By: Ismael Kasooha

KAMPALA

Isingiro District Local Government emerged at the best performing Local Government in the country for the 2022 Local Governments Assessment done by the Office of the Prime Minister.

The National Dissemination of Local Government management report on Service Delivery Performance Assessment was launched by the Prime Minister of Uganda Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja at Hotel Africana in Kampala on Wednesday.

The findings were announced by Gonzaga Mayanja, Commissioner Monitoring and Evaluation in charge of Local Government at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).  The released results showed the best and worst performing Districts in terms of Local Government performance with Isingiro District at the top with the best service delivery.

The 2022/23 FY assessment report indicated Isingiro from Western Uganda with an 89% score to jump from the second position in the previous year where it obtained 77%.

Kiruhura District was named second with 80%, a significant jump from the 41st position in the previous year, while Ibanda dropped from first position in the previous year to third position in 2022.

Kamwengye and Mayuge came fourth and fifth respectively while Bushenyi which was 28th the previous year was in the sixth position.

The other top 10 performing Local Governments included Bushenyi with 72%, Ibanda Municipal Council with 71%, Kibuku with 69%, Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipal Council obtained 68%, Gulu had 68% while Sembabule got 68%.

On the other hand, Kalaki and Kapelebyong Local Governments were ranked worst performers, both obtaining 19% followed by Namisindwa at 21% and Ntoroko with 23% while Amuria was ranked fifth worst performer with 26%.

Kwania, Kumi Municipal Council, Bugweri, Serere, Kween and Obongi districts were also among the worst-performing Districts in the year under review.

The Isingiro District LCV Chairman Aaron Turahi attributed the success of his district to team work and being focused.  “I’m very happy that we have emerged as the best District in the country but this has been as a result of team work between the civil servants and the political leaders. We are focused and hope to get at least 95% or even 100% next year,” said Turahi.

The Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja while presiding over the launch of the report asked Local Government leaders to use the findings of the assessment to improve service delivery.

“The findings should help you address the identified gaps so as to improve service delivery. As displayed by the findings some districts like Kiruhura have greatly improved compared to the previous year so there is room for improvement for all districts,” said Nabbanja.  She said that some Local Governments did not mind about service delivery which even affects the money the government disburses to them in the form of sanctions and rewards.

According to the Premier, the key assessment areas for performance measures included education, health, water and environment and microscale.

Others areas were; collected local revenues, investment management, local government service delivery results, financial management and transparency and accountability.

The education sector was the best performing by local governments in 2022 at 58%, having improved from 53% the previous year of 2021 while the health sector was in second position with 48%.

However, the best five ranking districts in the education sector were Luuka, Kamwenge, Kiruhura, Isingiro and Ibanda while Kisoro, Bundibugyo, Abim and Kumi Municipal Council were the worst performers in 2022 in the said sector.

Isingiro, Kiruhura, Ibanda, Kamwenge and Kibuku Districts ranked highest in health performance last year.

Kyotera, Bukwo, Ntoroko, Pader and Kalaki were the worst performers according to the health assessment in the Local Government management of service delivery report in 2022.

Overall, the 2022 assessment results indicated an improvement in the average performance of local governments to 51% in both minimum conditions and performance measures compared to 44% in 2021 and 36% in 2020.

Richard Rwabuhinga, the LCV chairman Kabarole District who also doubles as the chairperson ULGA said that the Central Government should play its role and facilitate the Local Governments to deliver services as expected.

“Some districts are not doing well in performance because they are under facilitated and others lack transport means even for the District Chairman or Chief Administrative Officer. How can someone monitor or supervise government programmes without transport means?”, asked Rwabuhinga.

Rwabuhinga also pointed out the issue of disparity in salaries between politicians and some other civil servants which was caused by the salary enhancement for the scientists.

Danstan Balaba the CAO Buikwe who represented the Chief Administrative Officers said that districts should learn from the findings and do better in the following year.

END