Ibanda: Education and Health eat big in 2024/2025 budget
The Ibanda District Council has approved a budget of Shs38.975b for the financial year 2024/2025 where infrastructural development, education and health sectors took a lion’s share of this budget.
The budget passed by the district council on Friday afternoon, has increased by over Shs10bn from Shs26.73bn for the fiscal year that ends on June, 30 to Shs38.975bn for the 2024/2025 financial year.
John Kapimpi Tushemerirwe, the Ibanda District Secretary for Finance said that the budget also seeks to fund road works, youth skilling programmes, agricultural interventions, entrepreneurship and access to safe water.
”Over 95% of the budget will be funded by the central government aiming largely at catering for salaries of public workers while 3% will come from local revenues as donors will contribute 1.5%” . Kapimpi told council.
The district workers wage bill has increased to Shs20.966b for fiscal year 2024/2025 from Shs17.68b the ending fiscal year.
Shs 2.471b will go to pensioners, while Shs794.3m will cater for gratuity. The water sector has seen its budget rise to 743.9m from Shs.674.55m aiming at easing access to clean water for the people. Shs 467.8m will cater for the rollout of microscale irrigation scheme as part of the efforts by the government to increase total irrigated area countrywide.
As the district plans to strengthen an improvement in education and health sectors, funding for these sectors has been cut; education receiving Shs7.581b, down from Shs13.189b while Health is at sh2.257b compared to Shs5.167b this ending financial year. The Works Department pocketed Shs1.031b, down from Shs1.171b, and yet the Natural Resources and Environment Department sees its budget reduce to sh40.5m, a very huge cut from sh283.8m this year.
Speaking after the council sitting, Godfrey Kamagara the LCV councillor for Kashangura Sub county called upon the government to allocate more money to the construction of classrooms, saying that the state of schools infrastructure is alarming across the district.
