By Juma Nsubuga
The Chairperson of Equal Opportunities Commission Safia Nalule Jjuuko has informed Members of Parliament that inadequate funding has greatly affected the operations of EOC.
Nalule revealed this during an orientation meeting for MPs sitting on the Parliamentary committee on Gender, labour and social development.
She says that EOC faces so many challenges but inadequate funding is on the top.
She says that EOC currently gets Shs20b every Financial year which she says is insufficient to address critical issues in the commission.
“The situation has worsened by the commission’s inability to secure funding from external donors and development partners due to the uncertainty with the impending rationalization” Nalule said adding that the restriction on donor support means EOC must rely heavily on government allocations which are often insufficient to meet its operational needs.
She said that EOC needs an increment in annual budget allocation from Shs20b to shs38b to effectively address the challenges faced.
Among other challenges faced by EOC include inadequate Funding, inadequate human resource capacity, lack of implementation of the commission’s recommendations by the responsible entities, limited public awareness and absence of regional offices.
On the other hand EOC has expressed the fear over the considerable delays and high cost of government projects.
Nalule confirmed to legislators that there is a deliberate delay and high cost of implementing government projects in almost all sectors ranging from education, infrastructure, health among others.
“Government spends more in doing the same projects in comparison to the private sector. Some of the delayed projects include, Kampala-Jinja express high way, rural water supply and sanitation projects, construction of various seed schools under World Bank fund” she stressed, adding that these delays affect access to services by Ugandans.
The Commission further noted that corruption in Uganda has significantly undermined service delivery by diverting resources meant for public services.
“Funds allocated for essential services are often misappropriated through bribery, embezzlement and kickbacks which has resulted in substandard or incomplete projects” Nalule told MPs.
She added that the rampant corruption in Uganda has reduced the quality of services to tax payers and weakens accountability mechanisms in addition discouraging effective implementation of policies.
Nalule however, noted that although Uganda enters upper middle income status, a number of equity concerns which need to be adequately addressed and urge parliament to attend to them.
She mentioned regional income disparities where Acholi has 68%, Karamoja 66%, Bukedi 35%, Busoga 29% and Kigezi 28% according to UBOS statistics of 2022.
“High youth Unemployment rate which is at 13.3% of Ugandans aged 15-24 years and low access to electricity in same areas of Uganda at only 30%” she noted.
Meanwhile MPs led by Sheema district Woman MP Rosemary Nyakikongoro pledged to give support to EOC to enable them operate to their best us mandated by the constitution of Uganda.
“Am so happy for this interface between EOC and MPs. You have raised various issues which affect local Wanainchi. We shall advocate for EOC’s operations in parliament as mandated by the constitution of Uganda” said Sheema district Woman MP Rosemary Nyakikongoro
Nyakikongoro also urged MPs to always continue pushing for issues that affect the people they represent.
EOC’s mandate as per the constitution is Uganda is to eliminate discrimination, inequalities against any individual or group of persons on ground of sex, age, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed, religion, health status, social standing and disability among others.
