Govt told to focus on administration size to reduce high expenditures

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The Government should focus on reducing the whole system of government if it is to achieve its objective of reducing expenditure, eliminate duplication of work, improve efficiency, and eliminate corruption.

The call was made by Godbar Tumushabe, the Associate Director of the Great Lakes Institute of Strategic Studies in a televised interview on Tuesday.

"To begin with, the Government should reduce the bloated human resource in its administration units like in Local governments, and reduce the size of Parliament," Tumushabe said.

“If you just rationalise statutory agencies and you don’t touch the whole system of government, my view is we are being diverted. As a country we should be discussing ways of reducing these administrative units to break the bureaucracies, and corruption so they can become more efficient and accountable," he added.

According to Tumushabe, what the Government wants to solve through the rationalisation process of government agencies will not be solved by just moving agencies back and forth to their mother ministries.

Since last week, Parliament has been advocating for the rationalisation of some agencies, at the same time defending others. Agencies that have been saved so far include the Uganda Coffee Development Authority, the National Agriculture Advisory Services, the Uganda National Roads Authority, and the National Information Technology Authority of Uganda.

Those that have been taken back to their mother Ministries include the Uganda National Meteorological Authority, the Trypanosomiasis Council back to the agriculture ministry, and the Uganda Warehouse Receipt System back to the trade ministry. 

Those that have been combined include the Uganda Wildlife Education Center and the Uganda Wild Life Authority.