Local government officials want 40% of health budget

Local government leaders, under their umbrella organisation Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA), have asked the Ministry of Health to allocate them at least 40 per cent of the budget, saying they do more work than the central government which takes the biggest chunk. This follows the proposal from the 2012/13 national budget frame work paper which suggests 17 per cent, way below the 35 per cent allocated to the health sector under the local government in the last financial year. The ULGA vice president, Ms Josephine Kasya, during the ULGA negotiation and advocacy meeting held in Kampala yesterday, said there was need to harmonise the funds given to the two sectors. The president of the same organisation, Mr Peter Odok, expressed disappointment over the level of “selfishness” at the central government. “If we cannot get 50 per cent, let the ministry give us 40 per cent and we will use it to improve service delivery rather than giving 83 per cent of the funds to people who sit in offices and draw plans to implement yet they don’t want to give the money for implementation,” Mr Odok said. The local government officials accused the central government of a deliberate move to under look them, an allegation which the central government representative from the Ministry of Health, Dr Isac Ezati, said would be addressed by the relevant authorities.

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