A man gearing up to challenge President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni in the 2026 election for the country’s top job has promised to give LC1 chairpersons and Village Health Teams (VHTs) monthly salaries and make the local council system work better for citizens in delivery of services.
President Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has been in power for four decades now. Aged 80, he is expected to seek re-election for another five-year when the impoverished East African nation goes to the polls in 2026.
The last quarter of 2025 is expected to be a busy campaigning period as candidates and political parties woo voters.
But some politicians have already indicated their interest in ending Museveni’s rule. One of these is Gerald Malinga aka Spongeman.
Meet Gerald Malinga, the Spongeman Aspiring to be Uganda’s President in 2026
Malinga says he plans to pay LC1 chairpersons and VHTs monthly salaries if he is elected head of state and government in 2026.
Currently, Museveni’s government offers each LC1 Chairperson Shs10,000 per month as a token of appreciation, translating in Shs120,000 per year.
“Chairpersons L.C 1 and V.H.Ts will get a monthly pay when I’m elected as the president of Uganda 2026-2031,” Malinga told The Pearl Times.
“The LC committee will be getting Shs 1,000,000 per month as pay, such that each chairperson will get Shs 200,000, chair lady at the village Shs 200,000, while the rest, Shs 600,000 will cover the village council’s operation costs,” Malinga further said in conversation with The Pearl Times.
He also revealed that every village will have three VHTs and that each VHT will get a monthly allowance of Shs 150,000. Currently, most VHTs are paid Shs10,000 a month.
As of September 2020, Electoral Commission data put the number of villages in Uganda at 70,626.
Malinga says the LC system, the smallest unit of decentralisation, has been ignored for far too long, and that he plans to revive it so as to improve service delivery for millions of Ugandans.
He punched holes in President Museveni’s government interventions meant for LCs such as giving them bicycles and handouts, saying this was not enough to appreciate their good work and to make them more effective in delivery of services.
“Government has a lot of money. Let’s look at the money lost through corruption, look at the 100 million given to every parish, look at the big expenditure of managing the administrative costs of RDCs, security and Parliament,” Malinga further noted.
“A system willing to reward it’s loyal people cannot fail to find a way out for the lowest cadre of a decentralized government. The GDP of Uganda in 1986 was at 3.323 billion USD but in 2025 it’s projected to reach 62.92 Billion USD. With the growth in GDP, there should be no excuse given to people doing donkey work to see the country being run.”
In the past, there were proposal to pay VHTs and LC1 chairpersons better salaries. Also, there have been cries by local government leaders to have their salaries increased as reported Here and There.
You can see how much Museveni RDCs, advisors and security officers are paid monthly Here and There.
The list of most highly paid Ugandan government employees is Here.
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