“At least 60% of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) 2016-2021 manifesto has been implemented,” Willis Bashaasha, the director of the Manifesto Implementation Unit at the Office of the President, has said.
The Office of the President has also issued fresh guidelines to Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) to popularise the achievements through the media and also give an outline of the achievements to the public.
According to Yunus Kakande, the secretary of the Office of the President, three years into President Yoweri Museveni’s current term in office, there is a need to take stock of the 60% manifesto implementation achievements and let the public know that the Government has made major strides.
“We have asked RDCs to explain the Government manifesto to the people, especially the achievements, challenges, and mechanisms of implementing the remaining part. For instance, out of the 1,700 sub-counties in the country, only 428 don’t have a secondary school. This is a big achievement, but no one explains it to the public,” Kakande said,
He emphasized that RDCs and other government officials should start explaining and popularising government work so that citizens are aware of the progress and what is undertaken.
Kakande made the remarks during a meeting at the Cabinet Library at the Office of the President, which was convened to take stock of the implementation roadmap of the 40% uncompleted Government pledges that Museveni promised in 2016.
With hardly a year to the 2021 general elections, Bashaasha said the strategic meeting was summoned so that all government agencies, ministries and departments can factor into the 40% uncompleted pledges into their budget planning for the next financial year.
“Through the manifesto, we entered into a social contract with the people of Uganda to take the country to modernity, through job creation and inclusive development,” Bashaasha said, revealing that upcountry manifesto tours will kick off this month.
Bashaasha also pointed out challenges of corruption, limited resource envelope and land acquisition.
“One of the challenges that continue to hinder the implementation of our manifesto is the acquisition of land yet many of our pledges are hinged on land, especially power, industrial development, water coverage, railway, and road infrastructure,” he said.
Bashaasha added that the NRM manifesto is anchored on Vision 2040, the National Development Plan and the 23 strategic guidelines that Museveni issued in June 2016, highlighting the critical priority areas that need to be attended to, in order to achieve the pledges.
