NRM Manifesto: Steady progress, a year later

Manifesto implementation on course, says NRM

Today marks one year since President Yoweri Museveni took oath of offi ce for a fi fth term. In the run-up to the February 12 general election, the National Resistance Movement produced a manifesto which aims at taking Uganda to modernity through job-creation and inclusive development. The key commitments in the manifesto include strengthening security, Good governance and democracy, employment and macro-economic stability, agriculture, industry, tourism, human Capital development, health, infrastructure development for competitiveness, trade, sustainable harnessing of natural resources, public and private sector institutional development, international and regional co-operation. The New Vision, in a series of articles in this special report, assesses the progress so far and highlights areas that require support and improvements. To set the stage PASCAL KWESIGA sounded out the director of the NRM manifesto implementation unit, Willis Bashaasha, to give an insight into what has been going on behind the scenes

It is a year since President Yoweri Museveni was sworn in for another term in offi ce. Is there anything to celebrate in terms of translating his manifesto commitments into action?

Absolutely. Most of the work plans of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have been aligned with his manifesto commitments, and budgets have been put in place to implement the manifesto. We are going to have the manifesto implementation week for the different MDAs to inform the public through the media about the implementation status.

Is there any tangible progress beyond aligning work plans and budgets of MDAs with the manifesto?

That is why we are calling the actual players. We are calling about eight MDAs to give us the implementation status, especially those implementing the fl agship projects. It will be an interactive process and will provide us with an opportunity to know what has so far been done under the different MDAs. After that, we can fi nd out whether there is cause for celebration or not.

When will this be?

It will start from today, to the 19th of this month. The MDAs will give their implementation status to the public through the media at Uganda Media Centre. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THIS STORY

 Security intact, but sporadic criminality worries Ugandans

By Pascal Kwesiga

In the still of the night, on April 27, criminals armed with machetes and clubs raided residential areas in Kisota in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb, broke into houses, at a time when most of the occupants were asleep.

In some cases, they mugged their victims who tried to put up a fight, but they (occupants) were overwhelmed and their household property was stolen by the criminals.

In one incident, the marauding thugs during a raid recorded between 2:00am and 4:00am raped a lady who was living alone in a rented room.

"I was raped by three men. I had no idea that some people had broken into the house until I noticed that one of them was trying to rape me. They raped me in turns," a rape victim said.

The incidents happened in an area located between two Police posts, with one of them a few metres after an intersection at Kisaasi on the Northern Bypass.

But the Police had no idea the residents in a stone's throw away from them were attacked until complaints were filed in the morning of April 28.

"There are many thugs in this area, but we have not been able to get any so far. But we shall put them out action once we get them," a Police officer at one of the posts, threatened. But the residents in the area have an idea on who the thugs that terrorise them could be.

"We suspect it is a group of men we see around spending all their time during day smoking marijuana and performing gymnastic feats in this area. They do not work. All they do is to smoke all day," a landlord, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said.

The UPDF continues to shine by discharging the mandate of protecting territorial integrity

The landlord says the suspects would have been reported to the LCI officials if the village local administrative structures were operating legally and had the legal mandate.

"In the past, suspected criminals would be reported to the LCI committee members, who helped control crime. Today, criminals are going about their business freely because there are no LCIs," he adds.

Such is the dilemma Kampala dwellers in some suburbs have to deal with every day in the absence of LCI system, which was effective in controlling crime in villages in the 1990s.

The situation highlights the fact that while national security has remained intact one year into President Yoweri Museveni's current five-year term, personal security leaves a lot to be desired.

The Government has almost defeated all the armed groups that declared war on Uganda in the past, but the criminal gangs. Although not armed with rifles, they are currently terrorising the people, presenting serious security concerns for the population. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THIS STORY

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