Agency leaders to boost publicity of govt achievements

A union of various government agencies has mutually agreed to enhance the publicity of their achievements thus far, stating that President Yoweri Museveni-led administration has done a lot but not all of it has been duly publicised.

This was revealed Tuesday (September 9) during a fourth meeting of leaders of government agencies held at State House Investors’ Protection Unit (SHIPU) offices in Kampala.

It was chaired by Dr Barirega Akankwasah, the executive director of National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

Gloria Sebikari, Manager Corporate Affairs, Petroleum Authority of Uganda speaking during the meeting. (Credit: PPU)

“Some Ugandans are not even aware that Uganda has a second international airport (Kabaale)," said Willis Bashaasha, the director of Manifesto Implementation Unit.
"Government agencies should commit more of their budgets towards communication to publicise these government achievements in all the local languages spoken and widely understood in places like West Nile and the Rwenzori sub-region."

Bashaasha's recommendation was met with endorsement from among the leaders, who mutually agreed that there is a need to step up efforts to ensure that all Ugandans from various dialects and all age groups are notified about government achievements in the languages that they are most fluent in.

On his part, Barirega suggested a testimonial approach of government beneficiaries to further tell these stories and also involvement of digital media platforms in propelling the message to far-flung corners of the country and the globe, as well as embracing social media influencers to drive this agenda.

Dr. Barirega Akankwasah, PhD, Executive Director National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) who chaired the meeting making his remarks. (Credit: PPU)

“We pledge to continue,” said Barirega in response to Bashaasha’s call to enhance the impact of these regular meetings.

He acknowledged the importance of having customised messages intended for various audiences such as the elites, youths, children, women and farmers, as well as other social or professional groupings in the most effective way possible.

“This information should be tailored for the various audiences that we seek to target. We have a plan to do a dissemination exercise on traditional media and social media platforms, but also baraazas under the Musevenomics concept. You are advised to use your PR officers to publicise what you are doing,” said Barirega.

The meeting attracted over 12 executives from the various government bodies who discussed a variety of cross-cutting issues. 

Mercy Kainobwisho, Registrar General of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) speaking during the meeting.

During her presentation, Gloria Sebikari, Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU)’s Corporate Affairs Manager, explained in detail the key activities being undertaken by the government in the Albertine region and shared key figures and statistics about the petroleum sector, which her entity regulates.

“The first production project is Kingfisher, which includes four oil fields. The estimated investment is about three billion dollars, all the land for this project was secured, and the project affected persons were compensated, relocated, and some are undergoing livelihood restoration. The overall project progress is over 80 per cent,” she said.

Sebikari told the leaders that Tilenga is the second project with similar facilities but on a much larger scale for producing six oil fields; it's about 57 per cent complete.

Among the mega achievements she highlighted were employment opportunities of over 17,000 jobs who are directly employed with 63 per cent of these Ugandans in management positions, while 93 per cent occupy technical roles and 98 per cent of the Ugandan workforce in support roles.

Willis Bashasha, Director NRM Manifesto Implementation Unit, in the Office of the President, remarking.

Another 35,000 Ugandans are indirectly employed through these oil exploration activities, while another 100,000 are induced jobs.

On his part, Osborn Turyasingura, the secretary at the National Secretariat for Special Interest Groups, who also doubles as the KCCA urban division councillor, said there is a need to engage the young people to update them about the government’s accomplishments. He narrated how he recently attended a meeting in Lira that attracted over 1,000 people who were very inquisitive about government activities.

“How do we engage all these universities, women and youth who have structures from the village up to the national level?” he asked.

Mercy Kainobwisho, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) Registrar General, commended the petroleum sector for the growth, saying there is a lot of development happening in the oil resource centres. 

She also noted that URSB recently set up an office in Hoima, which is doing so well.