Issue 4: June 2016

BMAU Bulletin

M ajority of the district road network and com-munity access roads are

generally in poor condition. With districts grappling with low budg-ets that hinder road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance, it is evident that new initiatives have to be implemented to improve the road network. Since 2005, DANIDA has supported the use of low cost seal (LCS) technology in Teso, Lango and Acholi areas in order to reduce rapid deterioration of the unpaved roads.

The roads surfaced with LCS in those areas were found to be in good condition, except for sections with sand seal technology where the seal was stripping off. The use of labour-based methods is being promoted by the Govern-ment of Uganda through the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) to reduce the mainte-nance burden on unpaved roads.

A study commissioned by DANIDA, and conducted by the Budget Monitoring and Account-ability Unit (BMAU), provides key

results achieved in the implemen-tation of the Rural Transport Infrastructure (RTI) programme, with emphasis on the LCS road technologies and the likelihood of scaling up this initiative.

R esults of the life cycle cost analysis showed that Sin-gle Surface Dressing with-

out sand capping is the cheapest option, followed by Single Surface Dressing with sand capping, Otta Seal, Sand Seal, Premix and Pene-tration Macadam.

Part of the Kumi-Omatenga road sealed using LCS technology

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Sections of the roads sealed using the Single Surface Dress-ing, Single Otta Seal and Cold Asphalt (Premix), Penetration Macadam and Double Otta Seal were still intact and in a good condition, while the perform-ance of the Sand Seal is the poorest because most of the sections had developed defects.

Challenges faced during imple-mentation of LCS trials in-cluded: inadequate funding fol-lowing the budget cuts; inade-quate number of laboratories testing materials for quality con-trol; inadequate financial and technical capacity of contractors; unavailability of the required local materials (sand and hand crushed aggregate) within the

districts; inadequate equipment base for implementation both at Mount Elgon Labour-based Training Centre (MELTC) and in districts; inadequate skilled staff in districts to supervise LCS works as a result of high staff turnover; and negative atti-tude towards the LCS technolo-gies by the political leadership of the Local Governments (LGs).

T he study revealed that scaling up of LCS for sealing of district and

urban roads is feasible if the req-uisite funds are provided through either external financ-ing by development partners or government mainstreaming the LCS activities as a project in the MoWT budget or enhancing the Uganda Road Fund (URF) financing to districts.

The study recommended that;

1. The MoWT in collaboration with the districts should con-duct research to map the possi-ble sources of materials such as aggregates and sand so as to fa-cilitate realistic derivation of the costs.

2. The MoWT should set up additional regional laboratories for testing materials to reduce the distance travelled to access testing services.

3. The MELTC should con-tinuously train and re-train district and contractor staff to ensure that there is constant supply of skilled workers for LCS. In addition, the MoWT should continuously sensitize the political leaders regarding the uptake of LCS.

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Road infront of Serere District administration block sealed using LCS

In this Issue:

Low cost seal technology can preserve Uganda’s roads

Are BMAU’s findings being used?

BMAU staff trained in Programme Based Monitor-ing

BMAU strives to expand its readership

DANIDA support to BMAU ends

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A rapid assessment was recently conducted to determine the extent

to which BMAU reports are being used in the 10 moni-tored sectors. It was noted that majority of the Minis-tries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have adopted and implemented recommendations given by BMAU, albeit to varying de-grees thus calling for more engagement with the sector top management teams. The agriculture sector had the highest adoption percentage since 76% of the sampled recommendations were taken up. Agriculture was followed by Public Sector Management (PSM) at 68% and Industry at 67%. The education sector seemed to lag with only 47% of the BMAU recommenda-tions receiving management responses.

S ome of the reasons given for inaction to-wards the findings in-

clude; Some recommendations involve coordination between two or more MDAs. This

compromises a single MDA’s enforcement of the recom-mendations. Some recommendations are only actionable by the donors and private firms, thus limiting a single MDA’s enforcement. Inadequate/late release of funds to spending entities. Inadequate staffing in

most MDAs and Local Gov-ernments. Lack of supportive policies and regulations for imple-menting the proposed recom-mendations.

