The government has procured brand new Toyota Double Cabin pick-ups for all District Chairpersons, City Mayors, and Municipal Mayors to ease their mobility in executing leadership responsibilities.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Local Government, Hon. Raphael Magyezi, during Tuesday’s plenary sitting while responding to a petition by the Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA) and the Urban Authorities’ Association of Uganda (UAAU) over the deteriorating state of service delivery in local governments.
Magyezi revealed that the first batch of 90 vehicles is expected by the end of September, while the final batch will arrive in November this year.
“We have already received 50 vehicles in the country,” he confirmed.
He added that government remains committed to strengthening local governments with the tools needed for effective service delivery, including improved staffing in new cities, increased road funding, and enhanced physical planning grants.
President Yoweri Museveni has directed an increment in funding for local government projects.
“In the last two financial years, we provided only Shs 2 billion for physical planning, which could not cover 40 urban councils. The President has now instructed us to budget Shs 2 billion for cities, Shs 300 million for municipal councils, and Shs 50 million for town councils to create better, more liveable and attractive towns,” Magyezi said.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Finance, Henry Musasizi, informed Parliament that government had harmonized local council elections with the general elections, effective 2026.
He noted that lack of funding had been the main reason for repeated extensions of local council terms.
“This time, the budget for local government elections will be part of the Electoral Commission’s general budget,” Minister Musasizi assured legislators.
Reactions from Parliament
Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Anita Among, supported the petitioners, emphasizing that service delivery at the local government level remains poor, particularly in education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
“These local government leaders are right. Roads are in poor condition because they lack equipment. Many schools have no teachers, and hospitals lack medical staff,” Among observed.
She also proposed that local revenue collections should remain within districts to directly benefit service delivery.
“Let them submit accountability for what they collect. As legislators, we can reconcile this with the Public Finance Management Act. But we must ensure money directly benefits people instead of waiting for remittances from the centre,” she added.
Kilak South MP, Gilbert Olanya, criticized regional offices for hiring out government equipment to contractors instead of deploying it on government projects. He further called for an increment in local leaders’ salaries, saying they were “too small.”
Aringa North MP, Godfrey Onzima, highlighted severe understaffing in health and education sectors across districts.
“At Hirwa Health Centre III, only two midwives are available, one is on study leave and another on maternity leave. Expectant mothers have no choice but to seek care elsewhere. Schools face the same problem,” he said.
In defence, Minister Musasizi explained that centralizing local revenue under the consolidated fund ensures proper management and timely disbursement back to local governments according to their approved budgets.
Way Forward
Closing the debate, Speaker Among stressed that insufficient funding remained the biggest barrier to effective service delivery.
“All these discussions rotate around money. If we had sufficient funding, we wouldn’t be here. I urge the Minister of Finance to ensure local governments are adequately financed in the next financial year. I expect a committee report to guide the budget framework paper for local governments,” she concluded.
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