Kitgum Municipal Council to Prioritize Education, Health in 2025/2026 Budget

Kitgum Municipal Council has prioritised education and health, in the next financial year budget. 

According to Dennis Oryem Labeja, the District secretary for finance, planning, and administration, the education sector has been allocated 4.7 billion Shillings, which is the largest share of the council's budget.   

"The education sector is a priority for us, and we have allocated 4.7 billion to support the development of education infrastructure, teacher training, and other education-related programs," Labeja said.   

The health sector has been allocated 950 million Shillings, which will be used to support the development of health infrastructure, procurement of medical equipment, and training of health workers.   

"We recognize the importance of healthcare in our community, and we have allocated 950 million to support the development of our health sector," Labeja said.   

The infrastructure sector, which includes roads and engineering, has been allocated 1.3 billion Shillings. This allocation will be used to support the development and maintenance of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure within the municipal council.   

"We are committed to developing our infrastructure to support the growth and development of our community," Labeja said.    Other sectors that have received significant allocations include administration (1.9 billion), agro-industrialization (206 million), and production and marketing (206 million).   

The total budget for the 2025/2026 financial year is 10.3 billion Shillings, which represents a decrease of 1.6 billion compared to the current financial year.  

According to Labeja, the decrease in the budget is mainly due to the coming to an end of the first phase of the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructural Development (USMID) project. However, he expressed optimism that the council will receive additional funding for the second phase of the project, which will require a supplementary budget.   

The council is expecting to fund its budget through a combination of government transfers and local revenue. Specifically, the council is expecting to receive: 1.6 billion Shillings from Discretionary Government Transfers, 7.3 billion shilling from Conditional Government Transfers, 216 million shillings from other Government Transfers, and 1.1 billion from locally raised revenues.