Shadow
Finance and Planning Minister Halima Mdee addresses a news conference in Dodoma
yesterday. Ms Mdee has been banned from attending parliamentary sittings for
almost a year, and the Opposition’s alternative budget will be presented in
Parliament today by her deputy, Mr David Silinde.
In Summary
The Shadow Finance and Planning
Minister, Ms Halima Mdee, told journalists yesterday that the total budget as
presented by Dr Mpango has discrepancies in figures in three different
documents.
Dodoma.
The opposition camp in Parliament has punched holes in the government’s 2017/18
Budget that was tabled on Thursday by Finance minister Philip Mpango, saying it
contained serious, unexplained discrepancies and that it was crafted on the
basis of an ambitious but unrealistic revenue assumptions.
The Shadow Finance and Planning
Minister, Ms Halima Mdee, told journalists yesterday that the total budget as
presented by Dr Mpango has discrepancies in figures in three different
documents.
Dr Mpango told the august House
on Thursday last week that the government will collect and spend a total of
Sh31.7 trillion during the FY 2017/18.
However, noted Ms Mdee, the
Sh31.7 trillion appears only in the budget speech.
“The Revenue Book says a total
of Sh23.9 trillion will be collected. The Expenditure Book says a total of
Sh26.9 trillion will be spent. The minister’s budget speech says the revenue
and expenditure in the 2017/18 budget will be Sh31.7 trillion.
These remarkable
discrepancies deserve an explanation,” said Ms Mdee who, however, remains
banned from taking part in parliamentary sessions until February 2018.
Flanked by Deputy Shadow Finance
and Planning Minister, Mr David Silinde, the chairperson for the parliamentary
Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Ms Nagenjwa Kaboyoka and Mr David Kafulila who
is special advisor to the Chadema national chairman on economic issues and
other opposition MPs, Ms Mdee said the opposition camp will today table a
Sh29.9 trillion budget in Parliament.
The priority areas of the shadow
budget will be education, industry, energy and agriculture.
The four priority areas will
jointly consume 60 per cent of the development budget while the remaining 40
per cent will be distributed across several other areas of importance to the
nation.
Ms Mdee said the presented
budget seems to be bent on killing the Decentralisation by Devolution (D by D)
plan which seeks devolve powers from the central to the local government authorities.
“D by D started out of the
admission that the central government had failed to do everything.
Unfortunately, the central government is now grabbing the powers of collecting
property tax and city service levy away from local government authorities,”
said Ms Mdee.
She also faulted the
government’s decision to scrap the annual motor vehicle licence fee and instead
swap it with the introduction of a new Sh40 levy on a litre of fuel.
“Why should a rural dweller—who
uses kerosene—be compelled to pay Sh40 in every litre as road levy?” she
enquired, further alleging that MPs applauded the move since they are the ones
who stand to benefit from it.
The Opposition—which is expected
to officially present its alternative budget in the House today—believes property
tax should have been limited to valued houses only contrary to the presented
budget that requires even those owning unvalued houses to pay their dues to the
taxman.
To finance the Sh29.9 trillion
budget, the Opposition would collect a total of Sh3.7 trillion in addition to
the government’s current revenue sources.
It would float a Eurobond and
collect a total of Sh2.2 trillion. “The government has failed to issue the
Eurobond due to failure to reach consensus with international credit rating
agencies.
The Opposition would swiftly allow the process to move on and float a
Eurobond,” she said.
A total of Sh492 billion would
be collected through fishing in the Indian Ocean while licences for gemstone
mining would bring in Sh5.59 billion. The minerals would also bring in Sh270
billion through various taxes and royalties.
Source: The Citizen
We have heard and seen the Government budget presentation, let's see the Opposition Camp presentation, critics etc then we can compare and contrast. But it is is true that there are at least three different "figures" in the government budget presented by Dr Mpango, why? and what will that suppose to mean? There will be an interesting part of this budget..Let's wait and see..
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