Babalanda lauds Kabaka as govt, Mengo forge new development pact

She also commended the Buganda Kingdom for its hospitality, noting that it has welcomed Ugandans from all parts of the country to settle, work, and contribute to the region's development, making it a key pillar of Uganda's socio-economic growth.

The leaders emphasised the need for the two institutions to anchor their cooperation on the National Resistance Movement's (NRM) core principles of patriotism, Pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation, and democracy.

However, she urged Ugandans to embrace and actively participate in government programmes, saying the renewed cooperation between the Kingdom and the central government should provide an opportunity to accelerate public participation in these initiatives.

"From this engagement, it became clear that both the Government and the Buganda Kingdom share many values that will strengthen and guide our partnership. For instance, we learnt that the Kabaka is deeply passionate about work and development, which explains why the Buganda Kingdom has established several development and poverty eradication initiatives, such as BUCADEF. This aligns well with President Museveni's wealth creation agenda and programmes like the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga, among others," Babalanda said.

The Minister thanked the Katikkiro, Charles Peter Mayiga, for highlighting people-centred issues that require government attention.

"I thank the Katikkiro for raising important issues that affect ordinary Ugandans. His concerns regarding public transport, corruption, health, agriculture and ICT are critical and demonstrate that the Kingdom is keenly aware of the challenges we collectively face as a nation," she said.

She welcomed the fact that, rather than merely criticising the central government, the Katikkiro proposed practical solutions to the challenges he highlighted.

"We are encouraged by his solutions-oriented message, and we pledge to present these proposals to the President. The good thing is that these are issues the President has consistently been addressing throughout his leadership, although in this term he has placed particular emphasis on the fight against corruption," the Minister added.

The meeting also agreed on measures to deepen the partnership. As part of the follow-up engagements, Buganda Kingdom chiefs will pay a courtesy call on the President, while the government delegation will hold a separate meeting with Buganda royals, including princes and princesses, to explore additional areas of cooperation and shared development.

‘President Museveni committed to supporting cultural leaders’  — Alupo

During the meeting, Vice President Jessica Alupo, who led the government delegation, reaffirmed President Museveni's commitment to supporting cultural leaders and institutions, describing them as key partners in the country's socio-economic transformation agenda.

Alupo revealed that after meeting Buganda Kingdom chiefs, the President also intends to convene a special meeting with all cultural leaders at the level of kings to discuss the country's future and ways of advancing the NRM's vision of empowering all Ugandans.

Katikkiro Mayiga welcomes Minister Babalanda, among others to the function on Tuesday

She equally applauded the Buganda Kingdom for its hospitality, saying it has enabled Ugandans from different regions to settle in the central region and contribute to national development.

Meanwhile, the Katikkiro emphasised the urgent need to intensify the fight against corruption, noting that the vice has undermined the implementation of government programmes that would otherwise have benefited Ugandans.

He expressed concern that corruption has weakened the supervision of government programmes by allowing incompetent individuals to occupy critical public service positions that they are unable to manage effectively.

According to the Katikkiro, these inefficiencies have resulted in the loss of public funds, thereby slowing the country's much-needed socio-economic transformation.