Members of the management team of the Uganda Coffee Develop-

ment Authority (UCDA) explaining to BMAU team how they have util-

ised the Unit’s findings

T he move from Output Based Budgeting (OBB) to Programme Based

Budgeting (PBB) is one of the reforms being implemented by Government in order to strengthen the linkage between budgetary expenditures and ser-vice delivery. The reform implies a shift from output to outcome based allocations, tracking and reporting. To better prepare for this shift, BMAU staff members partici-pated in a three day training in sampling and Programme Based Monitoring. The training was carried out from 31st May to 2nd June, 2016 at Esella Country Resort – Najjera. The session on PBB was facili-tated by Mr. Robert Muwanga, a public financial/information technology management con-sultant. He amplified the PBB monitoring tools and how to link PBB to BMAU monitoring work. He stressed that PBB monitoring needs to examine objectives of the second National Development Plan, sector priorities and outcomes, programme outcomes, sub-

programme outputs and inputs closely. The sampling session was facili-tated by Mr. James Muwonge, the Director Social Economic Surveys (DSES), at Uganda Bu-reau of Statistics (UBOS). He took the participants through the different sampling methods and construction of a sampling frame under Outcome Based Budgeting in some selected sec-tors. The Head BMAU, Mrs. Marga-ret Kakande urged the staff to

use the skills gained to ade-quately draw samples from re-spective sectors so that reliable conclusions can be made for de-cision making. The staff appreciated the train-ing for it would enhance the quality of their work. ―We shall incorporate the sampling knowl-edge in the annual monitoring exercise due this July. We look forward to outcome monitoring once the sectors are trained on PBB,‖ said Ms. Noeline Gwokyalya, a monitoring officer in the education sector.

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BMAU staff after the training at Esella Country Resort

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BMAU strives to expand its readership

In a bid to reach out to more stakeholders, the BMAU is producing diversified communica-tion products. These include Briefing Papers and Digests.

BMAU Briefing Papers The Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit prepares four page briefing papers on topical sector issues. During the first half of 2016, BMAU published 17 briefing papers listed below.

BMAU Briefing Paper 1 Unspent balances in the under-funded Health Sector: What are the trends?

BMAU Briefing Paper 2 Are Agriculture Sector Policies and Interventions in Uganda Gender Sensitive and Responsive?

BMAU Briefing Paper 3 Key constraints to agriculture research in Uganda: The case of NARO institutions

BMAU Briefing Paper 4 Appropriate Water and Sanitation Technologies: Challenges of meeting Uganda’s demands

BMAU Briefing Paper 5 Implementation of the Adaptable Program Lending project: What can we learn?

BMAU Briefing Paper 6 Piped Water Supply in Uganda: How can it be affordable for all?

BMAU Briefing Paper 7 Quality Pre-primary Education in Uganda: How can universal access be achieved?

BMAU Briefing Paper 8 Attracting and Retaining Human Resources for Health: What can be done?

BMAU Briefing Paper 9 Prioritization in the Energy and Mineral Sector: What important sector aspects are omitted?

BMAU Briefing Paper 10 Community Agriculture Infrastructure Improvement Programme (CAIIP): What are the implementation challenges?

BMAU Briefing Paper 11 Decentralized Pension Reforms in Uganda: Why the slow payment of pensioners?

BMAU Briefing Paper 12 Uganda Shilling depreciation in FY2015/16: Can a re-occurrence be mitigated?

BMAU Briefing Paper 13 Private wings in government hospitals: What are the challenges?

BMAU Briefing Paper 14 Decentralization of the public sector wage bill: Are the objectives being met?

BMAU Briefing Paper 15 Improving access to rural microfinance: What must be done?

BMAU Briefing Paper 16 What is constraining increased power use/ connections in Uganda?

BMAU Briefing Paper 17 USADF Project: Lessons for poverty reduction programmes

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T he one page Digests describe projects highlighting the objectives, achievements to-date (financial and physical), and implementation challenges. Basing on these, an overall con-clusion is made on the status of the project and its likelihood of achieving the intended

objectives. Between January and June 2016, 34 Digest were written as listed below.

