Members of Parliament on the Human Rights Committee yesterday tasked officials from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics to explain how they concluded that the country had attained a middle-income status amid starvation in the country.
Last month, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni while addressing the country at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds during the annual State of National Address was quoted to have declared that Uganda has attained middle-income status.
UBOS led by James Muwonge, the Director of Methodology and Statistics was yesterday appearing before the Committee to answer to considerations of the Human Rights Annual Report for 2018 to 2021.
Hon. Muwanga speaking…….
Mr. Muwonge said that they did not mislead the President, but used the Gross Domestic Product to arrive at the declaration, while the IMF and World Bank used Gross National Product.
He explained that the GDP looks at all people in Uganda irrespective of whether they are Nationals or not and yet GNP looks at only nationals, income accrued to nationals. Mr. Muwonge speaking…….
Mr. Muwonge added that they are in discussions with the UN to harmonize the discrepancies.
According to the World Bank, lower-middle-income countries are those with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita which is between US $1,036, about Shillings 4 million and US $4,045(about Shillings 15.6 million), and upper-middle-income countries are those with a GNI per capita which is between US $4,046 and US $12,535, about Shillings 48 million. END