Cars for district bosses to cost sh11b

Mar 02, 2014

The Government has earmarked sh11b to buy new vehicles for the district chairpersons to help them carry out their activities effectively.

By Moses Mulondo

The Government has earmarked sh11b to buy new vehicles for the district chairpersons to help them carry out their activities effectively.

This was revealed by local government minister Adolf Mwesige while addressing the chairpersons during a consultative policy conference at Hotel Africana mid-week.

“The good news is that the finance ministry has accepted to fund your vehicles. They will soon give us sh11b to buy your vehicles. Afterwards, we shall look for money to buy vehicles for the district administrative officers,” Mwesige told the district chairpersons.

Most of the chairpersons, however, said they would persuade the President to allow them have the vehicles even when they are voted out of office.

The proposal presented by Manafwa district chairman Charles Walimbwa and supported by most of his colleagues.

“We had convinced the President that the vehicles should be owned by the chairmen as the case is for the vehicles given to the MPs,” he argued.

Mwesige advised them to make a resolution so that it is taken to the President.

The conference was organised by the Uganda Local Governments Association in collaboration with Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment and the Danish International Development Agency.

On the request from the chairperson to have more funds allocated to districts for roads, the minister revealed that the President has just approved a proposal to procure new road construction equipment for all the districts.

“Unlike the previous equipment, the new ones will be more heavy and effective,” Mwesige said.

Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi presented a paper indicating that funding for local governments had declined from 25% of the national budget in 2000 to only 15% currently.

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