Members of Parliament have proposed reforms to the allocation of road-maintenance funds to local governments to ensure equitable distribution of resources, improve accountability and enhance road infrastructure across the country.
The proposal seeks to ensure that all eligible local governments, including town councils and sub-counties, receive funding based on their road networks, road conditions, maintenance requirements and other relevant factors.
The motion, moved on Wednesday during the plenary sitting by Rubanda County West MP Balaba Bruce Kabaasa and seconded by Budadiri County East MP Julius Muntu Nakiyi and Rukiga County MP Patrick Kiconco Katabazi, urges government to establish a transparent and verifiable formula for distributing Uganda Road Fund resources.
The proposed reforms are intended to address disparities in funding, particularly among local governments with similar road-maintenance responsibilities, and ensure that rural and urban communities have fair access to resources for maintaining public roads.
According to the motion, the Auditor-General’s report on the Uganda Road Fund for the financial year 2023/24 found that 713 newly created and authorized sub-agencies had not received funding since their establishment.
The affected entities comprise 356 town councils and 357 sub-counties created after 2015, raising concerns about the ability of these local governments to fulfil their road-maintenance responsibilities.
The legislators argue that equitable funding would strengthen local service delivery and promote balanced development, particularly in less-developed areas that often face significant infrastructure challenges.
Under the proposed reforms, government would be required to establish a uniform allocation methodology for town councils and a separate one for sub-counties. The criteria would be consistently applied, publicly disclosed and supported by objective justifications for differences in allocations.
The motion also proposes the development of a single integrated annual road-maintenance work plan at district level, with Road Fund resources distributed directly to the respective lower local governments.
This arrangement is intended to improve planning, ensure that funds reach the areas responsible for maintaining roads and make it easier to track expenditure and assess results.
To strengthen accountability, the legislators want the Ministry of Works and Transport to prepare and submit an annual road-maintenance performance report to Parliament.
The report would detail the amounts budgeted, allocated and released to each district, urban council and eligible lower local government, alongside the allocation criteria used.
It would also identify the roads maintained, their locations and lengths, the nature of the works undertaken and the physical outputs achieved.
In addition, the proposed reforms require government to publish allocation formulas, approved funding allocations and annual performance reports in an accessible format to enable citizens and other stakeholders to scrutinise how public resources are distributed and used.
The motion is anchored in the Constitution, which requires government to promote balanced development across Uganda and establish a sound financial base for local government units.
It also draws on the Uganda Road Fund Act, which provides for the financing of routine and periodic maintenance of public roads and outlines the factors that should guide the allocation of resources to eligible agencies.
The legislators maintain that applying these provisions consistently would help local governments plan road maintenance more effectively, improve transparency in public spending and ensure that communities benefit from better-maintained roads.
If adopted and implemented, the proposed measures could provide local governments with a more predictable and transparent framework for accessing road-maintenance funding while strengthening parliamentary oversight of the Uganda Road Fund.
