. 25,425,r45 35,504,266 3t2 Uganda Management Institute Mountains of the Moon UniversiW 38,842,2L9 313 i 401 Mulago National Referral Hospital 92,708,Ot9 402 ) Butabika Hospital 17,515,837 13,679,781,851 Sub total -Central Votes ( Errcl. Referrals and Missionsl Referral Hospitals Arua Hospital ro,592,846 403 404 Fort Portal Hospital tt,654,O7t Y. .--:\ - A It ,i'r f.Fft i. "l ',I\.

-+, ,L'{ r Anount (OOO') Description Vote L2,19t,793 405 Gulu Hospital tt,309,247 406 Hoima Hospital t8,467,606 Jinia Hospital 407 tt,o77,oto 408 Kabale Hospital 10,487,888 409 Masaka Hospital t7,694,t3t Mbale Hospital 410 9,79t,927 411 Soroti Hospital t5,682,495 4t2 Lira Hospital 16,559,583 4t3 Mbarara Regional Hospital 12,256,956 4L4 Mubende Regional Referral Hospital 10,943,300 415 Moroto Regional Referral Hospital LL,824,457 4t6 Naguru Referral Hospital 25,160,483 Kimddu Referral Hospital 4t7 22,589,r92 t 418 Kawempe Referral Hospital 13,062,585 419 Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital 27,646,183 420 Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital 12,368,354 Kayunga Referral Hospital 42r tr,429,3t7 422 Yumbe Referral Hospital 292,789,423 Sub total -Referral Hospltds Missions Abroad 20,806,699 Uganda Mission at the United Nations, New York 501 Uganda High Commission in the United Kingdom 1t,840,947 502 5,955,050 Uganda High Commission in Canada , Ottawa 503 7,677,777 504 Uganda High Commission in India, New Delhi 5,341,493 505 Uganda High Commission in Kenya ,Nairobi 9,273,94t Uganda High Commission in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam s06 4,023,569 507 Uganda High Commission in Nigeria , Abuia i .i +.- . t,' :,' r Il-, ,I -4 M\L 9 I ,l \.. . .!: # i\r.i I I '11 .t --.ts----- \

)frr f i lir ' e .30 Ii"' Y. \' Amount (OOO'I National Po Council Descriptlon 104,150 t49 5,530,148 150 National Environment Management E Au t,674,302 151 Uganda Blood Transfusion Service 152 National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) 639 064 1 295 400 Public Procurement & Disposal of Assets (PPDAI 153 Uganda National Bureau of 154 4 545 900 Standards NBS 270 oo0 155 tion Cotton Development 16,920,000 Ueanda Land Commission (ULC) 156 t57 National Forestry Authority(NFA) 53 203 692 10 680 ooo 158 Internal Security Organization (ISO) 32.OO2.960 External Security Organization (ESO) 159 3,32L,274 Uganda Coffee Development 160 Authori C 161 U Free Zones Authori 2,335,606 215,900 \ 162 Uganda Microfinance Regulatory AuthoriW 2,867,169 t--165 Uganda Business and Technical Examination Board 103,850,000 2,99A,LOO National Council of S Science, Technologr and Innovation 166 r67 rts 13,835,429 Makerere University 301 3,862,443 302 1,9L2,977 303 Mbarara Universi Makerere University Busrness School 3,320,992 304 Kyambogo University 5,383,896 -305 Busitema UniversiW 4,276,400 Muni University 306 2,327,gLt 307 Kaba-le U 10,128,600 308 Soroti UniversiW 7 043 350 309 Gulu Universi Lira Universi 4 553 t23 310 311 Law t Centre. 4 050 ooo ,xt'k- \(.. i --Y q

ait r [.' ,, .K .m- lir 2 I { ,&- .2 4l=# . '.t t. li ,',) .\ ,Lt Amount (OOO'I Descrlption Vote 2,006,435 313 Mountains of the Moon Universi 12,339,276 Mulago National Referral Hospital 401 2,262,036 402 Butabika Hospital 14,973,335,870 Sub total -Central Votes ( Drcl. Referrals and Mlsslonsf Referral Hospltals 108,000 Arua Hospital 403 109,81 1 404 Fort Portal Hospital 108,0o0 405 Gulu Hospital 108,000 Hoima Hospital 406 tt6,276 407 Jinja Hospital 108,000 Kabale Hospital 408 108,000 409 Masaka Hospital 5,109,39s 4LO Mbale Hospital 108,000 Soroti Hospital 4tl 108,000 4t2 Lira Hospital I 108,000 Mbarara Regional Hospital 4t3 L42,LO2 4t4 Mubende Regional Referral Hospital 108,000 415 Moroto Regional Referral Hospital 216,OOO \ 416 Naguru Referral Hospital l,377,OOO \+rz Kiruddu Referral Hospital 810,000 Kawempe Referral Hospital 418 810,000 4t9 Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital 2,O4t,200 420 Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital 11,7o3,784 Sub total -Referral Hospltds Mlssions Abroad Uganda Mission at the United Nations, New York 501 2,90t,9r8 502 Uganda High Commission in the United Kingdom 9,700,000 503 Uganda High Commission in Canada , Ottawa Uganda High Commission in India, New Delhi 504 I , li , '.'; I i l, --l-l t ./' \1,. \: Ii \ ,,- H 4:-

'Bi -fu* {4+-. ll Y \**--= -X +.- #, w i i- t,'l'-- i 1' 23 #-- =--(.\, K Amount (OOO'I Descrlptlon Vote 10 790 oo0 Uganda EmbassY in United Ara b Emirates Abudhabi s28 490 o00 Uganda Embassy in Burun di, Bu umbura 529 t4 043 680 Uganda Consulate in China, Guan u 530 Uganda Embassy in TurkeY, Ankara 531 2 771 r64 Uganda EmbassY in Somalia, Mo shu 532 Uganda Embassy in MalaYsia, Kuala Lum 533 4 390 000 534 Uganda Consulate in KenYa, Mombasa Uganda EmbassY in Algeria, 535 390 000 da Embas 1n U tar Doha 536 537 U da Mission in Havana Cuba 1a U Mission in Luanda An 538 63 389 068 Sub total -Misslons Abroad l.ocal Governmclta 4 257 839 601 Arua ci 6 334 764 Fort-Portal ci 602 6 o22 534 Gulu ci 603 4 472 429 Hoima ci 604 7 884 358 Jin acl 60s 4 615 413 Lira ci 606 10 038 947 Masaka ci 607 6 140 296 608 Mbale ci t4 436 983 Mbarara ci 609 2 971 183 Soroti ci 610 5 371 776 A Munici al Council 701 673 734 702 Munici Council B 847 966 703 Bushenyi- Ishaka MuniciPal Council 2 360 688 Council Busia Munici 704 11 360 922 705 Council Entebbe Munici 1 o47 7tr Ibanda Munici al Council 706 \: . !.1 f;- l\ lr I r

13305 THE E LEVENTH P A RLIAMENT OF UGANDA MONDAY , 6 MAY 2024 The Government’s taxation policies on fuel in Uganda reveal a glaring contradiction between its revenue-generation strategies and its responsibility towards citizens’ well-being, as noted earlier in the finance ministry’s letter. Despite being fully aware of the adverse effects of escalating oil prices on both production costs and individuals’ disposable income, this Government under President Museveni, continues to burden its citizens with exorbitant taxes on fuel. Let me illustrate this point. To transport one bunch of matooke from Kyazanga – I have used Kyazanga because that is where I was born - costs Shs 3,000. The bunch is bought at Shs 13,000 and it costs Shs 100,000 to transport a cow from Mbarara and Shs 80,000 to transport a cow from Gomba or Ngoma. Please, know that the tax increase burden will be borne by the poor because the trader will factor in transport costs as he buys his motooke or cattle. The Government should not be greedy; you are already over-taxing fuel, so why do you turn it into a soft target for tax increments all the time? (Applause) Parliament passed a law in November last year 2023, giving the Government exclusive rights to import and supply fuel and petroleum products. The Government promised that fuel prices would come down after the elimination of Kenyan middlemen. Kenya has now removed the roadblock for Uganda to import fuel. Let citizens first enjoy low prices resulting from the change of policy before you think of a tax on fuel. (Applause) Let the prices come down first before any new tax proposal. We continue to warn this Government that the consequences are there. As fuel prices soar, production becomes costlier, hindering economic growth and potentially leading to job losses. Moreover, the average Ugandan faces a significant reduction in disposable income as higher fuel costs trickle down into increased prices for goods and services across the board. This scenario not only jeopardises individual financial stability, but also undermines consumer confidence and investment, exacerbating economic instability, which is the reason why many businesses close every year. Furthermore, the lack of consistency and transparency in fuel pricing within Uganda reflects a failure of regulatory oversight. Despite being the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, there is a noticeable absence of effective intervention to curb speculation and ensure fair pricing practices. The result is an environment where citizens are left vulnerable to the whims of market forces and profiteering by fuel dealers. In light of these concerns, the Government’s insistence on maintaining or increasing excise duty on fuel amounts to a blatant disregard for the welfare of citizens. Such policies prioritise short-term revenue gains over long- term economic stability and the well-being of the population. Therefore, we call upon all Members of Parliament to reject any further tax hikes on fuel. (Applause) Tax on mobile money withdrawals There is a 0.5 per cent tax on mobile money withdrawals already. The Government, through this Bill, is expanding the net to include other platforms such as Mcash, Micropay, Wave, etc. Before this expansion, the Government must present a study on how the introduction of a 0.5 per cent tax on mobile money withdrawal has affected the population especially the poor who receive money from their homes. A 0.5 per cent tax on withdrawal means a Shs 50 per every 10,000 This is what it translates into. Taxes must be introduced after a thorough study of how they will affect the economy –

I have a lot of respect for Dr Omona. The statistics he is quoting, rightly – no one objects from this side. We are only stating that the Government talks about prioritisation. The question is very simple; with all the burdens that we have – we had the presentation recently of the Committee on Health and it said that it needed only Shs 3 billion to put in place and activate the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Masaka Regional Referral Hospital. If a patient needed to be put in ICU – all the way from Mbarara to Kampala – they definitely need only Shs 3 billion to fix the ICU. But you are saying that we should sit here as countrymen to appropriate Shs 576 billion to an individual?

13102 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT [Gen. Wamala] Masulita to Mawale. That is the technology we are using. The project started in July 2021 for a period of 5 years and it had the following major targets: (i) 5,000 kilometres of district roads Rehabilitated; (ii) 420 kilometres of low-volume roads Sealed; and (iii) 175 kilometres of medium volume roads Sealed. Madam Speaker, the above outputs were estimated to cost Shs 991.4 billion. As of February 2024, Shs l90.4 billion had been released and the following achievements have been registered: (i) 873.6 kilometres of district roads have been rehabilitated and 583.9 kilometres are under construction; (ii) l60.9 kilometres of low-volume traffic roads were sealed and 95.28 kilometres are still under construction; and (iii) Kilometres are still under construction. Construction of another 22 kilometres has started using the stage construction modality. The details of the roads under this project are in Annex 8. 4.2.4 Project 1705 - Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Urban Roads Madam Speaker, this project was developed to reduce mud and dust in urban areas and improve their ascetic conditions 21.7 kilometres of medium-volume roads were sealed, and 4.3. It mainly focuses on tarmacking of roads in urban areas. It started in July 2021 for a period of 5 years. The project had the following targets: (i) 34 kilometres of roads in 10 municipal councils tarmacked and (ii) 60 kilometres of roads in 25 town councils were tarmacked. The above output was estimated at the cost of Shs 715.5 billion. However, in the Financial Year 2022/2023, this project was re-scoped to include the presidential directives of tarmacking 90 kilometres of urban roads in the Bukedi and Busoga subregions. This required an additional Shs 465 billion. The preliminary engineering designs of the 90 kilometres were completed, but the ministry has not yet received any funds to start construction works. The beneficiary urban councils are eager to have the work started due to the likely political ramifications during the 2026 elections. As of February 2024, Shs 74.2 billion had been released and the following achievements have been registered: (i) l9.2 kilometres of roads in six municipal councils are tarmacked, 4.l kilometres are still under construction; (ii) 18.5 kilometres of roads in 15 town councils were tarmacked, and 3.7 kilometres are still under construction. The details of the roads under this project are in Annex 9. 4.3.1 Support Services to District Urban and Community Access Roads (DUCAR) Projects Regional Mechanical Workshops Madam Speaker, my ministry operates four Regional Mechanical Workshops (RMWs) – definitely, these are few compared to the size of the country and the demand, they are in Kampala, Gulu, Bugembe and Mbarara whose main function is to extend maintenance support to district and zonal road equipment Because they require heavy-duty equipment, like excavators and bulldozers. We know that this equipment is not at the district, but can be requested from the regional mechanical workshop once they are ready to use. Many people here have benefited, and Hon. Nabukenya here, can testify. The count of district road equipment has incrementally expanded beginning with road

13104 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT The total requirement for the requisite road equipment units for this purpose is $70 million, which we hope can be funded through debt financing using the same scheme under which we got the 1,115 units in 2017. My ministry is in the process of procuring road construction equipment for the new districts, as I have said, but we need another Shs 29 billion for the vibro rollers, tippers and water bowsers. These were not included in the tranche which you gave us last time. We shall continue engaging through both the Budget Committee, Committee on Physical Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development to avail Shs 29 billion so that we can complete the purchase. Zonal equipment centres Madam Speaker, the zonal equipment centres are currently housed within the premises of the regional mechanical workshops. The ministry had planned to create nine zonal centres in Moroto, Mbale, Jinja, Gulu, Arua, Luweero, Hoima, Mbarara, and Kabale at an estimated cost of Shs 45 billion. We shall continue engaging the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on this endeavour. The zonal equipment centres operate shared road equipment such as bulldozers, excavators, backhoe loaders, self-loaders and low beds. While the shared equipment is insufficient to cater for the requirements of the entire country, its availability has been greatly reduced due to insufficient maintenance funding. That is a requirement for additional money. Mechanical Engineering Training and Advisory Centre (METRAC) Madam Speaker, since 2017 when the ministry acquired the new equipment, the ministry has implemented several regional training sessions for district operators. While this training format was not sustainable, it was the only option given the circumstances. In 20l8, the Government of Japan, through the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), gave a grant of $2.3 million to the Government of Uganda for the construction of the Mechanical Engineering Training and Advisory Centre in Luwero. Phase I of the project, comprising a gatehouse, classroom block, maintenance block, and administration block, have been completed and the project has been handed over. It is just a few kilometres from Luweero town. Here, we shall train and retrain operators so that we have - because the machine performance will be as good as the man behind the operation. If we have a bad operator – and, in most cases, what we have seen is that people have drivers, not operators. In this centre, we are going to train operators and we are working with the Ministry of Education and Sports so that they can also be tested under the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) and given certificates of equivalent so that they can be able to be employed outside. Madam Speaker, phase 2 of METRAC requires Shs 9.8 billion, which began this financial year. So far, the Government has availed Shs 1 billion for the construction of a few of the amenities. Mt Elgon Labour-Based Training Centre Madam Speaker, Mt Elgon Labour-based Training Centre (MELTC) is a national training centre under the Ministry of Works and Transport for applying labour-based technology (LBT) in the rehabilitation and maintenance of national, district, urban and community access roads. The training centre is located 20km from Mbale City, along the Mbale-Budadiri Road and adjacent to Uganda Technical College, Elgon. Madam Speaker, MELTC provides training and capacity building in developing, maintaining, and utilising critical road infrastructure assets in the District, Urban, and Community Access Road (DUCAR). Its contribution to the DUCAR network includes:

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the minister for holding the meeting with the traders. As Hon. Bwanika has said, this strike in Kampala is representative of the whole country. People up country have been waiting for the resolution that would come out of this meeting to find solutions for their respective areas. My issue is still with – if they have opened up an office in Kikuubo, what is happening with my traders in Bwizibwera, down in Mbarara who are facing the same issue? There is something within the citizens of this country. I would like to bring it to the attention of this House; people are not refusing to pay taxes, but there is a question they are asking, “What is the tax they are paying doing for their children, their spouses and for this country?” As our people continue to pay taxes, at the end of it all, what are they gaining from these taxes? I beg to submit.

Thank you. Is it seconded? Okay, it is seconded by Hon. Joyce, Member of Parliament for Mityana, Hon. Allan, Member of Parliament for Nakaseke and Member of Parliament for Butaleja. Hon. Amooti, Hon. Ferigo, Hon. Anywar, Hon. Atyang, Member of Parliament for Ntoroko, and Member of Parliament for Mbarara – I am mentioning those I have not been mentioning – Hon. Max, Member of Parliament for Bushenyi and the Member of Parliament for Kiruhura. I have seen even the Member of Parliament for Kamuli, Hon. Kibalya also seconding, Hon. Magogo – (Laughter) – Member of Parliament for Aruu. Honourable members, what is wrong with Hon. Magogo Ssalongo seconding? (Laughter)

12602 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORTS (i) An additional Shs 8 billion be provided to increase the medicines and sundries by the Uganda Cancer Institute. This will also cater for the new sites like the one in Gulu. (ii) Shs 10.87 billion be provided for functionalising the regional centres in Gulu and a satellite one in Mbarara, to bring cancer services closer to the people. Mbarara is already doing cancer services as an outpatient service. (iii) The Government of Uganda should explore a possibility of acquiring a loan or grant for the construction and operationalisation of the Arua and Mbale cancer regional referral centres. In the manifesto, it said four; Gulu has taken off, so we need money for these three. (vi) Shs 62 billion be provided for clearing the outstanding obligation on establishment of a nuclear medicine facility/PET centre. Madam Speaker, we do not offer PET scanning services in the country, and many people who can afford them have to go to Aga Khan or Kenyatta Hospital. This money can be paid back in 10 years because it will not be free. Most likely Shs 500,000 to Shs 1 million. Vote 116 - National Medical Stores (NMS) I would like to draw your attention to page 34. Table 14 shows the funding gap of NMS in billions of shillings. That is self-explanatory. The committee recommends that: (i) An additional Shs 262.19 billion be allocated to the National Medical Stores to enable the entity boost supplies of essential medicines and health supplies in a phased manner, beginning with Shs 87 billion this financial year. (ii) The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should front load operational funds to National Medical Stores to facilitate timely delivery of essential medicines and health supplies in advance to avoid delays. Madam Speaker, the paradox is that we have drugs in the warehouse of National Medical Stores in Kajjansi. The issue is money for operations and I think the House needs to make a pronouncement on that. (iii) The committee reiterates its earlier recommendation that an additional Shs 4 billion be provided to NMS for the procurement of kits of glucometers, BP machines and thermometers for the 3,000 health facilities across the country that belongs to the government. It is very common to go to Health Centres IIIs and IVs, and there is no BP machine. You cannot even measure your blood glucose. (iv) Shs 25 billion be provided for procurement of rapid diagnostic kits for malaria, HIV and other diseases. (v) The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the Ministry of Health should clear the Shs 52.2 billion domestic arrears for service fees for handling donated supplies, COVID-19 vaccines and related supplies. Therefore, costs for handling donated supplies should be factored in the funding negotiations and arguments. Madam Speaker, NMS also makes some money through warehousing and surcharge services. That is the amount of money the Government owes them. (vi) Funds should be provided to National Medical Stores for retrieval and destruction of expired COVID-19 vaccines and related supplies. (vii) Shs 20 billion be provided for procuring of PPE supplies for the country. (viii) Health facilities should enforce strict controls governing stock management practices. Health facilities should provide accountability for essential medicines. This will safeguard theft, irrational prescription and poor stock practices.

12603 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA FRIDAY, 12 APRIL 2024 Vote 151: Uganda Blood Transfusion Services The committee recommends that Shs 2.6 billion be provided to Uganda Blood Transfusion Services for purchase of eight centrifuge machines and Shs 600 million for assorted blood collection and IT equipment to equip the regional blood banks in Arua, Gulu, Fort Portal, Mbale, Masaka, and Mbarara. Three regional blood banks are more than 90 per cent complete. That is Soroti, Arua and Hoima. They were built with funds from the Uganda COVID-19 Response and Emergency Preparedness Project (UCREPP), meaning there will be a need for money for wage and operationalisation. The committee recommends that Shs 12.276 billion required by Uganda Blood Transfusion Services to recruit 164 staff be provided. This will raise the staffing levels to 41 per cent and solve the challenge of heavy reliance on voluntary services. Vote 418: Kawempe National Refinery Hospital Kawempe National Referral Hospital, the issues are self-explanatory, but the major challenge is: 1. Inadequate staffing levels This hospital delivers 60 to 100 mothers daily and 27 Caesarean sections with a staffing of 37.4 per cent. The committee recommends that Shs 6.1 billion be provided for the recruitment of additional staff to enable Kawempe National Refinery Hospital to reach the 68 per cent staffing level. 2. Overhaul and remodelling of the hospital plumbing system This is an issue the committee has noted in the hospitals of Kawempe, Kiruddu, Naguru and Entebbe. These hospitals are as old as 10 years but the plumbing has given way. We need to take an interest in value for money because plumbing giving way after 10 years is very unacceptable. Vote 417: Kiruddu National Referral Hospital 1) Inadequate wage for recruitment of health workers which is the same as Kawempe. 2) Inadequate funding for the burns and surgery unit. The committee recommends that Shs 2 billion be provided to mitigate the shortfall because patients under plastic surgery and burns require a lot of specialised attention and treatment. 3) Purchase of land The committee reiterates its recommendation that Shs 5 billion be provided to Kiruddu National Referral Hospital for the purchase of 5 acres of land to enable expansion services, namely wards for burns and plastic surgery, ophthalmology, general dialysis and ward expansion. To underscore that point, Naguru, Kiruddu and Kawempe were health centre IV on a one-acre piece of land. The Government built upwards of seven stories. There is a need for land for the expansion of these hospitals. Vote 401: Mulago National Referral Hospital 1) Staffing in Mulago National Referral Hospital can be underscored by the intensive care unit. The hospital was expanded and increased to 44 ICU beds, but 21 are working. In the adult ICU of the 27 beds, only 14 are working. The committee recommends that an additional Shs 529 million be provided to Mulago National Referral Hospital for priority recruitment of 10 ICU critical staff. That is the annual cost. 7) Incomplete renovation of Lower Mulago Hospital The committee recommends that Shs 15.5 billion be provided to Mulago National Referral Hospital to complete civil, electrical, plumbing and IT works to ensure full functionalising of the hospital.

12608 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORTS stalled because of Shs 590 million, Mbale, Fort Portal and so forth. The point I am trying to underscore is that between Katuna and Kampala we only have one ICU in Mbarara and it has four beds. If it is full, then we can make phone calls to the Creator because sometimes when you are in an ICU state -(Laughter) - you may not travel by road, but you may need to be airlifted. The police told us we are-

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the committee and the Chairperson for their report, which was thorough. Last year, Parliament appropriated funds for procurement of CT scans, which were procured and installed. These CT scans were installed but we do not have radiologists. When these scans are taken, they have to send the scans either to Mbarara or to Mulago for interpretation. Therefore, as Parliament, we need to appropriate funds to recruit crucial –

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to conclude on the issue of the mothers. I purchased ultrasound scans through the help of Hon. Dan Kimosho from China and distributed them to my health centres III but they are not operational because of staff. On the issue of staffing, let us also look at the health centres III because women move from Buhweju up to Mbarara, to check the status of their pregnancies. They have to spend about Shs 30,000 to get a service that is just Shs 5,000 and it becomes expensive for them, in areas where the health Centres IV do not have ultrasound scans. I request the chairperson to include the issue of staffing for those cases in health centres III.

12686 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORTS Inspectorate of Government (IG) (i) Digitisation and digital transformation of the Inspectorate of Government. The committee recommends that an additional Shs 1.7 billion be provided to kick start the digital transformation of the institution. (ii) Insufficient wage allocation. The committee recommends that an additional Shs 0.27 billion be provided to restore the IG’s budget to the current operating level. (iii) Completion of the IG head office building project The committee recommends an additional Shs 27.718 billion be provided to the development budget of the IG to complete the construction of the head office by June 2025. (iv) Replacement of the old and damaged fleet of vehicles The committee recommends that an additional: (a) Shs 1.260 billion be provided to replace the six damaged vehicles during the bomb blast which occurred on 16 November 2021 (b) Shs 2.940 billion be provided to procure 14 double cabin vehicles. (v) Additional wage recruitment of critical staff The committee recommends an additional Shs 4,804,756,400 be provided to cater for recruitment of critical staff and additional operational costs. Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (i) This talks about completion of the first phase of the JLOS House. The committee recommends that Shs 30 billion be provided during Financial Year 2024/2025 to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to cater for the completion of the first phase of the JLOS House as this will go a long way to save the Government from spending Shs 30 billion on rent annually. (ii) Recruitment of state attorneys The committee recommends that Shs 11.407 billion be provided during the Financial Year 2024/2025 to cater for the recruitment of state attorneys to increase the capacity of the ministry in handling numerous cases before them. (iii) Payment of outstanding court awards and court award arrears The committee recommends that the Government prioritises payments of court awards and court arrears to reduce the principal amounts that attract interest by providing Shs 232.875 billion to cater for settlement of the outstanding areas. (iv) Cattle compensation to war-debt claimants The Government had agreed to compensate the war date claimants in Teso, Acholi and Lango subregions for loss of livestock and other properties during the insurgency in the north. The committee recommends that the entire outstanding bill of Shs 463.211 billion be settled across three financial years of 2024/2025, 2025/2026 and 2026/2027. (v) Representation of Government in the East African Court of Justice and community meetings The committee recommends that the ministry’s travel abroad budget line be unfrozen and a provision of Shs 1 billion to facilitate Government’s representation in the East African Court of Justice and East African Community meetings be made. (vi) Operationalisation of 13 regional offices The ministry currently operates regional offices in Gulu, Moroto, Arua, Mbale, Fort Portal, Soroti, and Mbarara against the Judiciary’s 23 high court circuits.

Madam Speaker, Mbarara University would not have developed without the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Allow me to thank the committee chairperson for their good report. I will start with the issue to do with SAGE. I do not know whether we are sentencing older persons. This is because, if you look at the budget that was given last year – or in the running year – vis- à-vis what is being provided, we feel that the finance ministry is living on planet Mars, not Earth. Mr Speaker, last weekend I was visited by a mzee who was moving on crutches, crying and saying: “Kindly, go and tell President Museveni that he promised us money for older persons, but I am going to die without getting this money.” The number of eligible people are growing because the life expectancy of Ugandans has improved. Now we, who are in charge of allocating resources, are cutting what should be due to them. I appeal to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to be sensitive and sympathetic to these older persons because this is where we are all headed. This programme of SEGOP, which is looking at people between 61 and 75 years, is a grant. Whereas they have been having Shs 5 billion, now, they have removed Shs 4 billion and there is a provision of Shs 1 billion only. What are we telling these older persons? Mr Speaker, when I heard my colleague talking about removing the Shs 5 billion, again, from children – my sister from Lyantonde is just being sensitive. Last year, the issue to do with the children was given Shs 20 million. The Ministry of Youth and children was given only Shs 20 million to remove children from the streets in the entire country, not Kampala alone. Now, we are proposing for them to get at least Shs 5 billion to be able to remove children from Mbale, Jinja, Mbarara, Gulu and everywhere.

12544 SECTORAL C O MMITTEE R E P O R TS required amount is Shs 6.1 billion to provide 120 various police forms and 3l books. The committee recommends an additional provision of Shs 3.9 billion in the Financial Year 2024/2025 budget to procure sufficient stationery needed at all police stations and units to stop the public from procuring police forms. On transport equipment, the Uganda Police Force intends to acquire a new fleet of patrol vehicles for all districts, troop carriers and motorcycles at Shs 539.303 billion. However, Shs 22.037 billion has been provided during the Financial Year 2024/2025, leaving a funding gap of Shs 517.266 billion. We recommend therefore, a provision of Shs 19.47 billion be provided to procure transport equipment for all districts during the Financial Year 2024/2025 and the balance over the medium term. On gender compliance, the Uganda Police Force scored 75.4 per cent from 73 per cent in the last financial year. We encourage them to aim higher. 6.6 Vote 145: Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) 6.6.1 Budget performance for the first half of the Financial Year 2023/2024 is annexed for reference. The overall budget performance is at 50.8 per cent of the annual budget, above the pro-rata target of 50 per cent. Mr Speaker, we recommend that the Uganda Prisons Service plans its procurement to improve service delivery. In addition, UPS should develop a comprehensive development project to guide the implementation of construction subprojects and strengthen governance in project implementation. 6.6.1.2 Prisoners accommodation The current (as of 19 March 2024) prisoner population stands at 76,052, of which 95.2 per cent are male and 4.8 per cent are female. Of the population, 53.8 per cent are convicted and serving their sentences, while 45.5 per cent are on remand. The remaining others are debtors. The Uganda Prisons have an approved capacity of 20,996, implying 55,056 prisoners are over the approved capacity, implying an occupancy rate of 362.2 per cent. This is alarming. This means that congestion at Uganda Prisons Service is partly created by delayed justice from the Judiciary, a slow pace at increasing the holding capacity of prisons, rising levels of crime or offenders of the law, and arrests without warrants, among others. Constructing a mini-max prison requires Shs 102.9 billion, and three low-security prisons require Shs 24 billion. The committee, therefore, recommends that the funding for the mini-max prison be provided in a phased manner. Effectively a provision of Shs 18 billion in the Financial Year 2024/2025 will be prioritised to provide funds for constructing one mini-max prison in Mbarara. 6.6.2 Budget estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025 is annexed and the overall performance is also laid there. Regarding prisoner accommodation, as of l9 March 2024, the prisoner population – I have already highlighted that the congestion is alarming. We recommend that the Uganda Prisons Service should be provided with an additional Shs 3 billion to acquire land in Mpigi for additional space to accommodate prisoners. Further, there is a need to enhance access to justice through prison alignments to courts of law and the timely production of prisoners to court by procuring transport machinery, among others. On ICT, we noted that the Uganda Prisons Service established Prisons Management Information System (PMIS), which is being rolled out in three prisons: Upper, Murchison Bay and Luzira Women. However, phase 2 requires Shs 6 billion, but only Shs 1 billion has been provided.

