Govt to scrap key agencies

A proposed law under which government plans to scrap at least 25 of what were, until now, very large and self-accounting agencies, has finally found its way to Parliament.

A Bill for the law was yesterday placed on Parliament’s Order Paper, five years after Cabinet first recognised that Uganda could no longer afford the high cost of running the agencies. 

The decision to effect a draw down, including among powerful statutory authorities, was enforced by a realisation that “the high cost of administering the agencies has drained the national treasury at the expense of effective service delivery”, introductory notes to the coming law say. 

Informed sources have recently told Daily Monitor that looming lay-offs will cost the country about Shs80 billion in severance pay, but ultimately save the country almost one trillion shillings currently spent annually on the wage bill. 

Once the Bill is formally introduced, MPs will have the final say on which agency or authority is scrapped, with thousands of employees due to be laid off.

Mr Wilson Muruli Mukasa, the minister of Public Service, is expected to table the Bill and guide it through what promises to be a minefield of vested political and other interests hell-bent on defending their turf. 

Drafting of the Rationalisation of Government Agencies (Repeals and Amendments) Bill, 2023, has been shrouded in speculation, reportedly faced desperate lobbying, and will now see giants such as the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) phased out. 

Like others similarly affected, Unra will then be returned to its mother ministry of Works and Transport as a department, a radical but necessary decision government says will put an end to costly duplication of services. 

Already, the list of bodies on the chopping block seems significantly shorter than what was initially indicated two years ago, sharply dropping from about 60 to what is included in the proposed law – something partly attributed to the lobbying efforts of interested parties.

The minister informs the House in his preamble that over the years, there has been “a proliferation of agencies established by Acts of Parliament, Executive Orders and administrative arrangements”, which was mostly necessary due to the “critical nature of the functions they perform”. 

He, however, also acknowledges that “government has established that a certain limited number of agencies were established without due consideration to the aspects of institutional harmony, functional duplications, overlaps and affordability”.

“More importantly, the proliferation of agencies has created mandate overlaps and jurisdictional ambiguities among the agencies…,” the Bill notes observe, pointing out that “[the high cost of running them] has overstretched the capacity of government to sustain them”. 

Even more critical, the proposed law notes say “government has also established that the generous salary structures of the agencies has created salary disparities between employees of the agencies and public officers in the traditional civil service, leading to demotivation of human resources in the mainstream public service”.

Reading from the explanatory notes in the Bill, Mr Muruli Mukasa is expected to push the line that while some of the agencies have fulfilled their intended purposes, the “mandates of a few others have become obsolete due to changing circumstances”. 

How it all started
The process leading up to the introduction of the Bill has been slow. It has reportedly been pegged back by lengthy discussions in and outside government, including with some of Uganda’s development partners who have been pumping millions of dollars into some of the agencies.  

Five years ago on September 10, 2018, it was officially announced that at least 60 agencies and commissions would be closed down as part of wide-ranging and cost-cutting public sector reforms.  

A policy for “Rationalisation of Government Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX)” was subsequently adopted by the Cabinet on February 22, 2021. Almost immediately, the policy ran into headwinds, some of which had been anticipated by Mr Muruli who in the same year outlined in a statement to Parliament a raft of challenges.

Among the challenges were legal and policy positions to guide how affected agencies will be disposed of, and the potential impacts of the process. Mr Muruli highlighted complexities arising from national obligations, adherence to international protocols, and the intricate network of contracts with foreign nations. 

Challenges
Managing and transfer of institutional assets and liabilities also presented a particular headache. 

A test of things to come was provided in March when employees of the now-defunct Rural Electrification Agency (REA), who were rendered redundant after the agency was re-absorbed into the ministry of Energy, filed a petition with Parliament.

They alleged irregularities in the recruitment process during the agency’s transition back to the ministry. In a session with the House Committee on Natural Resources, the junior minister for Energy, Mr Peter Lokeris revealed that 34 staffers not absorbed into the new structure were duly compensated.

