Annex A.

Local government structures in Uganda

Administrative unit Composition
Village Lowest political administrative unit, usually
consists of 50-70 households, with a
population of between 250 and 1,000 people.
Parish Composed of a number of villages.
Leadership
Run by a Local Council (LC), and governed by a Local Council I (LC1)
chairperson and nine other executive committee members.
LCII committee, made up of all from the village LCIs in the parish.

LCIIs are largely involved in settling land disputes and mobilising the community
for various activities.

Run by a parish chief – a government employee who provides technical

Sub-county
(In towns, a sub-county is
called a division)
County
(Municipality in major towns)
leadership.
A number of parishes. Run by sub-county chief on the technical side, and an elected LCIII chairperson
and executive committee.
An LCIII, like a parliament, consists of elected councillors representing parishes,
other government officials in health, development and education and NGO
officials in the sub-county.
Several sub-counties Each county is represented in parliament by an elected MP. LCIII executive
committee members of all sub-counties constitute the LCIV, who then elect an
LCIV executive committee from among themselves.

LCIV have limited powers except in municipalities.

District Several counties and municipalities. Led by and LCV chairperson and his executive. Has an elected LCV council with
representatives from sub-counties, which debates budgets and bylaws; and
This is the basic unit of a local government, technical staff in the district led by the chief administrative officer appointed by
responsible for major functions and the central government. The district has heads of various departments.
services such as education, trade, hospitals,
construction of feeder roads, water
supplies, agricultural extension, community
development, etc.

Source: Mugabi (2004); The Guardian (2009).

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