The Minister In-charge of Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda has advised the new board members of Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation (UPPC) to work with the management team to move the corporation forward.
The Minister made the call today while officiating at the inauguration ceremony of the new UPPC board members at the Office of the President in Kampala.
The eight (8) member board include; Mr. Joachim Buwembo (Chairman), Mr. Sadat Kisuyi, Ms. Jolly Kamugira Kaguhangire, Ms. Alice N. K. Muhoozi, Mr. Andrew Kibaya, Ms. Hellen Icumar Judith, Mr. Jimmy Karugaba and Mr. Nooh Bukenya.
In 2021, the Presidency Minister who is the overall supervisor of UPPC, sent the former board members packing
Hon. Babalanda said the new board should ensure that they work on restructuring UPPC especially by filling the key positions with substantive staff and deal with the gaps created following the transition of the corporation from Government Printers to UPPC.
“We are now glad the new Board has been appointed and I take the opportunity to congratulate you upon your appointment.You should set business targets and work towards providing modern machinery and equipment for the corporation,” she said.
The Minister also revealed that identifying the new Board members was not an easy task since they a long list of nominees, probably in hundreds proposed by Ministers and Government stakeholders; yet they had only eight slots and even at that, the President proposed that they fill only three for reasons of cost of maintaining a large Board and on the account of a corrupt board in the past.
“We nonetheless got you and for this you need to congratulate yourselves.For sure, if it was not for the UPPC Act that insist on having eight members, we would be here sitting with only three of you,” she remarked.
Hon. Babalanda further cautioned the board members against corruption and embezzlement.
“There is even a temptation to think that there is a lot of money at the UPPC ready to be shared.I want to deflate these hopes. There is actually no idle money at the UPPC because we need to first generate this money. We need to be able to generate this money using our expertise, ideas and networks,”she stated, adding,” Right from the word Go; We need to fight the very weak attitude that as Board we have to grab and share every coin that is made by the corporation. So, if we do this, how can we even talk of the UPPC of tomorrow?We have come here to help UPPC make money and not to help ourselves with UPPC money.”
Hajji Yunus Kakande, the Secretary in the Office of the President said the President attaches a lot of importance to the UPPC, the reason he; in 2016 had to look for a German investor to come to invest in UPPC which resulted in a merger. In this merger (Uganda Security Printing Company) government has 51% shares and the German consortium Veridos (41%).
“Already, that merger is bearing fruits. A year from now, all our passports, and driving licenses will be printed here. Every year Uganda loses a lot of money in printing. UPPC has a very bright future than it has been having because it’s now merging with a foreign company for 15 years. After 15 years, the Germans will leave and the factory will revert to Uganda.”
He also called for team work among the board members and the management team.
“You should guide and help the management to achieve the goals of UPPC. You should work towards developing the corporation. Work as a team and build a core relationship with the management; you will be able to achieve success,” Hajji Kakande said.
“UPPC has a brighter future than it has been having and 10 years from now this organization will be among the biggest in Uganda,” he added.
Hajji Kakande also tasked the board to ensure that they work towards making revenue that will sustain the corporation.
“Tighten your belts and make sure this company makes revenue. We must make sure that we must not fail since we also have a good partner (Veridos). The organization itself must make money to buy its equipment, not asking money from the consolidated fund.”
On his part, the board Chairman, Mr. Buwembo thanked the Presidency Minister and the Office of the President for appointing and entrusting them with the responsibility of running a very important organ of the state.
“I pledge on behalf of the board that we shall give all our energy to empower and move this organization forward.We have three years as of now, we must ensure that we grow UPPC leveraging digital technology,”Mr. Buwembo assured Hon. Babalanda.
“We pledge to do everything within the law that is why we have lawyers on the board.”
The Acting Managing Director of UPPC, Mr. Kenneth Oluka expressed gratitude towards the Office of the President for appointing a new board, saying they have been facing challenges to operate without a board.
“We thank the office of the President for standing in to help us in our operations during the time we had no board. The Hon. Minister and Hajji Kakande advised and guided us.We want to appreciate you because you ensured that business went on during that time,”he said.
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