The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Council has held a special sitting to deliberate on the proposed budget estimates for the 2023/2024 financial year, as the Authority intensifies efforts to strengthen service delivery in the city. The meeting took place on Tuesday ahead of the budget’s presentation to Parliament.During the session, the City Executive Committee requested that close to UGX 100 billion in locally generated revenue collected by KCCA be spent directly at the source. Council members argued that allowing the Authority to retain and utilize its own revenue would help address pressing urban needs more efficiently.The sitting was chaired by the KCCA Council Speaker, Hon. Zahara Luyirika, and was attended by Deputy Lord Mayor, Her Worship Doreen Nyanjura, alongside other councilors and technical officials. The meeting focused on scrutinizing the Authority’s financial priorities and funding gaps for the coming year.Presenting the KCCA Vote 122 budget, City Executive Committee member Hon. John Mary Ssebufu projected an overall budget of UGX 423.849 billion. Of this amount, UGX 211 billion is expected from central government grants, while UGX 186 billion is projected to come from external financing sources.Ssebufu noted that KCCA continues to grapple with numerous unfunded priorities, stressing that locally collected revenue could play a critical role in bridging these gaps. He appealed to government to increase funding to the Authority to enhance essential services such as road maintenance, street lighting, and market construction.KCCA Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka, who attended the meeting together with other directors, urged councilors to approach the budget process as a shared responsibility between the political leadership and the technical team. She emphasized the need for unity and collaboration to ensure the proposed budget reflects the city’s development needs.The Speaker subsequently referred the budget estimates to the Committee on Budget and relevant sectoral committees for further scrutiny, with reports expected to be presented to Council the following day. Some councilors, including Rose Nalubwama of Rubaga and Angel Kwagala of Kawempe, raised concerns about the limited time allocated for review, calling for more thorough engagement in the budgeting process.KCCA officials noted that preparations for the FY2023/24 budget began as early as November 2022, with multiple consultative engagements held through to March 2023. The Authority maintains that the proposed budget is the product of extensive consultations aimed at aligning resources with Kampala’s growing demands.
