CLADHO’s opinions on the 2020/2021Budget Framework Paper

By The Inspirer Writer.

As the current national budget 2019/2020 ends on 30th June 2020, Civil Society Organizations under the lead of CLADHO yesterday 28th May 2020 presented their analysis and views in the Parliament for consideration in the 2020/2021 national budget. The analysis looked at different sectors and requested for re-prioritization and budget increase as highlighted below.

In a detailed Interview with The Inspirer, Dr Emmanuel SAFARI, Executive Secretary of CLADHO emphasized on Education, Agriculture, Health and Infrastructure as some of the sectors, which need budget increase, or re-prioritization on some programs.

Safari said that CLADHO in collaboration with partners and the district authorities work together to engage citizens in the budget cycle. This engagement starts with giving feedback to the citizens on the approved budget, engaging them to participate in monitoring its implementation, consulting them on their new preferred priorities and advocating for their consideration in the national budget.

Education

In the education sector, he explained that the budget allocated to Technical and Vocational Education reduced enormously since 2018/2019. “NST1 targets to increase the number of students enrolled in TVET schools from 46.4 % in 2016 to 60 % by 2024, our concern is that this budget reduction will affect the above target,” Safari said.

Agriculture

In the agriculture sector, CLADHO commends government through NST1 for targeting to increase local seed production 100% in 2024 to replace imports. However, this target is likely to be affected by inconsistent budget allocations. Furthermore, the budget allocations on value addition and competitiveness of crops and animal resources show a declining trend. Since 2018/2019 yet the sector employs 75% of the population. Safari said.

Water and sanitation

CLADHO got concerned about low budget allocations on water and sanitation. Safari said water is exceedingly needed during this corona virus pandemic. The need for safe drinking water is a public concern for the citizens and deserves much attention in the national budget.

Health

The budget allocations on infectious disease prevention and control is not enough. The Ministry of Health did not give it enough attention compared to health sector planning monitoring and evaluation.

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