Apac speaker calls for more road funding

A two-day Local Government Budget Consultative Workshop for the 2027/2028 financial year has concluded in Lira City, with local government leaders calling on the government to increase funding for road maintenance and rehabilitation across the country.

The call was made by Apac District Speaker Oscar Ogwang during the closing session of the workshop, which ran from September 14th to 15th at Margherita Palace Hotel in Lira City.

Ogwang made the appeal following a presentation by Oloo Joseph Majanga, the Assistant Commissioner for Budget Policy and Evaluation in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

During his presentation, Oloo revealed that the government had selected six of the largest districts in the country, including Oyam, to receive an additional one billion shillings in road funding.

The additional allocation is intended to improve road infrastructure and address critical maintenance needs in the selected districts.

However, Speaker Ogwang urged the government to extend additional road funding to all districts rather than limiting the allocation to selected large districts.

He argued that many districts continue to struggle with poor road networks because the current one-billion-shilling allocation is insufficient to maintain the growing network of community and district roads.

Ogwang said improved road infrastructure is essential to socio-economic development and the implementation of government programmes, noting that poor roads make service delivery and the implementation of development programmes difficult.

He appealed to the government to increase road allocations to enable local governments to effectively maintain and rehabilitate roads across the country.

In his closing remarks, Cyprian Chillanyang, the Commissioner for Cabinet and Parliamentary Affairs at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, said the workshop had provided an opportunity to identify challenges affecting service delivery in local governments.

Chillanyang said the engagement had also strengthened coordination and created a stronger working relationship between central and local governments.

He explained that the key concerns raised during the two-day workshop would be forwarded to the relevant ministries for further discussion and possible action.

The Commissioner urged local government officials to continue working closely with the central government to address challenges affecting service delivery and improve the implementation of government programmes.

The workshop has underscored the need for stronger collaboration between central and local governments, with improved road financing emerging as one of the key priorities for enhancing service delivery and development at the grassroots.