By Moses Lokeris
The Moroto LCIII chairpersons boycotted the District Budget Conference for the fiscal year 2026/2027 on Tuesday, alleging that they had not been invited.
The budget conference was held at the district chambers under the theme “Full monetization of Uganda’s economy through commercial agriculture, industrialization, expanding and broadening services, digital transformation, and market access for inclusive growth”.
It followed Regional Budget Consultative Meetings held between September, 2025 and October 3, 2025, courtesy of the Ministry of Finance.
According to the Ministry of Finance, each lower local government across the country is supposed to hold a budget conference through which the members of the public give their input to the budget through their elected leaders.
Despite it being a crucial stage in the budgeting process, where districts outline priorities for the next financial year, Moroto LCIII chairpersons were no show at the budget conference.
This came to the fore during the introduction session of the political leaders led by the district LCV chairperson David Koryang, who expressed dismay over the absence of the Sub-county chairpersons in the conference.
The budget conference attendance was largely dominated by the district councilors, heads of departments at the district and sub-county level, members of the civil society and opinion leaders.
Kassim Kutosi Nasibu, the Moroto Chief Administrative Officer wondered why the LCIII chairpersons failed to turn up for the budget conference yet his office sent them invitations to attend the conference.
However, Simon Peter Lotem, the LCIII chairperson of Nadunget Sub-County among others denied receiving invitations for the budget conference.
Thomas Odelok, the Executive Director Karamoja Women Umbrella Organization (KAWUO), said that the leaders should participate in the budget conference in order to understand what has been planned for a particular year.
“When the district is holding its budget conference to plan for priorities for the next fiscal year inline with the Ministry of Finance guidelines, should go and as leaders and participate,” Odelok advised.
He stated that leaders won’t be able to trace budget implementation without understanding what had been planned
“If you don’t understand the budget of the district then you cannot monitor it’s implementation” said Odelok.
