By Aminata Abu Bakarr Kamara
a delegation from the Parliamentary Budget office (PBO) of the Parliament of Uganda paid a courtesy on Monday, May 26, 2025, call on the leadership of the Parliament of Sierra Leone as part of a study visit and knowledge-sharing engagement with their counterparts in Freetown.
Welcoming the delegation, the Right Honourable speaker of parliament, Segepoh Solomon Thomas, expressed great pleasure at receiving the Ugandan team, he extended a red-carpet welcome and encouraged the visitors to feel at home during their stay in Sierra Leone. Speaker Thomas emphasized the shared identity and aspirations of African nations, stating, we are one people, regardless of the colonial boundaries that geographically separate us.
In his remarks, the Speaker conveyed warm greetings to the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament and the President of Uganda, he concluded with an expression of strong optimism for the future of Africa, declaring his belief that the continent will one day achieve unity and sovereignty as a powerful, emancipated bloc.
Deputy speaker of parliament, Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, highlighted the significance of the visit as a step toward collaborative progress for Africa. He stressed the critical role of Parliamentary Budget offices in revitalizing national economies and affirmed that Sierra Leone’s PBO has much to offer in terms of experience and institutional knowledge.
He emphasized that the Sierra Leone PBO operates independently of political influence, focusing on providing objective economic analysis and policy advice to Parliament, the parliamentary Budget office is not bound by any party directives, he said, but serves as a neutral, professional body guiding the financial and economic decisions of Parliament.”
Hon. Daniel Koroma, deputy Leader of the opposition, also welcomed the delegation, assuring them of parliament’s openness and hospitality throughout their visit. He noted that while Parliament includes multiple political parties, it operates under a unified leadership, headed by the speaker, he wished the delegation success in their learning mission.
Leading the Ugandan delegation, principal economist Gladys Janet Mataka outlined the constitutional and legislative mandates guiding Uganda’s PBO. She referenced Article 164(3) of the Ugandan Constitution, which obliges Parliament to monitor public expenditures, and Section 12 of the Public Finance Management Act of 2015, which requires policy and program analysis to guide economic and budgetary decision-making.
She also cited Section 21 of the Budget Act of 2001, which mandates the PBO to provide technical assistance to Parliament and its committees, to fulfil this role effectively, she said, Uganda’s PBO is committed to continuously strengthening staff capacity.
In pursuit of this goal, Ms. Mataka stated, we have identified the Parliamentary Budget office of the Sierra Leone Parliament as a valuable institution for peer learning and collaboration, we are particularly interested in your approaches to planning and budgeting alignment, fiscal sustainability, performance-based budgeting, finance bill processing, and your tools for budget analysis and reporting.
She expressed admiration for the expertise developed by the Sierra Leone PBO in these areas and affirmed Uganda’s interest in drawing from Sierra Leone’s experience to support their own capacity development efforts, the visit marks a significant step in inter-parliamentary cooperation between Uganda and Sierra Leone, promoting shared growth through dialogue, technical exchange, and African solidarity.
Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times News on Friday, May 30TH, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
