MPS WANT FAIRER ROAD FUND ALLOCATION TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Rubanda County West MP Bruce Balaba Kabaasa

URN

Parliament has adopted a motion urging government to review the allocation of Uganda Road Fund resources to local governments, following concerns that 713 sub-counties and town councils received no funding despite submitting budgets totalling 26.7 billion shillings.

The motion, moved by Rubanda County West MP Bruce Balaba Kabaasa, seeks greater transparency in the distribution of funds for district, urban and community access roads (DUCAR), including publication of the allocation formula and annual reports showing how money released translates into road maintenance.

Presenting the motion on Wednesday, Kabaasa cited findings by the Auditor General for the 2023/24 financial year showing that 713 lower local government units, comprising 357 sub-counties and 356 town councils, had been designated as sub-agencies and submitted budgets but received no allocations from the Uganda Road Fund.

He said the affected communities had been left struggling to maintain roads, often depending on elected leaders and well-wishers to mobilise resources for basic works.

“Publish the allocations alongside the roads actually maintained, their length and the work completed,” Kabaasa proposed.

He called for a publicly disclosed allocation formula that considers road length, condition, maintenance requirements, terrain and other cost factors, in line with the Uganda Road Fund Act, 2008.

Kabaasa warned that inadequate funding for routine maintenance was placing pressure on individual Members of Parliament and local leaders to intervene in road works instead of concentrating on their legislative responsibilities.

“We risk electing those with capacity to hire graders to work on their roads, not to come and legislate in the Parliament of this country,” he said.

Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa said repeated requests for funding to newly created sub-counties and town councils had been rejected because of limited resources.

Tayebwa argued that part of the regular Road Fund allocations retained at district level for roads should be shared with lower local governments that currently receive nothing, without reducing the separate one -shillings grant allocated to each district, city or municipality.

He said this would help address the funding gap affecting lower local government units while preserving the existing road maintenance grant.

However, Kassanda North MP Patrick Nsamba Oshabe questioned whether reviewing the allocation formula alone would resolve the problem, arguing that the overall funding available for road maintenance remained inadequate as the road network expanded.

Nsamba also questioned the practice of allocating the same one-billion shillings grant to districts regardless of differences in road network size and terrain.

Tayebwa maintained that the motion specifically targeted lower local governments that were excluded from regular Road Fund allocations.

The Shs 1 billion grant, introduced in the 2023/24 financial year and channelled through the Uganda Road Fund under district roads committees, is separate from the regular allocations governed by the Uganda Road Fund Act.

Written by newsroom-radiopacis