Citizens Shape Rubanda’s Budget Priorities at Hamurwa Sub-County Conference
In a strong show of community participation, residents of Hamurwa Sub-county gathered on 7th November, 2024, for a one-day Sub-County Budget Conference that placed citizens at the heart of Rubanda District’s planning and budgeting process for the 2025/26 financial year.
Organized by the Lusuganda Development Initiative (LUSUDI) in partnership with the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), the meeting brought together 35 participants including 14 women and 21 men to discuss and influence local budget priorities.
Speaking during the event, Hon. Mary Bebwajuba, the District Councilor and Secretary for Production, hailed the growing wave of citizen engagement in governance. “We are now seeing more people mobilized and actively involved in the planning and budgeting processes. This is how we build a budget that truly reflects the community’s needs,” she remarked.
The conference adopted a “bottom-up meets top-down” approach, blending grassroots priorities with visionary planning, while also embedding human rights-based principles into the budgeting framework. This ensured that marginalized voices were not left out in setting development priorities.
A Community Budget Facilitator used the platform to highlight pressing issues the local leadership should prioritize. His submission, together with the views of other participants, formed the basis of a sub-county position paper — a document that will guide Rubanda’s local government in shaping the FY 2025/26 budget.
Mr. Murangira Medard, Senior Assistant Secretary for Hamurwa Sub-county, commended LUSUDI and CSBAG for creating such an inclusive platform. “Thanks to this process, our budget will now speak from the people’s perspective. This is what participatory governance looks like,” he said.
The day also featured presentations from district technical staff, including the Senior District Planner, who gave an overview of budget highlights for the upcoming financial year.
LUSUDI Executive Director Byamukama Simon described the conference as “a milestone in strengthening citizen voices in local governance and ensuring that no one is left behind in the budgeting process.”
By the end of the conference, there was a palpable sense of achievement among participants, who left knowing their voices had been documented and would influence how Rubanda allocates its resources in the year ahead