The Ruling National Resistance Movement party leadership has called on the government to amend the Local Government Act to incorporate party leaders across all levels. This according to the party Deputy Secretary General Hon. Namayanja Rose Nsereko, will help the party have an input into policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Namayanja said that as a ruling party, they are lobbying government through the Ministry of Local Government and the Parliament to make an amendment to the Local Government Act to allow party chairpersons from district to parish levels sit in councils as ex-officials just like the Secretary General who sits in cabinet.
The NRM Deputy Secretary General made the remarks while meeting party leaders from the seven sub-counties that make up Mpigi district. The leaders were led by the NRM chairperson John Bosco Lubyayi Sseguya at the district headquarters.
The meeting was meant to draw a new strategy on how to plan and implement the NRM manifesto in Mpigi district in particular and the central region at large.
Namayanja blamed failure of government programs on elected leaders and technocrats who she said, have become centres of corruption and compromise, rather than working for the ordinary people.
She further directed the district party leaders to start compiling reports that detail all government programs in all sectors that are under implementation, those that have been completed and those that have stalled and forward them to the party headquarters quarterly to ensure that they follow up working with line ministries, agencies and departments. She added that the NRM will closely monitor the implementation of its manifesto right from top leadership to the village level by identifying what has been achieved and what has failed.
"This should be part of your mandate as leaders in the ruling party since failure by these programs directly impacts on the performance of your party during general elections. We are not going to wait for the manifesto implementation week but this time round we are moving up to the grassroot to monitor these programs,” Namayanja told the NRM leaders.
Concerning the recently proposed land amendments, Namayanja assured all people that government had made wide consultations taking unto account all concerns of all parties involved. She added that once completed, government will come up with a new position.
She however attributed land grabbing, especially in the central region to LC chairpersons and concerned technocrats at sub counties and districts who she said are bribed to connive with the land grabbers and end up rendering the owners landless.
"Iam aware that some chairpersons are literally selling stamps to the wealthy and the powerful for their personal material gain which must stop," Namayanja said.
The Deputy NRM Secretary General told Mpigi leaders to welcome and directly involve themselves in all government programs especially those that are aimed at poverty alleviation like Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Emyooga for specialized sectors and the Parish Development Model. She said these programs will uplift many people from subsistence to commercial production.
During the meeting, the NRM leaders raised several challenges that affect their work ranging from limited support from the secretariat, internal bickering and inadequate information about the available government programs.
Responding to some of their concerns, Namayanja promised to work with officials from Office of the Prime Minister to avail every information concerning government programs.
The district leaders led by Hon Lubyayi John Bosco applauded Hon. Namayanja for listening and addressing their issues, saying such engagements show the party leadership thinks about them.
They further pledged to work hand in hand with leaders at all levels to make sure government programs benefit all Ugandans.