12571 THE E L E VENTH P A R L IAMENT O F U GANDA THURSDAY , 11 A P R IL 2024 5. Construction of two weather observing stations at Mbarara and Kisoro airfields – Shs 4.2 billion. 6. Procurement of 100 rainfall stations and 76 automatic weather stations – Shs 2 billion. 7. Implementation of weather forecast systems for inland water lakes – Shs 2 billion. 8. Establishment of two air pollution monitoring stations – Shs 1.55 billion. In total, UNMA needs Shs 22.8 billion and our committee recommends that the Government should provide Shs 22.8 billion under UNMA for the unfunded priorities. Mr Speaker, the committee is cognisant of the fact that natural resources and the environment are critical to achieving increased household incomes and improvement of the quality of life of the population. Indeed, NDP III’s objectives are based on the country’s comparative advantage that lies in its abundant natural resources which ought to be exploited while conserving the environment. However, the committee noted that during the presentation of the Ministerial Policy Statement for the Financial Year 2024/2025, MDAs under the Natural Resources and Environment Committee continue to attract very limited funding and huge budget cuts. Key areas that have been affected by the budget cuts yet require additional funding include rural electrification and the provision of tree seedlings, among others. Insufficient financing for MDAs under the committee has made it extremely difficult for them to attain their targets which are anchored in the NDP III. Therefore, the Government should devote additional resources to these MDAs to enhance natural resources, the environment, climate change, land and water management, to sustainably increase household incomes and quality of life. Mr Speaker, in light of the above, it is the prayer of the committee, that this House adopts this report, and approves the budget estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025 as proposed. I beg to move. (Applause)

(4) 45 Tour Guides registered, 4 inspected and licensed (5) 57 accommodation facilities registered, 48 inspected, 4 licensed (6) Graded 34 accommodation facilities in Kampala, Wakiso, Mbale, Fort Portal, Masaka and Mbarara. (7) Capacity building of 50 youth in bird guiding and nature interpretation undertaken (8) 212 wildlife import/export permit apptications processed Table 5: Budget allocation to MTWA and its Subventions FY 2O24l2S Source: MTWA Presentation on the MPS FY The overall budget allocation for MTWA and its subventions is proposed to reduce by UGX 43.825 billion from UGX 221.568 billion that was approved in FY 2023124 to UGX 174.743 billion that is for the FY 2024 125. (rev lr, .,{i Category Vote/ MDA Budget Categoty Approved FY 20.2'3124 Proposed 2024125 Approved 2O2gl24 vs Proposed 20/24125 MTIIIA Wage 3.797 3.611 -0.186 Recurrent 22.758 22.445 -0.313 Development 35.64 35.64 0 Grants to LGs 0 1.9 1.9 Domestic Arrears 0.099 0 -0.099 UIIIA Subventions r24.36 81.433 -42.927 IIWEC Subventions 9.498 9.498 0 Development t2.2 7 -5.2 UHTTI Subventions 7.73L 7.73L 0 UWRTI Subventions 5.485 5.485 0 TOTAL 22t.5,6A 174.743 -46.A25 + w 15 ,h& I t-

released and UGX 6.33 biltion (23.1o/ol spent. Absorption of the funds released was rated at 4O.7Oo/o. The low absorption of funds during the half year was attributed to delayed recruitment of staff and the postponement of the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE). urB Half Year Physical Performance during the Fy 20i23.124. UTB registered the following key achievements during the first half of the Fy 2023/24: - (1) Grading of 34 accommodation facilities in Kampala, Wakiso, Mbale, Fort Portal, Masaka and Mbarara. (21 Registered 158 tour and travel companies; and 23 inspected and 107 licensed; (3) Registered 57 accommodation facitities; 48 inspected and 4 licensed; (41 Trained 171 tourist guides in national service standards for site guides and owners; (5) Trained District Tourism Officers in the West Nile Region in enforcement of Tourism Laws and Regulations and minimum tourism standards in collaboration with GtZ lJganda. (6) Established skilling partnerships with CBI for enforcement of tourism sustainability practices across the value chain. (71 Showcased Destination Uganda's tourism offerings at 8 international platforms i.e. U Hub Launch Serbia, Uganda and the 25 $ \to Ct^r> \ Aa AE- I t

Table 1O: Destination of identilied Resources Reallocated Funds within Tourism Identified Priorities and of Development Program Recurrent Dev't prr€nt of Kalangala Tourism Circuit including docking facilities, information center, Speke Monument and Parking Space. Develo 3.O UWEC - Revamping the Gardens-UGX2biltion Botanical 2.O Welfare and Operations - UGX 2.0 billion. UWEC Animal 2.O rgional Satellite Zoo in Mbarara Re 4.0 , Kasese to fund Constmction of Girls Student Hostel UWRTI 4.O additional wage for the new organizational structure. The current wage bill is insufficient to implement the broadened mandate of UWRTI after res To provide 1.0 o22 Ministry of Wildlife, Tourism and Antiquities and Guruguru Hot springs ment Action plan. The two sites are now at the Development phase, feasibility recommended Resettlement Amuru resettle of PAPs and Com 1.5 of 1SKm of electric fence from Kyambura, Omukiboodi to Omukakoni, Bunyarugutu, Rubirizi Construction Elizabeth National Park District tt7 Uganda Tourism Board (urB) ganda: This Film Project will facilitate more content development about Uganda Tourism Destination Hidden U 0.5 Vote 534 Uganda Consulate in Kenya, Mombasa r hosting of Uganda - Kenya Coast Tourism Conference in This is to cater fo 1.5 -A-- ,i^{\\tt- -ifTt ,\- 4t r N, *t ) t4 ti

(9) Concluded round one of the various trade protocols under AfCFTA and COMESA including RoO, Trade in goods, Trade in services, Investments. (10) Published and printed 650 Copies of the draft Competition Bill and submitted them to Parliament (11) Finalized the draft Consumer Protection Bill in engagements with the First Parliamentary Counsel. (12) Finalized proposals for introduction of Tobacco Cess and access of competition merger fees competition commission NTR from coMESA in Consultation with MoFpED and MoJCA. (13) A draft Trade Licensing Rates and Grades for the new Cities were developed in consultation with key stakeholders. (14) Finalization of the development of the Grain Trade policy Implementation strategr and the National MSMEs Implementation stratery (15) Mobilized 180 MSME in Mbale, Gulu, Arua, Hoima, Mbarara and Kampala to participate in the stakeholder consultations for the formulation of branding and packaging strategr. (161 522 MSMES Mobitized, vetted, registered and participated in the 22na EAC Exhibition in Uganda to show case their innovations and discuss business with their counterparts from other countries from 8th to 18th December 2022. (l7l 245 MSMEs trained on making Business Plans, Financial Literacy, Resource Mobilization, Business Negotiations and Record the following Districts. A{V! *a. ,C l; t M' ,i'['r

(2) Popularizing of PDM Marketing strategr and branding and packaging strategies.in the country includes Karamoja and west Nile. (3) Acquiring and scaring up of the use of international recognised bar GIS bar code for promotion of Ugandan products in the market and support L2O MSMEs to formalise their business in south western, Rwenzori, West Nile, and Sebei sub region. (4) Conduct awareness creation in Credit rating mechanisms in Mbale, Soroti, Lira and Gulu to 100 MSMEs in manufacturing sector. (5) Conduct awareness creation in Credit rating mechanisms in Mbale, Soroti, Lira and Gulu to 1oo MSMEs in manufacturing sector. (6) Facilitate, support, Sensitization 120 MSMEs, Youths, women, pLWHA and PWD to formalise their businesses. in West Nile, Rwemzori and Busoga Region. (71 Conduct 3 stakeholder (Academia, SMEs, Policy makers and tegislators) workshop on Circularity and Circular economy (Resource efficiency, cleaner production and industrial in symbiosis in central region. (8) Facilitating, the preparations, Mobilization, training, vetting of 250 MSMEs including women and youth, through and guiding them in packaging branding, and requirements to participate in the regional, international and domestic trade fairs and expos. (9) Training of 100 processors in Leather-and agro processors Mukono and Jinja, Greater Bushenyi, Mbarara, and formation of clusters in each district I tr- 1-. ft h 51 &

Fruits - Greater Bushenyi & Greater Mbarara-Grain Milling: -Masindi, Kibale, Kiryandotrgo, Mubende and Nwoya. (10) Profiling of 120 MSMEs (60Males and 60 Female) per region of the country and populating the MSMEs database from agro processing, leather and metal fabrication from central Region and Bunyoro region. (11) Facilitate MSMEs to participate in the International in MSMEs day (dl Regional Balanced Development (1) 8 cooperatives identified and proliled in Karamoja, Teso, Bugisu, Bukedi, Busoga, Bunyoro, West Nile and Acholi. (2) 4 beneficiary Cooperatives in the RDP regions sensitized on possible fi nancing institutions. Retooling Project. (1) Support construction of MTAC centre at Mbale (21 Procure Motorcycles for all commercial Officers to supervise pDM and two vehicles for coordination 6.4 vote 136 uganda Export promotions Board (uEBpf Table 13: UEPB Semi Annual Budget Performance Fy 2o2al24 (UGx Billionf Source.. SemiAnnual Budget Performatrce FY 2O2s/24 r ld- W v I, '\L .ng"f s N Expenditurc Approved Revised Released by Spent by o/o Budget o/o Budset o/o Releases Category Budget Budget End Dec End Dec Relcased Spent Spent Wage 2.561 2.56r 1.281 0.66 s0.00% 25.800/o 51.50% Non-Wage 5.588 5.588 2.578 1.898 46.lOo/o 34.OOo/o 73.600/o GoU Dev't 0.037 0.037 0.019 o.0r 5l.4Oo/o 27.OOo/o 52.600/o lqtaf Budget 8.187 8.187 3.878 2.568 4?.400/o 3L.4Oo/o 66.2Oo/o t+" 52 + '- l. i_ (

Procurement of land in Western and Northern Uganda for the constmction of UNBS Regional Laboratory in Mbarara (UGX 2 billion) and Gulu (UGX 2 billion) 4.O Total 31.72 4.O obsenrations and Recommendations on Trade and Industry vote o15: Ministry of rrade, Industry and cooperatives (MTIcl The Committee is concerned that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives was supposed to have operationalizedlaws such as the Accreditation Services Act, 2O2I and the Sugar Act, 2O2O. However, none of the two have been operationalized. These laws require operational stmctures. However, ro structures have been proposed in the current rationalization of Government Agencies, €lrl implication that they might remain on the shelves yet they are important to the economy. Recommendations of the Committee The Committee recommends that MTIC should have in place stmctures to operationalise laws in the Trade Sector that were passed by parliament. 6.12 subvention to uganda cooperative Alliance Limited The committee observed that in the FY 2023 /24 MTlcwas allocated ucx 3 billion to Uganda Cooperative Alliance Limited (UCAL) without a legat framework or cooperation agreement and Memorandum of Understanding to formalize their relationship. The Committee further observed that MTIC did not have in its possession an instnrmentlegalizing its relationship with ucAL since ucAL is a limited company ,\ - ifr't /" , l1 h" N I 62 .fu,- ,Y

Recommendation . Government should provide UGX 25 billion for SCAP 1OO -umbrellas which has impact in provision of improved water supply senrices to the urban poor population countryrride. (Q Water for Production Project Phase II The Committee was informed that in order to increase access and use of water for agricultural production as envisaged in the NDP lll, Government needs to provide additional UGX.4O billion to the Ministry of Water and Environment in FY 2024125. Additional resources will be used for: o Rehabilitation of strategic multipurpose dams of Longoritopoj in Kaabong District and Kawomeri in Abim District. . Remedial works at strategic multipurpose dams of Kobebe in Moroto District Arechet in Napak District and Longorimit in Kaabong District o Desilting and rehabilitation of parish level communal valley tanks in Karamoja sub-region. Recommendation . Government should provide UGX 4O billion for the Water for Production Project Phase II in a phased manner over a three-year period starting with UGX 15 billion in FY 2o124125. (gf Inner Murchison Bay Cleanup project The Committee was informed that the Inner Murchison Bay is one of the pollution hotspots on Lake Victoria. The objective of the Inner Murchison Bay Cleanup project is to reduce pollution, restore water quality, beneficial uses and ecosystem services of the lnner Murchison Bay (IMB). In order to fast track this project, Shs 22.5 billion is required for the completion of the National Water reference lab, PIER uality research vessel and truction of Mbarara Re gional ( tu ! I t for the new water -.fl!.- ,\ 34 ( I

of Nwsc in UGX Billion Source: NWSC Recommendations o The Committee recommends that Government provides additional UGX. 95.4 billion to NWSC to clear outstanding financial obligations. o Government should provide UGX 47.5 billion for critical co-financing new obligations next financial year. (kf Prospective Donor linancing for Projects under NWSC The Committee was informed that Government is in the process of approving donor funding for various Donor/GoU funded projects under NWSC as summarized in the table below. This includes part of the Euro 45 million additional financing that is being pursued for KW-LV WATSAN. A cabinet paper has been submitted and subsequently a request for approval by Parliament will be presented. The target is to have financing agreement signed before the end of the financial year. Donor for NWSC Source: NWSC tawL <, 37 ( l. Projects Outstanding obligations Obligation s next N 6^ r.SE Total Requiremen Water Service Acceleration Project (SCAP 100) 45.8 25.7 7L.5 Kampala Sanitation Proiect (KSPI 45 0 45 Integrated Water Management and Development Proiect (IWMDP)-Gulu 4.6 0 4.6 KW-LV WATSAN o 15.8 15.8 Mbarara- Masaka-lsinsiro (SWCTI 0 6 6 Grand Total 95.4 47.5 r42.9 Projects Amount (Shs Bnf Integrated Water Management and Development Project (IWMDP)-Gulu 141.0 KW-LV WATSAN 181.1 Mbarara- M asaka- Isingiro (SWCT) 266.5 Wakiso West Water and Sanitation Project (!V!VWSP) 8.3 Grand Total 596.9 -l..

Unfunded Priorities under UNMA Recommendation The Committee recommends that Government provides UGX 22.8 bn under UNMA for the unfunded priorities. 10.o coNcLUsIoN Rt. Hon. Speaker, Hon. Members, in conclusion, The Committee is cognizant of the fact that Natural Resources and the Environment are critical to achieving increased household incomes and improvement of quality of life of the population. lndeed, the NDP III's objectives are based on the country's comparative advantage that lies in its abundant natural resources which ought to exploited while conserving the environment. However, the Committee noted during the presentation of the inisterial Policy Statements for FY 2024125, that MDAs under the Natural Resources and Environment Committee contin to attract very limited funding and huge budget 43 I \ 1...) L s.N Item Funding Gap Shs Bn FY 24125 1 Procurement of a super computer 10 2 Dissemination of weather forecasts 1 3 Revamp and operationalize the upper air station at Entebbe lnternational Airport o.25 4 Revamp and operationalize the Lower-Level Wind Alert System at Entebbe International Airport 1.8 5 Construction of 2 weather obserwing stations at Mbarara and Kisoro airfrelds 4.2 6 Procurement of 100 rainfall stations and76 Automatic weather stations 2 7 lmplementation of weather forecasting system for inland water lakes 2 8 Establishment of 2 air pollution monitoring stations 1.55 Total 22.8 +kY

t 3 Revamp and operationalize the Lower-Level Wind Alert System at 3 Entebbe International 1.8 3 4 Construction of 2 weather obserwing stations at Mbarara and Kisoro airfrelds 4.2 3 5 Procurement of 100 rainfall stations and76 Automatic weather stations 2.O 3 6 Implementation of weather forecasting system for inland water lakes 2.O 3 7 Establishment of 2 air pollution monitoring stations 1.6 I J"( .}. iL\ \ !r. F- L 49 -- '--/

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I also want to thank the committee for the report presented. Aware that the committee brings out the issue of emoluments for the local government leaders, one of the biggest challenges we have is that of the subcounty vice chairpersons. Their roles are very clear that in the absence of the chairperson, they take over. In the event of uncertainties like death arising, the vice chairperson acts as a chairperson of the subcounty. However, the vice is not entitled to any salary that the chairperson has been getting. Madam Speaker, my request is that the committee takes an interest that if the law can be amended to cater for such, we shall be glad. Two, I got an opportunity to move to some of these cities like Fort Portal, Mbarara and Masaka – (Member timed out.)

Thank you. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, you could add on Mbarara-Ishaka Road.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, I am very happy that tomorrow you are going to open a health centre. I would like to appreciate the Government for the many health centre IIIs they have built. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, are you aware that we are doing badly when it comes to medical personnel? We are actually doing very badly because when you go to health centres, there is no medicine. Last week, I was in Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital where I had a patient. There was no doctor to attend the patient for the whole week. We have been buying medicine out of the hospital. I would like to – (Member timed out.)

?.2 TEA GROIIIING IN UGANDA Tea was first cultivated in Uganda in the early years of the 2oft century at the botanical gardens in Entebbe. The crop was a success and commercial cultivation started in the 1920s. Unfortunately, Uganda's tea industry was decimated by political upheaval in the 197Os. It was revived in the early 1990s due to availability of Commonwealth development funds, foreign expertise, and investment by Indian owned companies (Ahmed Tea London, 2or9l. In the FY 2022123, tea was Uganda's fourth largest agricultural export after coffee, fish and maize, earning the country over USD 90 million. This represented a 5.3% increase compared to FY 2O2l122. Tea has generated an average of 3.60/o of Uganda's export earnings over the last five years and is recognizsed to have a higher potential to contribute more to national revenue, employment and environmental conservation (NAADS, 2021). Over the past eight (8) years, tea has been fetching average earnings of USD 76 million for the country, having apexes at USD 94 million 2018. Tea estates produce about 54o/o of the tea in the country while the small holder tea growers contribute about 460/o of the total average. The industry employs close to 8O,OOO farmer households and supports 150,000 skilled and unskilled workers with about one million people directly deriving their velihoods from tea growing (NAADS, 2021). The traditional tea-growing districts in Uganda are: Mukono, Buikwe, Mubende, Mityana, Masaka in the central region; Kyenjojo, Kibale, Hoima and Kabarole in the western region; Bushenyi, Buhweju, Kanungu and Kabale in south-western Uganda. Recently, tea growing has expanded to new districts like Kisoro, Rubanda, Rukungiri, Sheema, Nebbi, Zombo, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Mitooma, Ru 2O2Ol. Kamwenge and Mbarara (NAADS, .l ffit^-- t "# ffili, -\ l. 2 --- j=.r t\S'rr '.i'-5r a 1 hk h

That is a statutory vote. If the President has approved the budget of the Judiciary, I do not see why the PS/ST should come and say he is cutting the – we have just passed an Act where we agreed to increase the number of judges. We are supposed to have two branches of the Court of Appeal, that is, in Mbarara and Gulu, where the minister comes from. If they are asking for an increment in the money and it has been approved by the President, we need to see how to support them. You are the same people complaining of a backlog, yet you are not supporting the Judiciary. Go ahead and lay your documents.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I beg to lay on the Table the Ministerial Policy Statement for the Ministry of Education and Sports for the Financial Year 2024/2025 for: 1. Vote 013 – Ministry of Education and Sports; 2. Vote 111 – National Curriculum Development Centre; 3. Vote 128 – Uganda National Examinations Board; 4. Vote 132 – Education Service Commission; 5. Vote 164 – National Council for Higher Education; 6. Vote 165 – Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board; 7. Vote 166 – National Council of Sports; 8. Vote 301 – Makerere University; 9. Vote 302 – Mbarara University of Science and Technology; 10. Vote 304 – Kyambogo University; 11. Vote 305 – Busitema University; 12. Vote 306 – Muni University; 13. Vote 307 – Kabale University; 14. Vote 308 – Soroti University; 15. Vote 309 – Gulu University; 16. Vote 310 – Lira University; 17. Vote 312 – Uganda Management Institute; 18. Vote 313 – Mountains of the Moon University; and 19. Vote 612 – Local Governments. I beg to lay.

Thank you, Madam Speaker and hon - ourable colleagues. I think Hon. Mapenduzi raises a great matter for us to take note of: rath - er than the infrastructure based on roads and others, but also the sports infrastructure. Probably, we would use this opportunity not only to focus on the big stadia, but also what we call the regional feeder stadia, or even at the district level. For example, the creation of better stadia, we can even go for regions; in Kigezi, we pick one and in Mbarara, Kakyeka. Then we pick from each of the divisions of Kampala where we have the highest concentration and the metropolitan areas of Wakiso and Entebbe Municipality and use part of these funds to improve sports infrastructure. If you came up with such a proposal, I can assure you, I do not think there is any Member of this House that would decline to support you. Even in as much as we might not all come here to ask for big stadia, the backup support infrastructure, training - not necessarily training grounds. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY [Mr Musasizi]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I beg to present the report of the Committee on Information, Com - munication Technology and National Guid - ance on the operations and performance of the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC). Mr Speaker, I would like to lay on the Table a copy of the report and the minutes the committee meetings while we processed the report. Mr Speaker, over the years, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation has experienced challenges in sustaining operations and in the face of competition, it has almost lost its status as the leading broadcaster in Uganda. This has occasioned the realisation of low revenue insufficient to support its operations. It continues to face challenges of unproductive sources of funding, deficit on wages, lack of funding for local content production and programming, un-automated business processes and high satellite charges. Findings, observations and recommendations Challenges The committee observed that the positioning of UBC sites in far-flung locations attracts attendant challenges like inadequate monitoring, slow emergency response to breakdown and inadequate security of those sites, which affects safety, quality of the equipment and programming. The committee recommends as follows: (i) The Government, through the Ministry of Works and Transport and its agencies, should support the routine maintenance of all roads leading to UBC sites across the country; (ii) The UBC staff at the regional centres and sites be provided with requisite facilitation including transport means to access the sites; and (iii) UBC should procure the necessary software like Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition(SCADA) and surveillance cameras for all sites. Encroachment on UBC land across the country Allegations of encroachment on UBC land were also made on upcountry sites like Nyaburiza Mbarara (Mwizi) and Soroti (Dakabela).

11885 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2024 manufacturers and increase the competitiveness of locally manufactured products within the region and beyond. The National industrial policy 2020 also seeks to build a fully integrated, competitive, high value and productive industrial sector through increased: 1. value addition of the local materials and products with comparative advantage for social economic transformation; 2. export of manufactured products by facilitating industries to increase production and match market demands in terms of both quality and quantity; 3. employment in the industrial sector through establishment and promotion of industries that create large-scale employment opportunities, ensuring inclusive growth and sustainable development; and 4. adoption of environmentally sustainable technologies by manufacturing subsectors. Currently, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) operates eight public industrial and business parks namely; Kampala, (Namanve), Luzira, Bweyogerere, Jinja, Soroti, Mbale, Kasese, and Mbarara Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Park. The authority also supports three operational private industrial parks namely; Liao Shen Kapeeka, MMP Industrial Park Buikwe and Tian Tang Mukono, thereby making it eleven industrial and business parks across the country. Accordingly, on 4 June 2021, His Excellency the President while addressing Parliament on the State-of-the-Nation promised to supply electricity to industrial parks directly from some of the Government dams in a bid to reduce the end-user cost of electricity for manufacturers and increase competitiveness of locally manufactured products. In particular, His Excellency the President stated, and I quote, “The cost of electricity is distorted by mistakes committed by some of the actors without my knowledge… We shall see how to get out of this mistake. One solution that I have already ordered for the industrial parks is to supply power directly from some of the Government dams to them. I will not be deflected from that…” It is on this basis, and in line with the Rules of Procedure of Parliament, 2021, that the committee scrutinised the level of implementation of the aforementioned assurance and now presents this report to the august House. Mr Speaker, I am not going to read everything. The content of the report is uploaded so Members can read. I want to go direct to the scope. This report focuses on the following key areas: 1. implementation of the presidential directive; and 2. the state of power supply to the industrial parks. Methodology Documents were reviewed and they are stipulated in the report. There were meetings with the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development and there were field visits to selected industrial parks namely; 1. Mbale Industrial and Business Park; 2. Soroti Industrial and Business Park; and 3. Jinja Industrial and Business Park. Committee findings Implementation of the presidential directives In June 2021, His Excellency the President directed the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development that the cost of electricity manufactured had been reduced to $0.05 per unit and the industrial parks should get power directly from the Government operating hydro power stations of Karuma, Isimba, Nalubaale, Kira, without going through Umeme distribution network where it is technologically possible.

11891 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2024 Question No.5 From Hon. Agnes Kirabo, Youth Representative, Central Region. That Mulago National Referral Hospital has started a kidney transplant. However, free services have been given to a few people. The rest of the patients have to pay over Shs 46 million, which is too expensive for an ordinary Ugandan. Prayer What is the Government’s plan to ensure this service is available for all? Response Mr Speaker, in December 2023, Mulago National Referral Hospital conducted Uganda’s first kidney transplant successfully, by a team of medical experts from Uganda with counterparts from Yashoda Hospital in India. Mr Speaker, the Government has allowed at least five patients with End-Stage Renal Failure who are on dialysis to have kidney transplants at Mulago National Referral Hospital, free of charge before the fee for the lifesaving procedure is determined for all patients to start paying. The costing of this procedure can then be deduced more accurately rather than estimating from a single or maiden renal transplant. Mr Speaker, Shs 46 million for a kidney transplant is a media-generated figure and not a Government position. The Government has not yet set the cost and our plan through, the Mulago team, is to determine the price after more transplants have been made to get the right picture of the cost implication. The cost of running specialised services is extremely expensive and such services have Ugandans over $18,000 on average, excluding costs of ticket and maintenance abroad. This cost does not include post-operative follow- up treatment which is also very expensive, especially in the first months. All investigations to prepare the patient for transplant were done in Uganda, except for Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) typing where samples were sent to South Africa through Lancet Laboratories. This was more cost effective to do for now until we scale up organ transplant services. Mr Speaker, the success story of Mulago National Referral Hospital in correcting this health condition, will save Ugandans from travelling to India and other developed countries for kidney transplant. The Government of Uganda is committed to saving the lives of Ugandans through such innovations and lessons learned from Mulago. Therefore, after thorough assessment of all that entails the entire process of kidney transplant and full recovery of a patient, a reasonable figure shall be derived and Ugandans shall be informed accordingly. Question No.6 From Hon. Dr. Abed Bwanika, Member of Parliament, Kimaanya- Kabonera Division, Masaka City. He says that on 28 April 2020, the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda approved the creation of 15 news cities and 10 became operational on 1 July 2020, including Jinja, Arua, Gulu, Lira, Soroti, Hoima, Fort portal, Mbarara, Masaka and Mbale. Section 188 of the Local Government Act, instructs that at the creation of a new local government unit, the minister shall assure the equitable sharing of property between the original and new governments. It is now three years since the operationalisation of the 10 cities without clear guidance on asset sharing. The Ministry of Local Government continues to handle ad hoc by engaging case by case, which has caused a lot of confusion and not desirable. This has negatively affected service delivery in the affected local governments. Some district leadership continue to insist on compensation out of the transfer of assets despite that these are public properties held in trust.

11892 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT Prayers: 1. When is the Minister of Local Government concluding on the guidelines for asset sharing and laying the same on the Table in the Parliament of Uganda? 2. How much provision has the Government provided to support establishment of new headquarters for districts that were affected by the creation of new cities? Mr Speaker, my response is that funding to finance the settlement of 10 districts of Masaka, Mbarara, Hoima, Arua, Gulu, Lira, Mbale, Fort portal, Soroti and Jinja that gave birth to cities was requested for by the Ministry of Local Government during the budgeting period for the current Financial Year 2023/2024. However, funds were not allocated and this remained as an unfunded priority. The matter has been presented to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development for consideration in the next Financial year 2024/2025 Budget Call Circular. Prayer 2: When are the subcounties that host new district headquarters going to be gazetted as town councils as part of the Local Governments Act? The Ministry of Local Governments has compiled the necessary data from the eight district local governments which have already determined their new locations. We are still waiting for submission from two district local governments. Town councils will be gazetted once the Ministry of Local Governments has received all the information from the two remaining local governments. Prayer 3 That since there are lacunas in the Local Governments Act about the governance of new cities, when is government coming up with a Bill on governance of new cities? My response is that the proposed Amendment Bill for Local Governments Act, Cap 243 has been prepared and will soon be submitted to Cabinet for consideration and approval, and then be brought here for approval. Mr Speaker, I beg to submit. (Applause)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. My matter of national importance refers to Soroti Regional Referral Hospital. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, on Monday, I was honoured to be a guest of honour receiving a donation that came from the United States (US) to Soroti Regional Referral Hospital. For the record, Soroti Regional Referral Hospital is the only regional hospital; the rest, Mbale, Lira, Gulu, and Mbarara, among others, that has never got a facelift. It has buildings from 1944, a lot of congestion, and a lot of limited infrastructure in terms of even medical equipment. However, the problem was land. I would like to inform the Rt Hon. Prime Minister and

So, it is redeployment, in short, to other areas. (Members rose_) The problem under Prime Minister’s time, we do not have that chance. Honourable colleagues, sub rule 41(8) which provides for Prime Minister’s time says that we cannot exceed one hour, but rule 26 requires me again to appoint a time for Members’ issues on Thursday. I started today with Members’ issues but I want to appoint another hour. However, I would like to beg for your indulgence, we have items to lay and then we continue with the issues. I will give you enough time. The Prime Minister has said that she is here and that she must answer your issues before she goes. LAYING OF PAPERS (I) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION ON OVERSIGHT FIELD VISIT TO SOROTI UNIVERSITY, LIRA UNIVERSITY, GULU UNIVERSITY, KABALE UNIVERSITY AND MBARARA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I wish to lay a report of the Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation on oversight field visit to Soroti University, Lira University, Gulu University, Kabale University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology; under Rule 34 of our Rules of Procedure, I wish to lay.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I also want to thank the committee for the report. I will start on gazettement. All the forests in Uganda were gazetted from 1932 up to 1938. At the time of gazettement, they compensated everyone who was in the forest reserve. Then in the 1970s, there was a programme which came called “double production through self-reliance”. It was under Amin. They entered the forest reserves. In some other forests, when they were gazetting, they left what we call “enclaves”. They thought those enclaves – the people inside there would protect the forest and provide cheap labour to the forest. However, now, they have started expanding. So, those people that you hear want compensation actually expanded beyond the area – that is the example of Nakasongola. That is what happened – I am talking from a professional point of view. Then, when we talk of encroachment and the population, when you go to areas like Kabale, Mbarara, and Bushenyi, which have a high population, no one encroaches on a forest reserve. You ask yourself, between Nakasongola, Mbarara, Kabale and Bushenyi, which one has a bigger population? Let us also think of mind-set change and teach our people the use of forests. Every forest was gazetted with an objective. We have forests which were gazetted to remain natural namely, Mabira and others. There are areas which were gazetted for plantations, like Nakasongola, West Nile, and Fort Portal because we wanted to get timber, paper, and plywood from those forests. Encroachment has become a problem. It started under dam production. In 2011, when the digitisation of titles started, they made titles in the forest reserves. At the moment, it has gone high. Someone gets a title, goes to court, and the same person who has given the title in lands commission is the one that represents the Government. What happens? (Member timed out.)

11667 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 2024 allocated towards the construction of staff houses in the Financial Year 2023/2024. The strategy is to cut down construction costs by adopting different designs, using low-cost solutions/Force on Account, and phasing construction using the incremental approach of 500 staff housing units, starting with 900 housing units. Shs 46.5 billion is required to construct the 900 housing units in different designs and sizes using Force on Account as shown in the table below. I think the honourable members have it. The design One is to have a block of two houses (two- bedroom and self-contained). A total of 150 blocks of 300 houses are planned at a unit cost of Shs 0.140 million. The quantity required is 150 and the amount needed is Shs 21 billion. Two, a block of four houses (two-roomed houses with external sanitation facilities) – 150 blocks of 600 houses. The unit cost is Shs 0.170 million, quantity needed is 150 and the total amount needed is Shs 25.5 billion. The total for the 900 housing units is Shs 46.5 billion. Provided in the budget is Shs 1.4 billion and so, the shortfall is Shs 45.1 billion. Another issue raised is mistreatment of prisoners. They recommended that we strengthen the monitoring department to periodically interface with the inmates to identify issues that affect them. The response is that the monitoring and observation of human rights for both staff and prisoners is conducted through the regular supervision of all human rights activities, supporting and monitoring the activities of staff and prisoners’ human rights committees in 266 prisons. The Service has a Department of Inspectorate and Quality Assurance headed by a Commissioner of Prisons and charged with the responsibility of monitoring human rights of observance. However, this needs to be strengthened in terms of both human resource, financial support and facilitation. In addition, in order to strengthen human rights monitoring observance, we undertake to appoint and induct visiting justices in accordance with Section 109(1) and (2) of the Prisons Act. In the Financial Year 2022/2023, the Service appointed and inducted 33 visiting justices to undertake supervision of prisons in the Eastern Region in respect of human rights observance and compliance to custodial standards. In Financial Year 2023/2024, the plan is to induct visiting justices to monitor human rights practices and observances in northern, southern, Kooki, mid-central, north-central and mid-western regions. Shs 2 billion is required to appoint, induct and facilitate the visiting justices to monitor human rights observance and practice in all prisons countrywide. Another issue was the distance between prisons and courts of law. The committee’s recommendation was that the location of adjudicating courts of law should be well planned to be in proximity with prison facilities to reduce distances that inmates have to travel. Our response is that there is a misalignment of prisons locations to courts of judicature, which overstretches prisons operations in delivery of prisoners to court in terms of long distances between courts and prisons. The Service has been in constant engagement with other criminal justice agencies as well as the ministry of finance, to have the misalignment of the criminal justice agencies addressed, especially prisons and courts. As a result, the Service established new prisons at Paidha, Nebbi, Amuru, Oyam, Lugore, Koboko, Kapchorwa, Sheema, Kyenjonjo, Nwoya, Mutufu, Kotido, Nyarushanje, Mityana West, Patongo West, Sanga, Nakapiriprit and Amudat. The challenge of misalignment still exists as reflected in the table that follows: i) Rubirizi - Bushenyi - the distance in between is 45 kilometres; ii) Rubindi - Mbarara – 43km;

11668 THE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2023 iii) Zeu -Paidha - 45km; iv) Warr - Paidha – 35km; v) Bukakata - Buwunga – 35km; vi) Pakwach - Ragem -35km; vii) Butoolo – Nsangi - 33km; viii) Bwizibwera - Mbarara -28km; ix) Kiganda - Myanzi -22km; and x) Ndeija - Mbarara – 20km. In partnership with the Administration of Justice Programme, the Service has established online courts/ virtual conferencing facilities in 19 prisons to enhance and mitigate the misalignment challenge. The other recommendation in this respect is that more vehicles should be purchased and provided with sufficient fuel to ensure timely delivery of inmates to courts. The status of vehicles for delivery of prisoners to courts is also elaborated in the table that follows. Buses which are below one year, zero. Those between one year and three years in terms of age are six, those between three and five years of age are six and those above five years are seven. We have a total of only 19 buses in all categories. Minibuses We have zero below one year; 10 between one and three years; five between three; and five years and we have one above five years. The total is Lorries. We have six below one year, 27 between one and three years, 14 between three and five years and we have 38 above five years. The total is 85. Tricycles We have two in the first category, none in the second, two in the third and fourth categories. The total is four. The totals of these vehicles - the heavy ones are eight in the first category, 43 in the second, 27 in the third, 46 in the fourth. The grand total is 124. Only 107 of the 266 prisons have vehicles. Out of the 124 vehicles listed above, 46 are old and this of course translates into maintenance costs. In the Financial Year 2023/2024, the Service requires Shs 21.434 billion for timely delivery of prisoners to courts as reflected below: Fuel for delivery of prisoners to court - amount required is Shs 4.895 billion but amount provided is Shs 2.706 billion; and shortfall is Shs 2.189 billion. Vehicle maintenance - amount required is Shs 5.064 billion but amount provided is Shs 3.600 billion; and the shortfall is Shs 1.464 billion. Escort duties – the amount required Shs 7.550 billion but amount provided is Shs 0.416 billion. The shortfall is Shs 7.134 billion. Subtotal - the amount required is Shs 17.509 billion, but the amount provided is Shs 6.722 billion; and the shortfall is Shs 10.787 billion. Transport equipment – the amount required is Shs 3.925 billion; amount provided is Shs 1.451 billion and the shortfall is Shs 2.474 billion. The total requirement in all the categories is Shs 21.434 billion, but provided is Shs 8.173 billion and the shortfall is Shs 13.261 billion. Another issue raised was land grabbing, and the recommendation is that the Uganda Prisons Service Management should expedite land survey and title acquisition to avoid future encroachment on prison’s land. Our response is the Uganda Prisons Services (UPS) operates 266 prisons, 79 of these are located in the kingdom land; Kingdom of Buganda, 40 on district land and 146 on Central Government land. Prisons cannot survey and title kingdom or district land. Sixty two out of 147 central Prisons land is not surveyed. [Gen. Muhoozi] PRESENTATION OF ACTION -TAKEN REPORTS

