By Andrew VM Naimanye
Bufumbira County East Member of Parliament, Eddie Kwizera, has raised critical concerns over Uganda’s public expenditure priorities, pointing to ballooning administrative costs and the rising price of infrastructure projects as major strains on the national budget.
Speaking on The Next Big Talk on Next Radio Thursday morning, Kwizera cautioned that despite presidential calls to rely more on domestic resources rather than external borrowing, Uganda’s current revenue base is insufficient to finance even its recurrent expenditures.
“The recurrent part of our national budget cannot be fully financed by our local revenue,” Kwizera said. “That’s the dilemma we’re facing.”
The MP emphasised that while development planning is guided by the National Development Plan, a framework that informs the country’s annual budgeting process, implementation is being derailed by skyrocketing costs and expanding administrative demands.
He pointed to the cost of road construction as a prime example of inefficiency and overspending.
“The cost of road construction per kilometer is very high in Uganda,” Kwizera said. “In some cases, a single kilometer can cost over Shs 3 billion. That’s unsustainable.”
On governance-related expenditure, Kwizera noted that while elections are a constitutional necessity, the growing number of elected officials is leading to an exponential increase in administrative costs.
He warned that the expanding political structure is putting immense pressure on the budget.
“You cannot avoid elections because they are a constitutional requirement,” he stated.
“What is affecting our budget now is the growing cost of administration; the number of people to be elected is increasing, as are the expenses involved in putting them into office.”