Activist Agather Atuhaire has weighed in on the ongoing national budget debate, responding to concerns raised by former Kira Municipality MP Ssemujju Nganda, who questioned the prioritisation of key social sectors in Uganda’s FY2026/27 budget.
Atuhaire argued that the recurring narrative that government lacks sufficient funds is misleading, insisting instead that the core challenge lies in inefficiency, wastage, and misplaced priorities within public administration.
“A friend (maybe acquaintance) became minister a few years ago. The first thing he observed when he got into that office was that the lie that government has no money is one of the biggest that has ever been told in our country,” she said.
She cited what she described as systemic wastage in procurement processes, official travel, and administrative spending, arguing that significant public resources are lost through non-essential expenditures that do not directly benefit citizens.
According to her, some government trips involve large delegations where dozens of officials travel for engagements that require only a small number of representatives, while substantial sums are also spent on office equipment and logistics that do not reflect value for money.
Atuhaire contrasted such spending patterns with the persistent challenges faced in public service delivery, particularly in the health sector.
She pointed to maternal health statistics, noting that preventable deaths continue to occur daily despite the existence of budgetary allocations meant to address such gaps.
“Seventeen mothers are dying every day in labour, and children are dying of preventable diseases because there is no medicine or medical practitioners in hospitals,” she said, highlighting what she views as a disconnect between national spending priorities and citizen welfare.
Her remarks come amid growing public scrutiny of Uganda’s budget framework, with critics arguing that while allocations to government operations remain substantial, key sectors such as health and education continue to face resource constraints.
Ssemujju Nganda had earlier raised concerns over the absence or insufficiency of allocations for critical programmes, a position that has sparked wider debate on fiscal priorities and accountability in public spending.
Atuhaire maintained that addressing Uganda’s development challenges does not necessarily require new revenue sources, but rather improved discipline in expenditure and stronger oversight mechanisms to ensure resources are directed toward essential public services.
She called for a shift in governance culture, urging decision-makers to prioritise human welfare over administrative excess, arguing that effective management of existing resources could significantly improve service delivery outcomes.