In late October, this newspaper quoted Ms Allen Kakama, the commissioner for management services at the ministry of Public Service, confirming that Cabinet has approved payment of Shs79.3 billion in gratuity and severance packages to 2,200 employees expected to be laid off. 

“We (Ministry of Public Service) have already calculated the severance packages and gratuity. Cabinet approved the money, Shs79.3 billion, but we are saving Shs956 billion out of the rationalisation exercise,” Ms Kakama told Saturday Monitor on October 21.

At the time, Ms Kakama said government, through the office of the Attorney General, had drafted the necessary pieces of legislation.

“The laws had to be realigned to the decisions of Cabinet. Some laws have to be repealed and others have to be amended in order to facilitate the process. We have come up with draft bills,” she revealed.

Efforts to obtain further clarification from the Public Service minister about how similar challenges would be handled were futile yesterday. 

Similarly, the Minister for ICT and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, did not respond to our calls or messages, while Ms Catherine Birakwate Musingwiire, permanent secretary at Public Service, informed Daily Monitor that she was out of office and, therefore, could not comment.
About the mergers
In addition to incorporating certain agencies into ministries, the Bill proposes merging of entities alongside outright abolition.  

It is proposed that the National Planning Authority will assume the responsibilities of the National Population Council and the National Physical Planning Board, both of which are to be dissolved. 

The Uganda Registration Services Bureau Act will be amended to grant a number of the bureau’s functions to the National Identification and Registration Authority, including the responsibility for laws on civil registration, children, and marriage.

Furthermore, the Uganda Wildlife Act, 2019, will also be amended to grant the Uganda Wildlife Authority additional functions following its merger with the Uganda wildlife Conservation Education Centre.

The government is also set to revise the Persons with Disability Act, 2020, scrapping the secretariat for the National Council for Persons with Disabilities. The secretariat will be absorbed into the National Secretariat for Special Interest Groups. 

Also, the National Women’s Council Act is due for revision to dissolve the secretariat for the National Women’s Council with its functions now similarly becoming resident inside the National Secretariat for Special Interest Groups. The same course of changes would apply to the National Youth Council Act, and the National Council for Older Persons Act, 2013.

The national secretariat for special interest groups would come under the ambit of the ministry Gender, Labour and Social Development. 

A key proposed consequential amendment in Mr Muruli’s Bill is a provision specifying that any law granting an agency or commission the authority to recruit staff, or determine terms and conditions of service, shall be subject to the approval of the Ministry of Public Service. 

The introduction of this Bill now partly answers concerns, expressed over the years by civil society groups and governance experts, about the huge cost of running agencies which seem to be doing the same work assigned to ministries.

Some of rationalised govt   agencies in the new bill

Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. 
•Non-Performing Assets Recovery Trust 

•Departed Asians’ Property Custodian Board

•Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority

•Privatisation Unit

Ministry for Karamoja Affairs
•Karamoja Development Agency

Ministry of Public Service
•National Records and Archives Agency

Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries
•Cotton Development Organisation

•Uganda Trypanosomiasis Control Council

•Coffee Development Authority

•Dairy Development Authority

•National Agricultural Advisory Services Organisation 

•Agricultural Chemical Board

Ministry of Education
•Higher Education Students Financing Board

•National Library Board

•Board of the Uganda National Commission for UNESCO

Ministry of Works and Transport
•Uganda National Roads Authority

•Uganda Road Fund

Ministry of Water and Environment 
•Uganda National Meteorological Authority 

•National Forestry Authority 

Ministry of Trade
•Uganda Warehouse Receipt System Authority

•Merger of Uganda Free Zones Authority and Uganda Export Promotions Board to create the Uganda Free Zones and Export Promotions Authority

Ministry of ICT & National Guidance
•National lnformation Technology Authority

Ministry of Internal Affairs
•National Bureau of Non-Governmental Organisations 

Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Devt
•Children Authority

Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
•Centre for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution

•Merger of National Planning Authority with the National Population Council and the National Physical Planning Board.

See story for other agencies/councils merged.  

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