“The transport and works sector budget allocation for 2018/19 has gained a slight increment to 21.4% from 20.8% in 2016/17, could this be the long awaited answer to our concerns to have better lives accruing from better infrastructure, or it is a drop in an ocean to the many questions within the circles of the national construction sector? ”

This article, written by CoST Uganda National Manager Olive Kabatwairwe, was published in the New Vision, January 22, 2018. Here, Olive breaks down the infrastructure budget  and its priorities for 2018 and discusses how far it will go towards addressing the priorities of its citizens. This article represents some of the diligent work of the CoST national programmes in advocating for change, raising awareness and lobbying for systemic change in the planning and delivery of public infrastructure.

“It is important that as we invest more into service delivery, we invest into informing the general public of what we do. We should increase financing on access to information and citizen engagement and strengthen initiatives and stakeholders that promote transparency and access to information. While there have been many highly successful deliveries of infrastructure in the country’s recent history, there are still lessons to be learned. With stakeholders demanding greater transparency and placing additional scrutiny on infrastructure decisions, the Government should be very keen to ensure that investment outcomes do not fall short of expectations”