CSOs push for a pro-people budget

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have tasked the government to ensure that the 2023/24 national budget is pro-people with the aim of improving their livelihoods.

The call was made by the executive director of Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), Julius Mukunda while presenting in the Civil Society Organizations pre-budget dialogue for the 2023/24 financial year in Kampala under the theme; Realizing economic recovery and social economic transformation: the role of the FY 2023/24 budget.

He said that to foster economic growth that leads to improved standards of living, the citizen’s government should provide adequate funding to key sectors like agriculture especially focusing on investments in water for production, agriculture extension services, post-harvest handling, and extension of affordable credit by smallholder farmers to fight food insecurity in the country.

Meanwhile, Mukunda urged the government to control Uganda’s debt which he says keeps Ugandans slaves in their own country. To reduce the debt burden, he asked government to effect the merging of its departments and entities doing the same job in a bid to reduce unnecessary expenditure.

Written by Prossy Kisakye