Decentralization policy should be reviewed, says Minister Magyezi

The Minister for Local Government, Hon. Raphael Magyezi, has called for an urgent review of Uganda’s 1992 decentralisation policy.

In order to accelerate development and service delivery, the government implemented a decentralisation policy that empowered lower governments to manage public affairs on behalf of the central government.

The policy review, according to Hon Magyezi, is long overdue.

“We evolved and delegated authority to local governments; how do they feel? Is it providing the services that the Constitution requires? As a result, the decentralization policy must be reviewed, according to Magyezi.

This was stated by him on January 17, 2023, when he was presenting the Committee on Public Service and Local Government with the Budget Framework Paper for 2023–2024 for the local government sector.

According to Magyezi, it is smart to supply the government with around Sh3 billion in this new fiscal year so it may perform a national assessment of the decentralized system of governance.

Legislators on the committee agreed that the decentralization program needed to be reviewed immediately in light of complaints about ineffective service delivery, interference from the central government, and restricted access to local revenue sources.

“I think we erred in allowing the government to pay emoluments for local government officials because ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’. “We would not have such scenarios [of low salaries] if local governments that collect the revenue were allowed to use the revenue to pay their officials,” Hon Isaac Modoi (NRM, Lutseshe County) said.

According to Aswa County MP Hon. Simon Peter Wokorach, the goals and objectives of decentralization are being stifled by poor management of local revenues, which must be remitted to the central government before being returned for expenditure.

“By the time this amount of money is returned to local governments, the expenditure period will be nearly over. So I agree with the minister that in order for decentralization to achieve its goals, we should use the Sh3 billion to review the policy,” Wokorach said.

Hon. Godfrey Onzima, chairperson of the committee, expressed disappointment with the executive for failing to implement Parliament’s resolution allowing local governments to spend local revenue at the source.

Parliament passed a resolution on September 8, 2021, urging the government to reverse the directive requiring local governments to remit all local revenues to the Consolidated Fund.

During the meeting, Magyezi expressed concern about local government budget cuts, claiming that they would impede governance and policy operations, affecting service delivery.

The budget for local governments has been reduced to Sh4.5 trillion from Sh4.8 trillion in the current fiscal year, per the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2023–2024.

The purchase of vehicles for chief administrative officers, district chairs, and city mayors, as well as the establishment of a start-up fund for the construction of office headquarters for 10 districts that were displaced by the new cities, are among the pressing issues that are still unfunded.