Shame as SIM card registration exposes poor management

Gen Kaleke Tiyagasi was a prince of the Kingdom of Zamunda. Although his official title was Prince Beloved, the rumour in town was that his claim to a princely title was by loyalty, not royalty.

Now, Prince Beloved Kaleke Tiyagasi was responsible for the national security of the Kingdom of Zamunda. As is commonplace with such people, inevitably power went to his head

A man more disposed to show off the exercise of imperial raw power than work for the security of the people of Zamunda, Prince Beloved Tiyagasi could not request for a face-to-face meeting with the head of a statutory agency responsible for inter-people communication. He just called.

So, Prince Beloved Tiyagasi called and ordered the executive director to initiate a process where all the people of Zamunda would register their SIM (Simplified Information Management) cards based on the particulars of one’s National ID.

As if on cue, the executive director ordered the industry players to re-register all their clients’ SIM cards basing on the particulars of national ID of their individual clients. Unfortunately for the executive director’s, the cabinet minister responsible for inter-personal communications has to be on the mailing list of any correspondence going out of the statutory body.

So, the minister learnt about Prince Beloved Tiyagasi’s order when he received a copy of the correspondence to industry players.

The minister stifles his anger but takes it easy. He thinks this can be pulled off; so he reluctantly offers a no-objection to the re-registration exercise.

Meanwhile, Prince Beloved Gen. Kaleke Tiyagasi did not even bother to inform his line minister. And the minister’s first time to learn about the re-registration exercise is from the media (actually social media).

“No need for alarm, these things are common here,” the minister muses. He just prays such an action does not boomerang to the extent of needing ministerial guidance.

“And oh yes, a stupid journalist may ask whether the minister was familiar with the re-registration order or a stupid Member of Parliament may ask the minister to make a statement about the exercise on the floor of parliament,” the minister for Internal Security grits his teeth as he calls Gen Tiyagasi a bully.
When the popular outcry against the re-registration exercise reached fever pitch bordering on rebellion, someone had to do the dirty work to save the situation.

The prime minister intervened: He directed the executive director of the statutory agency to extend the deadline for the re-registration exercise.

But you can always detect a poorly managed bureaucracy. The prime minister wrote directly to the executive director. In normal circumstances, the prime minister should have directed the minister who would in turn would have directed the executive director. But Zamunda is Zamunda!

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What happened to the people of Zamunda a long time ago was recently visited on Ugandans. Police ordered UCC to order telecom companies to re-register all their clients using particulars of their national IDs. And an unrealistic deadline of seven days was issued.

In normal circumstances, IGP Gen Kale Kayihura should have convinced his minister about the need for using national ID data for SIM card registration.

The minister would have taken this idea to cabinet and a cabinet resolution drawn and adopted. The resolution would have been handed to the minister responsible for communication to implement.

The minister responsible for communication would then have directed UCC to implement the directive. This way, the whole cabinet would be in support.

But the spectacle of the prime minister crossing over to come and clear UCC’s dirt is scandalous to say the least; much more scandalous when UCC refers to me as their client. Guys, who is in control? Shame!

Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of East African Flagpost.