11581 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2024 Introduction Mr Speaker, FMD is a highly contagious viral disease that affects all cloven-hoofed (two hoofed) animals. These include cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and wild animals such as buffaloes, deers and antelopes. The disease spreads very fast, through close contact between infected and non-infected animals. The disease is transmitted through aerosols (fluid droplets) breathed out by infected animals and contact with affected surfaces. The aerosols can be transported by wind to far areas. The affected animals get wounds in the mouth, feet and teats in female animals. FMD is the most dreaded disease in international trade of animals and animal products. Countries that have eradicated the disease do not allow trade with affected countries, or those that control the disease by vaccination. The disease causes significant economic losses to the farmers and to the country due to disruption in animal production, productivity and in trade of animal and animal products. Scientists and economists have estimated the economic cost of FMD to a farmer per unit livestock to be $20 per infection. The cost can be higher with repeated infections. Our target, therefore, as Government, is to not only control the disease but eradicate it. Mr Speaker, the ideal situation that enables any livestock producing country to fully control and eradicate FMD requires the following interventions: i) Undertaking a bi-annual compulsory vaccination exercise of the entire susceptible animal herd in the country (all two hoofed animals; cattle, sheep, goats and pigs). For purposes of universal coverage, compliance and bio-security considerations (since vaccines are live organisms), governments normally offer the vaccines as a public good. This, however, varies from country to country, depending on the number of animals and the budget implications for buying the vaccines recurrently. ii) Another control and eradication approach is the “test and slaughter” followed by safe disposal of the carcasses (burning and/or burying). When the veterinary authorities confirm the outbreak, they determine the affected animals and those at risk for destruction. This, however, is followed with compensation by the government, which is a very expensive practice. This is the practice in developed livestock-producing countries like the United Kingdom, among others. You kill or destroy, but compensate the farmer. iii) In addition to the above, movement control restrictions (quarantine) are always imposed either in part or as a whole in the affected geographical location depending on the epidemiological assessment by the competent authorities. The competent authorities, Mr Speaker, are veterinary authorities. These animal movement restrictions, however, are temporary measures to disrupt transmission but their duration depends on the discipline and compliance of the different stakeholders (farmers, traders, processors and enforcement agencies) and also on the country’s ability to implement interventions (i) and (ii) above. Current situation in the country Mr Speaker, there are 36 districts currently affected and under quarantine. These are; Budaka, Bukedea, Bukomansimbi, Bunyangabu, Butaleja, Fort Portal City, Gomba, Ibanda, Isingiro, Kabarole, Kassanda, Kayunga, Kazo, Kiboga, Kibuku, Kiruhura, Kumi, Kyankwanzi, Kyegegwa, Kyotera, Luuka, Lwengo, Lyantonde, Mbarara, Mbarara City, Mityana, Mpigi, Mubende, Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Namisindwa, Ngora, Ntungamo, Rakai, Rwampara and Ssembabule. All districts neighbouring the aforementioned districts are at high risk, under strict surveillance and the authorities are advised to remain vigilant. These include; Apac, Amolatar, Bugiri, Bushenyi, Butaleja, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kaberamaido, Kaliro, Kamuli,

Okay. Honourable colleagues, there is no need for panic. I had allowed members from Kiruhura, Gomba and Hon. Moses and the Member from Kyankwazi. I am going to give you time. Hon. Ayoo, I met you buying cows in Mbarara, I hope they had no FMD. (Laughter)

11590 THE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2023 You can see that there are already complaints of having fake vaccines in the market. How do the fake ones get into the country? Are they being brought in by Government? Mr Speaker, these are issues - I come from Cawente Subcounty and the Banyankole here know what “cente” means. So, anything on cows, goats and sheep has been part of my life. I went to Kiruhura, Mbarara and Nakasongola to buy some cows. The big were farmers asking, “what is wrong with the Government? We can afford to buy vaccines for FMD, but we are not allowed. You have to go and plead and they give you only 100 doses.” Some of these farmers have up to 4,000 cows. Mr Speaker, we would want to advise that, one, Government adopts a policy where the veterinary officers or vet assistants would go to the field and take blood samples so that we know the strain of the disease, they make an analysis and mobilise farmers to get their own money and pay for vaccines. If the cost of treating a Friesian cow is almost Shs 100,000, why is Government very tight on only Shs 7,000 for two doses of vaccination against FMD? Mr Speaker, I think this policy must - (Member timed out.)

Thank you. Honourable colleagues, I saw the letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries and I saw the districts of Budaka, Bukedea, Bukomansimbi, Butaleja, Fort Portal City, Gomba, Isingiro, Kabarole, Kassanda, Kayunga, Kazo, Kiruhura, Kumi, Kyankwanzi, Kyegegwa, Kyotera, Luuka, Lwengo, Lyantonde, Mbarara, Mityana, Mpigi, Mubende, Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Ntungamo, Rakai, Rwampara - This is what I was talking about: when you have such interventions, use a platform of Parliament to engage because these Members of Parliament will be questioned in their constituencies and they will be stuck. As Parliament, you do not want to have a situation whereby one day, you will be accused of fighting Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). We put a quarantine, Parliament came and stopped it and therefore, we allowed it and it went on. This is why I felt that it would be imperative for the minister to bring a statement here and then we debate it and put him on the spot-on issues of the law and what he would have told us here. But then again the urgency of it - I know some of these districts depend on cows and their children are going back to school. What are we going to do about it? Honourable colleagues, are we going to resolve that go and lift the quarantine so that people sell cows and you cause another crisis? You know! It is better we have ministers here and they give us clear information. Hon. Kivumbi, do you want to guide on the same? COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

I thank you, Mr Speaker. Mine is on Vote 016, about road equipment for new districts and cities. The Ministry of Works and Transport is planning to procure road equipment for new districts. However, there are old districts, which do not even have road equipment. I can give the examples of Ntungamo, Mbarara and Kanungu districts. In my district, we have over 2,221 kilometres and we have to borrow road equipment from our neighbours. Our roads are impassable. So, I think that before we approve this budget, we should make plans and make sure that we add equipment for all the districts, which are stranded. Another one is about the health sector. Honourable colleagues, we need to put our priorities right. You are talking about regional hospitals but I have not seen Mbarara Hospital. We even have districts, which are very big. For example, my district serves a population of over 650,000 people and we have only one hospital, which does not have a standby generator and an x-ray machine, yet it is a highway hospital, which serves everyone in this country because people move to Rwanda, Tanzania or even from other regions to western Uganda. So, as we plan, let us prioritise these hospitals because they are serving all of us. Another issue is about drugs. Everyone is talking about supply of drugs. In budgeting, you must plan, do research and consult. Recently, we had a report about Ntungamo not using drugs worth Shs 5 billion. These were the bilharzia drugs and they were supplied by National Medical Stores. Do not use Government money to buy unnecessary items and just dump them in some hospitals for accountability. You are talking about construction of new health centres. We have constructed some but they do not have employees; there are no medical officers. We do not have drugs and we do not have equipment. This Parliament is supposed to plan and direct the country. So, ministries, before you bring your budgets, please, consult and plan for our people. We should not misuse resources. Lastly, this Parliament should serve fairness and equity. The Minister of Education and Sports was here talking about lack of money for coded schools. Last year, in the budget, they earmarked 46 secondary schools for grant- aiding. Even up to now, the money that was released was for 46 schools. However, some

Thank you, Prime Minister, for the motion. Before the seconder, we have Prof. Celestino Obua, the Head of the Okii- Amat clan where Hon. Cecilia was married. He is also the Vice Chancellor of Mbarara University of Science and Technology and Chairperson of, Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB). You are welcome. We also have Hajjat Farida Kimbowa, the Chairperson of the National Women’s Council. We have Dr Grace Kaboyo, the Executive Secretary, the Pan African Women Organisation. You are most welcome. I know women wanted to do a lot of singing but I will allow you to sing the whole night since the body will be sleeping here. (Applause ) Condolences from Hon. Arinaitwe Rwakajara, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Parliamentary Pension Scheme. We also have condolences from the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, who is out for official duty but will be joining the family for burial in Kole District. Can we have a seconder? Leader of the Opposition?

Madam Speaker, the following have been designated to the Committee on Climate Change: 1. Hon. Rita Atukwasa - Mbarara; 2. Hon. Kenneth Kiiza Nyendwoha - Bujenje County; 3. Hon. Moses Kamuntu - Rubanda County; 4. Hon. Arthur Mboizi Waako - Budaka County; 5. Hon. Juliet Suubi Kinyamatama - Rakai; and 6. Hon. Idah Nantaba - Kayunga.

Madam Speaker, I beg to designate the following to the standing Committee on Equal Opportunities: 1. Hon. Judith Alyek – Chairperson; and 2. Hon. Dorcas Acen – Deputy Chairperson. The following are designated as members: 1. Hon. Derrick Kabuura – Bushenyi-Ishaka; 2. Hon. Ann Mary Tumwine - Ntoroko; 3. Hon. Abdul Mutumba – Kiboga West County; 4. Hon. Sauda Kauma - Iganga; 5. Hon. Albert Lokoru – Tepeth County; 6. Hon. Peter Teko Lokeris – Chekwii East County; 7. Hon. James Olobo – Kioga North; 8. Hon. John Lematia – Ayivu Division; 9. Hon. Sharifah Taban Aate - Koboko; 10. Hon. Margaret Ayebare - Mbarara; 11. Hon. Henry Nkwasiibwe – Ruhaama County; 12. Hon. John Kamara – Bufumbira North; 13. Hon. Stephen Kasaija Kagwera – Burahya County; 14. Hon. Cuthbert Abigaba Mirembe - Kibale; 15. Hon. Peninah Busingye - Kuruhura; 16. Hon. Edson Rugumayo – Youth Western; 17. Hon. Joy Peggy Waako - Elderly; 18. Hon. Yorke Alioni Odria – Aringa County; 19. Hon. Paul Akamba – Busiki county; and 20. Hon. Solomon Chelangat – T’oo. Madam Speaker, I beg to designate.

11320 MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION [Mr Bahati] LAYING OF PAPERS Secondly, the Minister of Works and Transport is here. We visited Katonga Bridge with the Deputy Speaker and we were told that the road would be opened before the end of November. However, currently people are still suffering going all the way through Ssembabule. I do not know when the works minister, Gen. Katumba, will open that road because I saw it completed. Thirdly, the bus fares increase because when one takes people to Mbale or Mbarara, they come back with empty buses. So, we must also put something there to compensate them. When a bus takes people upcountry, it comes back with empty seats –

11007 THE E LEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF U GANDA T U E SDAY , 21 N OVEMBER 2023 When I worked with the late Hon. Joyce Mpanga together with late Bikangaga, I learnt a lot. I am what I am today because of this lady here and the late Bikangaga. When they realised that I was a young girl sent to work with them - There were times you would work for months and months because you were recruited. She was very gentle, patriotic, and did not discriminate against people. As a medical practitioner, I learnt that Joyce’s psychology was deeply-rooted. I discovered that she was a teacher and that she came from a very big, celebrated family; the Masembe family. I had earlier met some of them like Dr Kanyerezi Masembe and three younger sisters. There are two things I will remember this lady for. First, when we were recruited, the recruitment was skewed because we did not speak English as we are speaking today. The English was demanding in some areas. Secondly, sciences were not being taught all over Uganda. Because the two were educationists, they took it upon themselves to write to the Ministry of Education and as an education officer from the Ministry of Education, I was able to see this letter which said, “Please, make sure that all sciences are taught in all schools and not general science. Make sure that the English that you teach these children is straightforward.” You know very well that we speak English according to our local dialects - I am sure that you can get it from me. I am not saying that I am that way but some areas did not have the alphabet. That was a big worry for them and it was corrected. When I worked with her in the Public Service, she taught me to look at the country at large and that all areas needed medical workers. Surprisingly, you would find that there were no nurses in Mubende and Mbarara, but because of decentralisation, people can now work within their areas easily. That was corrected by them. She taught me how to juggle marriage, children, and my work and I appreciate her. When time for my promotion came, the two were very instrumental. They wrote to the Ministry of Education and Sports for me to be promoted. Hence, I was given accelerated promotion as Chief Health Training Officer in the Ministry of Education and Sports, a position I held and left. It was even stated that it was person-to- holder. This is what I learnt from them. Hon. Joyce, I am glad that I was given an opportunity to express my feelings upon your demise. You were a wonderful woman, a patriot, you loved Ugandans regardless of which direction they came from, and I learnt that from you. May God bless you. Fare thee well in front of your creator. I knew that she had only two children - By the way, she took me to her farm in Mukono and I served with her in Mengo. She was on the Board of Trustees while I was on the Board of Governors. May God bless and comfort you. Your mother was a woman who loved everybody. Please, to the two children, I am sure Hon. Joyce would be happy if you continued to bring out what she cultivated in you.

Back to your communication, Madam Speaker. I thank you for talking about the patching of roads in Kampala by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). In the same way, in the countryside, there is a lot of patching on the face but the rest of the body is unwashed. When they patch areas in Kampala where the guests are going to pass, they leave behind the other streets and roads untouched. Likewise, the districts which are in corners that are not on highways - from Kampala, Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi, Ishaka, and Kasese, there is some attention. For a district in a corner like Buhweju, there is virtually no road to talk about. Be it a Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) road, a district road, a community road, and even the bulungi bwansi , which is done by the natives; there is virtually no road. No one should tell us about the funds released by Uganda Road Fund. They are too meagre to cause any effect in Buhweju. I would like to make an appeal that the districts in corners - not only Buhweju, but those like Buhweju - should get affirmative action. I beg to move.

10928 THE EXPLOSIVES BILL, 2003 Madam Speaker, I wish to acknowledge and appreciate honourable Members of Parliament for their efforts in enacting enabling laws, and supporting budget allocations towards empowerment of persons with disabilities. I say that from my heart. This year we had Shs 3 billion allocated but because of your leadership, we have got back all the money; Shs 16 billion. (Applause) Thank you so much for the special grant. That special grant is all over the country. I urge all Members of Parliament to participate in the national and some of the district level commemorations of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Madam Speaker, I conclude with an appeal to you to always support and mobilise resources for persons with disabilities to address their unique disadvantages, and enhance their meaningful inclusion in the development agenda of our country. I also want to take this opportunity to invite all of you to come to Mbarara and see wonders of the disabled people in Uganda. Thank you so much. I beg to submit. (Applause)

Thank you. Let us have the Member from Mbarara that is hosting the event and then the gender minister. (Hon. Biraaro rose_) Is Buhweju hosting? (Laughter) I want us to discuss issues of disabilities on Tuesday, once we have the report on the land. Let us first hear from the Member from Mbarara who is hosting this event.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity. Congratulations upon our twins. This is a commemoration day but I request that while the commemoration takes place, the ministry comes up with something that will stay in the memory of the persons with disabilities in Mbarara District. For example, we can go to a school and designate it as accessible for persons with disabilities. On that day, I am very sure that very many persons with disabilities who lack facilities will throng the occasion. Have they prepared wheelchairs and walking sticks for these people? Let us not only commemorate but plan to serve the people that will be at that occasion. The date has not been given to us – (Interjections) - Is it the 3 rd of December? Okay . Thank you. I take this opportunity to invite all our honourable Members of Parliament to Mbarara on the 3 rd of December.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am also a former Minister of State for Health and I just wanted to say that we need a comprehensive debate on health and healthcare in the country one day, because a lot needs to be done to ensure that we address these issues, which are being raised. I know the Minister of Health will come and give us detailed information, but there are efforts through the Ministry of Health to decentralise most of these services, including mental health, but I just wanted to provide information on cancer briefly. Cancer is on the rise and we need to invest more in public education. It is also true that the Cancer Institute in Mulago is congested, but the institute has established a home nearby where those who come from upcountry can have a rest as they get treatment, in an effort to decongest the Cancer Institute. Also, there are plans to build cancer institutes in the regional referral hospitals. I know for a fact that the Cancer Institute in Gulu has been completed. They are now doing a dry run for it to start functioning. Construction is also going on in Mbale Hospital for a fully-fledged Cancer Institute and also in the plans, I think, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has provided resources for a Cancer Institute in Mbarara and Arua Regional Referral Hospitals - (Member timed out.)

10818 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT (b) Storied Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Personalisation Centre: A three-storied personalisation building is to be constructed at the ministry headquarters. This is to ease office space accommodation and improve service delivery. That is not yet done. 3. Regional enrolment centres and missions abroad. (a) Regions with fully furnished and equipped enrolment centres in Mbale, Mbarara, and Gulu were done. The ones which are not done are Arua and Jinja. (b) Missions abroad with fully furnished and equipped enrolment centres in Washington D.C., London, Pretoria, Copenhagen, Ottawa, Abu-Dhabi, and Beijing, were done. (c) Images of polycarbonate and paper- based passports: Comparison between old passports (paper-based passports) and the new passports (polycarbonate passports). You can see from the diagram on the data page that this was done. (d) Security features: Laser tactile feature, MCD, holothread, Magic ID, MLI, Transparent Window, OVI. The status is the optically variable ink feature and all the details there. Mr Speaker, I beg to submit. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, honourable minister. This is an update and these are issues which the sectoral committee should follow up as we had said. Next item. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT ON THE ACTIONS TAKEN TO MITIGATE ACCIDENTS ON THE MPIGI-KANONI ROAD

It is not only on roads. Look at Karuma Dam of 600 megawatts, which cost $ 1.6 billion compared to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam of Ethiopia producing 6,000 megawatts which cost $ 4 billion. Besides that, the cost of a narrow road in Kampala is four times the cost of a road in Masaka or Mbarara, without compensation. Therefore, Rt Hon. Prime Minister, it is much deeper.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As per Article 163(4), the Parliament received these reports and the scope of this report covers the education sector. This is in respect of the public universities which include, among others, under the Ministry of Education and Sports: Muni, Gulu, Lira, Soroti and Makerere University Business School, Nakawa and Makerere, Busitema, Kabale and Mbarara Universities. Mr Speaker, let me go straight to the Government of Uganda (GOU). The committee notes that a shortfall in the Government of Uganda’s revenue affects the implementation of planned activities at the Vote level and subsequently nationwide. The shortfall in releases was due to the finance ministry’s failure to fully fund the entities’ budgets citing poor economic performance. This observation should be made on the finance ministry because these entities have no powers over budget release, cuts, among others. In some entities like Kyambogo University, critical activities were affected by budget cuts and these activities had to be rolled over to the next work plan of the Financial Year 2022/2023. During this Financial Year 2022/2023, the finance ministry improved releases to Lira University and Makerere University, among others. The committee recommends that the accounting officers should always engage the finance ministry on releases and pursue the balances so as not to curtail the implementation of activities or events depriving their budget lines. Honourable members, since these reports are already uploaded and I know you have already gone through them, let me interest you to look at issues that the committee observed. The committee further observed that non- implementation of planned activities implies that expected services to the beneficiary communities were not attained. The committee notes that while COVID-19 and its effects were factual, the finance ministry be held liable for late releases and going forward, desist from making late releases to entities as it curtails efficient and effective achievement of planned activities. To further explain this, many times, as we heard yesterday, warrants are issued and the finance ministry releases funds to these entities late. You are aware that some of these funds are supposed to be for recruitment and procurement and the time available for them to absorb those funds, when released late, is not possible. In summary, it leads to non-implementation of these activities. Honourable colleagues, aware that the report is big and that you have also gone through it, as raised by the Speaker, in conclusion, it is my prayer and that of the committee that this august House adopts the recommendations contained in this report on the education sector. I hereby move. [Ms Obigah] STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the committee for ably bringing out some of these issues that were highlighted in the Auditor-General’s report. My concern relates to the issue of inadequate funding by the Government to the universities. While at Makerere University, I saw a number of departments and sometimes individual professors writing proposals to foreign entities and obtaining funding. An example is Mbarara University where all of you must have heard of Prof. Ogwang who was able to obtain funding for the research that he did in herbal medicine. I am not certain that the report has clearly highlighted this other silent funding that these professors get so that it aggregates the larger funding that the Government brings to the universities. Thank you.

10704 STATEMENT BY THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION innovations and then individuals go with them. Like this banana project in Bushenyi, you heard that Mbarara University is fighting with Dr Ogwang saying, “We were funding you and now, you have gone to commercialise and you are saying we cannot get anything.” Then there is Kiira. That is very critical. Thank you, honourable member.

The trend of accumulated arrears No Year End Amount (UGXI o/o increase/decrease 1 30ft June 2O2O L3,228,441,399 2 30ft June 2O2I 20,313,148,061 34.9o/o 3 30ft June 2022 14,353,976,164 (4r.s%l The Accounting Officer explained that the bigger chunk of the arrears related to tea nursery operators, and that UGX lbn of the arrears had been paid in the previous financial year. He further explained that part of the reasons for the delay was because there were problems with the accounts of some of the operators and the money paid bounced back. He further explained that in some instances there were commitments made and yet the money received was less. The Committee found that part of the money related to nursery bed operators in the Districts of Kisoro, Kabale, Rukiga, Rubanda, Ntungamo, Rukungiri, Mitooma, Kanungu, and Mbarara who had supplied seedlings to NAADS but were not paid. The nursery bed operators, numberingT l 1, sought to sue NAADS to recover the money. Some of the operators; Frank Byaruhanga, Dr. Francis Runumi, George Owakukiroru, Caleb Kipande Tumwesimira, Sam Kajojo Arinaitwe, Julius T\rmushabe, Fidelis Kanyamun5ru, and Rev. Bernard Mugisha sought the assistance of a lawyer, a one Patrick Kiconco Katabaazi to obtain a Representative Order to allow them file a suit against the government. The Representative OrderMisc.ApplicationNo. OOO9of 2019wasobtainedon lstJuly, tiffs instructed the lawyer to file a suit, Bganthanga Frank & 7 Ors. V Agricttltttral Aduisory Seruices & 11 Ors. Ciuil Suit No.889 of 2019, in which they claimed UGX 143,621,201,500. The matter culminated into a consent judgment filed on O7ft January, 2021. At the time of the consent judgment, UGX 27.3bn was outstanding. lt was agreed that the payments be made through the lawye rllaw firm. The OS$N, lawyer, Mr Katabaazi informed the Committee that he had received a total qft\ ,/ UGX 39bn on behalf of the Plaintiffs. N ' 3 Some of the operators the Committee interfaced with informed the Committee that they had not received all the money due to them, and accused Mr. Katabaazi of not remitting to them all the money due to them. Mr Katabaazi submitted that the Plaintiffs had instructed him to pay the 71 I s based on a criteria =a*^"g" ,?,7" t !" ,')r lt( ; ik."," il,( & \--+-'r a> @,

10494 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Despite this stable transmission pattern, the threat of a potential COVID-19 resurgence remains, given the ongoing and successive mutations being recorded globally. The difference is that as a country, we are much more prepared in terms of oxygen supply, healthcare workforce competence and expertise, and bed capacity, including the high-dependency units and intensive care units. Mr Speaker, allow me to inform this august House that the top seven districts reporting the highest number of cases above 30 from January 2023 to September 2023 include the following: Kampala, Wakiso, Masaka, Kisoro, Gulu, Mbarara and Luwero, and the numbers are as follows; Kampala – 1,020, Wakiso - 279, Masaka - 50, Kisoro - 46, Gulu - 45, Mbarara - 39, and Luwero - 30 cases. Uganda launched the COVID-19 vaccination campaign on 10 March 2021 and as of 25 September 2023, a total of 26,471,494 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to the population across the country. Of this, 19,203,485 was given as the first dose, 6,735,177 as the second dose, and 532,832 as the booster dose. To date, 59 per cent of the population, 18 years and above, have received at least two doses of the vaccine while only 6 per cent of children aged 12 to 17 years have received two doses of the vaccine. This coverage is below our target of 28.5 million eligible Ugandans; 22 million adults and 6.5 million children who are up to date with their vaccination against COVID-19. Despite these successes in vaccination, the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination has stagnated in the past 18 months. This is attributed to a significantly reduced risk perception at the population level, and as a result, by February 2024, 72,567,200 vaccine doses will expire. In regards to the Global COVID-19 pandemic perspective, on 4 May 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in concurrence with the International Health Regulation (IHR) Committee, downgraded the COVID-19 Pandemic from a public health emergency of International concern to an ongoing and established health issue. Accordingly, the International Health Regulation Committee (IHR) confirmed that COVID-19 is an ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. Mr Speaker and honourable members, the WHO made the following recommendations to all state parties: i. Sustain the National capacity gains and prepare for future events to avoid the occurrence of a cycle of panic and neglect. WHO further encourages State Parties to improve country readiness for future outbreaks. Countries should restore health programs adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. ii. Integrate COVID-19 vaccines into routine immunisation programs, maintain efforts to increase coverage for people in the high priority groups and continue to actively address vaccine acceptance. Mr Speaker, we have done this. All Health Facilities that offer vaccination have COVID-19 vaccines. iii. Bring together information from diverse respiratory pathogen surveillance data sources to allow for comprehensive situational awareness. State parties should maintain the reporting of mortality and morbidity data as well as variant surveillance information to WHO. And we have continued to do this, likewise, I have just given you the statistics iv. Strengthen country regulatory authorities to support long-term authorization and use of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Mr Speaker, the NDA Bill is stuck at the First Parliamentary Council but we are following it.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will zero down on two issues since we are time bound. One is how far the Ministry of Local Government has gone in emphasising physical planning and abiding by the rules related to construction, protection of nature and all that. Planning starts at every level so every local government is supposed to have a plan. That is the reason why we abolished the District Development Equalisation Grant (DDEG). We argued our hearts out in Parliament but you restored it. However, we guide them to start by making plans. Two, on illegal constructions, we zeroed in on the most dangerous ones and these are the petrol stations. Members, you will agree with me that even in your constituencies, there is illegal construction of petrol stations. The Ministry of Local Government came out with a circular stopping the construction of petrol stations and we referred the matter to the supervisory body; the Physical Planning Authority. When you see an illegal petrol station, run to the Physical Planning Authority. We have done our work. Thirdly, as the Ministry of Local Government, we have observed that we, including you, are the worst destroyers of nature in our regions. I was driving through Mbarara and I saw how River Rwizi -

10526 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Mr Speaker, in 2021, the ministry made a strategic decision to shift routine maintenance of road equipment to an in-house arrangement. Routine maintenance mainly entails servicing of the road equipment, that is, change of filters and oils, carrying out minor repairs and undertaking other preventive steps like greasing. The reason for the above shift in maintenance approach was to curtail the overall equipment maintenance cost while strengthening the capacity of our regional mechanical workshops with the ability to carry out minor repairs and residual capacity to remotely monitor the Komatsu road equipment using the KOMTRAX system. Major repairs like system overhauls and complicated diagnosis continued to be handled by the road equipment dealers. While this new hybrid approach to road equipment maintenance is working and, to some extent, has reduced the cost of maintenance, it has experienced a number of teething problems mostly due to financial constraints which, resultantly, has reduced equipment availability to about 30 per cent. The ministry operates four regional mechanical workshops; Central Mechanical Workshop at Kampala for the Central Region, at Bugembe in Jinja for the eastern region, at Gulu for Northern region and at Mbarara for western region. While the regional mechanical workshops are equipped with mobile capacity to carry out routine maintenance, the number of mobile workshops is insufficient to cover the entire country.

The regional mechanical workshops also act as regional hubs where road equipment can be referred in case of complex repairs, although they are not adequately equipped with requisite tools. Regarding the status of regional mechanical workshops, I would like to furnish you with the following information: Infrastructure and tools Apart from Bugembe Regional Mechanical Workshop which was built with the assistance of JICA in 1996, the other three do not have the appropriate infrastructure in place. For example, Gulu and Mbarara Regional Mechanical Workshops can best be described as parking yards while one at Central Mechanical Workshop has dilapidated structures. i. The ministry has continually engaged with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development but due to resource constraints, we have not been able to get funds for equipping/retooling the workshops. Conversely, the ministry has also engaged with development partners such as JICA for project support but this is yet to be realised. It is an area that we continue to explore and advance. A feasibility study carried out on refurbishment and retooling/equipping the region and mechanical workshops estimated the requirement is to be Shs 100 billion. Funding of maintenance for the road equipment In 2017, when the road equipment was procured, it was computed and estimated that its annual routine/predicted maintenance cost would be Shs 22 billion. In the Financial Year 2017/2018, the Government allocated Shs 10 billion for road equipment maintenance with an addition of Shs 6 billion in the Financial Year 2018/2019 and finally, Shs 6 billion in the Financial Year 2018/2019.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will talk about the Ankole region, specifically the Mbarara Regional Mechanical Workshop. Whenever we have District Road Committee meetings, we invite the engineer from the workshop so that at the end of the meeting, he can assure us whether he can service these graders or not. There have been two concerns. Whenever the Uganda Road Fund releases money for district and community access roads, the Mbarara Regional Mechanical Workshop is not given funds to repair the graders. You find money on the accounts of subcounties and the district, but the roads cannot be worked on because the graders are normally down. I have a letter here on the breakdown of the grader, and it was written on 22 July 2022. However, up to now, our grader is still in the mechanical workshop and the workshop is saying they do not have money to service this grader. Therefore, the biggest challenge is funding. The engineer gave us information that their bill was Shs 30 billion, but it was reduced to Shs 11 billion. They are not able to service these graders because they do not have the money -

Thank you. Honourable members, to have the debate move very well, if you have opened your iPads, the minister was very honest. He said that apart from Bugembe Regional Mechanical Workshop, which was built with the assistance of JICA in 1996, the other three do not have appropriate infrastructure in place. He said Gulu and Mbarara Regional Mechanical Workshops can best be described as parking yards. The minister is being honest and he told you that the issue is money. The debate should be on how this can be sorted. Even if we list how our graders are not being worked on, the minister has no capacity. It is a workshop without workshop capacity. If a minister can tell you it is a parking yard, what else - And this is an official statement. It is not off the cuff and it has gone through the structures. Therefore, can we focus our debate on seeing how we can build capacity here?

