EOC report says govt funding falls short on poverty, equity needs

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has warned that government resource allocation to local governments is not adequately responding to poverty levels, regional disparities and the needs of vulnerable populations.

As a result, it has left some of Uganda's most deprived communities lagging in service delivery and development.

Manasseh Kwihangana, the EOC principal compliance officer, presented the commission's assessment of the Programme Budget Framework Papers (PBFPs) and Vote Ministerial Policy Statements for the 2026/27 financial year at Kingdom Kampala on Wednesday.

He said the current allocation framework does not sufficiently account for multidimensional poverty, geographical disparities, disability, vulnerability, remoteness and the varying costs of service delivery across the country.

"A major institutional weakness continues to stem from the mismatch between Programme Budget Framework Papers and the Vote Budget Framework Papers that fall under them."

The Commission's findings come against the backdrop of persistent deprivation in some regions. Recent reports from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and Oxfam show that 473,000 people in Karamoja sub-region are facing acute food insecurity, highlighting the gap between national spending priorities and conditions in some of the country's most vulnerable areas.

According to Kwihangana, transfers to local governments have not grown proportionately with overall public expenditure, a trend he said has contributed to chronic underfunding of decentralized services.

Funding patterns

The EOC argues that the challenge is not merely the volume of resources allocated to local governments, but how those resources are distributed.

James Mugisha, the commissioner for compliance and enforcement at EOC, said resource allocation patterns continue to favour districts with stronger institutional capacity and established staffing structures rather than those facing the greatest development challenges.

"The Karamoja region has been singing about water and food shortages, but the national budget priorities do not speak to that," he said.

Wage allocations are largely determined by approved and filled positions, meaning districts with more teachers, health workers and technical staff automatically attract larger budget allocations.

"As a result, regions with larger numbers of health workers, teachers and technical personnel receive higher wage allocations, while many hard-to-reach districts continue to grapple with significant staffing shortages," said Mugisha.

The EOC​ believes this approach inadvertently disadvantages poorer districts that already struggle to attract and retain qualified personnel.

The report identifies Karamoja and Sebei as among the regions that continue to face severe development constraints despite receiving comparatively smaller aggregate allocations due to having fewer local government votes.

According to the Commission, the two sub-regions continue to register high poverty levels, infrastructure deficits and persistent service delivery challenges.

The EOC argues that these circumstances justify sustained affirmative action measures and increased Equalisation Grant financing to address long-standing structural disadvantages.

Per-capita allocations

The EOC analysis also reveals significant regional variations in per-capita local government funding.

For the 2026/27 financial year, Sebei has the highest per-capita allocation at sh531,504, compared to the national average of sh198,438. It is followed by West Nile at sh310,559, Bugisu at sh279,873, Kigezi at sh255,143 and Karamoja at sh244,232.

According to the report, higher per-capita allocations in some regions can be attributed to factors such as remoteness, difficult terrain, historical marginalization and, in the case of West Nile, the additional burden associated with hosting refugees.

By contrast, the Central Region, which includes Greater Kampala and Mubende, has the lowest per-capita allocation at sh140,889, despite receiving the country's largest overall allocation of sh1.023 trillion.

The commission attributes this to the region's large population, which dilutes per-capita expenditure despite high aggregate funding.

Busoga also registers below-average per-capita allocations.

However, the EOC cautioned against interpreting lower per-capita allocations as evidence of lower overall government investment, noting that the figures primarily illustrate the amount of funding available relative to the population being served.

To address the disparities, the EOC wants government to review the intergovernmental fiscal transfer formula so that budget allocations better reflect poverty levels, gender and equity concerns, vulnerability, disability, regional inequalities, remoteness and the higher cost of delivering services in disadvantaged areas.

Mugisha proposed a restructuring of local government financing in which districts receive more direct development funding while wage obligations remain largely centralised.

"What should have been done is direct cash transfer of funds to local governments, and then issues such as wages for teachers, health workers and administrators should be catered for at the national level," he said, also calling for increased development financing and stronger affirmative action measures for underserved regions.

"For example, tourism-host districts such as Kabale, Kasese and Fort Portal have been advocating for roads, but we do not see that catered for in the budget."

The commission believes such interventions would help close infrastructure gaps, improve service delivery and reduce regional inequalities.

​Development financing

The EOC further urged government to increase the share of development grants within local government budgets to enable districts to construct and rehabilitate schools, health facilities, water systems, sanitation infrastructure, district roads and other critical public assets.

Kwihangana said the commission has already developed mechanisms to guide government entities in incorporating equity concerns into national budgeting processes.

According to the commission, a significant share of local government expenditure continues to be absorbed by recurrent costs, leaving limited room for infrastructure development and service expansion.

The EOC also called for the institutionalization of gender and equity indicators within fiscal transfers, district planning frameworks and resource allocation processes.

It ​said this would make public spending more responsive to the needs of women, children, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, refugees and other vulnerable groups.

The recommendations come at a time when local governments remain the primary providers of critical public services, including education, healthcare, water, roads and local administration, placing renewed focus on how public resources are distributed across Uganda's regions.