Political leaders in the local government sphere are set for a pay rise beginning in the 2026/27 financial year following a directive by President Yoweri Museveni.
The Minister of Local Government, Hon. Raphael Magyezi, announced the development while presenting a statement before Parliament on Tuesday, 09 September 2025, in response to a petition by the Uganda Local Governments Association (ULGA) and the Urban Authorities Association of Uganda (UAAU) on service delivery challenges.
“Appropriate facilitation and pay of duty bearers is a statutory obligation. Unfortunately, the local government political leaders across board are poorly paid and facilitated. We commend them for their patience, selfless service, and sacrifice to the country,” Magyezi told Parliament.
Magyezi revealed that he is prepared to present a Cabinet Paper on the remuneration to cover all political leaders starting with LC I chairpersons up to district/city level.
Other interventions, the minister said, included induction of councillors next fiscal year at Shs30 billion, procurement of vehicles for district chairpersons and mayors, recruitment to fill critical vacancies, road equipment for cities and municipalities, and increased physical planning grants to curb unplanned urbanisation.
The minister confirmed that LC I and II elections would be harmonised with the 2026 general elections and that subvention to ULGA and UAAU would double to Shs600 million and dismissed claims that service delivery in local governments was deteriorating.
“The annual assessment of local governments by the Office of the Prime Minister and other bodies shows improvement in services, attributed to government programmes funded under appropriation by Parliament.
The situation is promising, and the task ahead is to deepen decentralisation as a key policy of Government for service delivery and wealth creation,” he argued.
However, Speaker Anita Among, disagreed, saying the reality in districts reflects the concerns raised in the petition. “In most districts you visit, classes are empty, there are no teachers, hospitals lack medics, and roads are in poor condition because they lack equipment,” she said.
“Honourable Minister, what local government people are saying is an eye-opener. We should not sugarcoat it and say everything is okay. For us to reach the end user of PDM, the roads should be worked on. We must resolve it,” she added.
Hon. Gilbert Olanya (FDC, Kilak South County) and the Chairperson of Public Accounts Committee – Local Government, questioned the state of road equipment.
“Most equipment supplied works for less than a year and is now grounded. Many districts cannot afford repairs, and some regional offices hire out machinery to private contractors,” he said.
Hon. Godfrey Onzima (NRM, Aringa North County) highlighted staffing gaps in health and education. “The whole health unit grade three had only two midwives. One was on study leave, the other on maternity leave. Women coming for delivery are just referred,” he said, warning many schools operate with very few teachers.
Hon. Paul Omara (Indep., Otuke County) expressed concern over dwindling funding. “Local government used to receive 15 percent of the total budget annually, but now it has dropped to 7 percent. More funding is needed rather than centralising revenue,” he said.
The Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development (General Duties), Hon. Henry Musasizi, defended revenue centralisation. “Many local governments understated revenue. All revenues must go to the consolidated fund. Local governments collect revenue on behalf of government,” he said.
Closing the debate, Magyezi cited chronic under funding as the root problem. “At some time, 34 percent of the national budget went to local governments. We went down to 26, then 18, now 9 percent. You cannot decentralise 80 percent of responsibilities and give only 10 percent,” he said, urging the budget share to be progressively raised.
The Speaker agreed: “Local government takes only 9.5 percent of the national budget. If we stood firm for increased funding, these issues would be resolved,” she said.
