The Ministry of Public Service has asked Parliament for Shs308 billion to bridge a funding gap and roll out key development projects, including the establishment of 19 regional Service Uganda Centres aimed at bringing government services closer to citizens.
Appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Public Service and Local Government on August 5, 2026, Permanent Secretary Catherine Bitarakwate said the ministry plans to set up 19 zonal centres using existing POSTA Uganda buildings.
She said the centres will house several government services under one roof. These will include passport processing, driving permit services, tax assessment, payroll updates and pension verification.
Bitarakwate said the move will cut duplication across government institutions. She noted that many ministries, departments and agencies currently operate separate regional offices, each costing about Shs200 million a year.
She told MPs that merging these services into 19 centres could save government about Shs286.2 billion every year by reducing overlapping operations.
The ministry also wants to expand the Civil Service College Uganda at an estimated cost of US$30.4 million.
According to Bitarakwate, the expansion will lower the daily cost of training a civil servant to about Shs197,000. She said the project would save government about Shs6 billion each year while raising non-tax revenue by Shs7.5 billion.
During the meeting, Emmanuel Banya, the MP for Koboko County, questioned whether the Ministry of Public Service was best placed to coordinate the proposed one-stop service centres.
Isaac Modoi, the MP for Lutseshe County, also raised concerns about the impact of the government’s rationalisation programme, saying the mergers had created challenges that appeared to undermine the intended benefits.
He asked what measures were being taken to support workers affected by the restructuring.
Bitarakwate said the mergers had brought together institutions with different work cultures under new parent ministries, creating transition challenges.
She said the ministry was preparing a monitoring and evaluation report to identify the problems and recommend solutions.
She added that affected employees were being redeployed to ministries, departments and agencies where vacancies arise through staff attrition.
Bitarakwate also said government is considering creating an ad hoc Salary Review Commission as part of the ongoing review of the Public Service Act. She said the proposal would support wider reforms in the public service.
On the proposed service centres, she stressed that the ministry would coordinate the structures rather than provide specialised services itself.
“We are not the ones going to do immigration or issue permits, but we shall bring these entities under one roof which is the old post office buildings. This will enable quick access to information and services rather than having people travel all the way to Kampala,” she said.
