We have a new cabinet lineup! Thanks to President Yoweri Museveni for exercising his powers bestowed upon him by the Constitution consciously for the good functioning of the country. I appeal to the new appointees- and those retained- to keep their eyes on the mission and take the President’s trust as a shield to defend and protect Uganda’s future today.
Some questions have been asked by the public, and some people are wondering; what kind of reshuffle was this?
Long anticipated, many expected the President to make wide ranging changes in his cabinet. Instead, he made minor changes, adding new faces and removing some, while retaining the majority of the appointees of 2021.
First, it’s not a must that the President has to reshuffle his cabinet, once he has made the initial appointments soon after assuming a new term of office. The same team may serve a whole term, although that is rare. He makes changes so as to assemble the best team he needs to achieve a given objective and every passing year methods change, necessitating him to reconsider his lineup. He does that in consideration of what each member has to bring on board for the attainment of the greater goal. That’s why it’s important that appointees understand very well what it is that the Appointing Authority expects of them. It’s not a matter of taking positions, because anybody can fill a position. What is it that the appointee will do while in that position? That question should be answered by every member of cabinet, more so at the end of their tour of service. This applies to others appointed in the security forces and structures of Government.
Second, when the President changes his cabinet, he need not shake it up fundamentally. In the case of the 2021 cabinet, this is one named at the height of Covid-19 in the country. Some had been in the 2016 cabinet, during which Covid-19 emerged. These ministers worked with the President to steer the country and keep the economy resilient throughout the pandemic. Given that test, it’s no surprise that the President decided to retain most of them.
The other thing is that he termed his 2021 cabinet as one of “fishermen and fisherwomen.” Meaning-that he appointed them against the conventional thinking of “elitism and white collar” approaches to work but being field based and chiefly pro-people. The President best knew the import of that and by retaining the majority of ministers, it means that the 2021 crop has been “fishing” well.
In 2016, President issued 23 directives and guildelines for national development. These were reissued in 2021, alongside the NRM Manifesto. It’s these documents which every minister should arm themselves with in order to keep track of progress and gauge their contribution. Indeed, much has been achieved in all sectors, although critics are faster in pointing out what hasn’t been attended to or what is slow in coming. When you see critics Even when the mandate of weighing the effectiveness of the team is with the President, in whose steed as Chief Minister they serve, the appointees should do all it takes to prove their relevance to a point that critics will lack what to say.
Questioning why only minor changes have been made, it’s because to them nothing much has been achieved; that is to say, that the cabinet under review has underperformed. Following Manifesto timelines is one tool to assess performance of individuals as well as the Government structure. With the new digital tracking tool introduced by the Presidency through the Manifesto Implementation Unit (MIU), ministers can gauge themselves and compete with each other for best results. There is also a tendency to do things and keep them under wraps instead of publicising them for the public to be aware and give feedback on what has been done and what needs to be done. This is part of accountability which is a vital measure of effectiveness of any Government official.
I appeal to Permanent Secretaries to always furnish their ministers with information on what has been done in their dockets regularly so that the ministers, in concert with ministry publicists, can disseminate such information for public use.
At the district level, Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) should provide timely information to Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) who appear regularly in public media. District information officers should also share such information widely and assist RDCs in their public sensitisation roles. Ruling party publicists should supplement this effort in a bid to justify why their party was entrusted with national leadership ahead of others.
Why should government function in a media vacuum whereas the same government guarantees the media freedom and open space for everyone? If every official with mandate utilised public information channels to keep the nation updated the way the President does regularly and without prompting, the effectiveness of government structures would be appreciated more. Let’s do and say!
Also, is cabinet bloated? The answer depends on what each individual member of the team does with their deployment. I urge all ministers to avoid being part of the statistics but to add value to cabinet in a way that fasttracks Socioeconomic transformation of the country as entailed in the President’s vision for Uganda, and Africa.
I am also happy to note that for all the times I have known the President, I have never heard an allegation that he appointed someone after being bribed. He only appoints on merit! Therefore, every minister is competent and capable of standing out as a great contributor to national transformation as opposed to being regarded as a burden to the tax payer and a let down to the President.
The author is the Deputy Presidential Press Secretary
Contact: faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug
0776980486/0783990861
