The Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II will continue to provide school bursaries to needy students across the country.
This is according to the kingdom’s minister for Finance Investment, Planning and Economic Development, Robert Waggwa Nsibirwa.In a June 20 statement, from the office of the Katikkiro, Nsibirwa said the kingdom currently supports over 2,541 students at all levels of education under the Kabaka Education fund.
The increase in the bursaries follows a recent shift in the education budget, which will now take the largest share at 21.6 per cent (Shs 15bn), of the Shs 73bn budget for the financial year 2016/17.
This year, the Buganda kingdom budget’s main focus is on education, agriculture, health and the youth. Nsibirwa said 55 bursaries had already been given to needy children at Lubiri Nabagereka primary school, a further 213 to Lubiri high school main and 200 to the school’s Buloba campuses.
While presenting the Shs 73bn budget to the Lukiiko on June 20, Nsibirwa said a new complex worth Shs 3bn would also be erected at Muteesa I Royal University at Mengo campus. The main campus in Masaka will also get a facelift, replacing asbestos with new roofing.
“The new building [at Mengo campus] with five floors will house a modern library, offices, and lecture rooms,” Nsibirwa said, adding that the kingdom would start an internship and mentorship programme and support youths to create jobs.
He said for the first time, Buganda made a general budget that caters for every aspect in the kingdom. The money to fund the Shs 73bn budget is expected to be extracted from activities on Kabaka’s land, payments from the central government, tuition fees from the kingdom’s institutions, and royalties, among others.
“We will continue to demand the central government to pay us the money they owe us. We hope that this financial year government will pay us Shs 8bn,” Nsibirwa is quoted as saying.
In the financial year 2015/16, Nsibirwa commended the education sector for enrolling more learners in the kingdom’s education institutions. For instance, in 2015, there were 444 and 1440 children in primary and secondary schools respectively. However, the numbers have this year increased to 501 and 1,572.
Some 4,203 have joined technical institutions, up from 4,016 in 2015 and an increment of 2,682 at university level from 4,398 in 2015.
Summary of key expenditures
|
Priority area |
Amount |
|
Education |
15,994,072,546 |
|
Agriculture |
3,727,156,000 |
|
Health |
773,320,804 |
|
Investments |
3,640,000,000 |
|
Tourism |
629,298,000 |
|
Real Estate development/rehabilitation |
2,336,755,000 |
|
Gender and community service |
88,940,000 |
|
Cooperatives |
89,260,000 |
|
Pressroom |
150,000,000 |
|
Rehabilitation of culture and heritage sites |
2,242,008,391 |
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