FOR LIFEMinister of the President, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda advised the leaders to work together if they are to achieve the government’s goal of decent service delivery and the implementation of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifesto 2021-2026.
According to Hon. In Babalanda, some actors at the local level work in isolation, but as civil servants they look at the same goals and objectives.
“Let’s not work as adversaries because at the end of the day, if we fail to perform, we will all be losers. In general, when the evaluations are done, they are aggregated to the performance of the district/city as a whole and not to the contributions of individual individuals,” the minister urged, addressing the leaders of Busoga, Bugisu, Bukedi, Sebei and Karamoja who are attending a meeting. 5-day retreat at Kyangkwanzi National Leadership Institute (NALI).
“This business of counter accusations between and among RDCs, CAOs, LC 5 chairmen and NRM chairmen will not help us. Lack of cooperation should not be tolerated in any way. You need to stop acting like husbands and wives. For example, what are the decisions to prosecute RDCs for? The idea of CAOs denying information to RDCs makes no sense because it makes no sense to withhold public information. There must be an end to CPAs undermining NRM chairmen, forgetting that NRM chairmen are stakeholders in the implementation of the NRM manifesto. What is the use of all this for us?’ He said.
Honorable Babalanda also reminded the leaders that the government has entered the second year of implementation of the Manifesto (2021-2026) and they must ensure their mandate in the implementation of the plan.
“You don’t have to wait for the president or ministers to tour your areas before discussing the manifesto. Implementation of the manifesto is the responsibility of all leaders at all levels, especially; participate in the implementation of key areas of interest.”
The minister also warned the leaders against corruption, saying it was the main disease that affected the implementation of the manifesto.
“When we talk about corruption, fingers are quick to point at actors at the national level. But you’re forgetting the actors at the local level who play an even bigger role in implementing government policy. Since we are here, you all need to know what is planned in your counties/cities for the 2022/2023 financial year. You need to know how much was received, how many programs were implemented as planned and how many programs were implemented fraudulently,” he told the leaders.
He also urged that if they manage the resources at their disposal well, as well as carry out proper monitoring and control over government programs, then the problem of corruption will be minimized.
“The more money we lose at the hands of corrupt officials, the more we reduce our transformation. Therefore, I humbly appeal to you to take the fight against corruption very seriously so that we can save resources for service delivery. You cannot continue to occupy your offices when nothing is valued on the ground in any real sense. We need teamwork in the fight against corruption,” said Hon. Babalanda emphasized.
“The saying goes that information is power. we have to give priority to sensitizing the masses about the state policy. This is the only way we can provide information to members of the public so that they can play their role effectively and so that you can get first-hand input from the public about the programs being implemented. This will also contribute to the popularization of the government’s programs.”
The Minister concluded by commending the Secretary, Office of the President, Haji Yunus Kakande and the Director of Manifesto Implementation, Mr. Willis Bashasha, for organizing the retreat. He disclosed that the Unit, through Mr. Bashasha, continues to do commendable work in organizing these trainings and informing the public about the progress of the manifesto through the media.
“I must say that the crucial element in all this is that we address the problems of providing services to our people. We should listen to each other and resolve our issues amicably. The principle of NRM is to listen to each other and engage in dialogue,” he said.
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