By Elijah Khisa
The Government of Uganda is currently grappling with more than 70,000 new asylum applications that are yet to be processed due to inadequate resources, a senior official from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) has said.
Agnes Baseera, an official from the OPM, said the government lacks sufficient resources to provide for the welfare of the new asylum seekers amid dwindling financial support from international development partners.
Baseera made the remarks on Friday, September 4, 2026, at Fairway Hotel during a capacity-building workshop for newly elected Kawempe Division Urban Council councillors on refugee legal frameworks and policies.
The workshop was organised by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Uganda under its REBUILD programme.
Baseera said the OPM currently has more than 70,000 applications from new asylum seekers whose cases are yet to be determined because of resource constraints.
She warned that the growing number of asylum seekers was placing an additional burden on the government at a time when funding for refugee programmes from development partners was declining.
“The country is constrained by the lack of sufficient resources to settle these new applicants in light of the dwindling funding support from our development partners,” Baseera said.
She added that the global refugee body had directed Uganda to allocate funds in its national budget towards refugee-related activities if the country was to continue absorbing new refugees.
According to Baseera, the government has incorporated this component into the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV).
Despite Uganda’s longstanding open-door policy towards refugees, which has seen the country host close to two million refugees, Baseera said the scarcity of resources had made it increasingly difficult for the government to accommodate more refugees.
She commended the IRC REBUILD programme for continuing to support the Government of Uganda in refugee-related matters, describing the organisation as an impactful partner despite the decline in funding for the refugee response.
The Mayor of Kawempe Division, Dr Emmanuel Serunjogi, who was represented by his deputy, Joseph Kibuga, thanked the OPM and IRC for sensitising the newly elected division councillors about the status and needs of refugees in Kawempe and the wider Kampala Metropolitan Area.
Serunjogi said Kawempe Division has registered more than 500 refugees living in areas including Kawempe Mbogo, Keti Falawo, Kizaa and Kirokole, among others.
He said the training had equipped councillors with technical knowledge on handling different categories of refugees and understanding international refugee legal frameworks.
“My division will grant all refugees liberties to access free medical services, education, government economic empowerment programmes such as Emyooga and the Parish Development Model (PDM), as well as other social services, irrespective of their nationalities,” the mayor said.
He urged local residents and security personnel to treat refugees with compassion and respect, noting that many of them had been forced to flee their countries because of insecurity.
He called for a welcoming environment for refugees, saying they did not leave their home countries voluntarily but were compelled to seek safety elsewhere.
The Speaker of the Kawempe Division Urban Council, Eng. Daniel Kigozi Mayombwe, commended the IRC REBUILD programme for extending its funding support to the refugee community for another year, up to June 2027.
He said the additional funding would support vocational skills training opportunities for refugees under the supervision of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
IRC Advocacy Manager Moses Okot outlined the purpose of the training and thanked KCCA authorities, the OPM and the councillors for responding to the invitation.
He said the knowledge acquired during the workshop would be used as a strategic governance resource to protect the rights and interests of refugees within their respective communities.
The participants, led by Makerere 1 Parish Division Councillor Jjingo Enock, thanked the IRC, OPM and KCCA for providing them with an opportunity to understand international legal instruments governing refugees.
Jjingo said the training had enabled the councillors to distinguish between different categories of displaced populations, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers, refugees, returnees and stateless persons.
The IRC REBUILD programme was initially a five-year initiative scheduled to end in 2025. However, following lobbying by KCCA authorities, it was extended to June 2027.
The programme is valued at €30 million.
