By Spy Uganda
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Parliamentary Caucus’s decision to support the creation of new districts in Tororo and Bundibugyo has ignited a fierce debate among MPs and policy experts. Critics question the government’s governance model, arguing that no nation has achieved development through an inflated bureaucracy.
Interviews with MPs and analysts reveal a divide. Supporters from the affected regions welcome the proposal, while opponents challenge the rationale of population growth, noting that densely populated districts like Wakiso and Mukono, where NRM lacks strong political support, are overlooked.
Fox Odoi (West Budama North East) endorsed splitting Tororo into Tororo City and three additional districts, stating, “This will bring road maintenance units and administrative services closer to the people.”
Similarly, Acrobert Moses Kiiza (Bughendera County) praised the government for fulfilling a long-standing pledge to divide Bundibugyo. “I’m the happiest legislator today,” Kiiza said. “We thank God and President Museveni for answering Bughendera’s cry.
This was promised in 2011, 2016, and 2021, and now the time has come.” He urged the Electoral Commission to ensure elections in the new districts for 2026, dismissing legal concerns, and called on voters to support NRM in gratitude.
Opposition MPs, however, criticized the move. Ibrahim Ssemujju (Kira Municipality), Shadow Minister of Finance, highlighted the financial burden, noting that operationalizing a single district costs approximately UGX 26 billion annually.
“The last budget lacked funds to run existing administrative units, including approved cities like Entebbe, Wakiso, Nakasongola, and Moroto,” he said. “Creating four new districts requires UGX 100 billion annually, totaling UGX 500 billion over five years. This is madness when existing cities remain non-functional.”
Ssemujju suggested political motives, particularly in Tororo, where ethnic tensions between Japadholas and Itesots could be leveraged for electoral gains. “Museveni seems focused on winning the next election, not service delivery,” he remarked.
Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi dismissed claims that new districts improve service delivery, pointing to persistent issues like poor roads, inadequate schools, and non-functional hospitals in recently created districts. “If population drives these decisions, why haven’t Wakiso and Mukono, with their high populations, been split?” he asked. Ssenyonyi argued that no developed nation has relied on proliferating administrative units for progress.
Mathias Mpuuga (Nyendo-Mukungwe) urged Ugandans to scrutinize the benefits of new districts, questioning, “What have you gained from district status when roads remain poor, poverty persists, and schools lack resources?”
Luttamaguzi Ssemakula (Nakaseke South) highlighted neglected districts in the Central region, like Kira Municipality, which he believes merits division into four constituencies. “Roads are impassable, hospitals lack medicine, and government employees go unpaid. Uganda’s debt burden grows daily, yet we don’t know where the borrowed money goes,” he said.
Timothy Chemonges, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis, criticized the move as politically driven, noting that new districts inflate the bureaucracy with additional RDCs, CAOs, technical staff, and MPs. “This expands the wage bill at a time when Uganda struggles with debt servicing, revenue mobilization, and underfunded services,” he said.
Chemonges pointed to non-operational cities as evidence of poor planning and warned that adding MPs to an already oversized Parliament risks eroding public trust. He advocated for a pause on new districts, emphasizing the need to strengthen existing units and prioritize sustainable decentralization over political expediency.
Henry Muguzi, Executive Director of the Alliance for Finance Monitoring (ACFIM), echoed these concerns, warning that new constituencies fuel voter bribery and the commercialization of politics. “Subdividing districts shrinks the electorate, escalating voter bribery to crisis levels, as seen in NRM primaries,” he said. “Uganda’s Parliament is already overrepresented, and taxpayers are overburdened.”
If approved, the proposal would increase Uganda’s districts from 146 to 150 and MPs from 556 to 562. With the Electoral Commission recently concluding nominations for local leaders, the timing raises concerns about the feasibility of organizing elections for new districts by 2026. Ssemujju warned of potential confusion, citing past instances where district leadership was chaotically subdivided. “This isn’t about service delivery, it’s electoral strategy,” he concluded.
The debate emphasises a broader tension between political calculations and sustainable governance, with critics calling for a focus on delivering services rather than expanding administrative units.
