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Government asked to train leaders to improve service delivery
Kamuli District chairperson Salaam Musumba receives an award during the 2013 score card report in Kampala. The report indicates that there is progress in the performance of elected political leaders. Photo by Stephen Wandera
What you need to know:
Poor performance attributed to lukewarm leadership and multiple conflicts based on party affiliations
Kampala- The annual local councils scorecard was launched yesterday with a call to the government to initiate training programmes for district leaders to improve service delivery and governance.
The initiative was initiated in 2009 by Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (Acode), an NGO, to assess political leaders and institutions basing on legislation, accountability, contact with electorates and monitoring of service delivery.
The 2013 report attributed the poor performance of districts to lukewarm leadership, failed multiparty politics and multiple leadership conflicts on party grounds.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Fred Muhumuza, senior government adviser on the economy, said training councillors has been deliberated on for long but advised the government to implement it.
“I think this kind of training will help us sort our majority of these problems,” Dr Muhumuza said, adding that: “We need to see answers by those entrusted with authority and accountability.”
He said the programme will raise standards for those aspiring to become local leaders to avoid a situation where everyone stands up to be a local councillor.
The scorecard, conducted in 26 districts, revealed that local government councils are dominated by the NRM, which has wrecked competition in terms of alternative policies and policy platforms.
“Setting standards through training does not mean discouraging people from voting their leaders but regardless of the party there must be some set standards to be met first,” he said.
Dr Arthur Bainomugisha, the Acode executive director, said the scorecard helps to raise leadership problems at the districts and suggest how they can be solved.
“There have been tremendous improvements in the performance of local councils in their responsibilities since we launched the scorecard,” he said.
Mr Peter Ngobi, the president of Uganda Local Governments Association, urged government to tolerate multi-party politics.
Kamuli District registered better performance scoring 67 per cent, especially due to LC5 chairperson, Salaamu Musumba’s policies.