10537 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2023 These regional workshops in the country - we have one in Mbarara that takes Kigezi, Ankole, the entire Rwenzori or Toro; it is huge. So, I agreed with my colleagues that at least we should have sub-stations because getting a wheel loader from Mbarara is very difficult. When you go to Mbarara, they will tell you it has gone to Kisoro. When you are in Kisoro, it is in Kanungu. It becomes a very big problem. So, Mr Speaker, it is better for us to have sub- branches to help us. Again, on maintenance, districts are suffering. You go for a machine from the district, the district tells you “We do not have tyres.” So, subcounties end up using money for maintenance to buy these tyres and it becomes a very big problem. They say: “This machine has broken down; you have to buy before we release these machines.” So, the money that is meant to do work ends up repairing machines. I can see here that they made a study of Shs 100 billion. Even if you have not gone at once, at Shs 100 billion, can’t this Parliament really provide this money? We are the people who appropriate. We can appropriate and say Shs 50 billion should begin the works so that our regional workshops are well equipped. Lastly, it is about – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Concerning the parking yard and regional mechanical workshops, we need, really, to give the ministry money and be mindful of the corruption. I see the money for transporting equipment from Fort Portal to Mbarara very inflated. It discourages us and it is very dangerous. There is an issue of suppressing budgets. I need to be got clearly that the honourable minister talked about wealth creation. We need to put money where we shall look back and see the money. If we put the money in road equipment, in making good roads – wealth creation, you may look back and – I do not now know where it is now. On the quality of procurement, we talked about the Chinese – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the minister because for once, he has spoken the truth. However, I want to let you know that much as we have lamented on money issues, it is also not enough. Mr Speaker, the architect of this should also revise his brain. If you consider the Kigezi Subregion, the emergencies that have been happening – it rains like thrice a month and the moment it rains, the whole of Kigezi gets affected and the communities get disconnected. Is it, therefore, right for the equipment to be kept in Mbarara while Kabale and the whole of Kigezi are suffering for the same? This should be revised and there should be a priority. In Mbarara, there is a stable kind of soil, but in Kabale, it goes year in and year out, and we have been bringing issues here in Parliament. We need to revise this and have equipment kept in Kabale, not in Mbarara; we need ours. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Honourable member, they have told you that Mbarara is just a parking yard; it is not helpful – (Laughter) Let us ask the one of Isingiro who is next to Mbarara.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to also comment on the minister’s statement. I would like to join my colleagues to thank the minister for the good statement, more specifically the honesty with which he presented it. I come from Isingiro, which is one of the biggest districts. Therefore, accessing road equipment is very difficult. Even the one we had at the district is now very old and almost obsolete; it is in a dangerous mechanical condition. Whenever you consult the district about a certain emergency – like recently, the last few days, we experienced heavy rains. Some two villages of Kyakabindi A and Kyakabindi B are cut-off now for over a week because whenever I request a machine, I find it has been down and is also located at another end of the district. I am of the view that we could wait until we collect enough money and get road equipment. I have not seen the guidelines but for sure the district should be allowed to buy the equipment with some of this money instead of concentrating on maintaining the old one -(Interjection) - I said we wait until we get enough to buy equipment; I am not saying Shs 1 billion is enough to buy road equipment. Secondly, my colleague from Kabale said that the equipment centre should shift to Kabale, but I think we are near Mbarara where the road equipment is – but the road equipment is also not enough. Many times we have gone to Mbarara as neighbours to borrow that road equipment, but it is never available. Whenever you ask for it, it is either in Kisoro or in Kabale – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the honourable minister; he has attempted to be honest in this report. This report needs to include the human resource capacity at the mechanical workshops. It does not, at all, talk about the human resource in these workshops. Even if we have the equipment, they will not operate themselves. They will still be redundant. I was listening in – of course, I fall within the Mbarara Mechanical Workshop Region. The cries are the same from Kabale, Ntoroko to Kazo. He needed to tell us about the corporate governance structures in these workshops because the challenge is even in communication. Even when they cannot do something, you will never get the answer. Those mechanical workshops are kingdoms in themselves. I will give you an example: In Mbarara, there are three excavators. They said they got Shs 12 billion. That would mean that out of four, each got Shs 3 billion but all the three excavators are completely down. I attempted to check recently but all the machines are completely down. You now wonder: Even if it was poor resourcing, what does the Shs 3 billion even do, if not to at least service one excavator to be on standby? Finally, on this one, allow me to comment as a Member of Parliament. Kazo was split from Kiruhura in 2019. We got a grader which was supposed to be worked on; it needed Shs 150 billion. It is now 2023; it has been at the mechanical workshop and has never been worked on. Even with meagre resources, would it be impossible, in five years, for someone to prioritise and overhaul a grader? Mr Speaker, as you guided, I do not want to sound – Because I am conflicted in this matter since you have already referred it to my committee; I am personally touched because of the – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter concerning Nyakambu Bridge which is on the verge of collapsing. It serves various districts, and there is a lot of traffic carrying commercial goods along that place. The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) in its usual maintenance routine cannot manage that bridge. They had hoped that with the long- awaited upgrading of Bwizibwera-Nyakambu- Nsiika with a spur to Sheema-Kabwohe would work on that bridge. Now during these rains, people find it difficult to pass there. Actually, it is going to result into loss of many lives of people who get tempted to pass there. It is equally becoming very expensive. If you are crossing to Ibanda, to Kashari, Mbarara, people have to pass through Kabwohe-Mbarara road and then to Ibanda road which is costly. The Prime Minister met with the Ankole group Members of Parliament in March this year, and told them that the road was a priority and that it would be among the very first roads to be worked on. COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I appreciate your statements to this House today with regard to this Higher Education Scholarship Fund. It is not the first time you have mentioned but also, on national television about the idea of revising admission to some of these universities - because it rewards those who are better off; those who have paid fees for their children in better schools. However, for people largely from the rural areas, who struggle there, it is a tug of war. I want to attest to you and to this House, Mr Speaker, that last year when this scheme was running; it was able to support 65 students from Karamoja. A number of them are doing Medicine in Mbarara University, Bushenyi Campus, and a good number are doing Information Technology here in ISBAT University along Lugogo bypass. It is an equaliser for many parts and when the Chancellor invited me, I found that there were a number of students from Acholi, deep in Kisoro, who were there. I said, “this is great.” This is helping because for you to qualify, it is just enough to be admitted to a recognised institution of higher learning and then, you get the fund. Let us put affirmative action on this initiative. It is helping a lot of young boys and girls from across the country. Mr Speaker, this is October and those children already had admissions. What are we going to do - because not many universities take children in January? Can we understand the numbers that will be - Should we go out immediately and inform our young people that there is a window of or an opening and who have got admissions from any organised university in the science area, can we collect these numbers and prepare them for the January intake? That is the further clarification I want to get from the minister. Thank you.

Honourable minister, you have a station in Mbarara. The Member has just given information, and so, I expected you to say that you were going to direct the manager of your station in Mbarara to go and assess. Don’t you think that is better, or you are working on it?

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity. I chair that committee, but every time we interact with the ministers and the technical team, they are very clear that they do not have money. The Mbarara mechanical workshop had three excavators, but they are all broken down. They said that it is only one that is able to move, but it would also need Shs 16 million, which the workshop does not have. That applies to the other mechanical workshops in the country. Those mechanical workshops are just white elephants. I am wondering why my senior here, I do not know whether it is the spirit of cadreship - he cannot tell this Parliament the truth.

When I retire, that is where I am going. So, I need to fight for the sector. (Laughter) Honourable colleagues, many of you will join me. Hon. Oguzu Lee had suggested something to me; that when they appear before the committee, they should appear in the regions so that it is not just a Kampala affair. I will detail that in the terms of reference when I am forwarding the petition. Thank you. Honourable colleagues, in the Public Gallery this afternoon, we have Speakers from some of the western region districts. They include the Speakers of Rwampara, Kiruhura, Kazo, Ntungamo, Sheema, Ibanda, Hoima, Bundibugyo, Buhweju, Kagadi, Kakumiro, Rukiga, Mbarara, Kikuube and Kasese. They have come to observe how we are running the House and they will be advising the Deputy Speaker, later on, on how to run the House better. Thank you for coming, friends.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I also appreciate the report by the minister on fuel, but I would also like the minister to interest himself on the disparity of fuel prices. I do not know how quality is being handled in Uganda because the moment you go for the cheapest price, then you face challenges. Minister, why is it that in Uganda, prices are not the same? Shell has its own, Total – and then, there are some other petrol stations, which you cannot mention here. Do we have a regulatory body that is regulating the prices in our country? I think that we are being suffocated and especially Masaka to Mbarara; I think these people are targeting Western Uganda. I do not know why, because the moment you go to that area, petrol stations are like shops now. Do you have a regulatory body to regulate these business people on prices and quality of what we are supposed to be taking in as a country? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, again for the opportunity. Thank you, honourable minister, for the statement and the committee for the report. We are talking about fuel prices versus the cost of living. Who is affected? It is the schools. We have talked about no increase on school fees here, and yet food prices and scholastic materials are going up. How do we expect them to be funded? Therefore, we need to work on fuel. Two, as Members of Parliament, there is no decrease in the distances we cover to our constituencies yet the fuel price has almost doubled. Mr Speaker, the fuel you are paid may not be enough to take you up to Mbarara. So, how will you superintend over your constituency in Mitooma? It has become a very serious issue that needs attention. Three, the citizens who use taxis, boda-bodas and other public transport - this will ultimately affect the performance of the PDM. I beg to submit.

10262 COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR from Mbarara to the western region, including Rwanda. So, you better think seriously about the old Kabale Road as an alternative to the winding hilly Kabaraga Road.

Thank you. I am going to pick you, honourable colleagues and you will speak for two minutes each, so that I can have a big number speaking to this motion. I will start with Hon. Pascal from Buwekula, the Hon. Angura and Hon. Ruhunda. The Member from Mbarara witnessed the first meeting that we had. Let us do this quickly so that we can have as many Members as possible speak to this team.

Honourable members, it is also appropriate to have a stadium in Mitooma. (Laughter) So, please, take serious note. I had allowed the Member from Mbarara, then Hon. Nebanda and then Hon. Beatrice Akori.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. First, I congratulate the Government and FUFA. However, I would like to implore the Ministry of Education and Sports – my colleague has talked about Hoima. It is not only about stadia hosting such events, but we should also talk about the hospitality in this country. Now, when you talk about hospitality in this country, apart from Kampala, Mbarara is second. Aware that this is a Pamoja bid, you are talking about northern Tanzania, but those people to come to Kampala, it may not be very easy. However, with the good infrastructure we have – the Isingiro Road, up to the border – we can capture attention of some people in northern Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. It is my humble request, Mr Speaker, to the Ministry of Education and Sports to consider Mbarara hosting some of the matches. I beg to move.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I wanted to give Hon. Kabanda information concerning Ugandans such as Mabirizi. Much obliged, thank you so much and let us stand together. United we stand and win as Uganda. We have already qualified to participate and I know Uganda may even take the African Cup of Nations, insha-Allah. MR MAURICE KIBALYA (NRM, Bugabula County South, Kamuli: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I add my voice to whoever has congratulated those that participated in the bid to have Uganda host the AFCON 2027. There is no international gathering or conference that can pull crowds like when we host games. In 2027, I am very sure Uganda is going to host people that it has never hosted before. It is going to have a population that will disorganise the whole set up of Uganda. This is the time and we have three years to prepare for this. Mr Speaker, I have heard colleagues suggesting that the stadium should be in Fort Portal, Hoima or somewhere. This is not an event for Kampala, Fort Portal or Hoima alone. It is for Uganda as a whole. We need to see the Ministry of Education and Sports coming to do some renovation work at Bugembe Stadium so that when a participating country comes, they can go for training in Jinja and stay there for two days as they prepare to come and play at Namboole or Nakivubo stadia. We should not have all countries in Kampala alone as if Mbale or Jinja are not waiting. This is an opportunity for every region to benefit. Let it not be centralised in Kampala as if they have only come to visit Kampala. We want every region to benefit in whichever formula. We have seen countries jetting in five days, a week or eight days in advance. Take them to Mbale, Gulu and Mbarara so that they train from there. Those people will benefit from the different sectors -(Member timed out.)

10238 STANDIN G C O M M I T T E E R E PORT During our interaction with the Ministry of Local Government, the committee was informed that the budget provision for ex- gratia and honoraria for local government leaders has fallen short over the last five years and that is from Financial Year 2018/2019 to FY 2022/2023 leading to an outstanding amount of Shs 9,074,258,232. These are the monies that should be paid and these leaders are struggling but they are not receiving that money. (ii) The committee also noted that in the current Financial Year 2023/2024, no provision or IPF was sent to the local governments on ex-gratia and honoraria, amounting to Uganda Shs 48.19 billion as required for the ex-gratia and on honoraria amounting to Shs 48.19 billion as required for the ex-gratia and honoraria. We have given a breakdown, you can look through page six where you will find we have 70,500 LCI and 10,585 LCII - they need this financial year Shs 9.7 billion for their payment and it is not catered for. You will look through and it gives you a total of Shs 48 billion we have provided the details in the table. The committee also looked at the arrears; we have given a breakdown on page seven and the breakdown we have provided covers only the cities and the districts that we visited, but when you look at the annex, you will find a detailed breakdown of how much money was not sent to which entity, giving the total of the Shs 9 billion I talked about. Madam Speaker, we made observations on page 8 that you will look through, and the observations, if I may just run through very quickly: (i) There were figures that were not correlating with the figures provided by the minutes of local government and what we found in the field. (ii) We also received a list of the arrears from the Ministry of Local Government that were submitted. The Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development received this list and committed that they would include this in the 3 per cent supplementary since they had not included it in the budget which is a big mistake. (iii) The Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development also acknowledged the omission of ex-gratia and honoraria in the budget for 2023- 2024. Recommendation (i) The Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, and the affected local government entities should harmonise the arrears for ex-gratia and honoraria; and (ii) The Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development to expedite the verification process of the ex-gratia arrears and honoraria to ensure that the requisite funds are provided for in the supplementary budget in line with Section 25 of the Public Finance Management Act. Terms of reference two and three, I will just give a summary. Here, our intention as a committee was to establish the availability of land in the different districts from where the cities were created and also to look at their level of preparedness as far as the relocation is concerned. We went to Soroti District where we found they prepared a council resolution; it is important to inform Members that Soroti had gone a step ahead and started construction after they received Shs 1 billion from the Ministry of Finance and this financial year they expected to receive an additional Shs 800 million. However, the other nine districts of Gulu, Arua, Masaka, Mbarara, Hoima, Jinja, Mbale, and Kabarole: all these are the cities which were created apart from Soroti. All the others have [Mr Mapenduzi] SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT

9631 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 18 JULY 2023 You know very well that on issues of the Road Fund – For instance, if you look at the history of this House on appropriation, in the Financial Year 2022/2023, there was a big reduction on the Fund – that is Vote 118. The big reduction was from Shs 489.3 billion to Shs 487 billion in the Financial Year 2021/2022. In the Financial Year 2022/2023, it was Shs 401 billion only. Instead of increasing, it is reducing. Because of that, we have got a petition. There was a reduction of Shs 88 billion. We need the Committee on Physical Infrastructure to study this issue and report back. We also need a response from the finance ministry on why they reduced that amount. You can give your response to the committee and that should be reported to the House. Honourable members, this money goes to our constituencies and helps us to come back to Parliament. If you cannot fight for the Road Fund, then you are a nobody. The roads are bad; they need to be worked on. When people say the money goes to Members of Parliament, it is not our personal money. We are working on the roads; we provide money to work on the roads. Therefore, we must work very hard to ensure that the money that belongs to the Road Fund is put back or even increased. It has also come to our attention that since 2020, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is unable to collect revenue from outdoor advertising due to the absence of a relevant ordinance. There is no ordinance; KCCA has not made it. All those signposts that you are seeing – I can see the Chairperson of the Committee on Presidential Affairs is nodding her head – are not collecting money. The Non-Tax Revenue (NTR) that is collected from KCCA is limited because of the lack of an ordinance. Therefore, we want KCCA to have the ordinance in place and ensure that all those outdoor advertisements are paid for. We need money; we cannot continue lamenting all the time that we do not have money, yet we have an avenue to collect it. That should be implemented and reported to this House. Honourable members, you know very well that it is you and I who are supposed to support the Government to get money. On Sunday, the Prime Minister represented the country during the Women’s Soccer Match in Kigali. I think you all saw her, very excited. She went and watched the National Women’s Team, the Crested Cranes, in Kigali, where our team performed very well. We thank the team. (Applause) The team is due to go to Paris for a Women’s Olympic Football Tournament qualifiers. In the next phase, they will be going to Cameroon in September 2023. I congratulate the women for that . (Applause) On behalf of the women of Uganda, we will continue supporting our women’s football because they are proving to be better than all the others . (Laughter) As a House, we will continue ensuring that they get sufficient funding. The funding, this time, must be channelled to the women, not only men. The 11 th Parliament will always support sports in this country. We will support whatever kind of sports, for socio-economic transformation. Honourable members, yesterday, I received information about the unrest in Amolatar District, where some locals were up against non-natives of the area. We are all Ugandans; we need to co-exist. We should not go into the mentality of the traditional times – that we do not want people who are not from this area. I want the minister to ensure that we avoid this kind of thing. Finally, on a sad note, again – on top of the 16 accidents – today, we got information of the demise of the Archbishop Emeritus of Mbarara Archdiocese, His Grace Paul Bakyenga. The deceased was a very dedicated servant of God and committed his entire life to fulfilling his priesthood. May we rise and observe a moment of silence in his honour. (Members rose and observed a moment of silence.)

9622 PRIME MINISTER’S TIME impairments. His prayer is that I update the House on the matter. Madam Speaker, Section 15(A) of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2020, provides for deployment, training and use of sign language, and tactile sign language interpreters in all public institutions, and this includes the courts of law. The revised National Policy on Persons with Disabilities, 2023, under priority area 2(ii), of the strategies and actions, enhancement of communication in different formats is emphasised, and sign language is explicitly mentioned. The Judiciary has got one sign language interpreter deployed at Buganda Road Court, Kampala. The sign language interpreter was recruited purposely to assist persons with hearing impairments. Since the cases involving persons with hearing impairments are very few, the sign language interpreter is facilitated to go to any other court where there are such cases, to assist as required and there are no complaints. Apart from sign language interpreters, the Judiciary employs more than 348 court interpreters who are deployed in various courts across the country, to assist interpretation of court proceedings. For example, the Family Division Court, Buganda Road Court, Mityana Chief Magistrates Court, Mbarara High Court, Koboko Chief Magistrates Court, Moyo Chief Magistrates Court, Kasese Chief Magistrates Court, etcetera. Number two, Hon. Kevin Kaala, the District Woman Representative, Pallisa, raised a concern on the heavy downpour on Thursday, 28 April 2022 in Pallisa District that led to floods that washed away Kaboloi, Ometai and Otuti Bridges that link Pallisa to Ngora District. She asked: “Can the Prime Minister inform the House on interventions instituted by the Government to remedy the situation?” Madam Speaker, the Government, through the Ministry of Works and Transport, on 4 August 2022 provided Pallisa District with 32 meters of length and 2.1 meters of diameter metal culverts wide and 40 pieces of gabion boxes two by one by one (two meters wide, one- meter-deep and one-meter width). The ministry also advised the district to write to the Uganda Road Fund for emergency funding to allow maintenance works on Kaboloi Bridge. The Ministry on 26 April 2023 held a meeting with the honourable Members of Parliament for Gogonyo and Kibaale Counties after the temporary intervention by the district. As a result, on 4 May 2023, the ministry inspected Kaboloi Bridge with a view of carrying out major works to restore connectivity. Madam Speaker and colleagues, the ministry undertook to install the metal culverts to restore connectivity. The provision of Shs 40 million was made in fourth quota of the Financial Year 2022/2023 under project number 1558 for intervention, particularly, installation of culverts as a means of restoring connectivity. These works are expected to commence in July this year. This financial year, Government has prioritised rural bridges under infrastructure development to enable the ministry to reconstruct dilapidated bridges and construct new bridges that are currently timber-made - temporary bridges in the districts, urban and community access roads network across the country that are estimated to be 1,636 bridges. Hon. Musherure Shartsi Nayebare Kutesa, Member of Parliament Mawogola – (Interruption)

Yes, it is a good report. Madam Speaker, this morning I received a call when I was coming here - and I think this report is timely - from a student who completed and graduated. This student is now looking for any opportunity to get employed and so he can start repaying his loan. Unfortunately, he cannot access his transcripts. As a Committee of PAC, this afternoon we had a meeting with Mbarara University and I

9589 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 12 JULY 2023 do not have a legally functional Board that can take a decision that it can be accountable for. The professionalism of the management of finances is not there; it is non-existent. So, who are we talking about? Madam Speaker, this institution is the oversight institution. We need to take action now. If you were to ask me to give my opinion, we have to halt this scheme until we re-evaluate how it has been managed. I was looking at this and I thought that maybe, I am not reading well in terms of the Ugandan record. There is this district called Madi- Okollo. In nine years, it got four people. In nine years, there is a district called Mbarara, which got 416 students. I think there is another one; Obongi, which got four students. In nine years, Ntungamo got 488 students. This cannot be happening in Uganda. In the Parish Development Model, we have already identified 39 per cent of the population living below the poverty line. Where do you find the 39 per cent? (Applause) Let us first show - Somebody is not thinking about the policy and how to properly manage this country economically. So, let us rethink. Madam Speaker, I am very sorry; I am not criticising anybody but I am saying the people we have put in charge are not in charge. You cannot bring this report before us. We have a record of 39 per cent of people living below the poverty level. Where are their children going to school? Who is sponsoring their education? The fathers of this nation diagnosed three challenges to drive this country forward. Whether you are talking about Korea, you have to look at the three pillars; disease, ignorance and poverty (DIP). You have to structure around those three. We then added “S” for security. Madam Speaker, I am saying that we need to fix corporate governance. We need to halt this system until we have put our priorities right. That is my contribution. I beg to submit.

Honourable colleagues, we have a programme under the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development called Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID). Under USMID, they have constructed roads, which also have street lights and walkways, in Masaka, Mbarara and other areas. So, committee chairman, you will clarify whether you tried to compare with those. They say we cannot compare with UNRA, which is on highways, but we can compare with roads in Masaka, Jinja or Soroti because the roads are the same; same design and by the same Government. The trick is simple – and I know some of you know. On roads, all these contractors you see around have brokers. So, when the entity is developing bill of quantities (BoQs), it makes the BoQs very high and then leaks the estimated cost to the companies. Now, companies start costing, based on the BoQs. So, when they advertise, you find that the companies, which have participated, are costing very highly. It is because they know the BoQs within the entity. Why would a road in KCCA, with the same design, same lights and the same walkways cost three or four times more than a road in Masaka, Soroti or Mbarara? There is a very big problem somewhere and we have to tackle it head-on, whether it means first holding on to some loans or urging the minister to go and even talk to these donors. By the way, they are not donors, but lenders; they like to be called funders, but they give us loans. We have to look into it deeply. I am telling you, it is a shame. There is no way you will defend this before people.

Mr Speaker, this Parliament appropriated Shs 22 billion for the Ministry of Health to pay arrears to medical interns and senior house officers in all sites of placement across this country. The interns and senior house officers, for example, in Kiruddu Hospital, Mulago and Mbarara, among others, have been paid their full arrears. However, the interns and senior house officers in Mbale Regional Referral Hospital have not been paid their arrears; the details are hereby attached. The second and third years whose payment was effected only received two months out of six for the period of January to June 2023. The first- year students received a three months’ payment [Mr Balimwezo] COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

9339 THE ELEVENTH P ARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY , 4 J ULY 2023 years, as large part of the population joins the money economy. The industrialisation drives across the country have brought about positive results. There are eight Government-owned industrial parks, which are operational in Namanve, Luzira, Bweyogerere, Soroti, Mbale, Jinja, Mbarara and Kasese. The industrial parks in Karamoja and Koboko will soon commence. In addition, there are three industrial parks operating under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. The total number of factories is now 4,008, employing 150,685 Ugandans, largely the youth, who form part of the biggest percentage of our population. This is a reflection of socio-economic transformation. The President emphasised the Parish Development Model that will accelerate socio- economic growth, where 39 per cent of the households in the non-money economy will be moved to the money economy. This approach will organise and deliver public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation. His Excellency the President launched a wealth and jobs creation initiative for those who found it difficult to access financing through banks called “ Emyooga .” This initiative has been successful in mobilising, especially the youths and women in the informal sector into productive self-employment by increasing their skills, acquiring equipment and accessing affordable capital. As at the end of December 2022, seed capital amounting to Shs 258 billion had been disbursed to 6,714 Emyooga SACCOs and Shs 1,000,000 to individual beneficiaries. His Excellency the President indicated that tourism has had a significant potential for the economy. The sector has registered key achievements. For example, it employs 1.5 million Ugandans along the entire tourism value chain and contributes 6.7 per cent of the GDP. In the year 2022, Uganda’s national parks hosted 367,869 visitors; leisure and holiday visitors stayed longer and the wildlife populations have increased. These numbers have grown and increased Uganda’s Government’s focus on infrastructure and marketing. The President stressed that social metamorphosis takes place when societies undergo modernisation. In modernised countries, a small percentage of people are involved in agriculture. A country must be supported to move to value addition and manufacturing. Thus, in order to build a knowledge-based economy using advanced scientific knowledge, the President called upon Members of Parliament support to Kiira Motors to get moving so that the production of automobiles becomes part of the economy. The President commented on the Anti- Homosexuality Bill and commended the Parliament of Uganda for passing it. He raised the substantive points that should be used to explain Uganda’s position. His Excellency the President outlined the economic priorities of the Government in the next financial year, which include peace and security of persons and property, effective implementation of PDM and Emyooga , acquisition of right-of-way for Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), investing in small-scale solar- powered irrigation to address climate change and food security, constructing transmission lines and power substations, maintenance of both tarmac and murram roads, development of industrial parks, support medical schools and scientific-based research, expediting the infrastructure of oil and gas, capitalising UDB and UDC and supporting ICT. In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to thank His Excellency the President, Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for steering the NRM government to expand the economic base of the country and a strong foundation that has been built for rapid economic growth and socio-economic transformation. I beg to move.

Mr Speaker, this Parliament appropriated Shs 22 billion for the Ministry of Health to pay arrears to medical interns and senior house officers in all sites of placement across this country. The interns and senior house officers, for example, in Kiruddu Hospital, Mulago and Mbarara, among others, have been paid their full arrears. However, the interns and senior house officers in Mbale Regional Referral Hospital have not been paid their arrears; the details are hereby attached. The second and third years whose payment was effected only received two months out of six for the period of January to June 2023. The first- year students received a three months’ payment [Mr Balimwezo] COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

9339 THE ELEVENTH P ARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY , 4 J ULY 2023 years, as large part of the population joins the money economy. The industrialisation drives across the country have brought about positive results. There are eight Government-owned industrial parks, which are operational in Namanve, Luzira, Bweyogerere, Soroti, Mbale, Jinja, Mbarara and Kasese. The industrial parks in Karamoja and Koboko will soon commence. In addition, there are three industrial parks operating under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. The total number of factories is now 4,008, employing 150,685 Ugandans, largely the youth, who form part of the biggest percentage of our population. This is a reflection of socio-economic transformation. The President emphasised the Parish Development Model that will accelerate socio- economic growth, where 39 per cent of the households in the non-money economy will be moved to the money economy. This approach will organise and deliver public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation. His Excellency the President launched a wealth and jobs creation initiative for those who found it difficult to access financing through banks called “ Emyooga .” This initiative has been successful in mobilising, especially the youths and women in the informal sector into productive self-employment by increasing their skills, acquiring equipment and accessing affordable capital. As at the end of December 2022, seed capital amounting to Shs 258 billion had been disbursed to 6,714 Emyooga SACCOs and Shs 1,000,000 to individual beneficiaries. His Excellency the President indicated that tourism has had a significant potential for the economy. The sector has registered key achievements. For example, it employs 1.5 million Ugandans along the entire tourism value chain and contributes 6.7 per cent of the GDP. In the year 2022, Uganda’s national parks hosted 367,869 visitors; leisure and holiday visitors stayed longer and the wildlife populations have increased. These numbers have grown and increased Uganda’s Government’s focus on infrastructure and marketing. The President stressed that social metamorphosis takes place when societies undergo modernisation. In modernised countries, a small percentage of people are involved in agriculture. A country must be supported to move to value addition and manufacturing. Thus, in order to build a knowledge-based economy using advanced scientific knowledge, the President called upon Members of Parliament support to Kiira Motors to get moving so that the production of automobiles becomes part of the economy. The President commented on the Anti- Homosexuality Bill and commended the Parliament of Uganda for passing it. He raised the substantive points that should be used to explain Uganda’s position. His Excellency the President outlined the economic priorities of the Government in the next financial year, which include peace and security of persons and property, effective implementation of PDM and Emyooga , acquisition of right-of-way for Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), investing in small-scale solar- powered irrigation to address climate change and food security, constructing transmission lines and power substations, maintenance of both tarmac and murram roads, development of industrial parks, support medical schools and scientific-based research, expediting the infrastructure of oil and gas, capitalising UDB and UDC and supporting ICT. In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to thank His Excellency the President, Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for steering the NRM government to expand the economic base of the country and a strong foundation that has been built for rapid economic growth and socio-economic transformation. I beg to move.

Thank you, my sister, from Mbarara. It is good we have been together in many forums which are discussing milk matters. You know very well that it is recently that we went with the President to Algeria and the Government of Algeria is not like the Government of Uganda, for them, they do not work with the private sector; they work Government-to-Government and they are working in collaboration with the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has been given a chance to identify companies that can serve milk. We have about three or four companies, including Amos Dairies Uganda Limited, Pearl Dairy Farms Limited and other dairies, which have already written expressions of interest and they have

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. To begin with, I thank you, Madam Speaker, because immediately I received the tragic news, I contacted you and everybody in the security system, including the President. I thank you that not only did you receive my call, but you even opened your home for us to have a meeting on a way forward. I am meant to understand that we almost lost you because your pressure went up when you saw innocent citizens – school children; our future engineers, our doctors, our priests and our judges – murdered and had their lives brutally terminated in cold blood. We really appreciate you for the support you gave us. We also appreciate the support of the colleagues in the House. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I thank the minister for the comprehensive report. Madam Speaker, you have just guided that we should not blame anybody. However, I think it is very important for us to say: “Never again.” Honourable minister, you indicated in your report that out of the 51 attackers in Ntoroko, 26 were put out of action and 25 have been taken captive by our forces. I wish the same really happened in Kasese. My prayers are: 1. We have about five people still in hospital. My estimation, Madam Speaker, is that where a hospital cannot manage their condition. It is no wonder that yesterday, we lost another life that was being managed in the ICU at Bwera Hospital. My prayer right now, because this cannot wait, is that the Government evacuates the five people and they are taken to better equipped hospitals, specifically Mbarara Hospital, which is not really very far from Kasese. We cannot afford to lose another life. It pains me because the woman that died yesterday had lost a husband. So, what are we going to tell these orphaned children? The only hope that they had was maybe the mother surviving to look after them. I think we have gone through enough as a community. Madam Speaker, through your directive, I am asking the Ministry of Health or ministers of health, that these citizens still fighting for their lives in Bwera Hospital should immediately be evacuated to Mbarara Hospital for further and better management. Two, my prayer, as I conclude, is on a way forward. The President responded to our requests as leaders from Kasese. Five million shillings was given to each bereaved family and we are really thankful to the President and the Commander of Defence Forces. However, we are asking for presence and deployment. The entire Kasese is insecure; the lake communities, the mountainous communities, the urban and village communities. We are asking that deployment that relates to the threat should be scaled up, and both soft and hardware capabilities should be scaled up in the community. Lastly, instead of our sons and daughters going back to their homes because that is what the parents ask for - this Parliament should direct the Ministers of Defence, Internal Affairs and Security to ensure that security, specifically in

Madam Speaker, regarding the one who died, she could not be airlifted due to her condition, but the others were airlifted, not even to Mbarara, but Kampala.

I am sorry that I could not be in the House on time. And I will try to be as brief as possible. Madam Speaker, kindly allow me to start with the issue of blood. Honourable members, you are aware that from time to time we continue to have challenges of blood availability because we need over 400,000 units of blood on an annual basis, but we are not yet able to collect that amount. The highest we have collected is 300,000. Madam Speaker, we still have blood in our blood banks. And I have statistics in regard to that that I will quickly read. We have: Nakasero - 2,400 units; Masaka – 535 units; Mbarara – 390 units; Hoima – 200 units; Jinja – 150 units; Mbale – 400 units; Gulu – 250 units; Mengo – 100 units; Lira – 300 units; Soroti – 300 units; Arua – 200 units; Nebbi – 50 units; Kabale – 270 units; Rukungiri – 172 units; Fort Portal – 317 units; and Kitovu – 350 units, giving us a total of 6,284 units available at this point in time. PRIME MINISTER’S TIME

In the famous decision of the Supreme Court in Gladys Nakibuule Kisekka v. The Attorney-General Constitutional Appeal No.02 of 2016 , Arach-Amoko stressed that the Judicial Service Commission ought to be allowed to carry out its own investigations into allegations of judicial misconduct as far as possible. In this case, the Supreme Court was deciding a constitutional appeal where a judicial officer had protested the jurisdiction and constitutionality of the Judicial Service Commission to entertain complaints related to the exercise of judicial power. Justice Arach-Amoko held that any decision made by the Commission could then be referred to court, but after the commission has conducted its investigations and made its findings on the allegations. Whereas the decision might have the effect of eroding judicial independence, the spirit of the judgement was that judicial officers ought to use the immunity judiciously and remain transparent at all times, an inspiration that is fast wearing away in our current judicial system. Several times, judicial officers have been implicated in illegal mass evictions of people and soliciting and taking bribes, among other ills. I urge judicial officers to emulate the late Justice Arach’s stance on accountability and transparency in order to dispense justice meaningfully. The legacy of Lady Justice Stella Arach-Amoko was not only the dispensation of justice or judicial activism and shaping of jurisprudence, but also nurturing legal scholars. Throughout her tenure on the Bench, Justice Stella Arach- Amoko endeavoured to do justice as a jurist, striving not only to help those less fortunate than herself, but also to ensure quality training for those who thought to follow in her footsteps. She worked relentlessly to open the doors of legal practice to many young lawyers when she served as chairperson of the management committee of the Law Development Centre. During her tenure, Madam Speaker, she successfully championed the following reforms: i) Decentralisation and offering all its courses at regional constituent colleges to overcome congestion of the Kampala main campus. The regional campuses in Mbarara and Lira were opened and are currently operational.

