Joshua Nahamya
28 October 2025
Mbarara City – Mbarara City Mayor Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi has urged the central government to enact a dedicated law for Uganda’s newly created regional cities, arguing that the lack of legal clarity and funding has crippled service delivery nearly five years after its elevation from municipal status.
Mayor Kakyebezi made the appeal while presenting Mbarara City’s Financial Year 2026/27 priorities at a recent budget conference, which focused on transforming Mbarara into an “inclusive green city.”
“Ever since we received a city we have never received a governing law/document,” Kakyebezi noted. He stressed that while the number of political and administrative structures (like RCs and MPs) increased, the necessary funding did not.
The absence of a clear legal framework has prevented the separation of assets and boundaries between the city and the original district. “Our assets have never been separated—that is why Kakyeka stadium has not been rehabilitated, among others,” he said.
He noted that the money that they were receiving while as a municipality is still the same budget they are receiving as a city which is inadequate to extend service delivery especially to the new wards that were added to increase the city population.
“Ever since we became a city we have never received an increased funding we instead kept on receiving the municipality fund yet the local structures increased,” Kakyebezi stated
The financial situation is exacerbated by cuts to essential infrastructure budgets. Patrick Kanamugira, Senior Economist for the City, reported that the road fund allocation was drastically reduced from Shs1.2 billion (received as a municipality) to only Shs 365 million (as a city) leaving Mbarara city’s roads in a sorry state.
“The money we were receiving as a municipality has never increased instead the money that was meant for the road fund was reduced. Previously we were receiving Shs 1.2bln road fund but now it was reduced to Shs 365mln. Even what was meant for the road funds which were receiving as a municipality by then was slashed from Shs 1.2bln to Shs 365mln.” Kanamugira said
Mayor Kakyebezi called on the government to immediately amend the Road Fund Act, noting that it fails to account for the newly created city divisions, leaving community access roads like Kakamba-Rwagaju and Kinyaza impassable.
Key priorities for FY 2026/27
Despite the budgetary constraints, the city is focusing on internal discipline and governance for the upcoming financial year:
- Enforcing town order: The Mayor warned against poor urban farming practices, urging residents who keep livestock to practice zero-grazing. “You meet 30 or 20 goats in the middle of the city… eating our planted trees; this must stop,” he stated. He also vowed to enforce the city’s physical plan, compelling plot owners to develop their land within six months to prevent the growth of slums.
The Mayor also challenged the city technocrats especially the market master to improve on garbage collection around the main market to keep Mbarara a clean city.
- Land titling: Ronald Taremwa, Secretary for Finance, stressed the urgent need to budget for the titling of all city land, including the city parking yard, to protect public property from land grabbers.
“It is so surprising that Mbarara has been inexistence for some good years but the Mbarara city parking yard does not have a land title but in the coming budget that we are implementing, our land which has not gotten land titles, we want to prioritise the titling of all the government land”
- Infrastructure maintenance: Taremwa appealed to citizens to protect streetlights from vandalism by street children and scrap dealers, noting that the city must prioritize the maintenance of its expensive infrastructure.
“What we want is to do as leaders and people of Mbarara are to protect the street lights. We should not install them there and then people come and steal the batteries, then after wards you complain that the town is dark at night, yet people who are taking them are our children, brothers and sisters,” he said
“We must ensure that such infrastructures are maintained. We shall increase on the budget of operation and maintenance so that the infrastructure we do and the equipment we bought can be maintained” I want to implore more especially people from the education department, head teachers and school chairpersons, the moment the city completes construction of a classroom block, or a staff house and it is commissioned and handed over to you, you should plan for its maintenance. The moment we hand over the project, it becomes yours, so you should plan for its operation and maintenance.” Taremwa noted
Staffing and financial performance
The City’s revenue collection remains robust, with Taremwa reporting that in FY 2024/25, the city collected Shs 9.18 billion, achieving 91% of its target, despite business communities being burdened by double taxation from the City Council and URA.
“We know and we appreciate that our business communities are burdened with a lot of taxes. As the city council is collecting, URA is also on their doors collecting from them other taxes in fact this year we are not increasing our revenue projection because we are very mindful not to injure our business community,” Taremwa said
However, the workload is stressing the human resource capacity. Dr. Moses Amanyire, Head of Production, highlighted that the staffing ratio in his department is impossibly low at 1:17,000, urgently appealing for increased recruitment across all sectors, including health and education.
“Before becoming a city, we were three staffs and even after becoming a city we are still three staff the workload is much. In fact the extension service ratio is a 1:17000 person which is next to impossible going to supervise and support ongoing capital projects, so we are appealing to the concerned to look into this matter.” Amanyire stated
According to Allan Buhanda, city commercial officer, the department will continue with the mandate of supporting the PDM SACCOs through enabling access to financial services to transform subsistence households into the money economy.
He added that they intend to mobilise, train, organize and register new cooperatives in areas that still have low or no access to financial services with an aim of promoting financial inclusion to foster LED.
“We shall continue supervising and monitoring of all cooperatives to ensure their sustainability, good governance, and have them as vehicles for social-economic transformation.” Buhanda noted
Calls for innovation and compliance
Stakeholders at the conference offered pointed advice to the city leadership:
- Tax compliance: Simon Mwijuka Seith, Chairman of the Mbarara City Traders Association (MBACITA), suggested introducing annual cash prizes for the best tax payers to incentivize compliance and give back to the business community.
“If you collect trade licenses issue coupons at the end of the year reward the best tax payers, with time people will copy up and it will become a norm as people will massively embrace tax compliance.” He noted
Colonial renaming: John Tumusiime Salongo, former Don Makerere University, challenged the city leadership to create hubs and innovations that link the city to pattern with the universities.
He further challenged the city to rename roads currently bearing colonial names (like Galt Road) after great people who contributed to Mbarara’s transformation.
“why should we have our roads still named after colonialists like Galt road, what does it cost to name these roads after great people that have done much to transform Mbarara into a city status where it is now?” Tumusiime further asked
- Money Lenders: RCC Catherine Hellen Kamwine issued a sharp warning to money lenders to formalize their operations, stick to gazetted interest rates, and stop cheating clients.
“I am not stopping you from doing business because people want quick money but you should follow the law. Stop stealing people; I will arrest money lenders, as long as they don’t follow the rules and regulations. We now have a regulation and an act and gazetted interest rate, if you are doing business, do it according to the laws, ask for a regulated interest rate, don’t allege that you have bought someone’s property yet it was just collateral,” Kamwine said
She also encouraged the city to invest in environmental tourism by protecting road reserves with trees.
“We usually go to benchmark in Mbale and elsewhere why can’t we have environmental tourism in the city. Environmental tourism is protecting our road reserves with trees, is having our places we construct with trees. I was angry to come back and find that all trees we planted in this town were destroyed, being knocked by vehicles, eaten by goats and cows yet when the sunshine comes hits us all.” Kamwine stated
The budget conference focused on aligning the city’s plan with the national strategy for FY 2026/27, which is themed “Full Monetization of Uganda’s Economy.”
