The Senior Presidential Advisor- Industry, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde has advised the recently appointed Assistant Resident District Commissioners (ARDCs) and Assistant Resident City Commissioners (ARCCs) that they should be able to balance politics and public service if they want to serve Ugandans effectively.
“Despite being a political appointee, you have to balance political and social and remember with mobilization you are supposed to bring everybody on board,” Hon. Kyambadde said.
The former Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives made the remarks today while addressing Assistant RDCs/ RCCs who are undergoing a two-week induction training at the National Leadership Institute (NALI), Kyankwanzi.
Hon. Kyambadde also urged the commissioners to work towards ensuring that they help Ugandans to move out poverty though sensitizing them to embrace government’s poverty alleviation programs.
“When you go on the ground you will find that people are poor, take special interest, don’t just stay in the city, go there and operate from the villages,” she said.
“When I was a legislator, I used to feel bad that I could not save all people from poverty. Sometimes I was forced to look for resources to do the needful. You should use the media to disseminate information about government programs,” she added.
Hon. Kyambadde further cautioned the trainees against corruption, saying that they should to all they can to fight the vice.
“You are about to meet corruption tendencies; it is you to now resist because that person who corrupts you, will use that against you. Don’t think he is giving you his money in good faith; he will work against you. Facilitation from the people is also corruption. Why do you ask for facilitation to do the government work?” she inquired, before advising the Assistant RDCs to desist from creating rift among themselves.
She said: “Work together because your roles are specified. How you relate with each other is very important. All those people are pillars of influence, find a way of working amicably with them because you need them and they also need you. Work as a team to achieve success, meetings are very important because once you share information, you cannot fail.”
On the issue of accountability, Hon. Kyambadde informed the commissioners that they should write reports every month to show what they have achieved because people need to know what they have done.
“They need to know what kind of person are you, are you hardworking or not? And in order to be efficient, you should be an example of emulation, exude positive energy for you and your team, feedback is key, meetings are important, be purposeful and decisive.”
The Deputy Director General of ISO, Col. Emmy Katabazi said the Assistant RDCs and RCCs should appreciate the various security, political and socio-economic challenges of Uganda in order to prepare them be part of a solution towards effective service delivery for socio-economic transformation.
He further noted that national security concerns are not only a preserve of the military, police, intelligence agencies or other particular professions but it requires the efforts of all the national instruments of power [political, economic ,military] within the nation-state including the leaders.
“You cannot be a complete political/civic leader unless you are fully aware and appreciate your country’s strategic and national interests, aspects of national security as well as the threats to those interests,” Col. Katabazi stressed.
He also revealed that a country’s strategic interests are its national objectives and they must be promoted by all means possible.
“According to H.E the President and Commander in chief of the Armed Forces, the strategic goal of Uganda is to be prosperous by modernizing and causing metamorphosis of the Uganda society into a middle class and skilled working class and eventually into a knowledge-based society. This is well reflected in the NRM ideology that emphasizes patriotism, pan- Africanism , prosperity through socio-economic transformation and democracy,” he said.
Col. Katabazi noted that as leaders, the Assistant RDCs are duty bound to all the time actively contribute to the promotion and maintenance of good governance and security.
“Anything hostile to our national interest and strategic interests and values is regarded as a threat. The security and intelligence services are therefore obliged to defend and protect Uganda’s national interests at all costs as peer their oath of allegiance.”
On the other hand, the Assistant Commissioner- National Guidance- Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Mr. Bakalikwira JJ told the trainees that the National Vision as approved by cabinet in 2007 aims to transform Ugandan society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years.
“The national vision is a dream of our people to which we must live instead of being focused on the ideas we think are good for them. It is precise, ambitious enough to inspire and guide national development within a time frame,” he said.
Mr. Bakalikwira also noted that in order to achieve this vision, the country needs a critical team of cadres to popularize it.
Uganda’s national vision inspires and promotes effective participation of the citizenry in the fulfilment of the national transformation agenda. It also empowers citizens’ responsiveness to national interest, national values and the common good.”
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