By Alexander Mackey Okori
NATIONAL: The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on Monday September 15, 2025, started Local Government Regional Consultative Workshops in different parts of the country to align priorities for 2026/27 National Budget.
This follows the national budget conference held last week on Thursday, September 11, 2025, where the Finance Minister Matia Kasaija delivered the budget strategic plan for financial year 2026/2027.
Article 155 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of Uganda and Section 12(1) and (2) of the Public Finance Management Act, Cap.171, requires the Ministry to prepare the proposed annual budget in a consultative manner with the relevant stakeholders.
It’s in light with the above legal requirements, that the Ministry of Finance is holding regional Consultation workshops with local government who are the stakeholders in the budgeting process.
The regional workshops to be held in the regional centers of Arua, Gulu, Lira, Mbale, Jinja, Masaka, Kampala, Hoima, Fort Portal, Mbarara and Kabale will run till the 3rd of October, 2025.
According to the ministry, the objectives of the consultative workshops include: providing feedback on issues raised during last year’s budget consultations, discuss the budget strategy for FY 2026/27, the strategic direction of the National Development Plan IV, the ten-fold growth strategy and how this will translate into local economic growth.
The Ministry calls on local government leaders to ensure that their budgets are in line with the priorities of government to grow the economy ten-fold in line with the strategic direction of National Development Plan IV (NDP4).
The launch of the National Budget Strategy for the year 2026/27 signals the beginning of the budget process, but also, the regional consultative workshops enhance the budget transparency strategy.
These consultations will also give the platform for a feedback on the issues that were discussed at the last consultative workshops for financial year 2025/26, discuss and receive inputs into the government’s National Budget Strategy 2026/27 as well as the priorities and challenges to the decentralised service delivery.
Expected Results
The regional consultative workshops are expected to improve appreciation of the budget process and hence voluntary compliance to citizen obligation such as paying taxes
The second expected outcome of these engagements is to improve collaboration amongst Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Local Government (LGs), Civil Society, and other stakeholders in the implementation of government programs and promote demand for accountability.
Additionally, Ministry of Finance expects to improve transparency and accountability for public resources and hence improved public image and trust for Government through the ongoing regional budget consultation workshops.
Its should be noted that Uganda had been hailed as one of the countries with fair levels of budget transparency, but challenges remain, though this does not necessarily mean fair levels of accountability or discipline.
According to the Budget Transparency Index by open source, government provides access to a range of budget documents, including the national budget, annual financial statements, and quarterly expenditure reports.
However, the level of transparency is sometimes restricted, as certain documents are not always released to the public in a timely manner or with enough detail.
Uganda’s budget transparency score is 59 according to the Open Budget Survey 2023, but it performs poorly on public involvement, scoring only 15 out of 100.
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