Government for Informed Citizens Tinadamnyire Kabondo

CITIZENS AWARENESS IN PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT WITH THE OPEN BUDGET INITIATIVE – THE UGANDA EXPERIENCE
Presented
By
Hon. Kabondo Tindamanyire
Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development
Parliament of the Republic of Uganda
International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management (ICGFM)
Miami, Florida- USA, May 18-22, 2009

The case for
Citizens Participation in Public Financial Management -
Uganda’s experience

The Legal Framework
Enabling laws for the participation of citizens includes the following;
The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda of 1995
The Access to information Act, 2005
Public Finance and Accountability Act,2003
The Budget Act,2001

The Institutional Framework
This includes the key players: the Government comprising Cabinet/the Executive; Parliament; and the Legislative arm of Government that is mainly composed of Representatives of the Electorate (people); and the Judiciary. The media forms a critical link as it informs the public on the entire budget process; and Civil Society Organizations keep pressure on government and ensure that public priorities are kept on the Agenda. These set the policy guidelines and the facilitate the information flow.

The Institutional Framework (Cont’d)
The mode of conceptualization by citizens is the reflection of how Government has set its Priorities and how they relate to the aspirations of the people.
The mechanism for exchange between the Government and its citizens is reflected on how the people rate the performance of the Government when it comes to elections and this is an indicator of how Government Programmes have addressed peoples desires and aspirations

The Prevailing Scenarios
An enabling environment provided by democratic and good governance practices
The role played by the civil society organizations
Community information initiatives are very vibrant.
Government setting of budget priorities vis-a-vis the public involvement. How much does the public involve itself in the budget preparations
How the Government allows people to discuss budget issues on radio talk shows popularly known as EKIMEZA; and the free media that reports on Government

What are Public Finances
Public finances are resources that are at the disposal of governments to spend on public goods and services for the benefit of its citizens .
The instrument by which government spends public finances is the Budget as appropriated by Parliament .

The Uganda Public Finance Spending Centers
Central Government (Ministries and other government agencies).
Local Governments (decentralized governments).
Sub-counties (administrative divisions).
Support to NGOs under the private/public partnerships.

Information Dissemination Channels
Radio
Television broadcast
News papers
Magazines
Bulletins
Political rallies
Public hearings by Parliament and Commissions
Talk shows
House to House exchanges
Local councils (LC I, LC II, LC III, and LC V)

Capacity Building of Citizens
Promotion of literacy through Universal Primary and Secondary Education, Adult literacy and community programmes for both adults and the youth
Provision of adequate reading materials
Open dialogue between government and citizens.
Encouragement of participation by the Local Communities through the local community Initiative organized by the Local Councils

Participation of Citizens
In the formulation of the National Budget:
Planning and priority derivation, the citizens are encouraged to participate
Approval by Parliament which is made of Peoples’ Representatives
Implementation and execution of the National Budgets.
Evaluation and monitoring through the media, LC meetings and general outputs.
Auditing and Accountability

Understanding the Budget
The budget is a document which forecasts and authorizes the annual receipts and expenditure of the state resources
In the most general definition, budgeting is concerned with the translation of financial resources into human purposes .
The understanding of the public of the budget execution is the delivery of goods and services as set out in the priorities such as roads, hospitals, schools etc……

Understanding Budget (Cont’d)
A national budget is a primary public finance management instrument reflecting government policy, priorities, planning and implementation processes for the delivery of public goods and services;
Budget deals with income and expenditure, thus combining public expenditure plans, revenue and tax legislation

Budget Functions
Reflects government stated policies and set national priorities
Evaluate public programmes and review the activities of government departments
A tool for development management and economic growth;

Budget Transparency
A system of accountability and controls over government officials, ministries and departments, setting expenditure limits and safeguard against abuse of public funds. Parliament is fully involved in the budgeting process (by law)
With the involvement of citizens in all the stages of budget cycle, they will acquaint themselves with the spending of public finances and appreciate the expected returns
The information is then collaborated for accountability and transparency

Direct Citizen Involvement is:
Budgeting
- Public participation in the budgeting process, starting with priority setting according to the regions of the country.
- Communication of the budgeting information to the public through public hearings and getting the Citizens input.
- Communication of Information on releases of funds for key Government activities through the media.
- Public participation in monitoring of budget implementation through LC’s and Radio Talk Shows
- Establishing public information desks at all central and local government offices.

Auditing
Auditor General involving the public in the Audit process by;
Making Audit Reports easily accessible to the public.
Educate the public about Audit Reports.
Allow public participation in the PAC discussions of the reports of the Auditor General.
Provision of information to the public of Omissions in the budget and budget execution arising out of PAC Reports

Information Dissemination
School Curriculum
- Include in the school curriculum subject areas relating to public finance.
Talk Shows
- LC and Village meetings.

Economic Uncertainty
The performance of the economy has a direct bearing on its citizens
This is determined by macroeconomic framework which highlights the desired objectives of the government.
Confidence building among the population.
Dialogue among arms of the government.
Setting up and use of electronic communication systems where people can interact.

How do we keep citizens informed during economic uncertainty and restore their confidence
Keep them regularly informed through the media of the proposed government interventions to address the challenges.
Educate the public about the causes and how they are likely to impact on their lives.
Conduct public hearings as a way of building public confidence so that the input from the public is incorporated in subsequent actions of Government

How should governments explain to citizens and their communities how they benefit from public spending over the long term?
Government should be able to demonstrate the outputs that citizens should expect from public spending.
What new media may be employed to promote citizen communication?
E-government.

Conclusion
Democratic theory demonstrates how important it is for citizens to be adequately ‘informed’ and to be able to fully exercise their rights and responsibilities.
Through a clear understanding of rights and responsibilities people can be empowered.
Governments play an important role in promoting access to public information alongside many other different information 'proxies'.
END

http://icgfm.blogspot.com	10
http://www.slideshare.net	1
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com	1

Government for Informed Citizens Tinadamnyire Kabondo

by icgfmconference on May 14, 2009

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

3 Embeds 12

Statistics

Government for Informed Citizens Tinadamnyire Kabondo — Presentation Transcript