Three-year contracts for public servants

 By Moses Mulondo  

The NRM leaders have resolved to subject every public servant to a three-year performance agreement. It will only be renewed on the basis of good performance as one of the measures for curbing the escalating vice of corruption in public offices.

“On Friday, we widely discussed the various measures that need to be undertaken to curb corruption. The NRM leaders resolved that performance contracts for all public servants be introduced by July,” the NRM Parliament caucus vice-chairman, David Bahati said.

During the retreat at kyankwanzi, Makerere University economist Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba presented a paper containing recommendations on what the government should do to bring down corruption. The introduction of performance contracts is among the recommendations he made.

Nuwagaba called upon the government to emulate Singapore, which has the best performing public service in the world, because every public servant in the country is subjected to a performance contract. And that performance contract is renewed on the basis of good performance.

The professor also proposed the need for re-engineering government processes to pull down corruption due to bureaucracies at the technical level.

He also informed the President and the NRM members that whereas it takes only two steps and three days for a factory to be registered in Rwanda, in Uganda the process takes 18 steps and over 25 days.

Nuwagaba also proposed that the tendering process should always involve the general public especially the community to benefit from the service, to promote transparency and to ensure that there is value for money from the contracts.

The Makerere don also urged the government to empower the citizens to play an oversight role in fighting corruption by holding the leaders they elect accountable.

Government was also advised to undertake measures to change the work ethics and attitude of public servants to make them more committed to their work. He solidified his recommendation with the example of private schools, where, despite the fact that teachers are less paid than those who work in government schools, the level of teacher absenteeism is less.

“The working ethic of Uganda’s public servants is too poor. There is a lot of negligence and absenteeism. That is why despite having good policies and programmes, the implantation is very poor,” Nuwagaba argued.

Both the President and the Prime Minister were impressed by Nuwagaba’s presentation which started at around 4:00pm and ended at 10:00pm and promised to implement all the proposals.

The NRM leaders resolved that the fate of Syda Bbumba and Khiddu Makubuya would be decided after the Parliament Public Accounts Committee produces its report on the two ministers.

Several NRM MPs including the ethics minister Simon Lokogo and NRM deputy spokesperson have been calling for the resignation of the two ministers over reports that they inflated the amount of money for compensation of businessman Hassan Bassajabalaba.

The NRM spokesperson and information minister Mary Karooro Okurut told New Vision that the party leaders on Saturday discussed the internal dynamics of the party, including the party’s corporate pal, the code of conduct and revolutionary methods of work.

Other sources revealed that the party leaders also resolved that Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo should be summoned to the party’s disciplinary committee for going against what the party has agreed upon.

The process will be handled by the Third Deputy Prime Minister, Moses Ali.