KAMPALA Uganda (UGNEWSLINE) –
The government plans to spend UGX 1.4 trillion over the next five financial years to strengthen Uganda’s national statistical infrastructure and improve the use of reliable data in planning and decision-making.
The funding will support the implementation of the Fourth Plan for National Statistical Development (PNSD IV), covering the financial years 2025/26 to 2029/30, with the overall objective of strengthening service delivery and promoting socio-economic development through the production and use of quality, reliable and timely statistics.
According to the 70-page framework document, UGX 470 billion of the planned expenditure will go towards strengthening the technical systems and institutional capacity required to generate statistics across the country.
One of the key interventions will be the establishment of functional statistics units within government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), as well as local governments.
The plan also proposes reinstating the position of statistician in the organisational structures of MDAs and local governments to ensure that institutions have dedicated personnel responsible for collecting, analysing and managing statistical information.
Government further intends to integrate statistics into institutional development plans, strategic and corporate plans, as well as budget framework papers to ensure that policies and public expenditure decisions are guided by credible data.
The framework also emphasises the need to strengthen statistical capacity across the National Statistical System through a comprehensive capacity-building programme.
This will involve assessing the statistical training needs of institutions and equipping staff with skills in the production and compilation of statistics in line with global, regional and national statistical strategies, frameworks, standards, guidelines and methodologies.
Civil society organisations (CSOs) will also receive training on practical guidelines for producing high-quality citizen-generated data.
In addition, the plan proposes the development and institutionalisation of a regular data maturity assessment framework to monitor progress in statistical capacity development across the national statistics sector.
The government outlined these priorities during the joint launch of the Fourth Plan for National Statistical Development (PNSD IV), the Fourth Uganda Bureau of Statistics Strategic Plan (UBOS SP IV) and the UBOS Service Delivery Standards for 2025/26–2029/30.
The launch was held on Friday, November 13, 2026, at Statistics House, the UBOS headquarters in Kampala, and was presided over by the Minister of State for Planning in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Amos Lugoloobi.
Lugoloobi emphasised the importance of reinstating the position of statistician across government ministries, departments and agencies to strengthen the production and use of statistics in planning and support the country’s socio-economic transformation.
He said strengthening statistical capacity within government institutions would improve the availability of reliable information needed to guide development programmes and public service delivery.
The Executive Director of UBOS, Dr Chris Mukiza, thanked the government for providing the technical and logistical support that has enabled the bureau to strengthen its professional capacity and improve the collection, production and utilisation of statistics.
Mukiza said UBOS had assembled a team of professionals and experts across the statistical infrastructure sector who were ready to spearhead the systematic implementation of the five-year development plan.
He called on government institutions, development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to work closely with UBOS to ensure successful implementation of the plans and improve development outcomes across communities.
The framework also seeks to enhance awareness and understanding of the legal frameworks governing statistical production, ensuring that institutions and other stakeholders adhere to established standards in generating and sharing data.
