Uganda needs institutional dev't in the next 5 years

By Ronald Twinamasiko

DURING the last week nominations, many people actively followed their beloved candidates to the nomination place amidst bad weather. The events that unfolded raised a debate among the people on as to who attracted the largest crowds.

This democratic indicator was a preliminary trajectory in the direction of Uganda’s future. While Kampala was mired into political business, the electorate was quick to identify their leaders, but didn’t know what these leaders would do for them.

It’s no longer news that most leaders who were elected to serve Ugandans in the last elections decided to “kick away the ladder”. Many leaders, after climbing the ladder, (through elections) and swore to be for the people, instead kicked away the ladder by serving their selfish interests.

What is most disappointing here is that most Ugandans are educated but not informed. This gap has been used by politicians to get into leadership.This game of ladder kicking has become so much of human nature to the “political haves” that many grass-root inhabitants started hopelessly to appreciate its extinction as impossible to achieve.

Some politicians, who were pro-development and were to poach bad governance, instead turned gamekeepers of the bad attributes.

The institutions through which they are implement public policies, have for long been rendered non-functional, at least if they are known to be present in existence. Decentralization of authority to the lower government has remained questionable as most districts, sub county governance structures possess no capacity, resources and structures to enhance desirable transformation.

Most national and sub national institutions have not been backed up by the right policies that Uganda boosts of. Institutional progress under the slogan “good authority” occupied the lips of many leaders but these leaders chose to be corrupt, defiant and ideological foot soldiers of their own interests-yet this remains central in the development policies for our nation.

The recent discourse that Uganda took compromised the abilities of its institutions to resolve concerns of youth unemployment, irrelevant education, poor health, food insecurity and human displacement.

Therefore, in the forthcoming elections for formidable transformation, Uganda today needs to focus and take time implementing policies while emphasizing the notion of “getting the institutions right”.

Development herein needs revitalizing our institutions with a set governance package including; a strong independent competent human resource, a clean and efficient bureaucracy and independent judiciary; strong protection of (private) property rights, information disclosure and well developed financial institutions.

These can flawlessly ensure good public finance system, provide social protection while labor institutions devise “safety nets” to protect the young generations’ rights. 

As we actively attend to the campaigns of the political aspirants, we should not be swayed away by meagre presence of crowds, nor seek to vote for just change of leader.

On the contrary, we should look beyond the change of guard, and place our focus on a collective decision for institutional re-development come February 2016.