Rain Disrupts Budget Speech

A heavy downpour on Thursday disrupted the Budget Speech by Finance Minister Matia Kasaija.

Kasaija walked into the Parliament parking lot holding the symbolic briefcase containing the budget speech. He posed for photos and then walked to the tent where the legislators had converged for the event.

After the communication from the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, she invited the Minister to present the financial year 2020/2021 budget. Immediately there was a heavy downpour characterized by strong winds.

Several tents that were erected for the event were brought down by the strong winds.

Members of Parliament quickly fled the venue to seek shelter from the rain. A few minutes later, Speaker Kadaga asked Kasaija to continue with the budget speech. 

In the Shs 45.5 trillion shillings budget, the government intends to raise Shs 32.9 trillion locally and another Shs 12.52 trillion from external sources to fund activities in the 2020/2021 financial year. 

The budget has increased by 12.3 percent from the current Shs 40.5 trillion budget.

Part of the Shs 32.9 trillion will be raised locally, Shs 21.7 trillion is predicted to come from domestic revenue while Shs 3.5 trillion from domestic financing.