Finance minister warns absenteeism is hurting local govt services

Finance Minister Henry Musasizi has identified persistent staff absenteeism, poor performance and failure to return unspent wage funds as major challenges undermining service delivery in Uganda’s local governments.

Musasizi said the problems were largely linked to weak supervision by accounting officers and heads of departments.

“While government continues to expand fiscal space and increase resources to local governments, significant challenges remain in translating these resources into quality services for citizens,” he said in a statement read by the State Minister for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, Beatrice Akello Akori.

He was speaking at the Local Government Regional Budget Consultative Workshop for local governments in the Acholi and Lango sub-regions in Gulu City on Monday.

Musasizi said weak supervision contributes to poor performance, misuse of public resources and delays in resolving service delivery bottlenecks.