Local government Finance commission has asked government to increase its financial allocation for better service delivery given that there is increasing creation of new districts. Members of the commission made the appeal while presenting the 2013/2014 annual report to the speaker of parliament today at parliament.

The chairperson of the commission Mr. Tom Matte who led the group says that government allocates only 12.9% of the national budget to local governments yet it requires for allocation of 38% of the national budget if they are to be effective in service delivery.

Matte adds that 2015/16 budget gives local governments 2.2trillion shillings down from 2.3trillion received in 2014/15 financial year which is a significant drop that will directly affect the already low quality of service delivery by local government.

The role of the commission is to support local governments to improve local revenue performance and to promote equity in resource allocation among local governments. According to Ashaba Aheebwa, the Director Finance and Administration, the creation of new districts was also going to affect their already meagre budget should government fail to revise it.

The speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga says that the budget given to local government should be increased given that government increased the number of districts in the country. She also committed to write to the Ministry of Finance over the matter but however added that parliament will intervene into the matter after party primaries.