Merging government entities will help us to down size our expenditure-Kasaija.

Kampala: Finance minister Matia Kasaija has said they are speeding up the merger of government agencies to fight corruption which continues to eat into the core of service delivery.

He made the remarks yesterday during the civil society organisations’ pre-budget dialogue in Kampala.

The minister, who was speaking as a chief guest, said he has been clear on the need for the government to stop wasteful expenditures. He argued that money will never be enough, but intelligent people, should prioritise and allocate money to areas that can’t wait.

The rationalisation process, which the Government embarked on following the 10^th  September, 2018, Cabinet decision to merge or collapse more than 60 of its agencies and commissions, has resulted in layoffs and petitions from affected workers.

The government wants to bring all the agencies under the ministries so that it cuts costs and improve efficiency.

The ruling National Resistance Movement has already summoned the party’s parliamentary caucus for a meeting at State House Entebbe today over the rationalisation of government agencies and public expenditure.

The Auditor General, John Muwanga has underscored the wastefulness and inappropriateness of supplementary budgets in his latest audit report to Parliament for the financial year ended 30^th June, 2023.

Muwanga revealed that Uganda’s total public debt stood at 96 trillion shillings as of June 2023 and that it is growing at a higher rate than the gross domestic product (GDP).