9119 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 15 JUNE 2023 Madam Speaker, Shs 2.24 trillion has been allocated for food security, irrigation, climate change mitigation, value chain development, agricultural research and disease/pest control, among others. Supporting private sector growth Madam Speaker, the private sector has been directly supported through industrial parks’ development, promoting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and facilitating tourism. Industrial development and investment Madam Speaker, eight Government-owned industrial parks are currently operational at Namanve, Jinja, Bweyogerere, Mbale, Soroti, Mbarara and Kasese and Luzira. In addition, there are three industrial parks developed under a public-private partnership arrangement at Kapeeka, Mukono and Buikwe. The Uganda Investment Authority has acquired 12 square miles for industrial development, provided by various local governments in 18 zones across the country. Uganda’s global reputation as an investment destination has been boosted significantly in the recent past. Uganda has been named the No. 1 investment destination in East Africa by AIM Global 2023 at Dubai. In addition, our country has been ranked among the top 10 African countries for the best investment destinations in Africa by the African Development Bank. It is now also ranked the first in East Africa for capital market growth by Absa Bank. SME development Madam Speaker, SMEs in the manufacturing and export sectors will be supported with US$ 20 million under the Investment for Industrial Transformation and Employment Trust (INVITE Trust), which will provide grants and concessional credit to qualifying SMEs. These SMEs will access new and innovative financing products with long-term financing of up to 15 years. This intervention aims at increasing Ugandan manufactured export products, generating direct and indirect jobs for more than 200,000 workers and safeguarding existing jobs for 530,000 workers. Madam Speaker, an allocation of Shs 209.28 billion has been provided through the INVITE project next year. Tourism Uganda has increasingly been recognised as a tourism destination and is ranked by CNN as one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the World. We will, therefore, promote domestic and inbound tourism, including the use of digital platforms. Uganda will also be marketed as a global and regional centre for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE). Hospitality standards will be enforced through the licensing, grading and classification of tourism facilities. Shs 249 billion has been allocated for the promotion of tourism. Madam Speaker, all the private sector interventions I have detailed above have been allocated Shs 2.37 trillion. Building human capital Madam Speaker, Uganda has registered visible improvements in healthcare outcomes, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. On average, a Ugandan now lives longer – at 64 years, up from 53 years just as recently as 2015 – attains more years of schooling and enjoys a higher income per capita than ever before. Let me repeat this because it is interesting, especially to me who is working day and night to make sure that the youth and the sick are helped to recover: Uganda has registered visible improvements in healthcare outcomes, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. On average, a Ugandan now lives longer

9122 BUDGET SPEECH, 2023 commence next financial year. Forty-nine per cent of the right-of-way for the Kampala- Malaba Standard Gauge railway has been acquired. The construction of the Malaba- Kampala Standard Gauge Railway will commence next financial year, for which Shs 535 billion has been provided. Madam Speaker, in the air transport sector, the redevelopment and expansion of Entebbe International Airport is at 85 per cent complete and due to be completed by July 2024. The construction of Kabalega International Airport now stands at 91.7 per cent and will be completed by September 2023. We shall also rehabilitate and upgrade the following aerodromes that are under feasibility studies: Kidepo, Pakuba, Mbarara, Gulu, Arua, Kisoro and Kasese. Madam Speaker, an allocation of Shs 4.5 trillion, representing 13.3 per cent of the total budget has been budgeted for road maintenance and construction; railway development and rehabilitation; and water and air transport development. Of particular significance, an allocation of Shs 1 billion has been provided to each district, city and municipality for road grading, murram and compacting. In total, Shs 176 billion has been allocated for this purpose. (Applause) We have also secured US$ 608.7 million, equivalent to Shs 2.25 trillion to address flooding, traffic congestion, poor road infrastructure, un- signalised junctions and unemployment in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) covering Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono and Mpigi districts and their municipalities. This will upgrade 504 kilometres of roads including junction signalisation in eight urban authorities; rehabilitation of 30 storm water drainage points; upgrade 23 markets and construct 25 artisanal parks, and industrial workspaces for small-scale manufacturers. (Applause) In collaboration with the World Bank, the Government is implementing a $360 million Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) programme to improve infrastructure and address operational challenges in the cities and municipalities. Power infrastructure Power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure have continued to expand. Generation capacity increased to 1,378.1 Megawatts as at March 2023 from 1,343.9 Megawatts in March 2022, an increase of 34.4 Megawatts, although that is again not enough. With the commissioning of the Karuma Hydropower Project planned for September this year, generation capacity will increase to 1,976 Megawatts. The 6-Megawatt Nyagak III Hydropower project is also due for commissioning by end of this month. In transmission, a total of 417 kilometres of transmission lines were added to the main grid during the year, bringing the total transmission line network now to 4,011 kilometres. To enable evacuation of power from the 600-Megawatt Karuma Hydropower Project the 248-kilometre Karuma-Kawanda, the 55-kilometre Karuma-Olwiyo and the 76-kilometre Karuma-Lira lines have been completed. Twekubireko mu ngalo . (Applause) Next year, 761 kilometres of transmission lines and associated power substations will be constructed to improve the stability and reliability of the networks. We will also build the capacity of the Uganda Electricity Generation and Transmission companies to manage the generation and distribution networks after the expiry of the ESKOM and Umeme concessions. Madam Speaker, next financial year, Shs 1.3 trillion has been allocated for electricity interventions. Digital transformation Turning to digital transformation, 4,717 kilometres of optic fibre have been laid across the country. Geographical coverage of broad Band services stands at 66 per cent and 25

9089 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 24 MAY 2023 7. Mbarara Industrial Park for small-scale enterprises for which 35 workplaces are occupied; and, 8. Kasese Industrial Park where one company is operational and five are at still construction stage. Both Karamoja and Koboko industrial Parks will soon start. In addition, we have three industrial parks, which are operated under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. These include Liao Shen Kapeeka with 17 factories, MMP Industrial Park, Buikwe, with six companies operational and Tian Tang in Mukono with four companies. The total capital investment within the industrial parks so far, is $2.93 billion and 98,263 direct jobs have been created with many more indirect jobs. In total, 226 factories are operating within the industrial parks while 303 are either under construction or at the planning stage. The development of industrial parks is one of the vehicles for socio-economic transformation with the projected creation of 2.5 million jobs in the next five years. The factories in the industrial parks do not include the standalone factories owned and operated by many different investors. These are factories that belong to Mukwano Group of Companies, Mulwana Group and so on. These are a total of 354 factories and employing an additional 100,000 people. The total number of factories in Uganda is 4,008, employing a total number of 150,000 people. The Parish Development Model We are committed to creating wealth and jobs by moving households from the non-money economy to the money economy. To achieve this goal, the Government launched the Parish Development Model to accelerate socio- economic transformation. Using this approach, 39 per cent of households, which are currently in the non-money economy - the majority of whom are in subsistence agriculture - will move into the money economy. The Parish Development Model will increase incomes, improve quality of life and eradicate poverty at household level through the modernisation of agriculture, industrialisation, improved service delivery and using modern communication technologies. Through the Parish Development Model, agriculture will be transformed from subsistence to commercial. This approach will organise and deliver public and private sector interventions for wealth creation, and employment generation using the parish as the economic unit for planning, budgeting and service delivery. Therefore, the 10,594 parishes in the country will be the growth and service delivery units in the Parish Development Model. Government has committed Shs 1,059 billion this financial year for its rollout countrywide. So far, parishes which established SACCOs have received Shs 50 million each, benefitting 906 SACCOs and more than 21,000 individual beneficiaries. Government will deepen the implementation of the Parish Development Model beyond the financial inclusion pillar by maintaining the disbursement of Shs 100 million to every parish next financial year and in the subsequent years. When I visited some parts of the country, I was told that some of the Parish Development Model money has given to people who were not eligible. This includes politicians and public servants. I was also informed about the delays in accessing the funds released by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to the target beneficiaries. In some cases, a few elite people come together and form SACCOs, and take all the funds released for the entire parish. The State House Anti-Corruption Unit has arrested a number of

9092 ADDRESS ON THE STATE OF THE NATION seeds, planting and stocking material, disease and pest control, research, extension and overall policy guidance. Pest, vectors and disease control The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) is conducting research on an anti-tick vaccine development and has already launched trials. Efficacy evaluation trials have started at Kiburara Prison farms, Isimba Prison farms, Maruzi, Nabuin and Mbarara. The Government continues to facilitate the research in disease-resistant varieties and building capacity of farming households on the best agricultural practices on integrated pest and vector and disease management and other efforts. Mechanisation and farm power Mechanisation is critical to the commercialisation of agriculture. In the Financial Year 2021/2022, the Government procured additional 240 tractors and implements, bringing the total number of tractors procured by the Government to 655. The Government also procured 740 units, single axle low powered walking tractors with all accessories to support farmers to open more farmland for cultivation. These machines support value addition, irrigation and transportation of produce. Water and environment The availability of adequate water resources is critical to the sustainability of the well-being of society. Water for production The irrigation area has increased from 19,138 hectares to 22,797 hectares. The overall cumulative storage of water for production stands at 52 million cubic metres. These targets have been achieved on account of the following interventions: 1. Solar powered-irrigation demonstration sites Government has completed the construction of 121 solar-powered irrigation systems on individual farms creating a water storage capacity of 206 million litres serving 42,000 livestock. The Government’s strategy is to increase safe water supply coverage for both rural and urban areas. This is for human beings. The current safe water coverage in rural areas is estimated at 70 per cent while the urban water access is 72 per cent. Out of 70,512 villages, 49,102 villages have been served with at least one source of safe water. To achieve the planned target to restore wetland cover back to 13 per cent, the Government is implementing several interventions that include restoration of degraded wetlands, demarcation of wetland boundaries and strengthening awareness and sensitisation campaigns on the conservation of wetlands as well as providing alternative livelihoods for people that have been encroaching on wetlands. I talked to the MPs from Bukedi and Busoga when we were in Kyankwanzi. They told me our people have been in the wetlands for long, growing rice. Then I asked: how rich are they since they have been destroying the wetlands to grow rice? How well are they doing? The MP from Bukedi said Bukedi is the second poorest after Karamoja, and then Busoga was following. The question is: if being in the wetlands is good, why is poverty so serious? I will get time and come and discuss this issue with these people. You are destroying the wetland; the water of the country, yet you have remained poor. What do we do? Temulaba awo banange? Floods Floods have, over the last three weeks, been experienced in River Katonga and River Rwizi catchment areas resulting in the destruction of infrastructure and property such as roads, bridges, and people’s houses, disruptions of transportation and even death as reported around River Rwizi in Mbarara.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. We need more research when it comes to issues of curriculum. About 10 years ago, they started a course for graduate nurses from Mbarara University and it spread. However, those learners graduated after five years but they have failed to get a salary scale. Many of them are earning Shs 600,000, you can find them in Nakasero Hospital but the Government has failed to come up with a salary scale and send them to the field. So, many of them are frustrated; others have decided to start afresh on different courses. This means that we do not carry out enough research when coming up with these courses. Maybe that is why we say that it also expired but they are still enrolling students for the same courses. The lower curriculum started at a time when we had COVID-19. Many educators insisted that the teachers who are going to undertake that exercise - less than a quarter were trained and they could not remember because they could not even go back to -(Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Chairperson. I appreciate the submission of the Private Member. Unless we are going to categorise the casual workers, we are going to create a very serious problem. Committee chairperson, you have alluded to Darling and other companies in Mbarara. These people come and check in the morning whether there is work to be done or not. When there is no work, they go. However, there are those who have picked some skills to do work faster. Now, there are over 10,000, who flock to that factory every day, but not all of them are given work every day. Some are given work on Monday while some are given work on Tuesday. Now, if they stay around for six months, what you are suggesting is that they become employees. What the employer will do is to pick out 500, whom he believes can do the work, and all the others will be out of employment. I want us to be more realistic in approaching this law. These proposed sections 34A and 34B are not called for now. Let us allow the regulations to categorise which casual workers we are dealing with and for what privileges and

I just want to put some context; I want to notify Members that there are two other categories of work that might address the concern. There is piecework, which is where you get somebody to work for probably a month, two or three, but you pay them every month. Your contract with them is for every month; and it will not be categorised as casual work. There is task work which is for every day. Somebody said on the way to Mbarara, there are people who come and loiter and wait – there is a daily payment. It is called task work; it is not casual work. The issues of casual employees are those that are permanent and are doing some work for you. They stay for one year but because you have classified the work as somebody who comes to do that work - for example, if you go to a factory, you will find people working every day; they carry the steel or do the packaging. Those packaging do it every day but they do not categorise them as experts; they have worked for one, two or three years - that is where we need to protect that category. (Applause)

Mr Speaker, reading from where I had stopped, the staff of State House provide the necessary logistical and technical support for efficient and effective operations of the Presidency. State House, in turn, provides the necessary facilitation for the staff to carry out their responsibilities effectively. This is the mandate which informs the budgetary allocations across the various items. For instance, to explain what has been in the media as to whether the President, in State House, consumes Shs 500 million, we want to clarify that the expenditure on this electricity consumption is addressed to Entebbe State House, Nakasero State Lodge, the Vice- President’s residence and 23 upcountry state lodges distributed in the various parts of the country including Jinja, Mbale, Soroti, Bardege in Gulu, Arua, Masindi, Luwero, Kyankwanzi, Mubende, Fort Portal, Kisozi, Masaka, Bushenyi, Mbarara, Kabale, Kisoro, Kapchorwa, Ngoma, Kawumu, Mayuge, and Buvuma and five administrative office blocks that support State House and many other forms of infrastructure. In the media, there has also been a discussion as to whether the President spends Shs 350 million per year to buy clothing. Our President is one of the smartest presidents according to us who see him regularly. I just want to clarify that the item that appears under the State House Budget on beddings, clothing and footwear is meant to cover the protective gear for support staff, beddings for the state lodges, which I have read, the curtains, the various linens for furniture and State House functions as well as uniforms for staff as need arises. The categories of staff include drivers, housekeepers, caterers, kitchen staff, cleaners and the regular office staff. The State House also supports skilling programmes where you have seen young people who are skilled in various vocational skills and it usually provides uniforms. Therefore, this is to dispel the misinformation that the budget caters for clothing the President. Rather, it facilitates all these functions that I have explained. I could go on and on but that is the point I wanted to make, Mr Speaker. I hope this information clarifies the issues to do with budgeting for State House and states proper the record on the Hansard of this House. I want to appeal to all of us that we should always desist from raising sensational and unsubstantiated information, which misleads the public. I beg to move, Mr Speaker, and I thank you. (Mr Ssemujju rose_)

I put the question that Shs 336,469,558,000 be provided for as recurrent expenditure for Vote 301: Makerere University for Financial Year 2023/2024. (Question put and agreed to.) Vote 302: Mbarara University

I put the question that Shs 55,763,353,000 be provided for as recurrent expenditure for Vote 302: Mbarara University for Financial Year 2023/2024. (Question put and agreed to.) Vote 303: Makerere University Business School

I put the question that Shs 16,180,493,000 be provided for under Vote 412: Lira Regional Referral Hospital as recurrent expenditure for Financial Year 2023/2024. (Question put and agreed to.) Vote 413: Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital

I put the question that Shs 12,104,715,000 be provided for under Vote 413: Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital as recurrent expenditure for Financial Year 2023/2024. (Question put and agreed to.) Vote 414: Mubende Regional Referral Hospital

8764 BUDGETARY PROPOSALS & ESTIMATES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023/2024 Vote 302: Mbarara University – Shs 3,954,706,000 Vote 303: Makerere University Business School – Shs 2,125,530,000 Vote 304: Kyambogo University – Shs 3,710,496,000 Vote 305: Busitema University – Shs 5,892,464,000 Vote 306: Muni University Shs – 4,752,000,000 Vote 307: Kabale University Shs – 2,586,568,000 Vote 308: Soroti University – Shs 1,257,362,000 Vote 309: Gulu University Shs 5,671,020,000 Vote 310: Lira University – Shs 5,000,000,000 Vote 311: Law Development Centre – Shs 4,782,560,000 Vote 312: Uganda Management Institute – Shs 1,320,000,000 Vote 313: Mountains of the Moon University – Shs 2,229,372,000 Vote 401: Mulago National Referral Hospital – Shs 16,528,858,000 Vote 402: Butabika Hospital – Shs 2,513,373,000

8767 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 18 MAY 2023 8. Vote 412: Lira Hospital - Shs 120,000,000 9. Vote 413: Mbarara Regional Hospital - Shs 5,230,000,000 10. Vote 414: Mubende Regional Referral Hospital – 150,000,000 11. Vote 415: Moroto Regional Referral Hospital - Shs 120,000,000 12. Vote 416: Naguru Referral Hospital - Shs 240,000,000 13. Vote 417: Kiruddu Referral Hospital - Shs 1,530,000,000 14. Vote 418: Kawempe Referral Hospital - Shs 900,000,000 15. Vote 419: Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital - Shs 900,000,000 16. Vote 420: Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital - Shs 2,268,000,000 17. Vote 421: Kayunga Referral Hospital - Nil 18. Vote 422: Yumbe Referral Hospital - Nil

8636 THE TRAFFIC AND ROAD SAFETY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2023 and they said they were safe. I never knew that gentleman very well. Madam Speaker, with your indulgence, we pray that the Minister of Internal Affairs comes here and gives us a comprehensive statement on what exactly is happening. When you listen to the spokespersons of police, Mr Enanga and his friend, Mr Onyango, one sheds tears out of pain because they give a lot of misleading information. Recently, following Jajja Ichuli’s death, Mr Enanga said that the killer had a pistol and a gun. If he had both then you know him. Why don’t you apprehend him? Such questions are valid. This business of giving misleading information will not solve the problems of killings in this country. Even the security organs that have been put in place by private developers are doing the same. Madam Speaker, I pray, with your power and indulgence, that you ask the Minister of Internal Affairs to come and give us a comprehensive statement and that the Committee of Defence and Internal Affairs handles this matter comprehensively because, as you said, Madam Speaker, none of us is safe. As I conclude, regarding the issue of Masaka Road, we had the Executive Director, Ms Allen Kagina and the Minister of State for Water and Environment in the area. The short cut, like my honourable colleague stated, is around Kalungu. Again, River Katonga crosses the same area, but that bridge is also broken. When we went there with the Executive Director, she said that she never knew there was a road as short as that going to Masaka. Now, people are suffering because they have refused to work on the road from Bukalasa to Kabulasoke, which is around 45 kilometres. That would save people from going through Ssembabule to Mbarara and other parts of the country – (Interjection) - Let me conclude. Madam Speaker has given me room. The issue -

Madam Speaker, we have stated this in the big report. Many local government entities do not have asset registers. I will give you the example of Mbarara that did not have any clue, in as far as some of their assets are concerned.

How do you know that you have a vehicle, land or other assets? You need to have an asset register that is updated regularly. When you dispose of an asset, it must be reflected in the asset register. So, some of the things are a problem. There is also the issue of poor local revenue collection. You will find that collections are too little in most of these local governments, yet at the same time, that is the money supposed to be used for most of these projects. However, at the same time, these people collect Non- Tax Revenue (NTR) but the finance ministry takes it. When the local governments ask for money, they are not given. We really have a problem on this with the finance ministry because it takes long to release funds. You find that garbage in Soroti is too much but you cannot even provide them with just one truck to collect the garbage, yet they have collected funds, given to you but you cannot send back the money. The local governments need to improve on capacity building of their members; people working with them. The Parish Development Model has been taken there but it is like a white elephant. The money is not being utilised; it is just given out. I think our people are making accountability. Payroll management and the accounting officers that we have are still a problem. If we have accounting officers that are not performing, why don’t we sack them? Even as Members of Parliament, when we do not perform, we are removed, not so? However, we have accounting officers who are not performing. They transfer them from Amuria to Bukedea, Masaka and Kikoni. You are simply recycling them and taking the vice from one district to the other. How shall we improve? So, there is that problem. We want these accounting officers to be removed. I remember an accounting officer who was very good. Now, because he was good, he is now a Member of Parliament. We cannot afford to have accounting officers who are not performing and you keep recycling them. At the end of the day, the vice goes through the whole country. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, we need action on accounting officers. It will be a big surprise from the finance ministry that we have fired these accounting officers. Clerk, can we have that report uploaded for Members to be able to read? Debate is open but let us start with Mbarara, the worst performing district.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As a district, we have had issues with the Chief Administrative Officer. When you look at the Emyooga report when you sent us to do oversight on, we found many ghost groups including groups of fishermen yet there is no lake in Mbarara for fishing. (Laughter) We said something should be done with the accounting officer. Parish Development Model in Mbarara -

How can you fail to have fishermen in Mbarara when we have in Parliament? (Laughter)

Madam Speaker, there is no lake in Mbarara and so, there is no fishing activity in Mbarara District. On Parish Development Model, even last weekend, we had a meeting and people are still complaining. The money has reached the parish but there is no progress. There are ghost groups and ghost members in the groups. They are going back to do auditing to ensure they get the right people. There is a contractor constructing seed secondary schools in the entire region but the work is hopeless. This CAO paid all the contractors 100 per cent even when the work was not done. Finally, on land grabbing and-

I would like to thank the chairperson, Hon. Mapenduzi for the presentation. However, I have a small concern. When I heard of Mbarara, I was surprised but the next one was my district, Kyegegwa. From your guidance, Madam Speaker, you are saying the CAOs should be held accountable and indeed, the list came out. But it turns out that the CAO we have in Kyegegwa is new so he cannot be held accountable for whatever happened before he came.

8613 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 10 MAY 2023 Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank the committee for the elaborate report. One thing that cuts across Mbarara, Ntungamo and Kabale and has not left this Floor is the USMID project. It has really been a pain in our necks for the last three years. The contractor, multiplex, has not left either the ears of the developed partners or parliament. We wonder: what exactly is happening that all those projects are given to a contractor that has no capacity in terms of finance, equipment and human resource? I think the forensic audit that is being proposed would alleviate the pain. The other issue could be about priorities. I have already briefed you on what is going on in Mbarara City, with the broken bridges of Kanyeite, Katete and Nyakaizi. They have even caused the loss of three lives – a 23-year- old student of Mbarara University and a 19-year-old student of one of the high schools were buried yesterday. However, money is being returned to the Consolidated Fund. I chair the Road Fund for Mbarara City. It is like a practice for you to be called to, in three weeks, sit and effect a programme that has been planned for three months. The ministry for finance cannot go unmentioned here. Whereas we may want to blame the technical officers, the Government should be able to take that blame. Lastly, we need to expedite the issue structures in the cities. The structure came out, but it is still wanting. In some areas, you cannot have a city engineer handling the issue of roads without the assistance of the different divisions. As we look at Mbarara City having returned all those monies, we really need help with USMID so that our roads can be repaired to the desired standards. However, I thank the committee and wish that this report, indeed, attracts actions by the concerned entities.

8395 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 27 APRIL 2023 Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Report of the proceedings of Parliament (Hansard) is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk to Parliament. Vote 302: Mbarara University of Science and Technology; Vote 303: Makerere University Business School; Vote 306: Muni University; Vote 308: Soroti University; Vote 309: Gulu University; Vote 310: Lira University; Vote 312: Uganda Management Institute; and Vote 313: Mountains of the Moon University.

I I I I I I t I I I I I I I ! I I I I I I h A-a6unt llror(l Vot r.ac 159.309.084 146 Publra Sarvrcc Commrs3ron 7.200,000 144 Judrcra.l S.rvrcc Codrmrssrcn ,t95.OOO.000 151 Uganda Blood Tr3nlfuston Scrvrcc (UBaSl 857.q10.OOO 152 Natronal Asrculturd AdvBorv scrucca IN^ADSI Uqanda lffd Com6r$lon 17.400.()00 r56 1.825.473.200 rs8 tntcrne.l s.cunty Organrraoon 0SOl soo.ooo 000 rsq Ertcmal Sccunty O.ge-aEatba (e.SO) l _235.OOO.OOO r6s uprnda Busncas 3nd tccbnrcsl Eranrmatron Eosrd r 6sq.q78.286 302 Mbarara Utuv€rsrh of Sarancc rnd Tcahaolo(v ?.695.Ot2.?9? 303 Mekarcrc UDrvcrsfty Busrncas School 625.?4232r 306 3.213.006.662 307 (aba-ta UmgcftrB. 1.646.60?.404 304 43r.8?S.752 309 Gulu Udrvcrsrty 3.?93.257.856 310 r.330.79S.483 312 Ucenda ManaEancnt lnsttutc s.900.000.000 313 MouatdnB of lhc Moon Utuvcrsrw 4.359.OOO.OOO 40l Mulaao Holprt .l Complcr sl2.400.ooo 402 Butab*a Hosprt l 864.I4S,100 403 Arua R.fcrral Hoaprtal 82S.000.000 404 Fort Po(al Rcfc.ral Rosp(il | .232.At6 .A22 405 Oulu Rcfcr€-t Hospltal 1.363.()43.239 406 Holma R.acrre-t Hoaprta-t 542.600.ooo 407 Jlnta Rcfcrral Ho3prti 667,644 9t2 408 liabrlc Rcfcrr.l Ho3prtat 67S,600.000 409 Masaka Rcfcrrel H6prtal es4.600.000 410 Mbalc Reacftal Ho3prt -t 637.200.OOO 411 Sorotr Rcfcrral Hdprt I r.o47.s19.737 4t2 Lrra Rcfcral Holprti.l Mbarara Rcfcrral Ho3p(al s77 200,000 ,t l3 505.800.000 414 Mubctrdc Rcfcrrs.l Hosprtal 895.423.320 4ls Moroto Rcfcrral Hosplte-t 634.200.OOO 416 Nagunr Rospltal 9ls,oo0.o00 4l? Kruddu Rcfcrral Hosp(al 4.? 3? .A2t .230 418 Kawcmpc Rcferral Hospx.-t 406.200.ooo 419 Entcbbc Rcfcrra-l Hospltal 420 Mulato SpcclalEed womcn and Neonatal Hosp(al 4 .992.O53 .292 600.o00.000 421 Ka!,unPa Rcfcrla-t HosDltal 3r0.000.000 50s U?anda Hmh Commrssron rn l(cnva. Nafobr 47? _949.420 so7 upanda Hreh Comorssron rn Nrscna. Abura sr2 UE nda Embaqqv ln EthroDra. Addrs Ababa 550.000,000 32aA59.o?? 51:t ucanda Edbas3v rn SMtzcrland, Ocncva 300 000.000 518 ln B. Bru3acls Etaba U -$y

AaoE t IUOXI 2.641.590.231 a?2 Kuru Drarrct 3.12?.276.O3? 8?4 l(w€cn DrBtact 2.S13.244.44r a?5 Kv3nkwanzr Dlltnct (v.a.rn a DBtnct 3.?59.6S3.088 8?6 4.o24.29?.ort a?? Kvcnlorc Dratirct 2 _416.465.592 a7a l(lbtara D8tnct 4 2U2.?t3.901 2?9 aal Luuka Dl3tnct r.262.029.018 2.r??.344.?5t aa2 Luwcm Dratnct 1.75,+.589.6 t3 883 Lwcmo Orstrrct | .455.??? .396 ae4 Lvantotrdc DBtrrct | .192 e?? .t tq aas Madr-Okollo Dlltrlct 3.6? t.664.2?9 886 Ma,la.ira Dtstnct l4t3.2lo.5ol 88? Mrracha Drstnct 1.74S.705.651 aa8 Maseka Drctnct 1.240-43r.S92 aa9 Ma8mdr Olltnct aqo Maurec Dlgtn t 3.?O3.70r.655 MbeL Dlatnct 1.385.€ r.308 89r 446.064.r?? 492 Mbarara DBtnct 4_624.36S.316 893 Mrtooda DGtnct 8q4 s28.6S3.639 933.468.976 895 496 1.203.?45.e?6 586.259.033 a9? MDrEr D[tnct 3.320.517.O17 a9a Mubandc Dlstalct 5qa-912.475 ags Mukono Dtltnct gol NsLabrnEmt Dlstnct 8ro.455.859 Naka.ckc Dllrn t 2.164.1O4.829 902 r.153.241.r l3 903 NakaloaPola Drstnct r.s90.39 r.095 90,+ Nrmavrn[o D8tnct r-466.r23.OOO qos Narl'lsmdl,a Dr3tnct 906 Nernuturnba Drstact L.O92.?aO.49 1.599.026.582 90? Naoak OBtrrct 2.460.O5,+.699 904 Ncbbr DBtnct gog Mrora Drctnct 308,S?O,186 2.642.?92.t51 910 Ntoroko Dlstnct 1.632.146.86,+ 91r Ntunca-ao Orctnct 259.420.4?A 912 Nwova Dtlt .t ql3 Otanor Drctnct 3.36s.438.040 954.565.866 914 Omoro Dratirct 1.O19.564.245 9rs Otukc Drctnct 4.142.o75.455 916 Ov3.Ilr DEtflct 9l? P:d.r Dtstnct .t- f\ 2 129 .065 .49? ( q A.e, r\$,lA - XU

Aaouat lUCtr o22 Ml,lrtstrv of Iourum. wddMe and Antrourtres 24L162.425 tt2 Etlrca and Intcgnt! 7.200.ooo ll4 USanda Canccr Instrtutc ?8,r 800.000 I ls USanda Hcart lnstltutc 253.200.000 120 Natronal CluzcnsluD and ldruEAuon Crarol[Nclcl r{ 400.000 r22 Ka.mpala Cap(al Clty Authonty t? .6?? .o4 t.?64 t2? Upanda Vmrs Rcs..rch laqtrtutc luvRn 137.400.{lOO t32 Educatron Scrvrcc Cofi nlaslon 7.200.ooo 133 Dr.ctorate of ArbLc Prosecuhona 1?.400.000 134 Hcdth S.rucc Commlssmn r4.400.000 r3s Drcctoiatc of Oovcmmcot A,lalvucal Laboratorv {DOALI 194.600.o00 t42 Natotril Agncultural R.s.arch Orgaruzahon (NARO) l_ooo.ooo.ooo t44 Uginda PoLcc Forc. 7.0?8.800.000 145 Ugaada Pnsoa3 2.O29.800.000 146 Arblrc S.ruc. CotrrJrlsslon 7 200.000 148 JudrcEI &rvrc. Com-tl1ls8mn 7 200.000 l5l Uganda Blood T.ansfuson Scrvrcc (lJBfSl 495.OOO.OOO 156 Uaanda land Conmrs8bn r?.,+oo.ooo r58 lntcmal Sccunty Orgaflratroo (lSOl 500.o00.000 159 D(te.tral S.cunty OrAanr.zahon (ESO) s00.o00.000 401 Mulago Hosprta.l Codplcr( 4.359.OOO.OOO 402 Butabrka Hosprt l 512.400.OOO 40i Arua Rcfcrral Hosprtal 627.OOO.OOO 4M Fon Ponal Rcfcrral Hosprtal a2s.ooo.ooo 405 Gulu Rcfcrlil Hosprtal 825.600.000 406 Homa Rclcrral Ho3pltal 890.400.000 40? Jlqa Rcfcrral Hosprtal s82.600.000 404 (abe-tc Rcfcrrra-t Ho3plta-t s6s.400.ooo 409 Mas.ka RefcrrJ Ho6pxr.l 6?5.600.000 410 Mbat Rcfcrral Hosprtal 954.600.000 411 Sorotr Rclcrral Holprtal 63?.200.000 4t2 lrr'a Rcfcaral Hoaprtal 415.400.ooo 413 Mbarara Rcfcrral Hospltal 5?? 200 000 414 Mubcndc Rcfcrra-t Hosprta-t 505.800.o00 41S Moroto Rafcrra.l Hospltal s02 800.000 416 Neguru Hosprta-t 634.200.OOO 41? loruddu Rcfcrra-t Hdprtal 915.000.000 418 (ewcmpc Rcfcrral Hosprtal 1.237.320.000 419 Entcbbr Rcfcrral Hosprrrl ,106.200.ooo 420 Mulago SpccElrred Womcn a.nd Nconat l Hosp(al 1 .,[46 000.ooo 601 3.130.961.O25 602 Fort-Pona.l clB 2. r53.656.406 601 2.O99.60a.100 I I I I t t I I t I t I I I t I t I I I (/ +r so

Mr Speaker, the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs undertook a field visit to Eastern and Western Uganda, in the districts of Mbale and Mbarara to appraise the status of the region of forensic laboratories under the Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory. The visit was conducted in accordance with Article 90 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and Rule 189 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, which empowers the committee to monitor the performance of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) under its jurisdiction. The Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratories (DGAL) is under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It provides a full range of general scientific, analytical, forensic, and advisory services that facilitate effective legal proceedings to dispense justice, safeguard public and environmental health and safety as well as promotion of trade. DGAL provides services to a wide range of clientele, including Government departments, responsible for the administration of justice and other agencies of Government, mainly the Police, courts of law, Directorate of Public Prosecutions, private sector and members of the public, especially the traders and local manufacturers. Historically, it was referred to as a Government Chemist and has been in existence since 1927. It has had varied administrative challenges in status and placement within the Government structures and bureaucracy. It became a directorate in 2009 at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. DGAL is a fully-fledged directorate with three departments namely; Criminalistics and Laboratory Services, Quality Chemical Verification, and Regional Laboratories. Each department has a diversity of laboratories namely; forensic biology for DNA analysis, toxicology arson/fire crimes, and tool marks, questions, documents, and cyber forensics, foods, and drugs. The Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs undertook to assess the general state of the laboratories including but not limited to; their human resource, the challenges faced by staff and management of the laboratories, and any recommendations as to how a more efficient and effective institution can be achieved.

