CANGO questions budget formulation process
MBABANE – The Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO) has questioned the process undertaken in the formulation of the national budget.
The national budget was presented by the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg after the Speech from the Throne by His Majesty King Mswati III. Minister Rijkenberg presented the last budget of his five years tenure in office at the end of February.
CANGO Director Thembinkosi Dlamini questioned the process undertaken by the minister and government in the formulation of the national budget expenditure which stood at E26.44 billion for the financial year 2023/24.
Dlamini was speaking during the 2023 Post Budget Seminar hosted by the Central Bank of Eswatini and the Economics Association of Eswatini. “Honourable minister, it does not matter much how good the numbers you present for endorsement to the august House, if emaSwati remain blind and not part of formulating the budget proposal.”
Dlamini said budgets were considered to be open when the public had timely access to comprehensive and useful budget formation. He said the opportunities which governments provide to civil society and the general public to engage in the budget process, in order to contribute and influence decisions on how public resources were raised and spent remained pivotal.
Monitor
“Openness and participatory budgeting further empowers citizens to monitor and have a say in how public money is spent on services that matter to them. Opening up the budget and spending processes can also be both a powerful tool for planning and risk mitigation and an important safeguard to prevent corruption,” he said.
Every two years, CANGO, on behalf of the International Budget Project (IBP), conducts the Open Budget Survey (OBS). The OBS is the only global indicator to measure and compare transparency, public participation and oversight of the budget process internationally.
Dlamini indicated that the country scored poorly in the OBS 2021 result and stressed that the ministry needed to be more open and transparent to the civil society and the general public.
The minister, in response, acknowledged the deficiency in public engagement ahead of the budget speech and said government would look into the different forms of engagement such as setting up an online platform for the civil society and general public to contribute. “Government commits to engaging the public and would consider opening at least online platforms for the public to engage on the matter,” said Minister Rijkenberg.
One of the panellists, University of Eswatini (UNESWA) Economics Lecturer Sanele Sibiya also questioned the minister on government’s intention for the youth and the creation of jobs.
Jobs
“We need an economy that will create sustained jobs beyond the lifespan of the capital projects. Given the current allocations, how are we contributing to creating an economy that will create sustainable jobs for our people? What are the deliberate actions that have been infused in this budget to ensure that we get the youth into mainstream?” asked Sibiya.
In response, the minister said the amount of budget allocated to the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs was purely for auxiliary activities and was in no way reflective of government’s full commitment to empower the youth. “If one considers this budget holistically, the E900 million increase in the wage bill is mainly for the youth, the E286 million increase in scholarship is 100 per cent for the youth, the E430 million increase in the Education budget is 100 per cent for the youth and I can keep on going,” said Rijkenberg.
The Minister highlighted that the numbers were a true reflection of how the budget was focused on youth empowerment.