Six years after being elevated to city status, Mbale City continues to face funding constraints, planning gaps and the absence of a tailored legal framework to manage rapid urban expansion, officials and stakeholders say.
Mbale was among the first municipalities elevated to city status in 2020 following Cabinet approval of new urban centres in 2018. It began operations alongside Arua, Gulu, Jinja, Mbarara, Masaka and Fort Portal, while Soroti, Hoima and Lira followed in 2021.
The reform was intended to promote urbanisation, improve service delivery and strengthen regional economic growth by decentralising services from Kampala.
However, local leaders say the transition has fallen short of expectations.
Abdallah Magambo, former deputy speaker of Mbale City Council, said the expansion of the city’s boundaries significantly increased administrative responsibilities without a matching rise in development financing.
The city absorbed seven sub-counties and two town councils, including Bukonde, Lwasso, Namanyonyi, Namabasa, Bukasakya and Bungokho-Mutoto, as well as Nauyo-Bugema and Nakaloke town councils.
‘People expected improved service delivery after city status, but the city inherited a much bigger administrative structure without a proportional increase in development funding,’ Magambo said.
Town clerk Assy Abirebe Tumwesigire said recurrent expenditure and staffing costs had increased, but development funding for infrastructure remained largely unchanged.
‘When Mbale was still a municipality, we received about Shs 1.3 billion for roads, and that is almost the same amount we receive today as a city, yet the road network has expanded from about 150 kilometres to more than 450 kilometres,’ he said.
City records show that Mbale Municipality previously operated on an annual budget of about Shs 26 billion. In the 2025/26 financial year, the city budget rose to Shs 50.3 billion, though officials say much of the increase goes to wages and recurrent costs.
Officials also say the expansion of administrative units has stretched service delivery in education and health.
Tumwesigire said urban road maintenance remains underfunded despite rising costs linked to drainage systems, crossings and higher construction standards.
He also said Mbale still operates under the Local Government Act, which he described as inadequate for urban governance.
‘We need a special law to regulate urban governance because cities face unique challenges such as waste management, traffic control, parking and urban planning,’ he said.
Former Mbale City mayor Kassimu Namugali said road maintenance funding had declined from about Shs 1.2 billion during municipality status to roughly Shs 380 million plus a Shs 1 billion special allocation after elevation to city status.
He said education infrastructure had also come under pressure due to the rapid expansion of the city boundary.
Ali Walusimbi, president of the Mbale City Development Forum, said weak physical planning had contributed to unregulated growth.
He said the city lacks key technical staff, including a substantive senior physical planner and a certified city engineer.
‘These staffing gaps have affected physical planning and guided urban development,’ Walusimbi said.
Mbale City Public Accounts Committee chairperson Rogers Kimaswa said decentralisation had weakened as financial control increasingly shifted to the central government.
‘Local governments no longer enjoy full autonomy because most financial decisions are controlled from the centre,’ he said.
Retired architect and former Budadiri East MP Cosmas Busima Mafabi said Mbale’s elevation to city status was not supported by a clear implementation framework.
‘There was no clear framework to guide urban expansion and service delivery. Some rural areas were added without proper consultations,’ he said.
Opinion leader Abas Wetaka blamed underdevelopment on weak revenue management and alleged leakages in local collections.
He said the city should invest more in revenue-generating assets rather than relying heavily on central government transfers.
City spokesperson James Kutosi said Mbale now depends on a mix of conditional grants, unconditional grants and local revenue.
He said the city approved a Shs 56 billion budget for the 2026/27 financial year, with about Shs 6 billion expected from local revenue.
He added that local revenue collection had improved significantly, rising from between Shs 500 million and Shs 570 million in 2019/20 to about Shs 3.8 billion by March 2026, attributing the growth to digital revenue systems that have reduced cash handling and leakages.