How the President’s Office Sh1tr budget will be spent

Dodoma. The government is increasing the budget for the President’s Office (Public Service Management and Good Governance) by 17.6 percent in the fiscal year 2023/24 in order to improve working conditions for civil workers and combat corruption and misuse of public funds.

Presenting the budget estimates for the President’s Office (Public Service Management and Good Governance), minister George Simbachawene requested the Parliament endorse a total of Sh1.001 trillion for the dockets that fall under the President’s Office for the fiscal year 2023/24.

This is an increase of about Sh150 billion compared to the Sh851.1 billion that was approved for the President’s Office (PO) during the 2022/23 fiscal year.

The dockets that fall under the PO include the State House and the Ethics Secretariat (ES), which is an independent department entrusted with powers to administer the ethical conduct of public leaders. Other dockets include Public Service Management and Good Governance, the Public Service Recruitment Secretariat (PSRS), the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Records and Archives Management Department.

The breakdown of the budget being requested includes Sh32.157 billion, allocated for the President’s office; the proposed estimates observe an increase of Sh2.329 billion compared to funds allocated in the 2022/23 fiscal year.

According to Mr Simbachawene, a total of Sh860.186 billion is set for the Secretariat to the Cabinet, which means the said secretariat will have an additional Sh118.887 billion of funds allocated to them in the previous budget.

Whereas Sh678.193 billion is set for recurrent expenditure, the minister responsible noted that Sh181.992 billion will be used to fund development projects executed under the supervision of the secretariat.

For the ES, the ministry plans to allocate Sh12.763 billion, of which Sh10.813 billion is for recurrent expenditure and Sh1.950 billion is to be used in the implementation of development projects.

On the other hand, the minister also seeks the House’s approval for the Sh69.317 billion allocated for the Public Service Management and Good Governance, an additional Sh21.706 compared to the Sh47.611 billion allocated in the previous budget. It was noted that out of the requested funds, the Public Service Management and Good Governance plan to use Sh69.317 billion for recurrent expenditure and Sh57.130 billion for development projects, at least Sh12.187 billion is allocated.

Besides, the ministry has allocated at least Sh13.711 billion for the PSRS, which is in fact an increase of Sh4.99 billion against the Sh8.721 billion set in the previous budget. PSRS intends to use Sh10.139 billion for recurrent expenditure, while the rest (Sh3.572 billion) will be for development projects.

The requested budget, according to Mr Simbachawene, will also fund the PSC; in fact, at least Sh8.624 billion is allocated, of which Sh8.324 billion is for recurrent expenditure and Sh300 million is set aside for development projects.

The Records and Archives Management Department will also have its share of Sh4.347 billion, of which Sh3.897 billion is for recurrent expenditure and Sh450 million will fund the department’s development projects.

According to Mr Simbachawene, the requested budget will enable the government to strengthen the performance of the public service and good governance.

“The budget will enable the government to strengthen the performance of the public service, thus enabling the country to curb the misuse of financial resources and the abuse of leadership ethics,” he clarified.

Adding that: “It will also reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in service delivery by reassessing service delivery procedures and thus increasing productivity in implementing matters of interest to the nation.”

Furthermore, Mr Simbachawene explained that the government is enhancing some sectoral and other cross-cutting issues and that the responsibility of the PO is to ensure the said improvements bring efficiency to the public service and thus stimulate development.

On the other hand, when representing the view of the Constitution and Legal Affairs committee, the chairperson of the said committee, Mr Joseph Mhagama among other things, urged the national carrier to own aircraft leased to it.

Since ATCL does not own flights, Mr Mhagama said: “The government should transfer the ownership of aircraft leased to Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) from the government agency (TGFA) to ATCL.”

Besides, he appealed to the government to ensure funds approved by the Parliament for the PO and its institutions are timely available to achieve maximum results in the implementation of the planned tasks.