By Doreen Asasira,
OPINION
As Uganda embarks on another financial year with an ambitious national budget, citizens are being presented with a familiar promise: that increased public spending on infrastructure, industrialisation, and economic transformation will deliver prosperity. Yet beneath the optimism lies a sobering reality. Nearly 40 percent of the national budget is now committed to debt servicing, raising difficult questions about who truly benefits from public expenditure and what sacrifices ordinary Ugandans are being asked to make.
A budget is more than a collection of figures. It is a reflection of national priorities and values. It reveals whose needs are considered urgent and whose concerns are postponed. When a significant share of public resources is directed toward repaying debt, there is less fiscal space available for health care, education, agriculture, water services, social protection, and local government service delivery.
The growing debt burden should concern every Ugandan, not only economists and policymakers. Debt itself is not inherently bad. Governments borrow to finance development projects, build infrastructure, and stimulate economic growth. The challenge arises when debt repayments begin to crowd out investments in the very sectors that improve people’s lives and create long-term prosperity.
Across the country, communities continue to face challenges accessing quality health services, safe water, adequate schools, and reliable agricultural support. Health centres struggle with shortages of medicines and medical personnel. Teachers remain underpaid and schools under-resourced. Farmers, who form the backbone of Uganda’s economy, continue to grapple with limited access to extension services, irrigation, markets, and affordable financing. These realities cannot be separated from discussions about public debt because every shilling spent on debt servicing is a shilling unavailable for addressing these urgent needs.
Equally concerning is the question of accountability. Citizens deserve to know whether borrowed funds are delivering the intended benefits. Too often, public borrowing is justified in the name of development, yet questions remain regarding project selection, implementation efficiency, cost overruns, and value for money. Uganda cannot afford a situation where future generations inherit debt without corresponding development gains.
The solution is not to abandon investment in infrastructure or economic transformation. Roads, energy systems, and industrial projects remain important drivers of development. However, investment decisions must be guided by clear evidence of economic and social returns. Every borrowed dollar should generate measurable benefits for citizens and contribute to sustainable growth capable of supporting future repayments.
The government should strengthen public investment management systems, conduct rigorous project appraisals, and ensure greater transparency in borrowing decisions. Parliament, oversight institutions, civil society, the media, and citizens all have a role to play in scrutinising public debt and demanding accountability for how resources are used.
At the same time, Uganda must expand efforts to mobilise domestic revenue in ways that are fair and equitable. Revenue collection should not disproportionately burden low-income households while allowing inefficiencies, leakages, and tax exemptions to persist. A sustainable fiscal future requires both prudent borrowing and effective domestic resource mobilisation.
Perhaps most importantly, social sector investments must be protected. A nation cannot achieve meaningful development if children lack quality education, mothers cannot access healthcare, and communities remain trapped in cycles of poverty and vulnerability. Economic growth statistics may improve, but true development is measured by the wellbeing of people.
As discussions about the national budget continue, citizens must ask a simple but powerful question: Are public resources improving lives? If debt repayment increasingly consumes the resources needed to answer that question positively, then Uganda risks financing growth on paper while undermining development in practice.
The country’s future depends not only on how much it spends, but on what it chooses to prioritise. Sustainable development requires a balance between economic ambition and social investment. Uganda’s budget should not merely service debt; it should serve people.