Highly noted, Mr Speaker. The findings: The Status of DGAL Forensic Laboratories DGAL has acquired the land title for the headquarters at Wandegeya and the designs for the DNA data bank infrastructure building have been approved by KCCA. However, there were no releases on the development budget for quarter one of the Financial Year 2022/2023. This has greatly affected the commencement of works on the building. DGAL has four regional forensic laboratories situated in Mbale for the Elgon and the entire eastern region, Mbarara for Western Region, Gulu for the northern region and Moroto for the North Eastern and Karamoja sub regions. All these have their land titles, except Mbarara where efforts to get the land title is underway. The DGAL developed an organisation plan for regional forensic laboratories as a systematic guide to operationalise the laboratories and offer more accessible forensic, analytical and advisory services to stakeholders at regional level. Recruitment of forensic scientists to staff the regional forensic laboratory has been embarked on with the 10 Government analysts recruited at the end of the financial year. Clearance for recruitment for the Financial Year 2022/2023 has been sought from the Ministry of Public Service through the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, it should be noted that DGAL approved staff structures are 124 positions. As of July 2022, only 65 positions are filled, putting it at 52.4 per cent leaving 59 positions vacant. Day care facilities have been set up in Mbale Regional Laboratory to cater for breastfeeding and expectant mothers who are part of the staff and clientele. The renovations and furnishing of basic scientific equipment have been provided for the regional forensic laboratory. Parliament appropriated an additional Shs 8 billion to DGAL for the Financial Year 2022/2023 for the regional forensic laboratories to acquire modern scientific equipment to add forensic analysis in the regions. An additional Shs 6.4 billion is needed to fully equip and operationalise all the regional laboratories. [Mr Muwuma] SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT

8383 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 26 APRIL 2023 The committee further noted that despite the completion of the regional forensic laboratory in Mbarara, the said laboratory has not been operationalised due to lack of funding and lack of professional staff to manage the laboratory, hence limiting service delivery in the region. Exhibits have to be transported to Kampala headquarters. The committee recommends quick deployment of the professional staff to manage the Mbarara Regional Laboratory. National DNA data bank The committee noted that most common cases DGAL receives are those that require DNA analysis for crimes related to toxicology/ poison, murder, homicides and sexual assaults; rape and defilement. The DNA bank will be essential in solving cases of missing persons, paternity and civil cases of administration of assets referred by the Administrator-General and security agencies. Building an establishment of a forensic DNA data bank base to support intelligence and crime investigations will lead to strengthening national security and criminal identification. The DNA bank will eliminate massive arrests of suspects before evidence is obtained and this will reduce the cost of feeding the suspects in prisons. The next generation of national identity cards will have a feature of DNA profiles at all Uganda nationals. It is imperative that the national DNA data bank is in place to aid the national identification exercise.

8327 THE E L E VENTH PARLIAMENT O F U GANDA TUESDAY , 25 APRIL 2023 Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Report of the proceedings of Parliament (Hansard) is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk to Parliament. corporate governance that is accountability; issues related to cooperation, integrity, transparency, dialogue and teamwork. There is a lot of backbiting, telling lies, gossiping, rumour mongering and so on – (Interjection)- yes, there is no much work there. I for one would feel that really, there must be cooperation and teamwork; this is what should be encouraged there. For instance, Mr Speaker, more than 15 years ago, Dorcus Inzikuru won a gold medal in steeplechase in Santiago Chile, and was promised that Barifa Stadium will be changed to Dorcus Inzikuru Stadium. Up to now, the National Council of Sports has failed to follow up on this issue. The stadium is really dilapidated up to now. Not only that, Mr Speaker, there was a promise that there was going to be the construction of stadiums in all the regional centres like say Mbarara- Kakyeka Stadium, up to now it has not been constructed, Pece Stadium in Gulu has not been constructed, Moyo Celecelea Stadium has not been constructed, in Lira we have Aki Bua and so on and so forth. Please honourable minister, let us follow up on all these promises by the Government so that we have these stadiums in place. And there must be harmony and coexistence at the National Council of Sports.

I will also be joining the Rotary Club in Mbarara because we have a Rotary conference and our focus is fighting malaria. Let us put all our efforts, as colleagues, and contribute to this fight. Honourable colleagues, we are also going into Eid, but I will comment on that at the end of today’s session. LAYING OF PAPERS SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT ON INFLOWS, OUTFLOWS AND ASSETS OF THE PETROLEUM FUND FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 ST DECEMBER 2022

8238 Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Report of the proceedings of Parliament (Hansard) is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk to Parliament. MINISTERIAL POLICY STATEMENTS & BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR THE FY 2023/2024 Mbarara University of Science and Technology This university has a problem of a dilapidated medical school. The committee, therefore, recommends that Shs 50 billion be allocated for the construction of a multi-purpose block at the Faculty of Medicine to house all lecture rooms, laboratories, and offices, and another Shs 18 billion will be required in the Financial Year 2023/2024 to kick-start the process. Mr Speaker, I have already talked about the wage bill for the recruitment of staff and promotions. Makerere University Business School (MUBS) Mr Speaker, Under MUBS, we recommend that an allocation of Shs 12.4 billion be allocated to enable the university clear its domestic arrears. Kyambogo University The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development allocates Kyambogo University an additional Shs 34.2 billion in the Financial Year 2023/2024, to enable it address the process of asbestos-sheets roof removal - the university has buildings littered with asbestos sheets - and handle the dilapidated infrastructure. We further recommend that the university considers engaging the convocation to source funds for the initial fencing of the university to stop encroachers on its land. Busitema University Inadequate release to the Maritime Institute at Namasagali The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development allocates Shs 8.7 billion in order for it to start the implementation of the programme. There is also funding for the technology innovation and incubation centre and we are proposing Shs 1 billion to be allocated for at least the next three financial years. Funding toward completion and equipping the medical school This one is at Mbale Campus. We recommend that Shs 3.7 billion be allocated to fast-track and complete the rehabilitation of the medical school. Muni University Inadequate funding to the university We recommend that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development revises the recurrent non-wage of Muni University upwards to at least Shs 7.71 billion in the next financial year, and the MTEF period, in order to avoid a supplementary request each financial year, which sometimes is not given to the university. We further recommend for an additional Shs 8.2 billion for the completion of the construction of a multi-purpose hall to house the health science modern laboratory and administration annex building, and Shs 1.2 for Erepi Primary Teachers’ College. The university also needs more Shs 4.8 billion to recruit staff. Kabale University The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development should maintain the budget of Shs 9 billion, in the medium term, to enable the university to complete its on-going infrastructure development, and that it avails an additional Shs 22.6 billion for the procurement of a pre-specialised equipment and machinery. Soroti University The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should allocate an additional Shs 17 billion to enable it complete the Anatomy Block. Gulu University The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development

8239 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 20 APRIL 2023 Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Report of the proceedings of Parliament (Hansard) is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk to Parliament. reinstates the universities development budget of Shs 11 billion to take care of inadequate funding for other key development projects, and provide Shs 13.455 billion to help the university undertake the construction of a multipurpose building at the college in Moroto and the teaching hospital. Muni University The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development allocates the university Shs 12.6 billion to complete the main administration block and procure the necessary medical equipment for the teaching hospital. Uganda Management Institute On this, we recommend that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development avails UMI an additional Shs 1.5 billion for the construction of a new classroom block at Mbale and Mbarara study centres, and Shs 10 billion to kick-start the construction of a multi-purpose building block at the Kampala Campus. Mountains of the Moon University This is a new university that came on board at the beginning of last financial year. The committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance –

Mr Speaker, I am sorry. Actually, the supply table has no issues. The figures appearing here, both for recurrent and development, are the ones in the Appropriation Bill’s draft estimates. So, the figures are correct. I had reached Vote 166: National Council of Sports – let me repeat it. Vote 166: National Council of Sports Total recurrent – Shs 16,966,514,000 Total development – Shs 0 Vote 301: Makerere University Kampala Total recurrent – Shs 346,669,558,000 Total development – Shs 19,072,698,000 Vote 302: Mbarara University of Science and Technology Total recurrent – Shs 54,295,012,000 Total development – Shs 3,764,047,000 Vote 303: Makerere University Business School Total recurrent – Shs 103,103,575,000 Total development – Shs 2,125,530,000 Vote 304: Kyambogo University Total recurrent – Shs 131,291,738,000 Total development – Shs 1,710,496,000 Vote 305: Busitema University Total recurrent – Shs 52,112,893 Total development – Shs 5,892,464,000 Vote 306: Muni University Total recurrent – Shs 24,080,694,000 Total development – Shs 4,752,000,000 Vote 307: Kabale University Total recurrent – Shs 56,011,281,000 Total development – Shs 2,586,568,000 Vote 308: Soroti University Total recurrent – Shs 22,879,364,000 Total development - Shs 1,257,362,000 Vote 309: Gulu University Total recurrent – Shs 61,529,303,000 Total development – Shs 1,671,020,000 Vote 310: Lira University Total recurrent – 29,983,277,000 Total development – Shs 5,000,000,000 Vote 312: Uganda Management Institute Total recurrent – Shs 35,594,073,000 Total development – Shs 1,720,000,000 Vote 313: Mountains of the Moon University Total recurrent – Shs 37,702,810,000 Total development Shs 0 Vote 612: Local Governments Total recurrent – Shs 3,129,560,000,000 Total development – Shs 349,030,000,000 Vote 122: KCCA Education Grant Total recurrent – Shs 46,710,000,000 Total development – Shs 2,230,000,000 I beg to report, Mr Speaker.

1.O INTRODUCTION ln consonance with Articles 90 and 155(41 of the Constitution of the Repubhc of lJganda 1995 (as amendcd), Sectron 12(l), 13(13,14,15) of che Public Finance Managemcnt Act, 2015 and Rules 146, l4?, 148 and 149 of the Rules of Proccdurc of Parhament. thc Sub-Programme on Education, Sports and Skrlls ts mandated nmong othcrs; i. Examine and commcnt on policy matters allecting Ministries, Departmcnts and Agencies (MDAsl undcr its purview; and ii. Examrne critrcally Government recurrcnt and capital budgct estimates and makc rccommendations on them. The Committce, ln fullillment of its mandate hereby presents this report for your consideratron and adoption rn respect to the pohcy statcmcnts and budgetary estima(es for the Financial Ycat 2023/24 for the following (20) Votes. VOTE: VOTE. VOTE: VOTE. VO'TE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE. VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: VOTE: ot3 llt r28 132 t@ 165 166 301 302 303 304 305 306 30? 308 309 310 312 313 Mrnistry of Edtrcatron and Sports National Curriculum Development Ccnter Uganda Natronal Examrnations Board Fllucation Servicc Commrssion National Council for Higher Education Uganda Busmess and Tcchnical Examinations Board National Councrl of Sports Ma.kerere Univcrsity Mbarara Unrversrty of Science and Technologt Makerere Unrverslty Business School I(yambogo Universrl.y Busitema Unrversity Muni Unrversrty Kabalc Universrty Soroti Univcrsrty Gulu University Lira Unrversrty Uganda Managcment lnstitutc Mountains of the Moon N 3 ,! Y)

8 Contracts Committee mcetlngs conducted, 22 Bid Documents Evaluated for 6 different seLs of Procurcmcnt proccsses; Annual Procurement Plan for Flt 2022 /23 consohdated & submitted to stakeholders; Assortcd Contracts Awarded, Supervised, Monitored and site meetings held; 7 Monthly Procuremcnt reports preparcd and submitted; Fourth quartcr Budget Performance Reports for previous year and Qt budget performancc rcport for thc curcnt year prepared, submitted and approved, Project proposals dcvcloped & submittcd in IBP and is approved to prcfeasibility stagc, Higher Educal-ion Sector Budgct Working Group meeungs participated in, Developrncnt Commlttee Mccting attended, Multi Year Commitments mceting, tor FY 202312024 attende; Quarterly Audit reports prepared and submitted to AG/OAG; I Annual Work plan submlttcd to LAG and Verification of all dclivcrics for Ql and Q2 done; Construction of administration block is at 50o/o physrcal progress, intcrns doctors' residcncc at 8l% and diet kitchen work startcd at 15% by NEC constructors; Procurement of furniturc completed and delivered, medical equipment is at ?Oo/o and. the vehrcle of thc office of the DVC at solicitors general. o a 312 Ugrndr Maaagcacnt lartitutc . Received 8,314 apphcatrons, admitted 5,830, registcred 4,O8O particrpants (52 Femalef all branches - Culu, Mbale & Mbarara, Held 0 I (one) graduation ceremony; . Procured l0o7o stationery for examinations; o Coordrnated 7 senate mectings, carried out oricntation of new partlcipants for the 2022/2023 academic year at all branches; . Proccsscd error frec cxaminations for postgraduate Diplomas for first semestcr (evenrng and r*eekend programmes) for 2O22 /2023 academic year and sccond semester examinations for Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism (2021 / 20221; . UpdaLed thc quarterly pafoll regrster and processed salaries, gratuity, NSSF for 198 staff. lmplcmented 100% thc rnsurancc schcmc activrties. o Coordrnatcd 1000z6 of the compensation to Staff who got injurics in the pcrrod; . Paid wages to ovcr 20O tcmporal/ and part-time staff, coordinated I0O% capacity buildrng inrtiatives in the period, Renewcd contracta for I members of slaff 17 40 male) for all UMI branches - and Mbarara; .#e ,Hs:

The commlttcc observes that thc council expenence hugc budget cuts w'lth their budgct for FY2O23|24 rcductng by 640/o compared to FY2O22 /23 from UShs 4?.tbn to an allocation of l?.387ba n fY2O23124, this budget cut is hkcly to affect a numbcr of planned activities under the Council such as preparatlonr quahficatrons and participation of Team Uganda in the 2O23 All Africa Games in Accra Ghana and thc 2O24 Paris, France Olympic and Paralympic games a.rnong others The Council seeks an additional Uahr 3O.42 bn in order to Eupport 5l reglst-ered National Fcdcrations and other activlttcs. The Councrl requires a dcvclopment budgct of UEhr t4.OSbn for the rcfurbishment and renovatton of Sports facilities at Lugogo Sports Complex and UShe 2o2bn nceded to facrlitate the refurbishment of various National Stadra regionally; Akibua Olymprc Stadium (Lira), Buhinga (Fort Portal crty)' Kakycka (Mbarara), Barifa (Arua), Pece (Gulu). Bugembe /lGkindu(Jrnja), Mbale Municipal Stadium (Mbalcl, Masaka Recrcattonal Grounds (Masaka)\, Ihbale Stadium (Kabale), Soroti Stadium (Soroti), King George Stadium(Tororo), Hoima (Boma Cround) and Masindi Stadium. Recomma,'datlons The commlttce recp,mmcnd,s f,hd:t: i. MFPED rclrwtatea that [ntdgct' of lfi$fot rZ2(ngf24 b U$rts4?.abn ll. MPPBL cualls llES a dcr*lopmeat hrdgct ol UShs Sobrt to klck scaft thc dcoclopma,I.C ol ttt ,Ib rt clrlmplcx/rrrNrna at Lugogo atd U*hs 2O2bt tor the Nat"lolnal ,tadla rcglotallg la thc medlut,za tctlra. FUBLIC T'N'IVERIIITIESI Gcacrd Obrcnatioar ead rccornnctr&tlont af Uadontafllag rnd hlgh rtrtl turnovcr: The Commrttec obscrves that most Public Universities are grossly understalled, with stafflng levels as low as 3O7o in some Universities/Colleges especially the s1

Vote 3O2 Mberate Uaivcnlt5l of Scicncc end Tcchnolotgl'If,U8T al Con.tructlon of thc F.culty of Mcdlclno rt Mbanrr Unlvci.lt, The Committee in onc of its oversrght visits to Mbarara University of Science and Technolog5r found out that the Univcrsity waa struggling with very old altd dilapidated rnfrastructurc of the Faculty of Medicinc. The structures in use are marnly those inherited from the formcr school of Mrdwifery built in the 1950s' a number of which arc condcmned as they are beyond repair with clogged sewerage systcm that gets blocked every now and then ther€fore,renovations may not be tenable tn additron, MUST drd not rcccive seed funding for infrastructure development at rnccption to date. The Committcc was rnformed that the asscssment carried out by the Medical and Dental Practitioncrs Councit threatened to closc the Faculty of Medicine rf no improvcment rs made, as a result of inadequate capltal developmcnt funding from MoFPED. Trte Cor mlfrcc tlercJore ,@omrr?d, d, thatl l. ilFPED annlls tunds tor cortstt,l,rchlo of the 74'742m2 llnultl'Purln* Facrultg of cdlclae block to ltouse all ,lLturc rzola,r, Laboratorrics and. officec. Thc ccd,matcd cost ts UOx, 5O.O79bi aad thls trtould' b const'ucted. ln a 3 phascd t ai',tfu.?, A aoial of UGX. 7E,O btt ts requlrcd ln FY 2023/24. tl. I^ t,I,. mea',,tTrn , gor/Etrnn?d,nt shoulr', release UGx. O.332m ln ttlc The Committee observed that the Untversrty stafhng of 573 staff accounts for oaly 22o/o of the approved staff cstabhshment whereas the Academlc staffing is at 3O.S%. Thc .most critically understaffed are Departments of Biochemistry, bttdgct Jor FY 2O23nO24 to cnablc tcaotntlon of thc Patholqg Elocrc \ uherc ttlc facrrltg ts cunaattg olxrt:rrtrltg ftottr- -S /s bt laadcquetc trIege Btll for .trlI Rccrultncnt ead Promotlon J ) #+ u 5? M

The Committee was rnformed by the Universtty that, UBhr 6.455b4 ts needed for the multipurposc building constructron at Culu Unrversrgr Constituent College, Moroto and UShr 7bn for Construction of the teaching hosprtal. Rccomnendatlon ?rE Co,,nmlttcc sccomna nds th,,t TDPED alloca:ccr @rtlu Uah/r,rsltg aa addltTonal USh^E I3.455Da ln otdcr to ulndctaakc thc co st ltctio of murti- pttrposc buiElng at thc Coastltueat College 7n Mototo annd. frachlrllg Hosplta,l- Votc 31O Lln Unlverelty Inrdcquete dcvclopmcat fund for Lln Univcnity Thc Commitlee obscrves that the Unrversrty has a number of ongoing capital developments and rcquircs an additional USh. 9bn for completion of the Marn Administration block for all-inclusive office space, central lecture & conferencc facilities and Uehe 3.6bn for cquipping thc tcaching hospital and facultrcs of Education and Mcdicrne with essentral equipment & supplies for effective t raining and efficrent functioning. Rccotnmeadatloa Tlra commtt:tce rccommends th4;t IFPDD allocatcs ttla Unhtctsltg aa crt.ra UShs 72.6b^ Jor thc complctloa of tho matn adnlaistratlon blork and procanattunt of thc nacccary mcdlcal qulpmcat tot thc teachlag hospltal a rd. Jocultles. VotG 312 Ugende Manegcmcat Inltitutc-lrul Inedcqurtc Cepltd l)cvclopmcnt fuldr for lltll The Committee observes that UMI rcquircs an additional UShe 1.5bn for construction of a new classroom block at rts campuses of Mbale and Mbarara The Institute also needs UShr loba for construction of Multipurpose buildrng rn '. thc medium term. n lg tIZIl N 64

2,800,000 2,eoo,ooo 1,608,542 ts,793,644 435,6?2 16,966,ti14 , Dcv.lopncllt o/u GoU o/ nt Dxtemal Financing o/u Anears TOTAL DTI'EI'PUET{T voTE 166 : NATIOT{AL COt ltCIL OF sP'ORIs Racurrcnt CotnpoaGnt o/w Non-wagc o/w Pension and Gratuity o/ ur Aftears Totel Rccurcnt Dcvcloptrc[t o/ u GoU o/ w Fxternal Financing o/w Arears Total l)cvclopraca t V(y[E 3O1 : MAI(ER.ER.E Irl{IvERIiITY T PALA Rccurrcat Coartrcncnt o w Wagc o/w Non-nrage o w Pensron arrd Oraturty Arrea-ra Total Rccurrcat o/ ut Efrernal Fm o/ ut Anears Total Dcrrcloprncrt VOTE 3O2 : MBARARA UNIVERSTTY OF SCIENICE AI[I) TECHNOIIrcY 208,970,38 r 139,E42,9?? 2.143,800 3.06,669.558 t9,o72,698 Dcvclopmcnt Conpoacnt <t/ ut GoU 19,o72,69E 40,006,320 Rccurrcnt Coaponctrt o/w Wagc 14,954,398 o/w Pcnsion and Gratuity o/w Non-W 673,r50 7 ,444 o,/w arrears Totd RacuEa[t *.xrs,oL2 ./ <Y Dcvcloprncnt Comporrcnt / t'Y ,q,4-Jf 3,?64,04? o/ u AoU _,J /l -/ x #J 69

MFPED nnnstates that budgcL of NCS for ff2023124 to Ushs4?.8bn Shortfalls rn B non 30.42 Develo nt of nal stadia MFPED avaits NCS a dcvelopmcnt budget of UShs Sobn to ktck start thc devclopmcnt of [h€ sports complex/arena a( Lutogo and Ushs 2o2bn for thc National stadn regronally ln thc mcdlum tcrm Totrl OuBtandlng Arrcars with no atlocation 4.8 r in thc i'Y 20231 24 2.t66 The Unrvcrarty requircE a UGX 9 l55bn for food and hvrng out allottaaccs at thc currcnt ratcs allocauoa of UGX 7.039bn r00 Cotlegc of llcalth Mqdictoe and Collcgc of v€tennary Medrctne, Antmal rciourccs and Bro Security and contlnuc arrth thc rcno!ation of thc halls of rcsidcnce Somc unlvc6ty btrtldings rtll posscss asbcstos roofs. Thcrcforc thcrc rs an 1.4 u t nccd to r€-roof thc 36..116 Construction of thc Faculty of Medrcrnc Facihtate th" Screnc€ Bascd Unrvcrsity in alignment wtth NDP lll Structurea at the Faculty of Medrone are dita tc-d and condemncd for usc Rcnovation of chc patholory block whcrc tlle Saculty of Mcdlqnc lg locatcd Facrhtatc thc scrcncc Bascd Unrvcrsity in ahgnmcnt wlth NOP lll Structurca at thc Faculty of Mednnc an: dilaptd atcd and condcmncd fot use. Provlsion of Living Out allowanccs Inadcquatc provlsion for govcrnmcnt to Cotrcrnmcnt S rcd Students s6rcd 3tudcnt3. lncrca6e wage bill to cater for Mbarara Unlvsrsrty of Sclencc and Tcrhnolos/ an additional urage of UShs ?.2bn to partly rncrcasc the stalfing lcvcls of thc acadcmrc sta(T. An addrtronal wa8e bitl USha 2 t2bn to eo.42 soo Underfunding for food and Lvrat out allowancca for gotrcrnment The wagc rcquircment for shlf hatmonrsatron Wagc rc4uiremcnt for the promotron o, Academlc Stalf Renovahon of thc collcgcs of Rcnovatron of non-acadcmlc burldrngs includrng re-roofing of houscg and rcplaccment of asbcrtos rooft Domcstrc Arrears totd rttcdtcinc ( CHS and CovABl 3 studcnta t8.o o.332 o.158 rtcrurtment and trons 932 D!_om otc 63 8taff that arc duc for

Multipurposc burlding constructron at Gulu Univcrsity Conrhtucnt 13.455 Tot Collcse and 'ttach inE Hospltal 31.?1 126 Bilt w lnadc uatc rnfraatructurc facrhtrcs Shortfalls rn allowancca totd o.576 l9.lt Dcvclo bu t.3 t.2 Construcl,ion of a new cl,assroom/office block at Mbale Branch Constructron of a ncw clalsroom/officc block at Mbarara Branch t0 Constructron of the ncw multlpurposc burldi at Kam la Branch Dcvclo t Dcvelo totd 12.5 Tte Committcc rccommcnda that MFPED re-mrtate3 Mts of the Moon lJnivcr$ty development budSet of UShs 5.41bn, addrtronal UShs 5.4bn as rctoolin bu and thc PrcaidcntEl plcdge for the construction of the faculty of health ecicnccs, rnnovatron and tcch 5.4 20 Ra-rn statc dcvclo ment bu Prcsidcntial Totd 26.+ trl;"dibt l-, --ll::?tri l eto,L 6.008 Thc Commlttcc recommcnds thar MFPED allocatca Gulu Unrve rsrty an addrtronal UShs 13.455bn rn ordcr to undertaka thc conatructron of multl- purposc burldrng at the Constituent C,ol rn Moroto and tcagb{rE!{qrprtal lrq, lanel oI 2'ln/o I'hc Commrttcc rccomDcnds thst MFPED sllo(atcs thc Unlvcrsrty an crt a UShs l2.6bn for thc codrptcLpn of thc marn admurrltmtton block and paocuremc.rt of ttre ncccarao, mcdrcal cqurpmcnt for thc tcachrnS hosprtal and facultlca. l,ivin8 Out Allowanccs for Govcrnmcnt studcnts

t AGENDA ( I ) Recitation of the Parliamcntary Prayer. (2) Communication from the Chair (3) Consideration of the Policy Statements and Budget Estimates for Public Universities for the FY 2023/2024. (4) Adjoumment The meeting was called to order 9:55 a.m. Min.l - Recitetion of the Perliementary Prayer. The Parliamentary Prayer was recited by the Committee Clerk. Min. 3; Communication from the Chairperson In his communication, the Chairperson; (a) informed Members that the meeting was convened to consider Budget Estimates for FY 2023124 for public Universitics; noting most public universities encountered operational challenges that primarily included inadequate budget allocationsl (b) thanked Government for the initiative of ensuring that there was faimess in the allocation of government grants to public universities across the country. Observations/iss ues raised The Committee noted the following: (a) that the information so submitted by the University administrations of Soroti and Busitema as availed to the Committee was authentic; (b) that all public universities presented unfunded priorities that needed the attention of Government; (c) that by Covernment needed to revise its plans ofopening up new public universities on account of limited resource envelope; (d) that despite inadequate resource allocations, some public universities like Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Muni University embarked on viable projects and research and development; The Committee sought to establish the following: (a) whether universities' management had forums where key cross-cutting issucs affecting of Universities were consideredi (b) the cost ofbats that Muni University sought to procure to facilitate research studies: (c) justification that Ministry of Financc, Planning and Economic Development had to ignore supplementary expenditures it allocated to Public Universities; (d) reasons/causes for low student enrolment in some Public Universitiest (e) the reasons for non-inclusion of civil works in the development budget component to refurbish dilapidated infrastructure at Busitema University; (f) details about specimens for research that Muni University was to undertakel 3

I (g) reasons for refusal of the Mbarara Univcrsity of Science and Technology Vice Chancellor to honor invitations to attend meetings of the Committee on Education and Sportsl Responses to issues raised: The nteeting was informed: (a,) Busitema University's top unfunded priorities included staffing and refurbishment of the the Univemity Complex. @/ Soroti University's unfunded priorities werc listed in the written memoranda that was presented to the Committee; (c) Mrbau:ara Univcrsity of Science and Technology's Vice Chancellor's absence at meetings of the Committee of which he was invited was not deliberate but rather hinged on other engaganents relating to funding of public universities that he had to attend to; (d/ Non-promotion of university staff to higher positions in the staff structure was occasioned by inadequate wage bill allocation; (e) Muni University low student enrolment was occasioned by regulations set by National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) to enrol particular student numbers for science degree courses as compared to those to offer arts counies' That the University was looking at enrotting students to undertake/puniue new programs in order to increase on the students population. A representetive from Ministry of Education and Sports informed the Committce that under the UNESCO principles. States ought to allocate at least I p€rcent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP towards Education. Howcver, in Uganda, only 0'3 percent was allocated to education. a. Suggested that URA should be bafted from collecting money from Universities to solve the issue ofNTR not being allocated them as they have collected it. b. Requested the Universities to avail evidence ofwhatever they are alluding to in their presentation. (the University availed a letter before the Committee informing them of the Communication the PSST made to the accounting officers of all Universities informing them that "owing to cashflow constraints. the timits do not consider the additional adjustments to several votes as made by Parliament at thc Budget approval) c. Suggested that all University representatives should be available when the Committee is meeting the Ministry of Finance. 4

d. The issue of Muni University having a low number of students is as a result of its geographical location. Hon. Twesigye John Ntamuhiira a. tnformed the Universities that the Committee can only be of help to them only if they present their issues and be open about them. b. Informed the Committee about the issue of monitoring of the quality of books by NCDC. c. Further requested the Committee to inquire into the Budgct at the Ministry head- quarters. d. Requested the Universities to avail evidence of research that they have made. e. Requested the Universities to avail their plan on how they plan to equip the staff that they already have. Hon. Bingi Patrick Stated that he is appalled by the stafling levels of Mbarara University regardless of its status as one of the best Universities in Uganda. Min.4 - Adjournment The meeting adjoumed to 2:30 p.m. Recorded by: Confirmed by: f. -Cffi.'S, Nlnsllma Twesigye John tamuhiira, MP CHATRPERSON Diana Oleny COMMITTEE CLERK 5

Shortfalls m Budqet non-wage 30.42 MFPED rernstatcs that budget of NCS for FY2O23 /24 to Ushs47.8bn. Develooment of reEional stadia so.o MFPED avarls NCS a development budget of uShs SObn to kick start the devclopment of thc sports complex/arena at Lugogo and Ushs 202bn for the Natlonal stadE regronally ln the medrum tcrm Totel Domestrc Arrears Outstanding Arrcars with no a.llocatron rn the FY 2023124 Underfundmg for food and hvmg- out allowances for government sponsored students 2.t66 Ttre Universrty requrres a UGX 9. l55bn for food and livrng out allowances at the current rates allocation of UGX 7 039bn The wage requrrement for staff harmonraatron 12.63 For stalf harmonrsatron followrng the pubhc seruce lnstructlon Wage requrrement for the promotron of Acadcmic Stalf 441 For oromotion of ouahfied stalf Renovation of the colleges of medrcrne (CHS and CoVABI loo The Committee recommends that MFPED allocates an additronal UShs lobn to klck start the renovatron of the College of Health Medrcrne and College of Veterinary Medicine, Antmal resourcea and Bro Security and continue with the renovatlon of the halls of residence Renovation of non-academrc buildings mcludrng re-roofing of houscs and replacement of asbestos roofs 14 Some unrveralty burldings strll possess asbestos roofs. Therefore there ls an urgent need to re-roof the buildinss Totd Conatructron of the Faculty of Mcdicine 35.416 18.0 Faclhtate the Scrence Based Unrversity in alignment wlth NDP lll. Structures at the l'aculty of Medrcine are dllaDldated and condemned for usc. Renovabon of the pathologr block where the Faculty of Mediclne rs located 0.332 Facllitate the Scrence Based University ln alignment wlth NDP III. Structures at the Faculty of Medrcine are dllapldated and condemncd for use. Provisron of Lrvrng Out allowances to Government Sponsored Students o.158 lnadequate provisron for government sponsored students. Increase Wage bill to cater for recrultment and promotrons 9.32 Mbarara University of Science and Technologl an additronal wage of UShs 7 2bn to partly increase the staffing levels of thc academic staff An addrtional wage brtt UShs 2.l2bn to promote 63 stall that are due for

Multlpurpos€ bulldlng construction at Gulu Universlty Constituent Ho tal and Teac 13.455 Thc Commrttee recommends that MFPED allocates Gulu University an addrtronal UShs 13.455bn ln order to undertake the constructlon of multr- purpose burldmg at the Constltuent Col tal in Moroto and teachi Hos Totd 31.? 1 BiI w 6.008 uate infrastructure facrlitres 126 l,ow stalfinq level of 27o/a The Commrttee rccommends that MFpED allocates the Unlvcrslty an extra UShs l2.6bn for the completron of the mam admmrsratron block and procurement of the ncccssary mcdrcal cqurpmcnt for the teachrng hosprtal and facultres. Shortfalls in allowances o_576 Lrving Out Allowances for Government Students Totd 19.18 Develo ent bu t 13 Conatructron of a new cLassroom/office block at Mbale Branch Develo ent t 1.2 Construction of a new classroom/office block at Mbarara Branch Develo ent t 10 Constructlon of the new multipurpose bu Branch at t(am Totd 12.S Re-rn state tbu t 5.4 The Committee recommends that MFPED re-instates Mts of the Moon Unrverslty development budget of UShs 5.4lbn, addrtronal UShs 5 4bn as retoo bu and the Presrdentral 20 Presldenthl pledge for the construction of the faculty of health scrences, lnnovatlon and technolo Totel 26.4

Thank you. My observation is that much as we appreciate the minority report, I would like to know whether these points were brought to the committee and rejected. That would save us from having to present a minority report here in the House. Secondly, I would like to thank the chairperson for the report. However, I want to emphasise that NEMA has not done its work efficiently. Yesterday, I came from Mbarara; we followed huge buses but they take advantage of their size and keep throwing bottles, kaveera , and food, everywhere. I do not know what can be put in place – (Interjections) – Kaveera is polythene paper. On tree planting, we are not doing as much as we should. I recommend that money be given for that purpose. Recently, I was given tree seedlings to take to my constituency, and in a very short time, they were taken. This shows that people are hungry for these seedlings to plant. That would go a long way in helping our environment. That is all I wanted to say. Thank you.

