By Anzoo Evaline                                    

Adjumani District Council has approved a budget of Shs 55,528,569,000 for the Financial Year 2026/2027 during its last council meeting held at the district council hall.

According to the summary of the financial resource envelope for FY 2026/2027, the budget is expected to be financed through locally raised revenue, central government transfers, external financing, and other transfers.

The summary indicates that locally raised revenue remains at Shs 2,637,558,000, while Government Transfers-CG increased from Shs 37,955,120,000 in the approved FY 2025/2026 budget to Shs 42,120,886,000 in the draft budget for FY 2026/2027. Government Transfers-UCG also rose from Shs 3,958,787,000 to Shs 5,260,363,000. External financing stands at Shs 2,298,114,000, while other transfers increased to Shs 3,211,647,000.

Presenting the committee report to council, Adrupio Irene Api, Secretary for Finance Adjumani District Local Government, said:

“Mr. Speaker, I move to this House to consider and approve the budget of 55,528569,000 with the full committee recommendation. I also say this honourable House to consider and approval of the revenue and expenditure plan for financial year 2026/2027.”

Speaking after the approval, Kaijuka Arthur Richard, Vice LC5 and Secretary for Education, said the education sector received the biggest share of the budget due to salary commitments and government priorities.

“Today, we have approved a budget of uh over 55 billion. Out of that, the highest percentage is on education sector followed by health. Education sector took the biggest chunk of the budget because of salary. And it is the government priority to see development. And in any development, you must have human resource. And human resource cannot go minus education.”

Hon. Drichi Charles, DLC for Pakele Town Council, noted that the budget had increased from the earlier figure due to recruitment and salary enhancement for staff.

“We have exercised our mandate of budget approval. Previously, when we received the budget, it was 49 billion, but now it has increased to 55 billion as a result of increment of salary for U1 and U2 staffs in the district. The new recruitment that is ongoing has resulted to increase in the current budget.”

He further urged incoming district councillors to prioritize monitoring and implementation of council resolutions.

“I want to appeal to the incoming district counsellors to take up the issue of budget implementation seriously because it is one of the core mandates of the council to approve and also monitor activities when it comes to implementation.”

Meanwhile, District Speaker, Oloya Jackson, called on councilors to closely follow the approved budget during implementation.

“All of the activities of the council for the financial year 2026-2027 is in the budget. So, honourable councilors, you need to attach yourself with the budget so that you don’t mess up budget and select.”

The approved budget is expected to guide service delivery and development priorities across Adjumani District in the next financial year, with education and health taking the largest share of allocations. Leaders expressed optimism that proper implementation, supervision, and accountability will help improve public services and address the growing needs of the population.

END.