Shining light on HR systems in pursuit of middle-income

Target. Moses Arinaitwe’s book argues that emphasis has to be put on developing human resource capacities for Uganda to achieve a middle income status.
photo by Godfrey Lugaaju

Attaining middle-income status by 2020 has been the current government’s ambitious promise over the past decade. There, however, have been concerns that the country has ignored the development of human resource capacities that are very critical if this is to be achieved.
In a new book titled: Creating Human Resource Systems for attaining Middle Income Status, A case for Uganda, HumanResource specialist Moses Arinaitwe attempts to shine the light on the importance of human resource capacities in the push for middle income status.
In a nutshell, the book argues that no country can mutate into the much-coveted middle income bracket without the backbone of a thoroughly developed human resource system.
The book gives an evolution of Uganda’s human resource (HR) capacities from the pre-colonial era to the early post-independence period that was blighted by internal strife, leaving a budding human resource generation decimated by conflict and forced into exile.

Developing human resource
If the middle-income feat is to be pulled off, the book argues, that emphasis has to be put on developing human resource capacities to align with the five transformation sectors.
“With stronger HR systems created in these sectors, the production and utilisation of the eight skilled human capital in the right numbers, with the right experiences, attitude and drive for innovation will result in impactful transformational effects,” the book argues.
Stronger HR systems will increase Uganda’s competitiveness and productivity with excellent acquisition, deployment, management, retention and meaningful exit strategies for existing qualified professionals.

Human capital
The book contends that where HR systems are stronger, the available human capital will contribute effectively to the design, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of relevant development programmes to spur the growth of GDP while containing population growth.
Examples of African countries like Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana and Ghana that were able to propel to middle-income status even without outstanding natural resources are testimony to the wonders that effective human resource systems can do.
“The fact that they were not especially highly endowed with resources presents critical experiences and lessons that the rest of the countries aspiring to join the middle income status bracket can learn from, especially in the area of creating and strengthening HR systems as the key drivers in attaining middle-income status,” writes Arinaitwe.
The key thrusts in the human resource sector for Uganda to attain middle-income status is the constitution of the public service review and reorganisation commission, privatisation of public enterprises, liberalisation of the economy and institutionalisation of policies paved way for the beginning of attainment of middle income status.