8222 Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Report of the proceedings of Parliament (Hansard) is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk to Parliament. MINISTERIAL POLICY STATEMENTS & BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR THE FY 2023/2024 Vote 103: Inspectorate of Government Vote 119: Uganda Registration Services Bureau Judiciary Low disposal rate of cases at Supreme Court On the low disposal rate of cases at the Supreme Court, the committee recommends that the Judiciary develops strategies to improve the performance in the Supreme Court in order to stem accumulation of backlog. Construction of court buildings The committee recommends that the Judiciary be provided an additional Shs 19.96 billion to undertake the construction of court buildings in the above-mentioned areas – Court of Appeal buildings in Mbarara and Gulu as well as High Court premises in Moroto, Mpigi, Iganga, Mubende, Luwero and Kitgum. Transport equipment The committee recommends that the development budget of the Judiciary for Financial Year 2023/2024 be enhanced by Shs 8.19 billion to procure transport equipment to improve access to justice. Court sessions The committee recommends that the Judiciary be provided Shs 35 billion, during the Financial Year 2023/2024 and the next Financial Year 2024/2025 to enable it organise more court sessions. Gender compliance The Judiciary should priorities gender mainstreaming and its activities, and make provision for breastfeeding/children rooms in all premises. Law Development Centre (LDC) On allowances for part-time lectures, the committee recommends that the allowance of part-time staff be declassified in the charter of accounts as wages to protect it from possible future budget cuts. Secondly, the LDC be provided with an additional Shs 3.5 billion on its nonwage recurrent budget to cater for allowances of part-time staff. Completion of the construction of the LDC multi-storied building - Shs 77 billion The committee recommends that the Development Committee of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development finalises the approval of this project as it has the potential of generating income once completed. Two, Government provides Shs 77 billion to the LDC development budget for the completion of the multi-storied building, across the medium term, starting with the Financial Year 2023/2024. Legal aid services The committee recommends an additional Shs 1.5 billion to LDC to facilitate legal aid services. On Mbale Regional Campus, the committee recommends that Shs 6.7 billion be provided to LDC to set up a regional campus in Mbale in the Financial Year 2023/2024. Gender compliance The committee recommends that the LDC expedites the implementation of the gender policy at the workplace and also set up sign language services, and visual impairment aids for persons with disabilities Uganda Law Reform Commission On low budget absorption, the committee recommends that the commission should ensure that procurement modalities are completed so as to immediately commence printing as soon as the President ascents to the revised principle law. The commission should exploit recruitment on contract terms as they wait for rationalisation of agencies so as to fill the available human resource gap.

Thank you. Honourable colleagues, in the Public Gallery this afternoon, we have a delegation from the Guild of Bishop Stuart University, Mbarara led by their speaker. They are represented by Hon. Mwine Mpaka, Hon. Rukaari Robert and Hon. Rita Atukwasa. They have come to observe the proceedings of the House. Please join me in welcoming them. Can they stand up? Thank you for coming. (Applause) The Ministers of Finance and Public Service will have to comment because the issues were cross-cutting.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Rule 189(d) requires the sectoral committees to examine and make recommendations on these ministerial policy statements. To me, “examining” means going deeper to scrutinise and understand. When examining, you are looking for reasonableness, economy, effectiveness and efficiency. What the Ministry of Finance provided to us – let me give you an example - they would just say, “Output: hold a workshop in Mbarara at Shs 200 million.” To me, this does not make sense because a budget is a costed output or work plan in which you indicate what you want to do, and how much it costs so that when am examining it, I can understand that what you are putting in the budget is reasonable. I can understand that you are not hiding or exaggerating figures under a certain cost. Mr Speaker, our committee was defeated and we reasoned it with the ministry, and they accepted it as the way to go although their excuse was that it is bulky. My question was: If it is not bulky to you, why do you think it is bulky to us? We can get a soft copy and go through what they did to understand it well so that figures are not hidden within their budget and we just go through it; unless we agree that we are going to simply rubber stamp whatever they bring to us. I beg to submit, Mr Speaker.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the committee for the very good report that they have presented to us. I also thank them for the many things they have mentioned. At this moment, I want to talk about research. Research is the way forward for Uganda. We have been depending on other countries, but I want to mention that last week, we visited the centres of excellence in Uganda. We visited Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo, Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi, and went up to Mbarara. We saw wonders in research. The only problem is that they get little money. I implore the committee to consider these centres of excellence so that they are given more money to do more research for us. I saw very many products, especially the organic fertilisers that they have produced. I saw herbicides, acaricides and soil-testing kits. They are doing a lot of things. In Uganda here, we use fertilisers but in some cases, we do not know that when you put fertilisers in the soil, they may not be absorbed by the roots of the plants because of the pH of the soil. We discovered that there is need to test the soils first. This research is being done by our children in these centres of excellence. It has attracted very many students – (Member timed out.)

4.4.4 Ugan& Wildlife Coasonratloa Educatlon Ccntre (IrWECl Esta.bllshment of Reglonal Satelllb Wlldllfe Consenatlo Educatlon Centre, constntctlon of d pler and a uall fence; The Committee was informed by UWEC that, the institution is soon getting a modem 5O seater boat through the Competitiveness & Enterprise Development Project-Additional Financing (CEDP-AF) to boost the Lake Victoria tourism circuit project. The Committee was further informed that notwithstanding the commencement of the procurement process of the boat, the same will require a pier for docking. The Committee was leamt that UWEC has secured 60 acres of NFA tand in the regional cities of Mbale, Gulu, Mbarara and Fort portal for the purpose of establishing a Regional Satellite Wildlife Conservation Education Centres. The first phase of this project will start in Mbale and the other centres will be established subsequently. Furthermore, the Committee was informed by UWEC that the construction of the wall fence was a pertinent asp€ct to avoid the human-wildlife conflict, which has proved to be one of the biggest challenges that the neighbouring communities to the protected areas are facing elsewhere. As thus, the Committee observes that the matters raised above are pertinent if the country is to nurture and grow domestic tourism; enhance and strengthen the securiSr of both the wildlife and humans in the neighbourhood; bring the UWEC education and conservation service closer to the people. The Commlttee therefore recoaaende that; Thc Propoaed UGX 2O btllion be provlded to UTIEC for the iaplcoentation of the proJcctr ar followc; UGX 1 billlon for the pier boat docldng faclltty UGX 4 btlllon for constructlon of thc wall fence UGX 15 billioa for the Mbdc Itr Sate a a O [!I N \r Educetio Ce ntre 24

I{o. Requlrcncnt Budget Justlflcatloa increasing demand for these training given the number of new exporters that emerge every year. There are also a number of emerging issues especially in the market. UEPB is seeking for an increase in the exporter training budget to meet this requirement, This in tum will enhance the efhciency of these exporters and thus lead to an increase in their exporter turnover. 6 Opening Regional Export Information and Support Centres o Arua o Gulu o Mbale o Entebbe o Mbarara o Hoima 4.15 UEPB was in FY2O2O/21 cleared to establish up to fifteen ( 15) satellite information and support centers by 2025. The purpose of these centers was to bring services closer to the people - especially the producers. The centres would amongst other business development services provide guidance and information to the producers on ?roducing for Export'; support export business in upcountry locations; directly link producers with exporters and foreign buyers; and coordinate export development activities in upcountry locations. Efforts to establish and operationalize the first six (6) centres in Arua, Gulu, Mbale, Entebbe, Hoima and Mbarara were delayed due to the impending restructuring of MDAs. This should be established during the next fY 2023/24. i o (l 't 64

Thank you, Mr Speaker. In your communication, you talked about accidents on the Kampala-Masaka-Mbarara Road. Indeed, that stretch, as of now, has claimed many lives of Ugandans. Yesterday, on my way back from the village, I was driving behind a taxi. When I reached the Lukaya stretch, there were about four potholes. They were big, deep and deadly. The taxi hit the pothole – it was just in the air. Good enough, it landed safely. Immediately after it landed, everyone went out of the taxi to ease themselves. (Laughter) To be sincere, that stretch is very deadly. We are in the budget process and I want to know from the minister whether they have plans of working on that stretch. Secondly, Mr Speaker, you have been to Isingiro many times. The issue of Isingiro- Rakai Road is also a problem. Six months back, the Rt Hon. Prime Minister, together with the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, committed themselves here on the Floor of Parliament that, indeed, the Government had managed to put money aside to do a feasibility study on that road. I want to know from them if that road is going to be worked on this quarter. Thank you.

Thank you, honourable minister. In the public gallery this afternoon, are students and teachers of Parenting Uganda, Mbarara Campus from Mbarara District, represented by Hon. Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari, Hon. Mwine Mpaka Rwamirama and Hon. Rita Atukwasa. They have come to observe the proceedings of this House. Please join me in welcoming them. (Applause) You can stand up for recognition. Thank you. Also, in the public gallery this afternoon, are students and teachers of Top Times High School in Busiro County East Constituency, Wakiso District. They are represented in Parliament by Hon. Medard Lubega-Sseggona and Hon. Naluyima Betty. They have come to observe proceedings of this House. Please join me in welcoming them. (Applause) Thank you. Equally, we have, in the public gallery this afternoon, pupils and teachers of Crown Junior School from Nsambya, Makindye West. They are represented in Parliament by Hon. Ssewanyana Allan Aloizious and Hon. Malende Shamim. They have come to observe the proceedings of this House. Please join me in welcoming them. (Applause) Hon. Abdallah Kiwanuka, do you have a procedural matter to raise?

7881 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 5 APRIL 2023 Vote 126: National Information Technologies Authority (NITA-U) requested for Shs 5.510 billion as external financing from the World Bank for implementation of the Regional Communication Infrastructure Project. We have a small correction on paragraph 3, page 34. Due to the delayed implementation, a request was made to the World Bank by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to extend the project closing date to 31 August 2022, not 2021. The request was granted. We recommend the approval of Shs 5.510 billion to NITA-U as external funding. Vote 302: Mbarara University of Science and Technology requested for Shs 1.660 billion as NTR for payment of living-out allowances for non-resident Government-sponsored students and management of third semester examinations. We recommend the approval of Shs 1.660 billion to Mbarara University. Vote 313: Mountains of the Moon University made a request of Shs 5.9 billion NTR to cater for provision of teaching and office infrastructure given the increasing pressure on the existing infrastructure resulting from high enrolment from 2,107 to 3,000. We recommend the approval of Shs 5.9 billion to Mountains of the Moon University. Vote 501: Uganda Mission at the UN, New York, requested for Shs 660 million to replace the old air conditioning circulation unit and associated ancillaries at the Uganda House in New York. The committee also established that the mission had requested for Shs 1.027 billion to do other associated works. We recommend the approval of those requests. Various central and local governments requested a total of Shs 10.752 billion as unspent external financing from Financial Year 2021/2022 under the European Union Budget support. These funds were meant to be disbursed to local governments and support activities under central government agencies as detailed below; the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Ministry of Public Service, Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Ministry of Local Government, Uganda Bureau of Statistics and Equal Opportunities Commission. So, we recommend approval of Shs 10.752 billion to various Central and Local Government Votes listed above. Various Central and Local Government Votes - Shs 408.967 billion to meet wage shortfalls arising from new policy to enhance the wages of scientists in the Financial Year 2022/2023. Members, you can read (annex 5) We recommend approval of Shs 408.967 billion for all the votes for salary enhancements. Central Government and Local Government Votes – Shs 11.070 billion is required as unspent external financing from the Financial Year 2021/2022 similar to what we have dealt with; the agencies are indicated. The committee declined approval of Shs 11.070 billion to various Central and Local Government Votes listed above as these funds were already provided in the approved budget for Financial Year 2022/2023. Vote 600: Local Governments – Shs 410.371 billion is required as follows: i) Shs 5.639 billion is locally raised revenue. This is required to facilitate the local governments, captured as unanticipated revenue at the time of budgeting. This was a surplus. We recommend approval of Shs 5.638 billion to various local governments. Members you will read (Annex 6A and 6B). ii) Shs 0.288 billion as unspent balances for Northern Uganda Development Enhanced Local Governance Infrastructure and Livelihoods Programme (NUDIEL),

I will start with those who were here as we started plenary – Now some have started complaining. (Laugh- ter) I can see that most of you were not here and the ones who were not here are the ones saying, “Yes.” I will pick the Member for Iban - da and then the Member for Vurra – Everyone who has spoken today, first take your seat. After the Member for Vurra, I will pick Dr Ku- gonza, the Member for Ntungamo, Hon. Os - eku, Hon. Aleper, Hon. Katalihwa, UWOPA chairperson – Oh, UWOPA has spoken. So, I will pick Hon. Balmoyi, Hon. Otimgiw, Hon. Ogwal, the Member for Mbarara, the Member for Rukiga and then I will come back. Honourable colleagues, I am going to give you time.

There is also Akii Bua Stadium, the one in Fort Portal, another in Jinja, Mbarara - Shadow Minister of Sports, you will speak last.

7568 AD HOC C OMMITTEE REPORT 7. Vote 166 – National Council of Sports; 8. Vote 301 – Makerere University; 9. Vote 302 – Mbarara University of Science and Technology; 10. Vote 304 – Kyambogo University; 11. Vote 305 – Busitema University; 12. Vote 306 – Muni University; 13. Vote 307 – Kabale University; 14. Vote 308 – Soroti University; 15. Vote 309 – Gulu University; 16. Vote 310 – Lira University; 17. Vote 312 – Uganda Management Institute; 18. Vote 313 – Mountains of the Moon University; and 19. Vote 612 – Local governments. Madam Speaker, I beg to lay.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to lay on the Table the policy statement for the health sub-programme for Financial Year 2023/2024: Vote 014 – Ministry of Health Vote 114 - Uganda Cancer Institute Vote 115 – Uganda Heart Institute Vote 116 - National Medical Stores Vote 127 - Uganda Virus Research Institute Vote 134 - Health Service Commission Vote 151 - Uganda Blood Transfusion Service Vote 401 - Mulago National Referral Hospital Vote 402 - Butabika Hospital Vote 403 - Arua Regional Referral Hospital Vote 404 - Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital Vote 405 - Gulu Regional Referral Hospital Vote 406 - Hoima Regional Referral Hospital Vote 407 - Jinja Regional Referral Hospital Vote 408 - Kabale Regional Referral Hospital Vote 409 - Masaka Regional Referral Hospital Vote 410 - Mbale Regional Referral Hospital Vote 411 - Soroti Regional Referral Hospital Vote 412 - Lira Regional Referral Hospital Vote 413 - Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital Vote 414 - Mubende Regional Referral Hospital Vote 415 - Moroto Regional Referral Hospital Vote 416 - Naguru National Referral Hospital Vote 417 - Kiruddu Regional Referral Hospital Vote 418 - Kawempe Regional Referral Hospital Vote 419 - Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital Vote420 - Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital Vote 421 - Kayunga Referral Hospital Vote 422 - Yumbe Referral Hospital Vote 612 - Local Governments and the other annex attached. Madam Speaker, I beg to lay.

I approved Shs 1.8 billion which is money for stakeholders brought from the Fund. However, when the former manager director went to Mbarara for a Board meeting at Emburara, he started going to Board members and enticing them with Shs 1.8 billion to be given to them to renew his contract. That is a testimony in the committee and it was played here.

7463 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 9 MARCH 2023 “Whereas the committee appreciates Mr Richard Byarugaba and the entire management for their effort in growing the Fund, the committee notes their involvement in the initiation of the Shs 1.8 billion concealed under corporate social responsibility, where Shs 250 million was for the Board chairperson, Shs 250 million for the minister responsible for labour, Shs 500 million to Board members and Shs 800 million to the unions.” Therefore, the Board chairperson played here saying Mr Richard Byarugaba attempted to bribe them. This particular Board member said he was standing with Dr Silver Mugisha, another Board member. Mr Richard Byarugaba scrolled his phone and said, “This one is for you; this one is for you; this one is for you; just sign my contract.” I want to say what I testified before the committee. When the committee called me, I testified and I want to put it on record that when they returned from Mbarara, the chairman and Mr Richard Byarugaba came to my office and told me that while in Mbarara, they sat and agreed that they give money for corporate social responsibility and for the minister, they have allocated Shs 250 million. I asked them: under what activities are - Madam Speaker, I know corporate social responsibility, but they came to me saying, “This one is called “corporate social investment”. (Laughter)

7465 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 9 MARCH 2023 billion for stakeholders’ engagement. When it went to NSSF, they changed it. When they came back from Mbarara, they told me they had allocated money. They did not tell me that it was part of the Shs 1.8 billion for stakeholders. I told them that if there was any money allocated for the Minister responsible for Labour, let it go to the savers’ SACCO, not to me. I have never received the Shs 250 million and the condition under which I said I would accept it was as long as it would go to the savers’ SACCO. I would accept it as a corporate social responsibility.

7230 THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SPORTS BILL, 2022 in Mbarara is in bad shape. We have the money but we do not have the graders. Thank you.

Due to the numerous claims relating to the ownership of the land, which required a lengthy due diligence and approval process, no money was ever approved for the purchase of the Nakigalala land. That is a response by Mr Richard Byarugaba. The minister provided evidence and the committee reports below: Corruption in the purchase of the MTN shares Mr Richard Byarugaba stated that the IPOs are regulated offers by the CMA and USE listing rules. The minister provided no evidence to support the allegations. Payment of Shs 3 billion kickback on contract for Mbuya CITADEL Apartments Mr Richard Byarugaba stated that the allegations are not true. The minister provided no evidence to the committee in support of the allegations. Exchange of money for the sale of the Mbarara plot Mr Richard Byarugaba disputed the allegations. By the time the managing director left the Fund, they said no piece of land had been sold yet. The minister provided no evidence to support the allegation. However, it is true the land has not been sold. Redesign of personal house of Symbion Uganda Limited in exchange for business Mr Richard Byarugaba disputed the allegations as the managing director used the private contractors in the names of Mr Charles Mugambe and an architect - Susan Atai - in 2007, way before Symbion Uganda Limited was contracted by the Fund. The minister provided no evidence to support the allegations. Commission of 5 per cent of the contract value for Lubowa construction contracts through De Point Consultants Limited Mr Richard Byarugaba stated that the allegations are not true and the minister provided no allegations to support the allegations.

“While at Emburara Hotel in Mbarara, I was with Mr Silver Mugisha, another Board member. Then Mr Byarugaba joined us. We were standing and not even seated. He rolled his phone and said, ‘This one is for you. This is for you.’” He was telling him how they were going to share, according to the Board member. “This is the one who was soliciting me, again, he is coming here telling the committee that we were the ones putting pressure on him, yet on that day he wanted to renew his contract.” The committee observed that whereas several witnesses kept denying having knowledge, participated or passed the budget of the Shs 1.8 billion, it was actually passed by the Board in the NSSF Budget for the Financial Year 2022/2023 under other operating costs. Below is the extract from the budget they passed for this financial year we are in. Extract from the NSSF Budget for the Financial Year 2022/2023 - Funding the strategy on the budget item; Shs 1.8 billion is shown below: The Fund has planned joint activities with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, labour unions, the Federation [Mr Mpaka] SELECT COMMITTEE REPORT

Much obliged, Mr Speaker. I hope that when we return – because it is the Speaker’s admission, which is an act of humility and acceptable. (Applause) However, in the absence of the Speaker, these are colleagues. None of them could “hazard” a message to me and I took it personal upon them. Also, Mr Speaker, while I will honour your invitation, I need to bring it to the attention of these honourable colleagues that the abductions are still on-going. Yes, on Sunday, a taxi was stopped at Maya from Mbarara. A young man called Anthony Agaba was picked out; his whereabouts are not known to his family and close friends. So, Hon. Oboth and your team, you are still giving out fuel for drones; you are still repairing drones to abduct citizens. That should also come to bare in that meeting to account for Anthony Agaba. (Applause)

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. For the record, I would like to say that I chair the Ankole caucus and the issue I am speaking about also concerns you, Mr Speaker. During the Christmas season, I had the chance of attending functions of many Members of Parliament around the region and I was also in your constituency. I saw how bad your roads are. You might not have a chance to speak here on the Floor of Parliament because you preside over us, but your roads are also badly off. Honourable minister, please attend to the roads of our Rt Hon. Speaker. (Laughter) When you talked about Galilaya, I also have a Galilaya in my area; it is the road between Mbarara and Ibanda. That Galilaya is about 29 miles from Mbarara, there are about six potholes in a space of 100 metres. Vehicles overturn there. Please, preside over UNRA which you supervise. In addition, the road at Buzibweera–Rutooma Town Council looks like a cloth eaten by rats. These accidents on our roads are sometimes as a result of unmarked roads. Some drivers may have poor sight, but when there is a marked road, it means somebody can keep to his lane. However, you cannot mark a road that looks like a cloth eaten by a rat. I wanted to raise this. Over the years, they should maintain and mark the roads, like they do on the Entebbe Expressway which is newly constructed, but already, they are remarking it and yet there are many unmarked roads across the country. I also have a very major murram road from Kakiika in Mbarara to Kachwangobe on the Ruhumba–Kiruhura Road. This road has potholes; a lorry can disappear into the pothole. This road is very big; Kakiika– Kachwangobe via Mutonto-Kyenshama. The LC 3 chairpersons have constantly petitioned me, as a chairman, and I brought them to your office, Mr Speaker, when they complained about these roads. Lastly, Mr Speaker -

6958 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT d) Be healthy and willing to undergo medical and physical tests. e) Have no criminal record and this proof of good citizenship was LCI and DISO signatures and recommendations. The quotas were distributed as follows: a) 8,400 were shared nationwide based on the district population size. b) 1,000 were mechanics and drivers. c) 600 were scientists qualifying to join the Air force. d) 100 Medical personnel e) 100 brass band musicians f) 50 specialised sportsmen and ladies The committee findings The committee observed that the recruitment covered 146 districts and the recruitment plan covered 134 districts. The 12 districts were accommodated within their former districts, since their district headquarters were not yet established. Quotas allocated to each district were based on the Uganda Bureau of Statistics population data of 2020. On this note, districts like Mitooma, Sheema, Rubirizi, Bushenyi and Buhweju had their recruitment centre at Bushenyi District Headquarters, which was their mother district as well as Greater Mbarara of Rwampara, Isingiro, Ibanda and Mbarara City and Mbarara District as well. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the recruitments were done on zonal levels. For instance, the UPDF recruited a total of 163 people from the districts of Nebbi, Zombo and Pakwach. Here the recruitment centre was in Nebbi. All those that attended were recommended by LCIs and DISOs. Nebbi District was a recruitment centre hosting the other two districts. Despite their quota being 57 for Nebbi District alone, 163 recruits were recruited at the zone. While recruitment is not based on tribe, most of the recruits that came from Nebbi were the Alur, as per their identity cards. The committee was informed that a total of 195 people were recruited from Tororo District and most of their documents were verified by LCI chairpersons of various villages of applicants to ensure that they had no criminal record - and not necessarily to prove their ethnicity, tribe or place of abode. Attached are the copies of IDs and letters of recommendation; letters from LCs and recommendations by GISOs as well. However, this was misunderstood to mean proof of nationality. The committee recommends that LCs and the general public should be sensitised on recruitment procedures and guidelines, in accordance with the UPDF Act of 2005. Advertisements should be clear, easy to understand and should be published in all local newspapers and local radios for wider coverage. There were alarming numbers of forged academic documents and the Uganda national identity cards. Recruits who did not have national IDs, but had already applied were not allowed to use their national identification numbers because it was difficult to attach the face to the NIN. Verification of all other documents required more time and finances, which had its own limitations. The recruitment period should be long enough to allow time to verify all the required documents by the relevant Government institutions and agencies. The national identification numbers should be allowed as long as their genuineness can be verified. The recruitment process should be financed to undertake most of the required activities to avoid haphazard work. The recruitment was done for all Ugandans, as long as they had national identity cards and their LCI or GISO or DISO confirmed that they had the required documents verified by LCIs, DISOs, GISOs, as proof of no criminal record. The committee recommends that there should always be proper scrutiny or vetting of these

Madam Speaker, I have looked at the petition. The request is for UNRA and that is almost the same ministry, and then the Ministry of Water and Environment. I undertake to direct my office from Mbarara to go and check this.

6827 THE E L E VENTH PARLIAMENT O F UGANDA WEDNESDAY , 1 8 J ANUARY 2023 Secondly, on the compensation, there is variance in the values that are given. The road, for instance, from Masaka to Mbarara; when they were compensating and they reached Lyantonde, the price appreciated after that. It is the same even when they are dealing with the transmission lines. There is a problem we need to investigate, Madam Speaker.

6761 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 17 JANUARY 2023 Madam Speaker, uncontrolled encroachment on forest land, illegal harvesting and titling renders the future generation vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Uncontrolled deforestation stands as number one of the major threatening factors against the sustainability of the environment. Deforestation de-stabilises the ecological and environmental functions (soil and water conservation) – we always attribute loss of soil fertility to very many factors, but the moment we have no forests, the deterioration of soil fertility will be high and so, the functions of trees render the areas vulnerable to externalities. We have significant encroachment on forestS like Budongo Forest, which has been encroached on by Kakira Sugar Works. Bugoma Forest has been encroached on by Hoima Sugar and Mabira Forest in Lugazi has been encroached on by Lugazi Sugar Works. Other forests that have been encroached on include: 1. Kisisita Central Forest Reserve in Ssi Subcounty; 2. Malibwe Forest in Ngogwe Subcounty in Buikwe South Constituency; 3. Namyoya and Namanve in Mukono; 4. Bajjo 5. Kiula and Wamale in Kayunga; 6. Mbarara Central Forest Reserve; 7. Mugomba and Kitubulu in Wakiso; 8. Lutoboka Central Forest Reserve in Kalangala; 9. Lira Central Forest Reserve; 10. Rwamunda and Walumanyi in Mpigi; 11. Luweero and Butebe; and 12. Other forests in Kabarole, Kiboga, Masaka and across Uganda. At the moment, there are over 1000 illegal land titles fraudulently created on central forest reserve land under the watch of the National Forest Authority (NFA) and Government is not doing anything enough to evict encroachers. Madam Speaker, we have a big problem created by licensees of the NFA who do not comply with the terms and conditions stated therein such that in the process of restoring degraded areas of the central forest reserves, they have instead cut down, destroyed and completely removed the natural forests in the central forest reserves and planted pine and eucalyptus trees on the bare forest land created. The most affected areas that we visited are Mabira National Forest Reserve, Uganda’s natural heritage that has been left along Jinja Road, while its integrity internally has been deplorably destroyed as NFA looks on. Natural forests and plantations play important roles, which are recognised locally and internationally, in terms of inter alia, biodiversity conservation, climate stability, carbon sequestration, water catchment, medicinal and the production of various forest products for livelihood improvement. Madam Speaker, when we retain pine and eucalyptus alone and do away with the rain forests, many of these functions and benefits can no longer be got from the gazetted forest reserves. A total of Shs 628 billion was approved in Financial Year 2022/2023 for actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The first activity was to resurvey and mark 6,200 square kilometres of boundary to increase the national forest cover from the current 12.4 per cent to 15 per cent and restore 850 square kilometres of wetlands and forests. The other provision in that budget was demarcating and gazetting of central forest reserves and wetlands and also eviction of encroachers on forests and wetlands. The process of cancellation of titles in wetlands had started. However, no significant funds were allocated for actual tree planting to restore significantly deforested areas. We have tree nurseries, but the dissemination of tree seedlings is left to volunteerism. The NEMA efforts to restore forests are selective in that major encroachers are side-lined as efforts are concentrated towards driving away small encroachers. Unless this is halted, we risk losing tree cover by 2040. There are some

Thank you. Honourable members, those who have not spoken will speak on the next one. Hon. Edakasi, you will speak on COSASE. I saw Hon. Osoru very passionate about a city and municipality living together. We need to live cordially. A city came out of the municipality and we need to live in harmony. For now, when we do not have premises, we cannot just decide to chase them away, but it is food for thought for the Government to create an office for the city or for the municipality. It is your baby that you must nurture. Do not chase away your babies. Soroti, Gulu, Mbarara, among other cities, let us learn to live together and coexist and we will have an alternative in the near future. Can we hear from the Attorney-General? A number of issues have been raised.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. That is a matter we need to address together. However, honourable colleagues, I want to implore you to balance these interests very carefully. As we clamour to say the money should be retained in the cities that make it, you know Kampala will make more, Arua will make the next and then Mbarara, among other cities. So, some people in this process may suffer. As we balance this, we need to do it very carefully. As we look at amending this law, we need to look at it very carefully to make sure that we have balanced development of the country. It is something, but it is a thought that we need to address and I agree with honourable members. A lot has been said about the law on local government –

6742 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT General. The audit revealed that on the account of delayed deletion of staff from payroll, some accounting officers authorised payment for salaries to staff who are either retired, transferred their services, absconded or died. I will give you an example of Gulu city where there was a delayed deletion of 20 staff who had left services leading to payment of Shs 64,323,558. Mr Speaker, such anomalies lead to loss of funds, and we have provided recommendations to that effect. We would also like to report on non-deduction of PAYE from political leaders. We have indicated details of our findings as a committee, where political leaders were not subjected to deductions of PAYE. We have also provided recommendations and to be specific. The committee recommends that accounting officers recover all the monies that were not deducted from these political leaders or the accounting officers will have to be held liable and they will have to make good the losses. Mr Speaker, we would also like to report on payment of salaries, pension and gratuity of IPPS. We noted for example, in Bulambuli District, where nine pensioners were paid a total of Shs 170 million off IPPS. The committee observed that payment of salary pension and gratuity off IPPS contravenes paragraph 4.5 of the Establishment Notice No.2 of 2019 and could lead to abuse and manipulation for private gains. As a result, we recommend the following: The accounting officers should ensure to reconcile their respective entity staff lists together with the Ministry of Public Service IPPS, in order to avoid payment of salaries and pension and gratuity off IPPS. The accounting officers should desist from the practice and can only take such actions with the approval of the line ministries. Mr Speaker, under 3.3, we have off-budget receipts. We have provided those details and I request Members to look through. The committee has also provided observations, and I will take you straight to recommendations. The recommendations as follows: The accounting officers should adhere to paragraph 29 of the Budget Execution Circular for the said financial year. The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should mainstream the disbursement of funds through the normal planning and budgeting cycles to avoid off- budget receipts. Mr Speaker, we would like to report on the operationalisation of the new cities. The audit report noted that during the Financial Year 2019/2020, Government made a pronouncement upgrading 10 municipal councils to city status, effective 1 st July 2020. These include: Arua, Mbarara, Gulu, Jinja, Fort Portal, Mbale, Masaka, Soroti and Hoima. The audit report noted the following: The Government did not provide funding in the budgets of the newly created entities to enable them to operate as cities. They continue to operate using the budget of the municipal councils. The cities lacked establishment structures against which the recruitment of the required human resources could be undertaken. There was no guidance on the allocation and sharing of assets. This has become a contentious matter between the councils of the newly created cities and the district entities from where the cities were created. Mr Speaker, we would like to report on the capitation grant for printing. This is a matter that has been concluded and we will request Members to read through, but we have also provided recommendations that, for all the money sent to districts, there should be clear

6645 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 8 DECEMBER 2022 Mateete. These two roads are in a very bad state. We have approached UNRA in Masaka to ask for assistance, but they said they do not have equipment. All equipment in our area is down and is supposed to be serviced from Mbarara. My prayer is that the government should swing into action and help us rehabilitate these roads. They are very key for our farmers to reach the market. I so submit.

Mr Speaker, I heard the Prime Minister in her response say that the President gave a directive that they should utilise part of South Busoga Central Forest Reserve, which they gave to the community. However, the law says that any change of use of land or forests has to be degazetted. I do not remember - and I have been around for some time - whether Government brought that instrument to degazette that area. On top of that, there are districts and cities, which submitted areas to degazette - Mbale, Mbarara, Pakwach (in West Nile), Kalangala - to compensate. I want the Prime Minister to tell us the progress so far.

