Gulu district revenue drops after ban on sale of forest products

Gulu district is facing financial challenges due to a significant drop in local revenue following a presidential directive against the sale of forest products, severely impacting its economy.

The District Speaker Phoebe Ayoo highlighted the directive’s adverse effects on the economy, coupled with the detachment of the City from the District, which relied heavily on outlawed forest products.

The decline in revenue, has notably impacted the council business as mandated by the Local Government Act, due to resource constraints.

Gulu District Council approved a budget of sh29 billion for the 2023/2024 financial year, with education receiving the largest allocation of sh13.3 billion, health allocated sh5.7 billion, and administration granted sh3 billion.

However, the district has only managed to collect Shillings 50 million of its proposed local revenue budget, attributing the shortfall to the enforcement of the presidential directive against forest product sales. The district received a supplementary budget allocation of Shillings 2.94 billion, bringing the total budget for the financial year to Shillings 32 billion.