KAMPALA- In May this year, the Ugandan Government listed a number of agencies, commissions and authorities that are set for mergers or will be transferred back to their mother ministries as departments or directorates.
Hon David Karubanga, the Minister of State for Public Service told journalists at the Uganda Media Centre that a team that was set up by the government to review 157 entities and come up with recommendations on how to make them more responsive to the needs of Ugandans.
According to The Independent, the government adopted some of the recommendations of the committee while in some cases it overruled them.
Consequently, the changes will affect institutions such as the Uganda National Roads Authority, the body in charge of roads will now become a department in the Ministry of Works and Transport. The National Roads Safety Board, the Transport Licensing Board and the Uganda Road Fund will be departments in the Ministry of Works and Transport.
According to the list, almost 100 government entities were retained as they are while others were either merged with others or taken back to their mother ministries. One company; Kinyara Sugar Works, where the government has interest, was approved for total privatization.
According The Independent, the minister said this was done in fulfillment of a February 22, recommendation by cabinet to improve the efficiency of service delivery to the country and also do away with wasteful expenditures.
World Bank Caution:
While the government pressed on with the mergers, the move seems to have ignored an earlier warning by the World Bank against merging some agencies, particularly the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). The World Bank is Uganda bi lateral partner shouldering much of its development budget.
MediaScape News has discovered that around September 27, 2018, the World Bank Country Manager Mr. Antony Thompson, delivered a speech on behalf development partners during the occasion of the 14th Joint Transport Sector Review workshop that was held at the Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo under the theme: “Development of Multi-modal Transport to Accelerate Inclusive Growth.”
In attendance was the then Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda,
Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Minister of Works and Transport Gen. Katumba Wamala. Several ministers, MPS and top technocrats from the ministries of works and transport, Honorable Minister of Works and Transport, Finance and Economic Planning, as well as several executive directors of Government MDAs and representatives from local governments
In a long speech in which he thanked the partnership of government with the development partners especially the European Union, Mr. Thompson warned:
Making reference to the Legal and Institutional Frameworks within the sector, we have recently learnt through the press, of a major reform in the sector, in which the Uganda National Roads Authority is to be collapsed into a department under the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Uganda Road Fund mainstreamed back to the Ministry of Works and Transport.
As a key stakeholder, the Transport Sector Development Partners’ Group is concerned and expects that before such a reform is implemented, a stakeholder consultation process be undertaken to consider different options for maximizing efficiency in the sector.
Some 20 Road Authorities have been established in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), most since 2000. These agencies were created broadly in line with the principles espoused in the Road Management Initiative (RMI), a component of the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP). The agencies were established with the main objective of being more consumer-oriented and market-responsive than the traditional government structures.
Below is part of the speech with a few more details:-
Rt. Hon Prime Minister,
Making reference to the Legal and Institutional Frameworks within the sector, we have recently learnt through the press, of a major reform in the sector, in which the Uganda National Roads Authority is to be collapsed into a department under the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Uganda Road Fund mainstreamed back to the Ministry of Works and Transport.
As a key stakeholder, the Transport Sector Development Partners’ Group is concerned and expects that before such a reform is implemented, a stakeholder consultation process be undertaken to consider different options for maximizing efficiency in the sector.
Some 20 Road Authorities have been established in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), most since 2000. These agencies were created broadly in line with the principles espoused in the Road Management Initiative (RMI), a component of the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP). The agencies were established with the main objective of being more consumer-oriented and market-responsive than the traditional government structures.
As an example, the progress achieved in the commercialization of road management services by the road agencies in the Eight countries surveyed i.e. Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa and Kenya shows that the annual increase in the paved road network in good condition has reportedly been attained in most of countries where a road agency operates in a commercialized manner, except for Namibia where the shortfall is mainly attributed to the lack of maintenance funding. By contrast, road conditions have deteriorated in countries—Botswana and Cameroon—in which the agency operates as a government department under the direction of a parent ministry in a largely non-commercialized manner within a government environment characterized by lack of both management autonomy and business-like practices.
Furthermore, it is standard practice within the Uganda Transport Sector Development Partners Group that before a project is financed, the Implementing Agency is assessed on multiple facets as far as its capacity is concerned. These include but are not limited to the Internal Procurement Systems and Processes, Contract and Project Management Capacity, Skills profile of the key staff, Investment Planning and Budgeting processes, Safeguard management structures and Operational Policies, Corporate
Governance Structures, the established internal fiduciary systems, the Risk management processes, level of autonomy, and the Mandated Policy and Legal Framework within which it operates to mention but a few.
