Parliament’s Committee on East African Affairs has recommended the reinstatement of a 22 billion shillings budget cut for the Ministry of East African Community Affairs. 

This move is aimed at enabling the Ministry to meet its statutory obligations to the East African Community.

According to the Committee’s chairperson, MP James Nsaba Buturo, Uganda’s failure to meet these obligations would be highly embarrassing, given its role as a founding member and leading advocate for regional integration. 

Buturo emphasized that Uganda has been at the forefront of promoting regional integration and failing to meet its financial commitments would be a significant setback.

The Ministry is also facing a funding gap of 1.6 billion shillings, which is required to facilitate the Minister’s for East African Affairs’ duties in the region yet the Ministry had requested 3.5 billion shillings, but only 1.9 billion shillings was allocated.

By Francis Lubega

21 Jan 2025

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