MP Alobo Calls for Sustainable Financing to Transform Uganda's New Cities

A call has been made for the Ugandan government to establish adequate, predictable, and sustainable financing models for the country’s growing network of urban centers. Moving a motion in Parliament, Soroti City Woman Representative Hon. Joan Alobo emphasized that domestic budgetary allocations must be ring-fenced for essential infrastructure like roads, drainage networks, markets, and waste management systems.

Out of 15 designated urban areas, 10 cities—including Arua, Gulu, Lira, Soroti, Mbale, Jinja, Masaka, Mbarara, Fort Portal, and Hoima—are currently operational. However, Hon. Alobo pointed out that they function well below approved staffing levels, lack updated physical development plans, and struggle with underfunded statutory bodies. Meanwhile, proposed urban centers such as Kabale, Moroto, Nakasongola, Entebbe, and Wakiso remain non-functional.

While acknowledging the World Bank’s US$540 million International Development Association financing for the Uganda Cities and Municipalities Infrastructure Development (UCMID) program, lawmakers agreed that external donor funding alone is insufficient. Parliamentarians highlighted that annexed sub-counties and rural areas integrated into municipalities to meet urban thresholds often lack basic utilities like electricity, clean piped water, and accessible roads.

Legislators such as Hon. Denis Alyela noted that regional investments are vital to ease the heavy demographic and economic pressure on Kampala caused by rural-urban migration. Other leaders, including Hoima West Division MP Hon. Ismail Kasule and Mbarara City Woman Representative Hon. Charity Kibaaju, pointed to critical gaps like the absence of city hospitals, poor waste management, and inadequate secondary drainage.

In response, State Minister for Urban Development Hon. Margaret Muhanga affirmed that urban centers must function as genuine engines of economic development, stressing the need to complete required legal policy frameworks. Government Chief Whip Hon. Jane Ruth Aceng further urged Members of Parliament to actively supervise urban operations to guarantee value for money across all development initiatives.

Read more about this parliamentary session on the Parliament of Uganda.