The following is a highlight of Uganda national budget:
- The total budget envelope was Ush. 40,487.9 billion
- Uganda Tourism receipts in 2018 were USD$1.02 billion which was generated from 1.6 million international tourists;
- Uganda is rich in natural resources such as Oil and Gas, iron ore, limestone and gold among others;
- EDUCATION SECTOR was allocated Ush. 3.4 trillion which is equivalent to Ksh. 93.5 billion or USD$928 million making it one of the largest budgetary allocations in Uganda;
- HEALTH SECTOR was allocated Ush. 2.6 trillion for FY 2019/2020 equivalent to Ksh. 71.5 billion or USD$709.7 million;
- Uganda boasts of having attained 86% ARV coverage in FY 2018/2019 and having distributed 26.5 million insecticide treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria;
- Uganda government reported in the budget speech for 2019/2020 that they had completed and commissioned a 320-bed capacity specialist Women and Neonatal Hospital at Mulago National Referral Hospital (Nov 2018);
- PUBLIC DEBT: The minister for Finance reported that Uganda’s public debt stood at $11.5 billion by December 2018;
- Teachers in Uganda are employed and managed by the Education Service Commission (ESC) which is equivalent to Teachers Service Commission in Kenya (TSC);
- Just like in Kenya and many other countries, Uganda’s planning and budgeting process is guided by the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act of 2015;
- Section 17 of Uganda PFM Act provides that any money or allocations which remain unspent at the end of a financial year expires and it is repaid into the Consolidated Fund;
- Parliament is required to approve the national budget by 31st May of each year;
- It is interesting that if a local government fails to utilize at least 60% of her budgetary allocation within a given financial year, they are required by PFM Act 2015 to write to the Minister for finance the reasons why they failed to utilize their grant;
- Per Capita income of Uganda $825 per person in 2018/2019 which is a growth from $800 per person in 2017/2018; Compared that to Kenya’s per Capita income at USD $2,010.
- There are 39 million Ugandans according to the budget speech;
- 4 out of 10 young Ugandans are out of work and the quality of jobs is a concern;
- Traffic congestion is costing Uganda an excess of $800 million in national output;
- 53% of children in Uganda under 5 years are malnourished and anemic;
- Uganda is reported to have been spending $500 million on treatable and preventable diseases such as obesity and high blood pressure among others;
- The size of Ugandan economy is USH 109 trillion which is equivalent to US$ 29.5 billion while the size of Kenyan economy is estimated to be USD$99 billion;
