Before address the topic for today, I would like to add my voice on the reckless statement that is attributed to the Minister for Education and Training, Owen Nxumalo. The remarks that the minister is said to have made in one of the schools are unfortunate, discriminatory and violate the country’s Constitution, which calls for government officials to uphold it. What we know is that schools are places of learning and not for sexual indulgence. Hence, we expect the minister, as a parent himself, to also encourage learners to refrain from sex and focus on their education. The discriminatory remarks against gays and lesbians are uncalled for minister. It is in bad taste in a society that has a Constitution with a Bill of Rights. The minister must retract the statement and not justify it, please!
Coming back to the topic of the day, as the King has dispersed Libutfo, the next major event is the opening of Parliament. Thereafter, all eyes will be on Minister for Finance Neil Rijkenberg, who will present the budget speech which will shed light how government has decided to allocate resources.
It is heartening that the minister has, since assuming office, been committed to people’s participation in the budget process. I recall when CANGO initiated the budget dialogue process around 2000, the Ministry of Finance officials used to express disapproval of CANGO’s effort. Hence, the country used to score very low in budget transparency reports. We thank the minister for his stance, but call for the process to be rolled out nationwide to allow emaSwati to make their views heard, so that the national budget is truly informed by the voices of the people.
What is national budget?
According to the Budget Monitoring Group; “Every February, the minister for Finance presents his budget speech in Parliament for the upcoming fiscal year. This is not the final budget, but a proposal that has to be scrutinised and approved by Parliament”.
What is in budget and why should we care?
The budget presents an overall synopsis of the state of the country’s economy, outlines the distribution of revenue across spheres of government, for example expenditure across national departments. This is where the legislation accompanying the budget speech plays a role, namely, the Appropriations Bill. The budget serves as a practical way through which government’s plans and policies are tangibly translated into goods and services.
Since there is a limit to the resources, the need for proper budgeting arises to allocate scarce resources to various governmental activities. Every item of expenditure has to be well thought out and worked out for a specific period.
The budget is strongly aligned with constitutional imperatives: It provides government with the money it needs to deliver its policies and run vital services in areas such as health, education and social services to mention a few.
The budget is arguably the most important government document. It impacts the economy at large and the everyday lives of the population.
Why citizens should have keen interest in budget process?
Citizens should be interested in the national budget because it is the primary tool that translates government policies into real-world actions, directly impacting their daily lives, fosters economic stability and the overall welfare of the population. The budget determines how taxpayer money is spent on key national priorities.
The budget allocates resources to fund welfare of the population including: Health care delivery, education sector, roads and other critical infrastructure. It facilitates economic stability, guiding policies on taxes, as well as determines subsidies for parastatals, providing critical services to the population like water, electricity, allocation of budget for government employees. The budget should involve vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children and the disabled to mention a few. The budget shows where public funds are allocated, allowing citizens to hold officials accountable through tracking expenditure to prevents misuse corruption and wasteful expenditure.
What budget should prioritise?
The Ministry of Health has struggled to meet the needs of emaSwati, yet His Majesty stated in the budget from the Throne that: ‘‘No liSwati should die for lack of access to quality health services’’. Let government allocate more budget to the Ministry of Health to procure timely essential drugs. Recent floods have devastated the road network, Hon minister. It is encouraging that the Hon prime minister and deputy prime minister visited some of the worst affected roads. This visit should be translated into allocation of funds so that the road network may be attended to.
Government should allocate resources to the Eswatini Electricity Company to cushion consumers from proposed high tariffs. The budget should stimulate job creation to absorb the youth and decrease high youth unemployment.
It is heartening that the minister has, since assuming office, been committed to people’s participation in the budget process.