CSOs urge citizens to vote for candidates who front issues that improve their economic growth

Civil Society Organizations (CSO) under the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) while reflecting on 2025 as a year of profound economic contradictions and next years projections, have called upon Ugandan citizens to vote wisely and responsibly during next year’s general elections, guided by issues that directly affect their lives service delivery, accountability, employment, and the prudent use of public resource among others. 

This was disclosed by The Executive Director CSBAG Mr Julius Mukunda during their end of year statements to the press on Thursday 18th December 2025 at their offices in Ntinda.

Mr Mukunda urged political actors to uphold peace and tolerance to avoid any crisis that may disrupt the economic growth of the country.

“We call upon all political actors and citizens to reject political violence in all its forms and to uphold peace, tolerance, and respect for the rule of law as the country enters an election period. We also encourage citizens to vote wisely and responsibly, guided by issues that directly affect their lives—service delivery, accountability, employment, and the prudent use of public resources” he said.

Themed “Navigating the “Perfect Storm”: Balancing Growth, Debt, and the 2026 Electoral Frontier” Mukunda said that Uganda's economy remained strong, with real GDP growth reaching approximately 6.3% for FY2024/25, driven by strong contributions from agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and household consumption while the Per capita GDP rose to around USD 1,263 up from USD 1,159 in FY2023/24, reflecting gradual improvements in living standards.

He however said that challenges persisted, including the stagnated tax-to-GDP ratio at 14% , below the 15-18% target, the public debt rosing to UGX 116.2 trillion translating into 51.3% of GDP by June 2025, with debt servicing consuming 31-40% of revenues according to the Ministry of Finance Debt Bulletin among others.

Projecting on next year’s situation, Mukunda said that he being an election-Year it might come with a fiscal Test that will witness average increase in supplementary budget requests with a severe risk that political spending pressures may cause a spike in off-budget, classified expenditures, Relaxed procurement controls and a surge in politically motivated, unfunded contracts, seeking a future arrears crisis, Diversion of funds from critical long-term projects (in agriculture, health, and industrial parks) to short-term political patronage, "Political Inflation” among others.