14 January 2025
By, Isaac Senabulya
The Ministry of Local Government is seeking for Shs35.2Bn for the procurement of modest Vehicles for 176 Local Government LCV Chairpersons and Mayors to facilitate their mobility and efficiency in monitoring Government programs, while additional Shs30Bn is needed to monitor the Parish Development Model.
The request was made by Ben Kumumanya, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Local Government while appearing before Parliament’s Local Government Committee to present the Ministry’s 2025/26 National Budget Framework Paper.
“Article 176(2)(g) of the Constitution require these leaders to do monitoring, but how are they going to monitor if they aren’t facilitated? The last support was given in 2014/15 which is 10years ago. The lifespan of a vehicle which is especially field oriented is 5years. Now the few of them are surviving which are 10years old, but the rest are in the garages. We look forward to be supported so that this money can be put in the budget,” said Kumumanya.
Lawmakers like Bunyole East MP Yusuf Mutembuli and Bugahya County MP Pius Wakabi and Wakiso district woman MP Betty Ethel Naluyima asked fellow lawmakers to support the Ministry’s pleas, saying the delayed provision of vehicles for these local leaders have hampered service delivery as some of them hijack vehicles meant for key sectors like water and health at the districts.
Wakabi remarked, “As a Committee, I think we need to support the Ministry in procuring vehicles for local leaders, because in most cases, these leaders have ended up hijacking these other vehicles for other sectors like water and those are essential sectors in the district. So, you find an LCV driving the car meant for the water sector in the district.”
While commenting on the same matter Mutembuli said, “Mine has even failed to come to Kampala because even the departmental vehicles are also in another situation. So, I think this is a very serious issue, we need to ensure that we provide vehicles to our political leaders so that they can monitor, supervise and also carry out other activities just as we the MPs are facilitated with vehicles.”
During the meeting, Amuria district woman MP Susan Amero called Government to impose the requirement of education qualification for all local council politicians, arguing that the failure by some local politicians has hampered the supervision of Government Programs especially the PDM at the grassroots because most of them are bullied by elites at districts, whom they are meant to supervise.
Amero remarked, “We have a big problem, the Local Councillors who are supposed to be supervising these problems down there, some of them can’t even read anything. They don’t even know how to write anything apart from putting a thumb on the paper, wouldn’t it be right at this time when we are working on the constitutional amendments that we could at least put some qualifications somewhere for someone to become a Councillor. Because you can’t employ a graduate as Parish Chief and then you leave the Councillor who is supervising that graduate who can’t even write any sentence in English. What is that Councillor going to do with the graduate?”
She attributed the failings of the Parish Development Model on the lack of education qualifications by Councillors who are meant to supervise the Parish Chiefs noting, “The PDM isn’t succeeding literally because we don’t have anyone down there supervising, by the time we wake up from Kampala to go and supervise, things have gone wrong and it isn’t easy to bring back what has gone wrong. We have a challenge in the Local Governments because the Councillors are manipulated by a few elites in the districts because they don’t understand what they are doing.”
On his part, Wakabi asked the Ministry to consider imposing education qualification requirement for all people aspiring to contest as local politicians and enforce the provision of the same to undergo mandatory training at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi.
“Local leaders play an important role in implementing Government programmes, you as ministry, do we still need any LCIII who has no education? What is your proposal? I would also wish that now Nobert Mao, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs is coming up with Constitutional Amendments, why can’t you propose that before somebody contests for any local leadership should first go and have training at National Leadership Institute (NALI)? At least two months training so that we can have better services,” noted Wakabi.
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