Government of Uganda – Prime Time Communications

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Rationalization without efficiency is an exercise in futility

OutToLunch: Rationalization without efficiency is an exercise in futility By Denis Jjuuko The rationalization of some of the government agencies back into their parent ministries has been the talk of town of the last few weeks with the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) carrying the day. See, coffee is the lifeblood of more than two million households in the country. The government has said that that agencies being rationalized are inefficient and incompetent cost centers that bleed the national treasury doing the same work the ministries could do. That duplication is their other silent name. There seems to be no middle ground for those who propose rationalization and the same could be said of those who oppose it. But if efficiency is what government hopes to achieve through rationalization, there is a long way ahead. The work isn’t insurmountable but there is a lot that will have to be done. I think the first one is the issue of payment. We are told that staff of agencies were earning several times their colleagues in the ministries. That could be true. I sometimes see some of the CEOs of the agencies being driven around in powerful SUVs with lead or back up cars and police in black uniforms opening their doors or carrying their handbags. Somebody said that public servants in the ministries were jealousy of the executives in agencies. Maybe they were. If payment is such an issue, there is need to ensure that civil servants are paid salaries equivalent to what they would earn in the private sector and then put in place the same tough requirements in place. Regular assessments should be done and those that fail to meet them should be let go. Performance contracts should replace the method known as permanent and pensionable jobs because if anyone knows that they are assured of their job for life regardless of performance, they will do whatever they want. Performance contracts will end the culture in some government offices where people arrive in the morning, place their jacket on the back of their swivel chairs or place a second pair of their eye glasses on the desk to give the impression that they are around the building whereas they are not. Civil servants that work a few hours a day and enjoy a four-day working week should also be dealt with. Service delivery shouldn’t be just a topic of discussion in seminars and newspaper columns. It must be practiced and lived. That would require that officers are given a certain number of days to have a file in their office before they send it to the next person. Technology is available where each folder or file that goes to somebody’s office is tracked to know how long it has remained in that particular office and then asked why the file is still on their desk. That level of tracking would also reduce on the number of missing files in government offices. Efficiency would ensure that no officer has hundreds of files on their desks for months or even years or unopened emails. So free gmail and yahoo emails should be replaced with official ones that can be tracked. Time management is critical if government is to be efficient. Meetings must start and end on time. There is no reason to give somebody an appointment of 10.00am and make them wait up to 3.00pm and then inform them that you wouldn’t be able to see them or that you didn’t even come to the office. There is no reason why government should take two years to procure a contractor for an infrastructural project like a road or electricity dam and then the contractor takes years to start working and a decade to complete a project that could be done in nine months. Payments to contractors shouldn’t take the same process it would require one to go to heaven! One of the reasons we are so poor is our lack of investments in key social services like education, health and transport. Many Ugandan civil servants have to send their kids in expensive schools and then abroad for university, do annual medical checkups in India, Kenya or Turkey yet they don’t earn well enough to afford them. That leads to corruption. Because of lack of public transport, government officials must have vehicles which are expensive to buy and maintain yet they should be driving their own. Rationalization without being efficient will not improve service delivery and drive the country out of poverty. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

