By Marvin Ocol

As discussions around returning authorities and agencies to the mother ministries continue, the Uganda Meteorological Authority (UNMA) is projecting to collect Shs 21 billion per year.

UNMA is a semi-autonomous agency of the government. It was created by the UNMA Act of 2012 and has been operational since 2015.

However, the threat to return it to the Ministry of Water and Environment further threatens its capacity to operate on its own. 

A document this publication has seen indicates that the authority has the potential to generate non-tax revenue from various sources through the sale of various weather- and climate-related products and services. 

“UNMA projects to collect UGX 20,892,400,000 per year (more than the current annual release from Treasury) due to improved forecasts that will result from the investments in radars and improvements in net work stations across the country,” reads part of the eight-page document by the Committee of Parliament. According to Parliament, in the long term, “UNMA will be self-sufficient and can eventually be weaned off the Treasury.”

SEE BREAKDOWN ATTACHED