Uganda: Lukwago Calls for Increased Funding to Transform Kampala Into Modern City

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has asked the government to think of a comprehensive approach to reduce public expenditure and reallocate the funds to solve the pressing needs of the city.

Lukwago made the remarks while addressing councillors on the state of the city which was aimed at giving an update of the city's achievements and priorities for the next year.

ADVERTISEMENT

"It is ironic that this year's national budget has increased exponentially from Shs 44 trillion to Shs 48 trillion despite the fact that the economy is struggling, but the KCCA budget has been slashed drastically. Where is the will and spirit of developing Kampala?" Lukwago wondered.

According to the 2022/2023 budget framework, KCCA is expected to get Shs 420 billion which is Shs 20 billion less than the money the authority got in 2021/2022 (Shs 441 billion).

ADVERTISEMENT

Lukwago said without the government prioritising funding to the city, Kampala city's vision and mission of transforming into a vibrant, resilient, sustainable, inclusive, liveable and functional city will remain a pipe dream.

"The city is grappling with poor roads, poor drainage and government is not committing enough funds to address this," Lukwago said, calling for the amendment or even repealing of the KCCA Act and make a unified law that governs all the cities in Uganda to address inconsistencies that hinder service delivery.

On the city's achievements, he said during the past one year, the leadership has generated policies and bills for Ordinances to guide the transformation of Kampala.

Some of the ordinances include; the Kampala Capital City Markets Ordinance, the Kampala Capital City CCTV Ordinance, the Kampala Capital City Outdoor Advertising Ordinance, the Kampala Capital City Historical Buildings and Sites Ordinance.

Others are the Kampala Capital City Gender Based Violence Ordinance and the Kampala Capital City Enforcement of Rights of People with Disability Ordinance 2022.

"The bill for ordinance that is proposed to preserve historic buildings should be of public interest so that it protects the cultural legacy, educational and tourism benefits that will be maintained and enriched for future generations," Lukwago said.

On the next year's priorities, Lukwago highlighted the number of developments like the lighting of the city where KCCA will install up to 42,000 lights in the city.

The Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs Minsa Kabanda commended the Lord Mayor and his council for the services rendered to the city.

"We are all concerned about the issues you have raised, like devolution, floods and funding. We shall organise another meeting to see what we can do as leaders to address these challenges," Kabanda said.

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) executive director Dorothy Kisaka, said the Lord Mayor's report was gratifying to document what the city has achieved in this financial year.

"Our focus is on ordinances which are the enabling tracks to enable us address the various challenges including public transport, outdoor advertising, the markets, law enforcement, street trade order and operation of heavy trucks," Kisaka said

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.