Museveni, RDCs hold closed talks at State House

President Yoweri Museveni and over 200 Residential District Commissioners (RDCs) were on Tuesday locked in closed-door talks on a number of issues at State House, Entebbe.

The meeting, chaired by Museveni, started at 2:00 pm and comes after a week-long training of the RDCs on a wide range of issues, including the NRM ideology at the National Leadership Institute, Kyankwanzi.

Although State House invited the media for the meeting, sources said that RDCs requested for a closed meeting in order to candidly table their concerns before the President.

RDCs, who are representatives of the President in districts, also chair the district security committees.

While addressing RDCs at Kyankwanzi on February 25, the secretary general of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), Justine Kasule Lumumba, issued a number of guidelines to the RDCs, including the need to closely monitor road equipment that government gives to districts.

"The position of an RDC requires the holder to be well grounded ideologically and act as the eyes and ears of the NRM government. All the guidance you give in your respective districts must be guided by the political compass of NRM," Lumumba said.

Lumumba said the constitutional mandate of the RDCs as enshrined under Article 203 of the Constitution, must be followed to the letter.

"The RDCs are expected to regularly provide feedback to government on issues related but not limited to service delivery.

Guarding against environmental degradation, encroachment on wetlands, deforestation and poaching of wildlife are the other roles that Lumumba urged RDCs to execute vigilantly.

"As chairpersons of the security committees in your respective districts, fight the escalating crime in your areas in order to curb the influx of criminality," she said.