The Senior Presidential Advisor-Special Duties and Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID), Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo has implored Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) and Resident City Commissioners (RCCs) to support Uganda’s export promotion initiative.
PACEID was commissioned by His Excellency, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on 16th March, 2022. It acts as a think tank that advises President Museveni on strategic and systemic interventions, aimed at accelerating exports growth and industrial development for national transformation.
He said the commissioners are part of the supply chain actors and they should work with the advisory committee to create awareness of the initiative to the other stakeholders like producers.
“We cannot do this without your support. We need support in the production data collection process, identify credible supply chain players and support the enforcement drive for sustainable quality,” he said.
Mr. Rwabwogo made the remarks today during the ongoing 3-day capacity building workshop for RDCs/RCCs, DRDCs/DRCCs, ARDCs/ARCCs, RISO and DISOs in Acholi sub-region being held at Bomah Hotel, Gulu City.
He said PACEID focuses on consolidating targeted export promotions and they aim to achieve USD6bn exports by 2028 and USD100bn exports by 2062.
“Exports are the only oxygen of the economy, the rest is carbon dioxide. This area needs serious people who are not focused on party colour but what is being produced. His Excellency the President wants to grow Uganda’s economy by 10-folds, USD500bn in the coming years,” Mr. Rwabwogo noted.
“PACEID is trying to create a bridge for Uganda to the world through capacity building.”
The Lamwo RDC also the Whip for RDCs in Acholi, Mr. Oceng Geoffrey Osborn assured Mr. Rwabwogo of their support to ensure that PACEID achieves its goal.
The former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Daudi Migereko informed the RDCs that they hold very important positions in their areas of jurisdiction because they represent His Excellency, the President.
“When people see you, they assume that they will get a response that is near to the one they would have received from the Foundation of Honour. To ensure that your word carries the weight of a person who represents the fountain of honour, you need to behave in a way that brings out the proper image of the President,” he advised.
“You cannot be the President’s representative when your character is doubtable. You should also be presentable.”
Hon. Migereko further advised the commissioners that before they go to the field to carry out mobilisation, they should need to have supporting documents like the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, the NRM Manifesto, Local Government Act, the National Development Plan III, Land Act and the Annual Budget, to guide them on what to do.
“You must be well informed so that the people don’t doubt you. Study these documents and understand them.”
He also noted that the first area of mobilisation is peace and security.
“Here, we used to have a lot of problems with insurgency and I want to congratulate you, insurgency is now behind us. But you must now work day and night to ensure that peace, security and tranquillity is maintained. For Uganda to be peaceful, some people had to work hard. Now you have been put to task on this exercise here, anything that goes wrong, you are answerable,” the former Minister said.
“During the insurgency, people refused to vote NRM because of insecurity but when peace and security came in place in the area, the story changed; people started voting NRM overwhelmingly. For the matter of peace and security, anything that is brought to the table is important. You must address it.”
Furthermore, Hon. Migereko advised the Commissioners to make good use of Local Council (LC) structure in their areas, saying that this will make their mobilisation work very easy particularly on the side of security.
He also rallied the participants to economically empower the people they lead by sensitising them to embrace government poverty alleviation programs like Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga.
“As a member of the District Planning Committee, your say is very important. Our real challenge today is fighting poverty and unemployment and for any program you discuss in the District Planning Committee, find out the development it brings to the district as far as fighting unemployment and poverty are concerned,” Hon. Migereko said.
“We must give our people an opportunity to be educated. Make UPE and USE part of your mobilisation.”
The Principal Human Resource Officer, Office of the President, Mr. Herbert Atuheire lectured the commissioners on the terms and conditions of service in the public service. He revealed that the Public Service terms and conditions of service are regulations, rules and procedures which govern the public service.
“Terms are expectations of an employee from the employer e.g. payment of work. Whereas conditions are expectations of employers from the employee,” he said.
Mr. Atuheire advised the commissioners to perform to the required standards and read relevant laws, regulations and guidelines in force to ensure that they are not found on the wrong side of the law as far as the terms and conditions of service are concerned.
“Consult widely and get along well with colleagues and senior officers/mentors. All this is done in the interest of having an enjoyable service life,”he said.
On the other hand, the Head of the RDC Secretariat, Maj. Martha Asiimwe highlighted the objectives of the capacity building workshop. She said the workshop aims to remind the Commissioners of their core mandate of supervision, monitoring, service delivery and effective representation of the Central Government.
“It’s also meant to equip you with more appropriate skills and tools to enhance your operations in your areas of jurisdiction/operation. The engagements are continuous,” Maj. Martha said.
Through these workshops, the Head of the RDC Secretariat revealed that the commissioners are refocused to critical and prioritised government projects and programs to achieve their ultimate goals.
“We also remind you that you must teach the gospel of peace and unity and the promotion of Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.”
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