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Kyankwanzi resolutions to transform Uganda

Written by CHARLOTTE B KEMIGYISHA

 Created: 01 August 2016

 

One hundred and ten days. One hundred and twelve districts. Over 330 political rallies. Millions of people met.

That was the grueling yet very rewarding exercise the NRM presidential candidate underwent preceding the successful general elections held on February 18, 2016. On the campaign trail, a number of opportunities presented themselves for the new leadership to take advantage of and ensure consensus amongst all stakeholders in delivering a better Uganda for all.

Armed with these insights, the president and NRM chairman, at his swearing-in ceremony on May 12, stated that in this term, it was going to be business unusual both in government and in the party.

Prior to this, in mid-March 2016, the NRM held a retreat at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi for its then newly-elected members of parliament to deliberate on priorities to deliver Uganda to the middle-income status, from the present $736 income per capita to $1,036.

Museveni then highlighted the following key issues as fundamental in taking Uganda to the new level: a sense of pan-Africanism, a movement from subsistence to commercial farming, promotion of industrialization through mineral processing and value addition, enhanced support to research and innovation and democracy.

Today, Uganda boasts of a multiparty democracy; yet a multiparty dispensation is one of the more misunderstood concepts in a young democracy like ours. In countries where multiparty dispensations are years ahead of us, government administration is used as a unifying factor with members from more than one party taking on leadership roles. In Uganda, however, the system dictates that the winner of the presidential election has no obligation to involve the losing party and candidates.

When the new cabinet was announced, there was some discomfort amongst members of the opposition who went as far as labelling their colleagues who accepted those roles as traitors! But these were being mature leaders who put service to country ahead of any egoistic tendencies.

Nonetheless, being a landlocked country, Uganda cannot afford an acrimonious relationship with her neighbors. She is thus obligated to lend a hand in sectors where she is advantaged to progressively-position her people, promote trade and secure her borders. This is where the NRM pan-Africanism principle will play a vital role.

Our economic growth will consequently be determined by how seamless our border movements impact on the size of tradable market. Today, Uganda is at the forefront of reinvigorating the East African Community market, targeting over 100 million people.

To be able to deliver this potentially-large market to Ugandans, consensus should be built amongst stakeholders. The only way this can be achieved is if government departments speak to each other and to the general public in a timely manner.

On the other hand, the NRM has an obligation to keep its people at the grassroots actively involved in monitoring and evaluating the delivery of government programmes to the people. It was resolved that the NRM and government will make use of the local barazas to widen civic participation in this exercise.

As a country whose people are largely dependent on agriculture, it is unfortunate that we have 68% of our citizens excluded from the cash economy. This because of subsistence farming. By promoting industrialization, we will in turn promote agro-processing which will yield higher returns for farmers thus drawing more numbers into the cash economy.

Our economy's performance is a key ingredient in our roadmap to achieving a middle-income status; as such, government will take action to ensure that it reduces on its domestic borrowing to minimize competition with the private sector.

It will also  improve storage, post-harvest handling and agro-processing; provide support to start-ups in strategic industries; operationalize and capitalize Uganda Development Corporation to support strategic sectors of the economy; recapitalize Uganda Development Bank to provide affordable credit for investments; ensure due diligence on public-private partnerships; and have a dedicated focus on equitable income distribution.

Performance indicators for these key deliverables will be steep and unattainable if there is no cohesion between NRM officials, parliament and government officials who are charged with delivering the promise to the people.

It was resolved that zonal MP meetings by the president and annual reviews of the NRM manifesto implementation with both party and government leadership will go to great lengths to iron this out. Indeed, it is business unusual in Uganda of 2016-2021.

The author is a communication specialist in the office of the national chairman, NRM.

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"War is nothing but a  continuation of political intercourse, with a mixture of other means. Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." 

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