The Opposition in Parliament has unveiled shs 71.4Trillion alternative Budget for 2026/27 national budget.
The proposed Alternative Budget was unveiled by Leader of Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi at Parliament.
He highlighted a number of projects where Government has injected billions such as the UGX180Billion sunk into Inspire Africa Coffee Factory in Ntungamo, UGX724Billion invested in Dei Bio-Pharma, UGX668Billionin Atiak Sugar Factory and Roko Construction Company’s UGX263Billion yet no tangible results are seen from all these investments.
The Leader of Opposition argued that an expanding and unpredictable resource envelope creates room for expenditure that escapes adequate scrutiny, particularly under classified allocations whose proportional limits are tied to the overall size of the budget.
According to the Leader of Opposition, the Alternative Budget’s priorities in 2026/27 will be run under the theme; “Safeguarding lives, livelihoods, and institutions is not accidental” which he said represents the deep and interconnected crises facing Uganda.
The alternative government lays emphasis on agriculture, small businesses, and infrastructure maintenance.
Ssenyonyi also decried the growing public debt noting that although Government projects an expenditure of over UGX84Trn, but this budget comes amidst shrinking fiscal space and growing pressure on citizens, where half of this budget is already pre-committed to debt servicing, refinancing, and fixed costs, thus leaving very little for the actual services that Ugandans depend on.
Dr. Lina Zedriga Waru, Deputy President for Northern Uganda at the National Unity Platform (NUP) defended the Alternative priorities, saying they are grounded in common sense since they centre around the needs of the common person by bringing them back to the central Government, as well as preserve and strengthen the institutions and she urged the Opposition MPs not lose sight of the fact that we are not an opposition struggling to become government.
Julius Mukunda, Executive Director, Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group’s (CSBAG) while addressing the guests warned of Uganda’s debt saying it is beginning to seriously bite.
The Leader of Opposition also rejected the meagre UGX200Bn earmarked for the clearance of domestic arrears describing the figure as part of the broken promises Government has given to its citizens, since it had promised to clear the domestic arrears in 3years and had fallen through with that commitment by allocating UGX1.4Trn in the current 2025/26 budget, only to drop the figure to just UGX200Bn in the 2026/27 budget.
Meanwhile National Resistance Movement (NRM) Parliamentary Caucus has resolved to support the government’s budget priorities for the Financial Year 2026/2027 and to back the passage of the Proposed Protection of Sovereignty Bill, 2025, following guidance from H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at a meeting held at State House Entebbe.
The Caucus endorsed key priority areas in the FY 2026/2027 budget, including continued investment in peace and security, roads, electricity infrastructure, railway development, preparations for AFCON 2027, and promotion of scientific innovations to accelerate socio-economic transformation.
