Local leaders decry poor funding

Sep 09, 2011

LOCAL government leaders have decried poor funding from the central government which, they said, has crippled service delivery.

By Darious Magara

LOCAL government leaders have decried poor funding from the central government which, they said, has crippled service delivery.

Katakwi district chief Robert Ekongot said the 30% funding that local councils get from the central government was too little and needed to be increased.

The leaders made the remarks on Tuesday during a linkages conference at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala. Linkages project is a USAID-funded project that fosters understanding between Parliament, local government and civil society organisations through training.

Ekongot said the money realised from the 20% deductions made on locally generated funds was not enough to meet the local government financial needs.

The Kisoro district chairperson, Milton Mutabazi and his Pader counterpart, Alfred Akena, said the allowances given to councillors, especially those at the district councils was little.

Rhoda Oroma, the acting deputy chief administrative officer of Kitgum district, said local governments were poorly funded and this limited their movement in the field.

She said it was not only the elected leaders who were affected by poor funding but also the civil servants at the district and sub-county levels.

Katoto Hatwib, the Katerera MP, complained that corruption was eating away resources that would have boosted service delivery in local governments.

The USAID mission director, Dave Eckerson, said the linkages project was a success as it trained various stakeholders in service delivery improvement.

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