The Minister of Public Service, Wilson Muruli Mukasa has blamed the Cabinet for delaying the processes of merging government agencies.
Last September, Cabinet, in a meeting with President Museveni at State House, agreed to merge dozens of government agencies.
The move was aimed at reorganising and realigning government functions. According to President Museveni, merging these agencies was also aimed at preventing duplication of roles and wastage of public resources.
“Why have an Agency when you have a department of government dealing with the same area of responsibility? Why have an Authority when you have a department of government dealing with the same area of responsibility? Why have Boards for money-consuming units rather than money generating units?” the President asked then.
The Justice Ministry then prepared an omnibus bill to be introduced in Parliament, establishing the agencies that the Cabinet decided to dissolve or merge.
However, the Cabinet has not yet approved the bill which stipulates how everything will be implemented.
While addressing journalists at a budget conference workshop aimed at highlighting the ministry’s performance, Mukasa said that the implementation time table for the merging is still lacking which must come from the Cabinet.
“Those that require changes in the law we hope to have an omnibus law which will allow such changes. However, we still have another battle of budget financing regarding the mergers. This is a little bit slow because of the Cabinet’s pace,” he said in Kampala.
He added that the entire process would have taken three years but because one year has elapsed without anything achieved.
Some of the agencies to be dissolved include;
Uganda National Roads Authority, Uganda Road Fund, Uganda Railways Corporation, Transport Licensing Board, Uganda Registration Services Bureau, Uganda Electricity Generation Co Limited, Uganda Electricity Transmission Co Limited, Uganda Electricity Distribution Co Limited, Rural Electrification Agency.
Others are Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board, Departed Asians Properties Custodian Board, National Agricultural Advisory Services Org, Uganda Trypanosomiasis Control Council, Dairy Development Authority, Uganda Coffee Development Authority.
Cotton Development Organisation, National Identification & Registration Authority, NGO Bureau, National Information Technology Authority, Uganda Aids Commission, National Drug Authority, Uganda Blood Transfusion Services, Uganda Industrial Research Institute, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Uganda Land Commission.
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