Local government political leaders are set for a salary increase starting in the 2026/27 financial year, following a directive from President Yoweri Museveni.
The Minister of Local Government, Hon. Raphael Magyezi, made the announcement while presenting a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. He was responding to a petition by the Uganda Local Governments Association (ULGA) and the Urban Authorities Association of Uganda (UAAU), who raised concerns about service delivery.
“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.
He said he will present a Cabinet Paper on new pay structures for political leaders, starting with LC I chairpersons up to district and city leaders.
Magyezi also outlined other government plans: Shs30 billion will be used for councillor induction next year, district chairpersons and mayors will get vehicles, critical vacancies will be filled, cities and municipalities will get road equipment, and physical planning grants will be increased to control unplanned urbanisation.
He further confirmed that LC I and II elections will be harmonised with the 2026 general elections. Government subventions to ULGA and UAAU will be doubled to Shs600 million. He dismissed claims that service delivery in local governments is 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,” Magyezi said.
Speaker Anita Among, however, disagreed with his view. “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 Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee – Local Government, raised concerns about 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 shortages in health and education staffing. “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 that many schools also have very few teachers.
Hon. Paul Omara (Indep., Otuke County) complained about declining 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 the policy of centralising revenue. “Many local governments understated revenue. All revenues must go to the consolidated fund. Local governments collect revenue on behalf of government,” he said.
In closing, Magyezi said the root problem is underfunding. “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. He called for a gradual increase in funding.
The Speaker agreed, saying: “Local government takes only 9.5 percent of the national budget. If we stood firm for increased funding, these issues would be resolved.”