The treatment is provided currently in three facilities: Mulago, Mengo, and Ruharo in Mbarara. This is because it requires specialised equipment, which is not available in all the facilities. In private, it is provided in Agarwal and ASG hospitals. Government has a plan to provide this missing equipment, which is contained in our eye care plan 2020/2025. It will require resources. Two, was about testing for blood cholesterol. Mr Speaker, riding on the HIV funds, we have made equipment for testing blood cholesterol available from the Health Center for upwards and the testing is free of charge. However, there is a shortage of reagents, which are not always available. And we are appealing to Parliament to make this available, on page 35. The total quantified laboratory requirement is Shs 960 billion. The total provided by the Government of Uganda and partners is Shs 540 billion. And the existing gap - I beg to amend that - is Shs 420 billion. So, because of that existing gap, we usually have shortages. The third one was screening for early signs of diabetes related kidney diseases, which is also available in all regional referrals, general hospitals and health centre IVs. And again, it may not be carried out routinely, as is required because of challenges of reagents and supplies. However, equipment has been made available in the facilities. Mr Speaker, on the issue of free drugs to Ugandans suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, a budget line was created in the National Medical Stores on page 37, and the current funding that is being provided is Shs 3 billion. And they have provided a breakdown in millions of Uganda shillings for each of the non-communicable diseases - hypertension, diabetes, mental health, sickle cell disease and oral morphine. Mr Speaker, the other was to prioritise investments in non-communicable diseases to provide free drugs. And what we have done is provide tools for advocacy so that we can mobilise funding from partners and also carry out operational research that is on page 38, resolution No. 3 three. Mr Speaker, on page 39 - that was the second issue on Malaria: Resolutions of Parliament urging Government to strengthen efforts to prevent control and eliminate transmission of malaria. And under that, Parliament gave us three resolutions to undertake. The first one was to increase the health sector budget for prevention, control and elimination of Malaria. Mr Speaker, the estimated budget for next Financial Year 2022/2023 is Shs 319 billion. We have secured $212 million from Government and partners. There is an existing gap of $107 million, meaning, we have not yet met the requirements. However, the increase has been progressive. Mr Speaker, on page 41, I have provided the Malaria funding projections for the medium- term expenditure framework from 2022 up to 2025. The second one was to track all Malaria support and presidential pledges. Mr Speaker, I have highlighted the presidential pledges and where they are on pages 41-42. And on page 43, I provided a tracking of funding for Malaria, starting with the Global Fund from 2015 to 2023 and the rest, I provide narratives because some partners are not as consistent as the Global Fund. They provide and then they phase off. On Page 44, the resolution was that through the Ministry of Health, we adapt and spearhead clear multi-sectoral and relevant stakeholder coordinated mechanisms. And I have broken down what partners starting from Government, private sector, civil society, academia, development partners are doing in the field of Malaria. And that continues up to page 45. The last one was to scale up preventive programmes and innovations. And on page 46, I have broken down what we are doing to scale up programmes and the new innovations that we have come up with. Mr Speaker, I thank you. ACTION TAKEN REPORT ON THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE 11 TH PARLIAMENT

Honourable Members, pursuant to Rule 129(1) of the Rules of Procedure, the Bill stands referred to the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development and they are to consider and report back. Hon. Anyakun, can you come back? (Laughter) Honourable minister, are you supposed to be in Tororo or Mbarara? Kashari? We need a report back in this House. I wanted to communicate before you leave. Thank you. You can now go. (Laughter)

6348 In northern Uganda, we have Abim, Adjumani, Agago, Alebtong, Amolatar, Amudat, Amuru, Apac, Omoro, Arua, Dokolo, Gulu, Kaabong, Kitgum, Koboko, Kole, Kotido, Lamwo, Lira, Maracha, Moroto, Moyo, Nakapiripirit, Napak, Nebbi, Nwoya, Otuke, Oyam, Pader, Pakwach, Yumbe, Zombo, Obongi, Terego, Karenga, Kwania, Madi-Okollo, Nabilatuk, and Obongi. In Western Uganda, we have Buhweju, Buliisa, Bundibugyo, Bunyangabu, Bushenyi, Hoima, Ibanda, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Kabarole, Kagadi, Kakumiro, Kamwenge, Kanungu, Kasese, Kibale, Kiruhura, Kiryandongo, Kisoro, Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo, Masindi, Mbarara, Mitooma, Ntoroko, Rubanda, Rubirizi, Rukiga, Rukungiri, Sheema, Kikuube, Kazo and Rwampara. Madam Speaker, those are the areas that will be covered by the project.

6233 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT O F U GANDA TUESDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2022 2. To analyse the type of accidents and the total admissions; 3. To conduct an in-depth analysis of the total estimated costs of road traffic accidents and to review challenges in the road safety sector in the country; and 4. To develop a policy brief and recommendation in terms of laws, training, monitoring, and specific budget allocations that policymakers can consider in addition to increasing funding. The hospitals whose data we analysed were Arua, Entebbe, Fort Portal, Gulu, Hoima, Jinja, Kabale, Masaka, Mbale, Soroti, Lira, Mbarara, Mubende, Yumbe, Moroto and Naguru regional referral hospitals, and Mulago National Referral Hospital. When coming up with a cost of treatment, we interfaced with the consultants of Mulago and asked them what it costs to treat a patient who is severely injured, moderately injured or with mild injuries. We came up with the guided figures. We also looked at documents: the Annual Health Sector Performance Report, the police accident reports, reports from regional referral hospitals and so forth. Madam Speaker, let me go to some of the results on page 13. In 2018, the total number of accidents were 12,805. Of these 3,194 were fatal. In 2019, the total number of accidents are 12,858. Of these 3,407 were fatal. In 2020, 12,249 accidents occurred; 3,269 were fatal. In 2021, we had a spike, 17,443 accidents occurred and 3,757 were fatal. Madam Speaker, if I break it down to the magnitude of the injuries, and people killed: in 2018, 3,689 people died from accidents. Those seriously injured were 9,541, and those slightly injured were 1,881. In 2019, those who died were 3,880 and those seriously Injured were 9,635. Those slightly injured were 1,175. In 2020, those who were killed were 3,663, those seriously injured were 8,370, and those slightly injured were 979. Finally, in 2021, those who died were 4,159, the seriously injured were 12,589 and those slightly injured were 1,287. Madam Speaker, I would like to draw your attention to table nine. That is comparison of fatalities by road user groups. From that table - I wish the IT man could flush it - motorcyclists accounted for the biggest number of fatalities in all the four years, followed by passengers on motorcycles, followed by pedestrians. There is clear evidence to show that motorcycles, commonly known as boda boda s, are the biggest cause of injuries but most importantly, deaths from road traffic accidents. Page 15: causes of the crashes. We had reckless or careless driving, over speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, and cars in dangerous mechanical conditions; the causes are up there. I would like to draw your attention to page 21: total admissions. Table 12 on page 21 shows the highest number of cases of admissions due to motorcycles, commonly known as boda boda s. If we break it down by sex, males were certainly more affected and these were males above five years, compared to females. I think it is quite clear on the table. I would like to draw your attention to table 22: again, the problem is boda boda s. Madam Speaker, on the issue of the costs that we pay, that is page 34 - Mr IT, can you please move to page 34? - We broke it down into the costs based on critical level four, critical level three and critical level one. The overall daily cost that we spend on treating accidents is Shs 877 million monthly. It comes to Shs 26 billion and annually, it comes to Shs 315 billion. That is what the sector needs to be able to treat victims of accidents. As Chairperson of the Committee on Health, I know very well that we do not appropriate this amount of money for accidents and

6211 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2022 teacher and staff recruited by the Government to run the school. The second one is: aware that Government policy does not support boarding seed secondary schools, is there any special way Nekemia Memorial Seed Secondary School in Buuvu, Kalangala District can be opened as a boarding seed secondary school, since it is meant to serve primary schools in Kachanga, Luramba, Kotobo and Bufumira, which are all in different islands. Madam Speaker, my response is, the Education Service Commission has finalised the recruitment of 4,805 teaching and support staff for seed secondary schools. Among these are 126 head teachers and 156 deputy head teachers. The ministry has already issued appointment letters awaiting posting instructions and deployment to the various seed secondary schools, including Nekemiah. It is true that the current scope of seed secondary schools do not have boarding facilities. This is in line with the USE School Policy. However, the ministry and Government have noted the need to have exceptions for districts located in Karamoja and the islands, where operation of day schools is very challenging. Assessment is on-going by the ministry engineers to ascertain that the cost needed to provide the above facilities are budgeted for in the medium term. Question No.7 came from Hon. Naome Kabasharira, Member of Parliament, Rushenyi County in Ntungamo District. Madam Speaker, the Member says that there is a constant outcry by truck drivers plying the Kampala-Masaka- Mbarara route over the mismanagement of the Lukaya and Mbarara weighbridges and alleged misconduct of the officers in charge. Truck drivers complain of harassment and extortion by some officers in those respective weighbridge stations. This unprofessional conduct of business by the officers manning those stations may cause financial loss to the Government as the money extorted from the drivers does not reach public coffers. Her prayers are that: 1. The relevant agencies streamline the operations of the weigh bridges across the country. 2. An investigation should be conducted on the two weighbridges to establish the extent of the problem and the errant officers be prosecuted. Madam Speaker, Mbarara and Lukaya fixed weighbridges are located along the Masaka- Mbarara Road and are used to regulate the overloading of trucks for purposes of protecting the road infrastructure from premature damage. The two weighbridges are managed by the Ministry of Works and Transport through the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). The Government is in advanced stages of installing the first phase of a high speed weigh- in motion system at Mbarara, Magamaga and Luweero. The high speed weigh-in motion systems for other weighbridges including Lukaya will be installed in the subsequent phases. These systems will allow compliant transporters to move on the road without having to stop on the weighbridge. Data centralisation has been done for Mbarara, Lukaya, Luweero, Magamaga, Mubende and Mbale weighbridges. This increases visibility of weighing operations at each weigh station for monitoring purposes. Madam Speaker, I would like to inform this House that the matter reported by the honourable member in Rushenyi is being followed and those officers will be brought to book. Question number eight: Hon. Naboth Namanya, Member of Parliament of Rubabo in Rukungiri District says that Kahengye Water Project commenced in 2015 with a projection to provide a lasting solution to water shortages in the constituencies of Rubabo, Rujumbura, Rukungiri Municipality and the neighbouring areas of Mitooma District.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Mine is a matter of national importance concerning the land that used to be for road maintenance camps along the highways in this country. The Ministry of Works and Transport used to have road maintenance camps land along the highways in this country, popularly known as Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) In my constituency, we used to have one in Kagando on Kabale-Kikagati-Mbarara Road and another in Rwamucucu. What is happening is that people have invaded this land, got titles and are fighting each other. For example, on 10 October 2022, the whole of Ruborogota Subcounty political leadership - that is, the subcounty chief, the LC III chairman and the Speaker - were arrested and detained overnight because they were fighting to save that land, which belongs to Ministry of Works and Transport. My prayers to the Minister of Works and Transport are: 1. Can we know whether the ministry still has interest in these parcels of land that used to be for road maintenance camps along the highways? 2. Can the minister, if still interested, carry out inventory verification of these parcels of land that used to be for road maintenance camps? 3. If the ministry is busy, can it delegate the management of these parcels of land to local governments such as subcounties to manage and protect them? I submit. Thank you.

6055 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2022 doubles as the Commander-in-Chief, directed all servicemen and servicewomen to clear road barriers or what we call “roadblocks.” When going to my community in Kasese District – that is before the Ebola outbreak - I either take the Mubende route or Mbarara Road. Before the Ebola outbreak, I went via Mubende and there was no roadblock or road barrier anywhere, indicating that officers and men had inclined their ears to the word and instructions of the Commander-in-Chief. However, when I went to Rwimi, almost getting into my district Kasese, I found road barriers. And when coming back through Mbarara, it occurred to me that the entire highway was clear until I went to Katunguru, getting into my community district, Kasese; that is where I found road barriers. Madam Speaker, like everybody knows, Kasese is part of Uganda. I do not know why roadblocks should be off the road everywhere else in Uganda and in all of the districts except Kasese. This is not only limited to the roadblocks. You are aware, Madam Speaker, and you have received delegations from Kasese - the fish allowed in other markets - the same fish - is impounded in Kasese. While all the borders in Uganda are open, the Kasese–DRC border is the only border that is closed. When I raised this matter in this Parliament, the Prime Minister was there. She indicated that she was not aware. Madam Speaker, my prayers to the Commander-in-Chief and that is the President -

Thank you. There is a lot of miscoordination within their ministry. Last Friday, Hon. Tumwebaze was in Mbarara, launching the pesticide for the Foot and Mouth Disease at a large scale. Indeed, he doesn’t know. So, is he in order to stand here and misinform this House? Actually, it is proper and fitting that the Cabinet minister comes and tells us what he was launching in Mbarara. People were happy about the drug. I thank you.

Madam Speaker, indeed, we can observe the miscoordination. I do not know who the champion of this miscoordination is. I want to thank you, especially when you brought up the issue of the Parish Development Model. Everybody is thinking and dreaming about the Parish Development Model. Nobody is thinking about the critical infrastructure that we have in agriculture as well as the critical resources we have in agriculture. They are there thinking about the Parish Development Model, which is a myth - (Interjection). Madam Speaker, whoever says it is not a myth, I am from a constituency where in the 2021/2022 budget that ended on the 30 th of June, the money that was given to parishes has never been utilised – and you are telling people they are getting rich. Therefore, tell me whether it is not a myth. Madam Speaker, I witnessed the launch of the vaccine in Mbarara, but – you can imagine – the colleagues in the ministry are not aware. So, who is the champion of this miscoordination? Is it intended to misguide us? I think we need a bigger discussion because in my constituency, in the subcounty of Butogota, last night all the goats that came from Kabale were infected and they all perished. So, we need a bigger discussion, Madam Speaker, on this matter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I am not an alumnus of Makerere but a close associate of the university. I am a nurse by profession. When nurses did not have degrees in this country, I sat down and prepared a proposal to introduce a nursing degree in Uganda. At first, it was proposed to be offered in Mbarara University but because of politics – we had Cubans there, so, the Americans who were to assist me could not go there. Therefore, I went to Makerere asking if they could take over this course. I am very grateful that they took it up but asked me – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to talk about the issue of the petition of KACITA; it is not only traders in Kampala who are affected. Right now, traders in Fort Portal City are demonstrating because of high taxes. So, I request that when they are handling that petition, they should also include other cities like Fort Portal, Mbarara and others because they are equally affected. Thank you.

Hon. Mwesigwa, the MP for Hoima East Division, wanted to know why the country has delayed validation and the approval of staff structures for the newly-created cities and its effect on service delivery. Mr Speaker, in January 2022, Cabinet under, Minute 21 (CT 2022) approved the 10 cities in Uganda and the structures for the 10 cities to implement. The following actions have been taken: 1. The structures were customised to enable the cities come up with individual human resource structures that address their uniqueness; 2. The customised city structures have been adopted by the respective city councils and implementation guidelines for the said structures have been prepared and disseminated to the city authorities; 3. The job descriptions and person specifications were prepared to enable the City Service Commissions place the existing staff and recruit the right people in the right jobs; Mr Speaker, validation of the existing staff, formally belonging to the respective municipalities and annexed areas from the mother districts, was also done and successfully concluded in all the 10 cities of Hoima, Masaka, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Soroti, Jinja, Mbale, Lira, Gulu and Arua.

5942 PRIME MINISTER’S TIME With the increasing burden of cancer in the country, the Government of Uganda has embarked on the development of regional cancer centres. This is in line with the National Development Plan III and the National Health Policy, Health Sector Development Plan and the Uganda Cancer Institute Strategic Plan 2022/2026. According to the Uganda Cancer Institute Strategic Plan, four regional cancer centres in the western, eastern, northern, and north- western regions are to be set up, equipped and operationalised by the end of the Financial Year 2025/2026. This is the update on the progress of the regional cancer centres across the country. Northern Uganda Regional Cancer Institute Gulu The project for the regional cancer centre in Gulu was approved by Parliament in 2020, as a Turkey project. The construction work is nearing completion. Equipment has been shipped and is on site awaiting installation. The site handover is expected by the end of the year 2022, and the official commissioning will be in the year 2023. The Eastern Uganda Regional Cancer Centre Mbale The feasibility studies for the realisation of this project have been completed and the concept was submitted to the development committee of the finance ministry. In the meantime, the Uganda Cancer Institute commenced work on start-up structures in order to have a skeleton service, while awaiting a comprehensive project that will accommodate all the cancer services. Western Uganda Regional Cancer Centre Mbarara The final report of the feasibility studies for Western Uganda Regional Cancer Centre in Mbarara has been completed and submitted together with a concept to the development committee of the finance ministry, for approval and financing. In the meantime, Mr Speaker, there is a very active cancer care service, which is second only to the services in Kampala, with over 3,000 patients attended to, in the last financial year. This has been achieved using the available infrastructure, equipment and human resource. North-Western Uganda Regional Cancer Centre Arua Mr Speaker, the feasibility studies for North- Western Uganda Cancer Centre in Arua, have been developed and submitted to the development committee of the finance ministry, awaiting approval and financing. In the meantime, breast cancer prevention and early detection services commenced in Arua using the available infrastructure equipment and human resources. Hon. Acayo asked a question: Whereas the general civilian population continues to obey and respect the traffic laws while walking or driving on the road, there are a number of vehicles and motorists of security personnel vehicles with civilian number plates, but with military jackets put on the driver’s car seats to disguise as vehicles of military officers. There are also civilians and some security elements that have sirens and flashlights similar to those of VIP vehicles. They always abuse traffic rules, force to have the right of way and even disobey the police traffic officers on the roads. Her prayer is: Rt Hon. Prime Minister, what mechanism does Government have in place to stop this abuse of the road and disruption of traffic flow that inconveniences the movement of people, especially at peak hours?” My response is that Section 123 of the Traffic and Road Safety Act, 1998, (Amendment) Act, 2020, the Traffic and Road safety (Rules of the Road) Regulations, 2004, specifically, regulation 5 specifies who has a right of way.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. My issue is about land in Mbarara. The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Nabakooba, has been there. It has been a running conflict. If you read today’s newspaper, there is a whole page about Rwenjeru conflict. Government part-paid and the landlord has been selling the same land. It is a crisis. There are also security personnel involved. I got involved and failed. State House tried and it did not resolve –

5668 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT No.1, was a UPDF patient, coming from an operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That is why the epicentres were Gulu and Mbarara. The two divisions that pulled out of the DRC went to Mbarara and Gulu. Today, we are in the Democratic Republic of Congo for Operation Shuja ; the UPDF has a barracks in Mubende. I am just giving that information - that could be one of the channels of investigation as we also explore the channel of the mines. Thank you.

5679 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 in the “active deduction report” but in the “my approval report”. In other words, they are supposed to deduct because there is approval but no deductions reported. At Lira Regional Referral Hospital, the Auditor-General noted that unauthorised loan deductions amounting to Shs 190,771,403 were made from 90 employees that neither had letters of undertaking nor existed in the “active deduction” or the “my approval” reports on the PDMS. The committee observed that: 1. Government continues to maintain manual staff files, which are not easily moveable upon transfer of the affected staff; 2. The practice poses a risk of causing deduction without liability, thus depriving staff of their hard-earned money or funds. For instance, the accounting officer of Masaka Regional Referral Hospital had fallen prey to the said vice. This may also expose Government to litigation and in some cases, industrial action; and 3. Twenty-one employees had inconsistencies between the loan amounts in the IPPS and the active deductions. Further, the committee is cognisant of clauses 2.1.2 and 2.1.4 of the service agreement between the Government (The Ministry of Public Service) and the Uganda Consumer Lenders’ Association/ the Uganda Bankers’ Association, which require a letter of undertaking for each Government employee before making an employee reservation on the PDMS. Therefore, under the said clauses, only deductions consented to by employees, in writing, should be submitted to the Ministry of Public Service for timely monthly payroll processing or as advised by the employer/ entity. The committee recommends that: 1. Accounting officers should ensure that all loan applications are streamlined with all data being reconciled, in liaison with the PCA Management and approvals done through the PDMS; 2. The hospital management should, within two months from the adoption of this report by Parliament, seek for guidance from the Ministry of Public Service on the usage of the PCA and PDMS interface, to accurately manage their loan database. Off-budget receipts The Auditor-General reported that most of the entities received off-budget financing, which were not declared to the Permanent Secretary/ Secretary to the Treasury, and accordingly, was not appropriated by Parliament as required by Section 43(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015. There was no evidence that the entities obtained guidance from the Accountant-General as required by Section 43(5) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015. Such omissions go against the requirement of running an integrated budget and pose a risk of double financing. For example, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital received numerous funding including Shs 4,164,571,391 delegated funds, Shs 3,575,864,122 as EGPAF/USAID Rhines of Shs 588,707,269. Although the Accounting Officer for Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital explained that the funds were for intern doctors’ allowances, isolation building plus other activities relating to TB and HIV/AIDS and that the funds were spent as per the agreed Memorandum of Understanding, they were not spent within the IFMS of Government, thus contradicting or contravening sections 36(6), 43 and 44(2) of the PFMA 2015, which require all public resources including external funding, to be paid into the Consolidated Fund and be availed through the Appropriations Act.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have a matter of national importance on access to various services at the Uganda Heart Institute. I will refer to a patient that came from Rukungiri at the beginning of the month of July, who was referred to Mulago and she had then passed through Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and finally, been referred to Mulago. Everything was done for her in Mulago, and a final diagnosis was reached, but she needed an operation. She was invoiced up to the tune of close to Shs 19 million. This patient from Rukungiri definitely could not manage. She had to go back and sell a piece of land and you know what that means. This impoverishes the family. COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. My matter is also connected to what is being discussed. The situation in Buhweju is worrying. Currently, Buhweju is now landlocked. One cannot connect to Ibanda from Buhweju and neither to Sheema or Mbarara. The bridge at Nyakambwe that connects Mbarara, Buhweju and Sheema - and Hon. Itungo would bear me witness - was washed away and it had even cracked a few months ago. The bridge at Kabera was washed. We have bridges in Bisha Subcounty at Mushasha, schools have been destroyed. We grow food crops in the hills; the millet and beans gardens, and the banana plantations were washed away. Therefore, whereas we are talking about waiting to see how to deal with the law, there is an emergency that needs immediate attention in respect to the crops and the bridges that have been washed away, and now, how we connect - I had whispered to the minister and I said that as he plans to visit the districts, people can’t move from Buhweju to other districts. What do we do? The UNRA roads are now impassable, the district roads - first of all, the district has no money, but now, the roads are impassable. How do we move, Mr Speaker?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I expect the minister to be mindful of the morals of this country, and not just talking about the foreigners who have bought tickets. Madam Speaker, I come from Busoga. I have witnessed this Nyege Nyege; it is totally immoral. It destroys our children; it destroys everybody. Madam Speaker, if the tourism minister wants Nyege Nyege , let him take it to his district – let them take it to Mbarara. (Laughter) We cannot sacrifice the people’s morals because of tickets that have been sold.

Honourable members, this afternoon –even the visitors can see how we are behaving. This afternoon, in the public gallery, we have visitors from Uganda Urban Council Speakers Association, where I am the patron. They have come here to witness the proceedings. You are most welcome. (Applause) They have been brought here by Hon. Rukaari of Mbarara Municipality. Welcome. Thank you for bringing our visitors. (Applause) Honourable members, the National Local Content Bill, 2022 is a Private Member’s Bill, which was introduced by Hon. Patrick Oshabe. It was initially read for the first time on 30 January 2020 as “The Local Content Bill, 2019”. It was passed on 20 May 2020 and transmitted to the President for assent. However, the President returned the Bill on 20 August 2020 on the following grounds: 1. The imposition of the local content obligation on the negotiated funds in form of grants, donations and loans, which may potentially conflict with the terms and conditions of such funding. 2. Designation of departments as a proper way of procurement plans and contracts, contrary to the traditional convention, which infringes on the constitutional mandate of the Solicitor-General. The returned Bill later lapsed in the 10 th Parliament, as per Rule 234 of the Rules of Procedure. The Local Content Bill, 2022 was re-introduced on 3 May 2022 in the 11 th Parliament, and it was referred to the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development. As it was re-introduced, the sponsor, who is still Hon. Oshabe, had addressed the issues that were raised by the President during the 10 th Parliament. Today, we have the report from the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the mover of the motion is also here, ready to move the motion. It is going to be a very short Bill because most of the issues have been addressed. I will request the sponsor of the Bill to come and move the motion, officially.

I will now go to works and transport. The committee could not easily move from Ibanda to Buhweju districts due to the bad road network. We had to travel back to Mbarara in order to connect to Buhweju. Roads in such areas with very poor road network should be improved. This is something that we have complained about before. In Ngora District, the road to Pallisa is also a menace. It is not accessible due to the bad state of the bridges that need upgrading. In Napak District, the roads are also very bad, and are worse during the rainy season because they become impassable. This hindered our oversight visit to those districts. We, therefore, recommend that: 1. The Ministry of Works and Transport should evaluate the state of all the major roads and establish a redevelopment strategy so as to improve accessibility and livelihood; and 2. Government should devote resources to the improvement of roads in the mentioned districts. This is a pre-condition for the movement of people, goods and services and meaningful engagement in production. The Water and Environment Sector The committee observed that other areas in the country lack clean water. Access to clean water is not easy in Buhweju District, where women move long distances to access clean water. In Napak District, there is need to dig deep wells, because access to clean water is a major problem in that area. We realised that water distribution is not balanced in all the communities, such as in Apac where 146 villages do not have any water sources. They obtain their water from ponds, and it is not very clean; and they move very long distances to access this water. The committee further observed that latrine coverage in Napak was at 37 per cent and most of the community members still practice open defaecation and the district has very high levels of poverty. Recommendations 1. The Ministry of Water and Environment should make a detailed assessment of the water scarcity in hard-to-areas and provide possible solutions to that effect; and 2. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries should support the marginalised groups with improved seedlings and farming tools. The Youth Livelihood Programme This is a programme we also considered as affirmative action given to the communities. Our findings and observations are on page 17. It was noted that there were no funds under the Youth Livelihood Fund at the district STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT [Mr Alyek]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Congestion and overcrowding in prisons The committee noted that overcrowding is an outstanding problem for the prisons management in the country. Congestion is an average of 339 per cent with some prisons housing above five times their designed housing capacities as detailed below. Mr Speaker, that is tabulated and we made reference to some of the prisons like Bushenyi, Mbarara, Masindi, Kiruhura, Lira, Rukungiri, Ndorwa, Kakiika, Fort Portal, Kitgum, Bushenyi. Masaka Ssaza and Upper Prison. The committee observes that overcrowding in prisons relates to challenges in the judicial system. For instance, shortage of judicial staff, prosecution officers, investigators, missing court files and few high court sessions. In addition, unnecessary adjournments by judges greatly negate the trial process by cases dragging on in courts for a long time, leading to the high number of un-convicted offenders in prison custody, who eventually contribute to a rise in population in prisons. The committee further noted that another cause of congestion in prison institutions in the country is the presence of a large number of prisoners who have been sentenced to death over the years, but have never been executed. This growing prison population has overstretched existing physical facilities and puts pressure on services like water, leading to unhygienic conditions and other unacceptable behaviours. The committee noted that delivery of justice is a coordinated process in the Justice, Law and Order Sector where departments within the sector have to be aligned and coordinated simultaneously to perform all activities in the process. The committee also noted that in some prison facilities like Katojo Prison in Kabarole District, juveniles were imprisoned together with adults instead of in remand homes, thereby increasing congestion in the prisons. However, the committee was informed that this was as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic where prisoners were restricted to particular facilities to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Recommendations 1. The Prison Service development budget should be increased to enable rehabilitation, expansion and construction of more prisons to accommodate the increasing number of prisoners and reduce on congestion in the available facilities;

Rt Hon. Speaker, I want to thank the Member for the question. The problem of vandalism of our electricity wires and poles is across the country. The other day I was in Mbarara for a function and they told us that almost three kilometres of electricity cables were removed from poles at night; at least we were lucky that those thieves were arrested by police. But even then, the Ministry of Internal Affairs together with the Ministry of Presidency, the RDCs and the local leaders across the country have been sensitised. We are also starting a strategy of putting transformers in trading centres, where people can see such that they can now make an alarm when these thugs come to steal these cables. However, I have taken note of my brother’s issue. I am going to direct the Ministry of Energy through REA to replace those wires.

Absolutely, Madam Speaker. But you see the problem with education, there are classes of schools that will not argue because they also have their number. When you come to private schools, their advanced stages are well known to all of us. Then there are those particular UPE schools where I have a lot of interest. Then lastly, I pray to the minister, through you, Madam Speaker, that some of these issues like the one raised by the honourable member about the technical institute - as a committee, we have done a lot of work and I would like to thank you for interdicting the head teacher. However, the committee should take keen interest in going back. Sometimes, there must be a presumption of innocence. A number of schools are striking now. I heard of one in Mbarara. In Masaka we had one at Blessed Sacrament Kimaanya and others. We should go back to our committee and get more usefulness from the committee to handle those disputes as they come in. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am the acting Government Chief Whip, but I am just returing from Mbarara.

2396 2397 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2022 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT The committee discovered that in Gulu City, the local leaders/ politicians, such as councillors that were meant to supervise and provide oversight, took over and abused the process by registering their relatives and themselves as beneficiaries. In situations where the local councils rendered support through identification and registration of beneficiaries, these lists were put aside during data entry and replaced with other beneficiaries. When the committee interrogated further, it was discovered that over 10 councillors, the speaker and former LC III chairperson of Layibi Division, for example, registered and benefited from the fund. Arua City and Kitgum Municipality had almost similar cases of abuse of the process by administrators. In Mbale, some city council staff were registered and benefited. The Lord Mayor Kampala Capital City Authority revealed to the committee that in Kampala, the DISOs abused the process by registering beneficiaries along party lines. The committee further noted that in some cases, the compilation of the list was left to chairpersons of associations of the different trade categories, in total disregard of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, instructing that the compilation be carried out using existing administrative records. In Tororo Municipality, for example, the chairpersons of different trade categories took advantage of this loophole by registering beneficiaries along political party and social relation lines. There were also allegations of extortion by the chairperson of the boda boda association in Tororo Municipality, who was alleged to have been asking beneficiaries to part with Shs 15,000 to be registered. Relatedly, in Fort Portal City, some town agents were also accused of asking for between Shs 30,000 and Shs 40,000 before one was registered or their national ID would be retained until the money would be cleared. Recommendations 1. The committee recommends that the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development holds accountable all Town Clerks who negated on their roles and responsibilities during this exercise by delegating their functions without proper supervision, as this amounted to neglect of duty. Additionally, all officers responsible for the abuse of this exercise by registering themselves in disregard of the vulnerable, be reprimanded. 2. The committee further recommends that the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social development should ensure that administrative records like tax registers in all cities, municipalities as well as other administrative units are updated by registering all formal and informal businesses. This would ease identification and verification of beneficiaries of such an exercise in the future. Term of reference No.2: Ascertain the criteria used to select and identify the beneficiaries According to the National Social Protection Policy, 2005, vulnerability is defined as “limited ability to manage risks or cope with shocks that may lead to undignified lives”. While appearing before the committee, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development submitted that the Cabinet defined the vulnerable in the context of the lockdown to mean “those who were engaged in employment at the time of COVID-19 lockdown and depended on daily earnings, which were disrupted”. The committee notes that there was no standard selection formula used in selecting beneficiaries in the targeted areas. In most of the cities and municipalities, the principle of “first come, first served” was applied. As a result, many categories of would-be beneficiaries were left out and for those who benefited, resources were not equitably distributed amongst the categories. For example, more people 3. We met with the town clerks, city/ municipal mayors, RCC/RDCs and other stakeholders in the following locations: a) Soroti City, Mbale City, Arua City, Gulu City, Lira City, Fort Portal City, Hoima City, Mbarara City and Masaka City. b) Tororo Municipality, Masindi Municipality, Ntungamo Municipality, Kumi Municipality and Kitgum Municipality. i) The committee also carried out on- spot visits and verification at a number of boda boda stages, taxi parks, street vendors and special hire operators to try and ascertain the terms of reference. ii) We analysed documents submitted by the Rt Hon. Prime Minister, the town clerks of municipalities/cities, KCCA Lord Mayor and other stakeholders that the committee interacted with. iii) The committee also carried out random telephone calls, which were made to the selected beneficiaries from the list provided by the Rt Hon. Prime Minister. Whereas, the committee was desirous of visiting all cities and municipalities that received the COVID-19 relief fund, it could only afford to visit the selected few due to time and budgetary constraints. Observations Madam Speaker, the committee was informed that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development approved the COVID-19 emergency fund, amounting to Shs 53.5 billion to cover all 501,107 targeted beneficiaries. Out of these numbers, a total of Shs 2.854 billion was spent on administrative costs and Shs 50.6 billion was transferred to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development account in Post Bank to facilitate direct transfers to the chosen beneficiaries. During the meeting with the committee, Post Bank informed the meeting that the bank had since received 488,272 total transaction instructions from the Ministry of Gender and successfully processed 487,307. Payments had since closed, according to the Ministry of Gender, with a balance of about Shs 1.43 billion lying on its account. Term of reference 1: Establish who compiled the lists of beneficiaries in the different locations. The committee observed that COVID-19 and its resultant effects, as occasioned by the lockdown, needed to be treated as a disaster and, therefore, it was wrong for the Government not to involve the Ministry of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Management in its response, given its rich expertise in personnel and structures down to the local Governments. Although the town clerks were supposed to be in charge of compilation of the list of beneficiaries as stipulated in the guidelines, the committee noted that this was done mostly through delegation. In Soroti, Arua, Hoima, Mbarara and Fort Portal cities, for example, the town clerks were newly posted and therefore, delegated their deputies to undertake the exercise. This was, however, done with little, if any, supervision. The committee observed that the delegation of this responsibility without sufficient supervision, made the exercise susceptible to abuse, as the data collected by those delegated was greatly manipulated. Many would-be beneficiaries were left out, especially private school teachers and restaurant workers, as the committee found out in almost all locations visited. In Fort Portal City, the deputy town clerk monopolised the whole exercise. In Arua, most of the data entry clerks that carried out the exercise were volunteers/interns who took advantage and registered themselves and other persons in the different categories.