Speed up merger of govt agencies

Parliament has rejected the Rationalisation of Government Agencies (Repeals and Amendments), Bill, 2023, a draft piece of legislation under which a total of 33 government agencies would either be scrapped or returned to mother ministries as a long-term solution to untenable cost of public administration and wasteful expenditure.

Speaker Anita Among justifiably rejected the omnibus bill, and advised the government to table separate bills, repealing each of the affected departments and agencies. Obviously, the omnibus bill was uncalled for since all the affected entities were created by different acts of parliament and scrutinized by different sectoral committees of parliament. In this regard, the Speaker was irrefutably spot-on. However, some lawmakers were pushing the government to table 33 statements, explaining the cost implication of the proposed amendments, structural policy changes, the legal and the service delivery gaps and at the first reading of each bill. Such questions are important but misplaced, to say the least. The MPs are simply putting the cart before the horse.

 For now, the competing interests notwithstanding, as a nation, we must choose between self-preservation and prosperity for all. The proposed merger is the right antidote to a bloated government, struggling to create ample jobs for the youth and deliver credible services to Ugandans who have endured the pain of superfluous institutions that are used by corrupt civil servants as conduits to siphon public resources from the system.

As a result of the rising cost of public administration, 61 years after independence, Uganda remains a low-income country and among the poorest in the world.

In the last 37 years of the ruling National Resistance Movement, the country has built the base for economic growth, made some progress here and there but failed to join middle-income economies– these are countries with a Gross National Income per capita between $1,036 and $4,045.

The poor are getting poorer, while the rich are getting richer. Four major reasons for this absurdity stand out: The rising cost of public administration, wasteful expenditure, haemorrhage of public resources through corruption, and the filibustering in parliament that is suffocating the will of the people and all well-intentioned efforts to correct past mistakes in the management of public affairs. Let’s expedite the bills repealing all the laws establishing redundant agencies, return others to mother ministries and redirect resources to strengthen the war against poverty and unemployment, boost science and innovation, health and education sectors. The mistrust and suspicion that welcomed the first reading of the Bill, cannot achieve the much needed reforms in public spending. The three arms of government must speak the same language. The Legislature, Executive and Judiciary are the three cooking stones which make every meal possible. Once they are well-organized to function in the interest of the people as a whole, the common good of the nation is served and the country develops without drama.

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