In line with these requirements, a great deal of effort and resources have been invested in bringing the Uganda National Roads Authority up to speed and to a level that inspires confidence among the Uganda Transport Sector Development Partners Group.
True to this fact UNRA has made gains in several areas namely;
Institutional Setting:
Over the years, UNRA has steadily gained its own ground and thereby making it more effective in its operations.
Policy Framework:
UNRA has articulated central government goals in its policy, strategy and planning documents; and translated these outcomes into coherent goals, and measurable/verifiable targets for itself.
Increased User Orientation:
Increasingly, UNRA is considering the needs of ‘users’ as central to their activities. This is the result of a shift from ‘building roads’ to ‘moving goods and people’. UNRA has formalized structures for receiving user feedback, including increasing representation of road users in the agency’s advisory boards and committees.
Performance Monitoring Frameworks:
UNRA has gradually developed robust performance monitoring frameworks through the introduction of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) known as the Golden Indicators. The frameworks have helped them to stay focused on the outcome-centric development agenda and achieve gradual improvement in their performance, accountability and public image, thereby resulting in overall organizational and sectoral efficiency.
Focus on Environment, Social and Safety Issues:
UNRA has been keen to bolster its systems and processes as well internal procedures associated with Environmental, Social and Safety issues drawing lessons from the World Bank funded TSDP. Key lessons learnt, and best practice procedures adopted by UNRA have indeed strengthened its institutional capacity and capability to deal with these risks as posed to the implementation process of donor funded projects.
Asset and Risk Management Systems:
In order to measure accomplishments, track trends and become accountable, UNRA increasingly relies on a variety of management (information) systems as tools.
Human Resource Management and Knowledge Acquisition:
UNRA has enhanced professionalism in its approach to management. It is investing in developing leadership programs to guide the adoption of more integrated and performance driven work processes.
Road Sector Funding:
Besides budgetary allocations to UNRA, financing sources for road development have grown to include PPPs, funds from the Road Fund, Road User Charges such as fines collected from the axle weigh bridges, and direct support from the donor community.
Right Honourable Prime Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Regarding the Uganda Road Fund, all Development Partners’ support in the form of infrastructure development is premised on the principle of the sustainability of the infrastructure. This is the founding principle of the establishment of a Road Fund to collect and manage road user charges for the adequate and timely maintenance of road assets.
The road maintenance budget has been the core of our policy dialogue over the years and the basis for our financing of additional infrastructure in Uganda. The Road Fund has not failed in remitting timely disbursements to the designated agencies and has recently had to carry on the some of the roles of the District, Urban and Community Access Roads (DUCAR) department in the Ministry of Works and Transport – to monitor, evaluate and provide accountability for the monies spent on the DUCAR network, in spite of the lacuna in the law.
Therefore, it is of high concern to Development Partners that the merger of the Road Fund into the Ministry could undermine the principles of:
I. Gazetting funds for timely and adequate maintenance and;
II. Accountability of the funds through a separate Road Fund Agency to avoid any conflicts of interest between implementing or designated agencies. A Road Fund cannot be an implementing agency, and this merger would, in fact, in our understanding, imply that.
The Uganda Transport Sector Development Partners Group is also cognizant of the premise on which the Cabinet decision was based i.e. Government’s effort to become leaner and divert public resources from recurrent budgets to development budgets.
Considering these facts, the Uganda Transport Sector Development Partners Group would like to have an opportunity to dialogue with the Government on the proposed restructuring reforms within the Transport Sector in a bid to establish some common ground in the pursuit of mutual goals and to the benefit of the Ugandan tax payer.
The Uganda Transport Sector Development Partners Group believes that Government acceptance of the commercialization concept and genuine commitment to a reform process are conducive to successful institutional change. Such change should be nationally driven rather than externally driven and undertaken in a holistic and integrated fashion with a sharp vision of the objectives of the reform program and the strategies.
In concluding, I would like to emphasize that we see progress in the sector, but there is still room for improvement. In the spirit of a collaborative effort and in a bid to identify constraints, challenges and solutions to the sector, I trust that our collective opinion will be considered strongly and welcomed by our Government counterparts in recognition of our continued support and commitment in the Transport Sector.
We look forward to the constructive deliberations over the next two days and pledge our continued support.
Thank you.