Ramathan Ggoobi, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, unveiled bold fiscal reforms to slash wasteful spending. A major initiative targets reducing government travel, clamping down on unnecessary international trips masquerading as essential benchmarking. These measures aim to ensure taxpayer money is spent more efficiently and transparently.
“But now, they were using that gap to go for trips which aren’t even necessary. They are going to construct a road, that they have gone to Malaysia to benchmark. A road is a road, get technical people to test the soil, test the strength of the ground and build the damn road, what are you doing in Malaysia? And when they reach Malaysia, they are taking selfies on tall buildings and they come back. Those travels I want to tell you; we are sniffing them out and we are cutting them. Workshops, parties, all the time parties, those things we have cut them,” Ggoobi emphasized on June 28, 2024
He clarified that while there will be a reduction in travel budgets, it does not mean a complete halt to official travel. Rather, future travels will be more purposeful and necessary.
“Some years back, there are certain things that used to have money. Travel abroad, 5 years ago was Shs241Bn now, it is UGX 105Bn, but you also say, that is also a lot of money. But also, you aren’t running a kiosk, you are running a State, with so many people and so many needs. You have to put things into context because sometimes it is as if you are comparing your personal budget with the State budget. We also have that weakness in Uganda, I see it. I want us to be scientific. There are certain travels that are so critical, they must be done by the State,” Ggoobi added.
Regarding the focus of the 2024/25 national budget, Ggoobi highlighted a shift from the past two years’ emphasis on helping businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic. The Shs100Bn allocated for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will now focus on growth rather than recovery.
