The Presidential Affairs Committee has endorsed the request for additional funds to facilitate the Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) in monitoring Government projects, as well as an extra Shs2.8Bn for the phased construction of RDC offices nationwide.
The request was presented by Alex Byarugaba, Chairperson of the Presidential Affairs Committee, while delivering the Committee’s 2025/26 report for the Office of the President to Parliament’s Budget Committee.
“The Office of the President plays a critical role in mobilizing the population towards achieving socio-economic development, transformation, and prosperity for all. The Committee was informed that the Office of the President needs Shs21Bn for the facilitation of the RDCs, but only Shs14.8Bn has been allocated in the 2025/26 indicative budget, resulting in a funding shortfall of Shs6.20Bn. Therefore, the Committee recommends that an additional Shs6.20Bn be allocated to facilitate the RDCs, considering the size and scope of the districts,” Byarugaba stated.
He further explained, “With just Shs700M allocated to construct one RDC office, it would take the Government over 100 years to resolve the office accommodation issue for the RDCs. The Committee recommends that an additional Shs2.8Bn be provided annually to the Office of the President to enable the construction of five offices each year, addressing the RDC office accommodation challenge in the medium term.”
However, Ssemujju Nganda (Kira Municipality) questioned how long Ugandans would continue bearing the financial burden of supporting RDCs, particularly given the President’s tendency to increase the number of appointees, which he believes has inflated the budget.
“You recently appointed another 500, and now you want offices for them. So, when will this expansion end? As you build offices for the existing RDCs, the President continues to appoint new ones and create non-existent positions in the public service. Would it be unreasonable if we suggested reducing the number of RDCs? There are now around 600. When the President took office, there were only 39 districts, so we could maintain just 39 RDCs,” Ssemujju remarked.
