Zombo District Local Government has proposed a budget of Shs37.79 billion for the 2027/2028 financial year, with more than 63 per cent of the projected expenditure earmarked for salaries, leaving a relatively small allocation for development projects.
The proposed budget of Shs37,797,595,864 was presented during the district's budget conference, which brought together political leaders, technical officers, civil society representatives and other stakeholders to discuss priorities for the next financial year.
According to the proposed allocations, Shs23.9 billion, representing 63.3 per cent of the total budget, will cater for wages, while Shs9.1 billion, equivalent to 24.3 per cent, will go towards non-wage recurrent expenditure, including operational costs, fuel and allowances.
Only Shs2.9 billion, representing 7.9 per cent of the budget, has been earmarked for development projects such as roads, classrooms and health facilities.
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The district expects to collect Shs1.7 billion in locally raised revenue, accounting for 4.5 per cent of the proposed budget, while no external financing has been projected.
The proposed allocations have raised questions about the district's capacity to expand infrastructure and improve service delivery, given the substantial share committed to recurrent expenditure.
The 2027/2028 financial year budget will be guided by the national theme of "Full Monetisation of Uganda's Economy through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialisation, Expanding and Broadening Services, Digital Transformation and Market Access."
The theme is aligned with the government's Tenfold Growth Strategy, which seeks to expand Uganda's economy through commercial agriculture, industrialisation, services, digital transformation and improved market access.
Addressing the conference, Zombo Chief Administrative Officer Robert Abanaitwe called for improved financial management and accountability, citing persistent challenges affecting the conversion of public resources into quality services.
He identified staff absenteeism, weak performance, procurement delays, cost overruns and inadequate maintenance of public investments as some of the bottlenecks requiring attention.
"While government continues to expand fiscal space and increase resources to Local Governments, significant challenges remain in translating these resources into quality services for citizens," Abanaitwe said.
He also raised concern over instances where unspent wage funds are returned to the central government despite staffing gaps in schools and health facilities.
Abanaitwe urged political leaders and technical officers to ensure that district expenditure is aligned with national development priorities, particularly the government's ambition to grow the economy tenfold.
"I implore you to pay interest in ensuring that our budgets are in line with the priorities of government to grow the economy ten-fold in line with the Strategic Direction in the NDPIV," he said.
Zombo District Planner Louis Ogwang said the proposed budget would prioritise implementation of the Tenfold Growth Strategy, the Fourth National Development Plan (NDPIV), the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Manifesto and the Charter for Fiscal Responsibility.
Ogwang explained that the district would focus on the four priority areas commonly referred to as ATMs: Agro-industrialisation, Tourism Development, Mineral Development, and Science, Technology and Innovation, including Information and Communication Technology and the creative industry.
He said the district also intends to strengthen revenue mobilisation, accelerate investment in the priority sectors, improve the implementation of wealth creation programmes and enforce budgetary reforms to enhance accountability and public expenditure management.
The proposed priorities include strengthening programmes such as the Parish Development Model, Emyooga and Presidential Skilling Hubs to support household income generation and employment.
During the discussions, participants raised concerns about poor road networks, inadequate latrine coverage, understaffing at health facilities and weaknesses in the district registry system.
Dean of LCIII Chairpersons in West Nile and Athuma Sub-county LCIII Chairperson Jenaro Onegiu questioned the criteria used to distribute development resources, alleging that some allocations appeared to favour areas represented on the District Executive Committee.
He called for a transparent and equitable approach to resource allocation to ensure that all sub-counties benefit from district development programmes.
Onegiu also criticised the district registry over delays and difficulties in retrieving land-related documents submitted by sub-counties for processing.
"In lands, we start land processing at the sub-county level and submit everything here, only to follow up months and years later but you still don't locate it. But do these people know what it takes to raise these files?" he asked.
He, however, commended the district leadership for recruiting additional personnel whom he said were making efforts to improve registry operations.
Zombo Assistant Resident District Commissioner Bruno Manano Ubomba urged political leaders and technical officers to fulfil their respective responsibilities and avoid disagreements that could undermine service delivery.
"I ask you to take your roles seriously. If you are a technical staff or a political leader, do your work and avoid blame games," Manano said.
He cautioned technical officers against engaging in partisan politics and urged political leaders to respect the professional responsibilities of technical staff.
Manano cited reports of political leaders in Abanga Sub-county allegedly directing road engineers on technical matters, including the placement of culverts, saying such decisions should be guided by the relevant engineering expertise.
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The budget conference also provided an opportunity for stakeholders to review previous service delivery concerns, identify emerging priorities and contribute views to the district's planning and budgeting process.
Local governments are required to conduct budget consultations to facilitate public participation in the allocation of public resources. The consultations inform the preparation of the Budget Framework Paper, which guides subsequent budget formulation.
The district is expected to prepare its 2027/2028 Budget Framework Paper in accordance with the grant guidelines and instructions contained in the First Budget Call Circular, with submission scheduled for November 13, 2026.
The budgeting process is also expected to incorporate cross-cutting issues, including gender and equity, the needs of women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities, public health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, emerging epidemics, climate change, environmental protection and natural resource management.
As Zombo prepares its next financial year budget, stakeholders have called for stronger accountability, improved staffing, better infrastructure and equitable allocation of resources to address persistent service delivery challenges across the district.
