Minister Barugahara criticises scale of Jinja district

________________ Local government minister Balaam Barugahara has urged Jinja district leaders to scale down the planned district headquarters project, describing the proposed sh19 billion expenditure as extravagant and misaligned with the district's development priorities. While commending the district leadership, including Jinja LC5 chairperson Moses Batwala, the district council, Members of Parliament and technical teams for their efforts in developing Jinja following the creation of Jinja city, the minister raised concerns over resource allocation after inspecting the incomplete headquarters at Magamaga village in Buwenge town council on July 8, 2026. "The building is very nice. The plan is nice," minister Barugahara acknowledged. However, he argued that spending such a large sum on a single district headquarters does not make economic sense when many subcounties lack office buildings and health facilities require additional funding. He proposed reducing the project's overall budget. "We should reduce it to a maximum of sh7.5 billion total so that the remaining sh11.5 billion be channelled to health centre IIIs, to the referral hospital of the district, and also building staff units and staff quarters," the minister said. Barugahara said the district had already spent sh3.9 billion on the project and should limit any additional expenditure to about sh2 billion.