Prime
Cabinet gives Local Government ministry sector status
The Minister for Local Government, Col (Rtd) Tom Butime
Kampala- The Ministry of Local Government will start operating its own sector starting in the 2019/2020 financial year, a move that separates its planning and strategies from the crowded Public Administration Sector, it has been revealed.
The Minister for Local Government, Col (Rtd) Tom Butime, made the revelation while delivering his end of year speech to the staff during a party held in Kampala on Wednesday.
The Sector called Ministry of Local Government, Local Government Finance Commission and Local Governments Sector has been described as a “milestone” and “biggest achievement” of calendar year 2017 by the minister and Permanent Secretary, Mr Ben Kumumanya.
The ministry has been under the Public Sector Management which oversees the running of the Prime Minister’s Office, the East African Community Affairs, Public Service and National Planning Authority, among others.
“The ministry will now have its own sector. That will make the ministry visible and be able to handle and bargain as an entity. When this sector is finally with us, it shall make the ministry capable to negotiate because we shall now operate alone away from Public Administration Sector,” Col Butime said.
The creation of the Ministry of Local Government, Local Government Finance Commission, and Local Governments Sector is a result of a Cabinet directive following a request by the ministry.
When contacted yesterday for more details about the importance of having their own sector, Mr Butime referred us to Mr Kumumanya.
Mr Kumumanya told Saturday Monitor that details of how the sector will run and what it will achieve are still being worked on by the technical team.
But, he said, the sector will among others, address issues affecting decentralisation and the ministry will be able to air out its issues for them to be addressed effectively.
“Other ministries are divided into sectors. You know about health sector, agricultural sector and education sector. The sector gives us a platform to handle our own issues. The ministry is excited about this milestone and it’s our biggest achievement of the year,” Mr Kumumanya said.
The minister also told the staff at the party that the ministry will also pioneer the creation of agro-led industrialisation so that the Local Governments are able to generate their own resources.
He also commended the staff for their commitment to work and use government resources properly, saying that the ministry has not been caught up in corruption scandals.
Mr Kumumanya said the ministry has managed to end the year on a high note despite outstanding challenges such as inadequate funding adding that successes have been achieved with the mobilisation of additional funding from development partners.
