Karamoja at Crossroads: Why Local Govts need bigger budget share

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OPINION

By Oscord Mark Otile

As Uganda rolls out its sh72.37 trillion National Budget for FY2025/2026, the country faces a deepening contradiction; while national spending increases, the Local Governments, which are mandated to deliver decentralised essential services, continue to receive a shrinking share of the national pie. For FY2025/2026, Local Governments have been allocated only sh5.73 trillion, a 6.7% reduction from last year and just 7.7% of the national budget.

For a country that adopted decentralisation by devolution in 1992, this is worrying. It is even more concerning for Karamoja, one of Uganda’s most underserved and climate-vulnerable sub-regions, where service delivery hinges almost entirely on Local Government financing.

With own-source revenue contributing less than 5% to district budgets, Local Governments across the country depend heavily on central government transfers to function.

Shrinking Budgets, Growing Gaps

Despite the constitutional mandate under Article 176(2) of the Constitution and the Local Governments Act (Cap. 138) to empower Local Governments to deliver decentralised services in health, education, agriculture, water, and infrastructure, Uganda’s budgetary trends tell a different story. The Local Governments’ share has stagnated around sh5 trillion for the past three years.

In Karamoja, the consequences are stark. For example, in Timu sub-county, Kaabong District, there is no government-aided primary school, a clear contradiction from what is stipulated in the costed service delivery standards for Local Governments, which require a primary school in every parish. Communities in Lokinene, Kapalu, and Loitanit parishes in Timu sub-county depend on two community-owned schools (Lokinene and Timu Primary Schools), which only offer education up to Primary Four.

Health service delivery is equally constrained. Despite government plans to phase out Health Centre IIs in favour of Health Centre IIIs, Karamoja still has 89 Health Centre IIs, offering only preventive, promotive, outpatient curative health services, outreach care, and emergency deliveries. Access to clean and safe water remains a challenge. Roads are often unmotorable, especially during rainy seasons.

Limited functionality of agricultural extension services caused by understaffing, lack of equipment, and inadequate digital infrastructure is yet another challenge that the Karamoja Sub Region is facing, with most agricultural extension workers serving two Lower Local Governments (sub-counties/Town Councils), which is far below the required staffing levels outlined in the costed service delivery standards for Local Governments.

For instance, as per the standards, each sub-county is supposed to have two agricultural extension staff (one for crops and one for animals) with a ratio of 1:500 each for crop and livestock farmers.

Programme-based budgeting: A convenient excuse?

In response to criticism, some officials now point to Uganda’s Programme-Based Budgeting (PBB) approach, claiming that various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) implement services within Local Government jurisdictions. While MDAs such as the Ministry of Works do carry out major infrastructure projects within the Local Government arena, this does not replace the need for direct funding to Local Governments.

For instance, District and Urban Community Access Roads (DUCAR), a critical part of the local road network, fall under Local Government administration. Yet, funding from the Uganda Road Fund (URF) remains grossly inadequate. Actually, six Lower Local Governments (LLGs) that were created in Kaabong District in 2021 have never received any funding from URF under the DUCAR. The six LLGs include Timu, Morungole, Lolelia South, Lobongia, Kathile Town Council and Kalapata Town Council.

Programme-Based Budgeting should enhance coordination, not become an excuse to sideline the role of Local Governments in delivering day-to-day services that citizens directly rely on.

Uganda’s regional standing

At the regional level, Uganda lags behind peers such as Kenya, which guarantees its counties at least 15% of national revenue. Therefore, to restore the credibility of Uganda’s decentralisation, Uganda must follow suit and raise its allocation to Local Governments to at least 15% of the national budget, starting with the subsequent budgeting process for the fiscal year 2026/2027.

If the national budget cannot prioritise and reflect the unique service delivery needs of sub-regions such as Karamoja, then the very promise of Uganda’s decentralisation policy leaves a lot to be desired.

Karamoja is not just a sub-region; it is a symbol of why Local Governments matter. To ignore its needs is to delay Uganda’s development. To invest in it is to walk the talk on inclusive governance.

The writer is a Research Officer at the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment

oscord.otile@acode-u.org | oscord.otile@gmail.com