BMAU Digest 1/2016 Uganda Health Systems Strengthening (Project 1123)

BMAU Digest 2/2016 Business Process Outsourcing (Project 1055)

BMAU Digest 3/2016 Karamoja Primary Education Project (KPEP)

BMAU Digest 4/2016 Agricultural Technology and Agribusiness Advisory Services (Project 1139)

BMAU Digest 5/2016 Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Program Phase II (Project 1192)

BMAU Digest 6/2016 Karuma Hydro Power Project

BMAU Digest 7/2016 Soroti Fruit Factory

BMAU Digest 8/2016 Kiira Ashok Leyland Pre-Investment Study

BMAU Digest 9/2016 Microfinance Support Centre

BMAU Digest 10/2016 Livestock Disease Control Project Phase 2 (Project 1330)

BMAU Digest 11/2016 Water and Sanitation Development Facility - Central (Project 1130)

BMAU Digest 12/2016 Rehabilitation and Equipping of Health facilities in Western Region (Project 1314)

BMAU Digest 13/2016 Support to Mulago Hospital Rehabilitation (Project 1187)

BMAU Digest 14/2016 Uganda Coffee Development Authority (Vote 160)

BMAU Digest 15/2016 Support to Higher Education, Science and Technology – HEST (1273)

BMAU Digest 16/2016 Construction of the Oil Refinery Project

BMAU Digest 17/2016 Output Based Aid (OBA) project- Free Household connection

BMAU Digests continued

BMAU Digest 18/2016 Support to Luwero Ruwenzori Development Programme – LRDP (Project 0022)

BMAU Digest 19/2016 Karamoja Integrated Development Programme- KIDP (Project 1078)

BMAU Digest 20/2016 Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP)

BMAU Digest 21/2016 District Infrastructure Support Program (Project 0216)

BMAU Digest 22/2016 Institutional support to Ministry of Health (Project 1027)

BMAU Digest 23/2016 Support to Ministry of Public Service (Project 1285) National Archives and Re-

cords Centre (NARC)

BMAU Digest 24/2016 Peace Recovery and Development Plan – PRDP II (Project 0932)

BMAU Digest 25/2016 Production and Marketing Grant (Vote 501-850)

BMAU Digest 26/2016 Community Agricultural Infrastructure Improvement Programme – CAIIP-2

(Project 1087)

BMAU Digest 27/2016 Commercialization of Agriculture in Northern Uganda

BMAU Digest 28/2016 Kampala Water Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation (Project 1193)

BMAU Digest 29/2016 Uganda Teacher and School Effectiveness Project (1296)

BMAU Digest 30/2016 Support to Rural Water Supply (Project 0163) - Construction of Lirima Gravity

Flow Scheme

BMAU Digest 31/2016 Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Project MATIP-1 (Project 1088)

BMAU Digest 32/2016 Kalangala Infrastructure Services

BMAU Digest 33/2016 Water for Production (Project 0169)

BMAU Digest 34/2016 Development of Primary Teachers’ Colleges Phase II (1340)

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DANIDA Support to BMAU ends

Editorial team: Mrs. Margaret Kakande — Head BMAU Ms. Maria R. Muzaaki — Communication Officer Ms. Sylvia Arinaitwe — Research Assistant

Email: budgetmonitoringug@gmail.com Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Third Floor, Room 3.13 Tel: +256 41 4707201/250 Plot 2-12 Apollo Kaggwa Road P. O. Box 8147, Kampala, Uganda Website: www.finance.go.ug

Get in touch with BMAU

Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit

@budgetmonitorUg

T he Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) provided 2.5

million Danish Krone (DKK) to enhance communication and actual use of BMAU findings. The support that has lasted two and half years ended in June 2016. A lot was achieved in terms of diversifying communication products and interfacing with key stakeholders. In particular, the BMAU was supported to hold meetings with various Committees of Parliament to share monitoring findings and participate in various sector reviews. These innovative communica-

tion strategies shall be sustained. We thank the Danish Embassy

for this support.

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DANIDA’s Cate Najjuma with BMAU staff in a workshop to validate the

study on viability of scaling up Low Cost Seal technologies countrywide.

Ms. Najjuma has spearheaded the partnership between DANIDA and BMAU