Choose service delivery over new administrative units’ creation, govt told

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The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has urged the Government to halt the establishment of new administrative units, citing the increased costs associated with such actions.

EOC commissioner for compliance and enforcement James Mugisha emphasized that rather than forming additional units, the focus should be on enhancing service delivery within the current ones.

“When you look at most cities and other administrative units that have been created, they are still struggling to get financed. We found out that most new units that were created are not fully facilitated. So, we are calling upon the Government to think through this and suspend the creation of new administrative units,” he noted.

He mentioned that the addition of new units would lead to higher administrative expenses, which the country cannot sustain due to a limited tax base.

“Instead of creating a new district, you rather bring a hospital, bring a Health Centre III (HCIII) to every sub-county. We still have sub-counties with no HCIII. I think that is the call the population would want but not a new sub-county. The existing sub-counties should have well-equipped health facilities, there are sub-counties with no secondary schools, let us build secondary schools, there are parishes with no primary schools, let’s build primary schools, that is the call we are making as EOC,” he added.

This was during a post-assessment engagement with programme secretaries regarding gender and equity compliance for FY2025/26 at the Kingdom Kampala, located in Nakasero a suburb of Kampala on February 27, 2025.

The main objective of the assessment was to establish the level of compliance of programme Budget Framework Papers (BFPs) with gender and equity requirement and inform the issuance of the gender and equity compliance certificate FY 2025/2026.

Mugisha said despite the commitment by the Government towards addressing key service delivery points, they observed a decline in budget allocation to the anchor programmes in achieving the 10-fold growth.

He cited that the agro-industrialisation programme budget declined from shillings 1,878.27 billion in FY 2024/2025 to 1,455.62 billion in FY 2025/2026; while the tourism development programme budget declined from shillings 289.6b to 175.89 billion in FY 2024/2025 and FY 2025/2026 respectively.

The innovation, technology development and transfer programme budget was reduced by half from shillings 346.91 billion to 168.01 billion in FY 2024/2025 and FY 2025/2026 respectively.

Mugisha stressed that the decline in allocation to agro-industrialisation programme will affect the country’s aspiration of achieving higher household incomes, full monetisation of the economy and employment for sustainable socio-economic transformation.

He stressed that this is also likely to hinder the potential of agroindustrialisation to enhance value addition and increase market value of agricultural products.

“Limited allocation to tourism development programme will result into under-developed tourism sites, limited tourism skills, weak enforcement of standards and regulations; and insufficient conservation and protection of natural resources,” he added.

They also highlighted the limited involvement of local governments in national planning and budget processes resulting into a mismatch between LGs and programme interventions, and promotes direct implementation projects by the Centre in LG.

He highlighted a situation in which the Karamoja community asked for water, goats, and income-generating opportunities, yet the authorities responded by providing iron sheets instead.

He stressed the necessity of working closely with the local population to grasp their true needs, making sure that the budget aligns with those priorities.

The commission’s Chairperson, Hajat Safia Nalule emphasized that tackling issues of gender and equity is essential for meaningful transformation for the country and can only be realized through budgeting and planning processes.

“Addressing gender and equity concerns is critical for transformation, not only for the vulnerable groups such as children, youth, women, older persons, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, the urban poor, rural communities and those in hard-to-reach places but also accelerates development by empowering the marginalized to realize their full potential and contribute to national development,” she said.

She noted that the budget strategy for 2025/26 targets to transform 33.1% of the household in the subsistence economy.

“This requires mainstreaming gender and equity concerns and provision of affirmative action targeting subregions with the highest prevalence of the households in the subsistence sector that is above the national prevalence,” she added.