REPUBLIC OF UGANDA


REMARKS
BY
THE PERMANENT SECRETARY AND SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY




DURING
THE MEETING THE NATIONAL BUDGET CONFERENCE FOR FY2026/27



Held at

SPEKE RESORT AND CONVENTION CENTER, MUNYONYO
THURSDAY, 11TH SEPTEMBER 2025
WELCOME REMARKS BY THE PERMANENT SECRETARY AND SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY AT THE NATIONAL BUDGET CONFERENCE FOR FY2026/27

SPEKE RESORT AND CONVENTION CENTRE – MUNYONYO
THURSDAY, 11TH SEPTEMBER 2025

The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister,
Deputy Prime Ministers,
Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Members of Parliament,
Permanent Secretaries,
Members of the Local Development Partners Group
LC V Chairpersons,
Members of the Civil Society,
Representatives of the Private Sector,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good morning.

I welcome you all to this National Budget Conference for the Financial Year 2026/2027.
Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, this conference kick-starts the consultative process of preparation of the Budget for FY 2026/27. The inclusive participation by all stakeholders during today’s conference and input throughout the rest of the consultative process will be fundamental in guiding the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in finalizing next year’s budget.
As we start the planning and budgeting process for next year, I would like to reiterate that the Budget Strategy is guided by the strategic direction by H.E. the President, the Tenfold Growth Strategy, and the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV). The Honourable Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development will provide details on the policy direction and priority areas for FY FY2026/27 when he delivers the Budget Strategy today.
Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, I also to note that we have started the consultations on the Budget for FY2026/27 at a time when we are gearing up for the January 2026 National General Elections. The implication of this is that we will have to ensure that the Budget strategy for FY 2026/27 considers the emerging policy direction.
In preparation for the budget process for FY 2026/27, I recently held meetings with all Accounting Officers and all Planners in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of Government wherein I emphasized the need to improve government efficiency so as to enhance service delivery for socio-economic transformation.
Furthermore, I reiterated to them the challenges of Budget Games and how they negatively impact the Budget Cycle during planning, budgeting, execution, reporting, and accountability.
For purposes of emphasis and for the benefit of all participants here today, I would like to repeat these budget games as follows:
i) Planning, budgeting, and requesting for more than what the MDA requires - it is called “Padding Play”.
ii)Playing the ''crisis card'' game – An MDA claims and gives a forecast that there will be catastrophic outcomes for the public if their planned request is not fulfilled.
iii)"Selling the sizzle' - making the budget request look attractive with flashy presentations but lacking substance.
iv)"Pet project play". An MDA connecting their requests to a policymaker’s priority or pet project. These situations often exploit a psychological phenomenon called the "halo effect."
v)'Influence operation' - Lobbying for support from powerful people: politicians, the Media, and Civil Society groups.
vi)The ''mandate masquerade'' game - MDAs emphasizing their mandate to justify budget requests.
vii)The ''silent windfall'' game—keeping quiet about budget errors that add appropriations in the MDA's favor.
viii)Client's heart-tugging game - Focusing the budget requests on public interest programs, often hiding or ignoring the limits of the proposed intervention. The planner typically selects the most compelling interventions or stories for their presentation, omitting contradictory information, a strategy that appeals to policymakers’ emotions and blurs their logical thought process.
ix)''The waiting game'' - remaining silent about budget needs and waiting for a moment to make a proposal after building enough political capital. Here, MDAs often hide bigger demands until a politically advantageous time.
x)'Foot-in-the-door' game - where an MDA starts with a smaller request and gradually expands the program or project over time. They rely on less initial scrutiny, getting into the baseline, and then incrementally increasing the demand.
xi)'The pilot ploy' game—similar to the foot-in-the-door game, but instead of using a small initial amount to secure funding, it relies on an assurance that the need is temporary. The pilot may then end up in the MDA's baseline budget, allowing the game-player to capitalize on the 'silent windfall game' to retain the money. If the pilot shows some positive results, the game player may use the "selling the sizzle game' or the 'client heart-tug game' to oversell those results and secure subsequent budget approvals.
xii)The ''ROI Ruse'' game - Here the proposer claims their proposal will pay for itself by reducing or hiding future costs or generating revenue, selling it as a ''smart investment'' rather than an additional cost to the taxpayer. It becomes a ruse when the promised benefits don't materialize.
xiii)'Plan and budget low, mid-year grow' game - where the MDA starts with a low estimate for important features in the original budget request, knowing that the initial amount will not be enough and planning to ask for more money later in the fiscal year. For example, beginning by requesting funds to build classrooms without including costs for furnishing, teacher wages, and other expenses. Once these are complete, the government has no choice but to cover the additional costs.
xiv)The ''blend and extend'' game involves disguising new programs as extensions of existing ones or merging new initiatives with established programs.
xv)''The wildcards'' game - proposing to trade off something to fund the proposal, fully aware that the decision-makers will most likely not make cuts and will instead look to other MDAs for reductions.
Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, I wish to inform all participants present here today that the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development has observed and noted all the above games.
Going forward, these games will not be tolerated anymore. To tackle these games, my ministry has stepped up budget scrutiny and analysis. We have tasked all the Budget Analysts to stamp out these budget games. Therefore, each Ministry, Local Government, Mission Abroad, Referral Hospital, Public University or Agency of Government, should plan and budget in such a way that prioritizes first, all Government of Uganda Obligations as a first call on the available resources, then statutory obligations (salaries, wages, pension and gratuity), and subsequently fixed costs (utilities, food, rent etc), and their core business/functions.
If we plan and budget like that, we will reduce supplementary budget requests, improve budget credibility and ultimately enhance service delivery.
Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, after this budget conference, I will communicate other policy, administrative and operational guidelines to all Accounting Officers in the First Budget Call Circular for FY 2026/27, which I will issue tomorrow, Friday, 12th September 2025. This will guide them in the preparation of the budget but also communicate the Indicative Planning Figures for FY2026/27 to guide all Programs and Local Governments in resource allocation.
I now take the pleasure to invite the Honorable Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to give his Welcome Remarks.


Ramathan Ggoobi PERMANENT SECRETARY/SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY