Africa-Press – Uganda. Uganda’s road development plans could face further delays as government spending priorities shift toward financing the upcoming general elections and settling national debts, legislators have warned.
Bukoto Central MP Richard Sebamala says the government’s current focus is on ensuring a fair election and retaining power, meaning infrastructure projects are unlikely to receive urgent attention.
“By the time we reached this point, at the close of UNRA, they told us they had a debt of UGX 1.2 trillion, and this was made very clear to the President,” Sebamala said. “The President had to tell them, as much as we have these elections, allocate some money to the Ministry of Works to fix the roads.”
According to Sebamala, only the President can direct the Ministry of Finance to shift resources toward road maintenance. For now, however, he says the main priority between now and December is securing enough funds for the elections.
The Ministry of Finance, he adds, is not refusing to fund road works but is prioritising what it considers most urgent — debt repayment and election financing.
Bukimbiri County MP Eddie Kwizera attributes the government’s spending decisions to Uganda’s National Development Plan (NDP), which guides budget allocations. However, he notes that rising administrative costs — especially those tied to elections — are consuming a significant portion of the budget.
“The number of people to be elected is increasing, as are the expenses involved in putting them into office. You cannot avoid elections because they are a constitutional requirement,” Kwizera said.
He further pointed out that road construction in Uganda is increasingly expensive, with some projects costing over UGX 3 billion per kilometer.
While President Museveni has urged the country to rely more on local resources rather than borrowing, Kwizera says the recurrent budget still cannot be fully covered by domestic revenue, making it difficult to fund both infrastructure and other pressing national needs.
Sebamala expressed concern about whether the country’s development plans are truly guiding decisions.
“We claim to have a development plan, but can we find it? No, we can’t,” he said.
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