Is the Budget Becoming Just a 'Briefcase Document'?

Byline: Karoli Ssemogerere

The coverage of the presentation of the National Budget this year had three distinguishing marks. The first was the effusive press accompanying the appointment of Maria Kiwanuka, a business executive as Finance Minister. The second was the size of the resource envelope that rose to a record Shs8 trillion (a little north of $2.5 billion) the budget for a small US state like Delaware with a population of 523,008. The third was the environment in which the budget was delivered. All is not well at Finance Avenue and the finger-pointing has already begun.

Ms Kiwanuka is enjoying a strong honeymoon, very high personal ratings as the new Minister of Finance. People are yearning for new faces in public life. In the last 25 years, we have gone through several fashions. The combat battle …