Why Ugandans No Longer Trust the Budget Speech, What went Wrong?

As Uganda’s Finance Minister Hon. Matia Kasaija presented the 2025/26 national budget to Parliament but there is shift that continues to grow across the country.

Once a long waited and projected national event that drew citizens around radios and TV screens, the annual budget speech is increasingly having a hard time to hold public interest as many citizens think the budget does not matter anymore.

Acouple of years back, the reading of the annual budget was a moment when most Ugandans from all walks of life tuned in, hoping to hear policies and funding commitments that would improve their lives, schools, health sector, lower taxes, create more jobs and reduce prices.

However today, majority of Ugandans are less concerned about the budget, many are frastrauted citing the governments's failure to improve sectors such as health, education and creating jobs for the youth whose population is 70%

According to Sarah, one of the reasons as to why Ugandans are nolonger intrested in listening to the annual budget is due to the lack of visible results yet the government keeps on up-and-coming year in year out.

Despite trillions of Uganda shillings being allocated each financial year,many Ugandans do not see visible results on ground as proposed infrastructure projects often stall for example Lubowa International Hospital, and basic services, such as drugs in hospitals, clean water remain neglected.

Finance Minister Hon. Matia Kasaija once pledged that the Ugandan government would create over 700,000 jobs for the youth 2025 financial year. However, months into the implementation, there are no visible results on the ground. A large portion of Uganda’s youth who make up more than 70% of the population remain unemployed.

Have Ugandan's lost hope? They don’t believe the budget reflects their needs anymore? What really went wrong. The questions linger, unanswered. Could the government holds the answers?