Stick to govt priorities, Alupo tasks ministers

The Vice President, Maj (Rtd) Jes­sica Alupo, has asked new Cab­inet ministers to stick to the five pillars which President Museve­ni outlined for this term when they as­sumed office in June.

The pillars include cohesion, no cor­ruption, patriotism, East African inte­gration and service delivery.

Speaking at the opening of the induc­tion for Cabinet members at Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala yes­terday, Ms Alupo urged ministers to expeditiously execute the strategic direc­tives.

“We should put kin interest on all service delivery programmes to our people, and ensure import substitution and export promotion, give priority to industrialisation, and promote the pri­vate sector as this will help us strength­en our economy but also create jobs for our people,’’ she said.

The Vice President also tasked minis­ters to always furnish the public with government policies, especially flag­ship programmes such as the Univer­sal Primary Education, Universal Sec­ondary Education, parish develop­ment model , Emyooga, and health pro­grammes, among others.

While officiating at the budget read­ing in June, President Museveni com­pared his choice of selection of minis­ters to Jesus Christ whom he said did not go for intellectuals such as Phari­sees, Sadducees or the Levites but chose to work with the fishermen.

Mr Museveni said he appointed the ministers after a thorough assessment of their abilities.

He tasked them to prioritise service delivery and popularise government programmes.

Ms Alupo warned the ministers against leaking Cabinet documents and resolutions, saying such an act un­dermines Cabinet.

Government Chief Whip Thomas Tayebwa asked ministers to prioritise Cabinet resolutions against their indi­vidual interests.

“Cabinet resolutions supersedes in­dividual interests and this means that once we pass a resolution as Cabinet, we must all support it. For instance, there are cases where some minister stands on the floor of Parliament to contradict what Cabinet resolved. This is very wrong. If you can’t defend Cab­inet resolutions in Parliament, then it means you don’t know your role,’’ he said.

The Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nab­banja, said ministers should learn to brand the country by promoting gov­ernment programmes.

“We should aim at marketing what we do as a country and explain gov­ernment programmes both locally and internationally. We have achieved a lot as a country and we must let the world know of such achievements. We need to continuously popularise all our programmes and defend government rather than attacking it,’’ she said.

Teamwork
Ms Jessica Alupo said the new ministers need to work together, including technocrats in their ministries, be accountable for their actions, and stick to the already established policies while executing duties to achieve the government’s target. 

“Find a way at all times to have your sectors in parliamentary sessions, monthly top management meetings are a must as this will build a strong cohesion spirit and teamwork, internalise NDP III and the NRM manifesto, and ensure that resources allocated to your sector are deployed to do what you planned for," she said.

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