November 15, 2024

Out to Lunch

Mental health challenges impeding economic growth

By Denis Jjuuko The death allegedly by suicide of a Ugandan digital marketer last week created some buzz about mental health at least on social media that probably not seen before. There is need to note that not all deaths by suicide are a result of mental health challenges. The cause of the alleged death by suicide by the marketer may not necessarily be attributed to mental health. However, it gives Ugandans another starting point to work on issues that affect their mental health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 700,000 people who die due to suicide every year. Suicide, a WHO report notes, is the fourth leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds globally. Over 77% of these deaths occur in lower- and middle-income countries like Uganda. Some statistics show that Uganda’s suicide rate stands at 15% per 100,000 people, which is rather high. In refugee settlement areas, for example, 60 people died by suicide in 2022 prompting organizations like AVSI Foundation to launch programs like Game Connect, a sport for mental health project. The Nnaabagereka through the Nnaabagereka Fund has also initiated a program on mental health and so is the Rotary Club of Kampala Naalya, where I have previously served as president. Such efforts must be supported. One of the biggest challenges when it comes to mental health is the stigma that is associated with it. Many people suffer silently and cannot talk about it prompting delays in seeking professional help. Many people will not even tell you that they have a patient in Butabika Hospital due to stigma. The same people have no problem informing anyone who don’t even care that they have a patient in another hospital. Initiatives that are working on mental health issues must create as much awareness as possible while trying to curb the causes of mental health challenges including the rampant drug and alcohol abuse. If you go to construction sites today, many young people working as porters for example claim that they get their “fuel” from alcohol so they have bottles of gin in their pockets from which they occasionally drink before pushing another around of materials on a wheelbarrow. If you get stuck by the roadside, the guy who will come to help you change a tire will most likely be half drunk. If you see a boda boda guy zigzagging on the road or as recklessness as they come, he is most likely imbibing on some cheap gin. Of course, alcohol and drug abuses are not only restricted to the informal sector. Many people working in the formal sector suffer from it. But they also suffer from work related depression and stresses. The obsession with quarterly performances can create a lot of pressure on people. Businesses must look at mental health as one of the impediments of growth. Globally, it is estimated that mental health will cost economies USD2.5 trillion annually by 2030. Those are actually the conservative estimates. Work related stress and depression is also said to cause at least 50% of all illnesses suffered by workers. Businesses and governments must do more to encourage mental wellbeing and resilience. Games that make people relax and focus could help. Having enough sleep is another. Regular mandatory physical exercise could be another. In poor economies like Uganda, many of the people who are lucky to have a job are paid per a day worked probably following the Biblical directive that those who won’t work won’t eat. Such people won’t take leave to deflect from work. It means going hungry. There is need to find solutions for such workers so that they can take days off once in a while and connect with their loved ones and reenergize. Several talks on mental health at workplaces could help. A notable speaker on the subject can help people cope with the issues that affect them and find answers to some of the questions that constantly linger in their minds. Of course, many young people have no jobs to start with and financial induced stress and depression is real. The government must, therefore, prioritize finding sustainable jobs for people. Due to lack of jobs and opportunities, many Ugandans have become negative. Check out their social media posts. To many such people, there is nothing good that is happening so they spend half their time lambasting anyone they think is responsible for their predicament. The negativity on sometimes issues they should actually be positive about increases their stress and poor mental health wellbeing. Yet gratitude leads to mental health resilience. Government must also increase the number of psychiatrists in Uganda. Currently, there are approximately a mere 53 of them, meaning about one for every million people. Increased sponsorship of students interested in that field at medical schools could help bridge the gap. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

July 2, 2024

Out to Lunch

OutToLunch: Electric mobility as a new year business option

By Denis Jjuuko One of the most trending videos last year was of a bus driver recorded having a meal while driving. He wasn’t snacking, picking on a crisp or something. He had his plate full from which he would pick some African food while driving. At one stage, he even sipped some soup direct from the plate. On seeing the video, police as usual reacted and had him arrested. Another driver was recorded WhatsApping while driving a busload of passengers. One would expect that bus drivers pay the utmost attention given the number of people on board. In most cases, they are the worst. They drive at high speeds beyond the 80kph that they emboss at the back of their buses, overtake in blind spots, or simply overtake and other road users must find their way or else a head on collusion. They install train horns in their vehicles that they sound with reckless abandon. They don’t care if they make you deaf in the process, as long as they have sounded the horn as if their lives entirely depend on it. Most times, the buses are rickety with broken centre bolts that make it impossible to move in a straight line. If you want to see impunity on the road, follow a bus on a highway. One of the major reasons they drive that way is because many haven’t received proper bus driving training. They are easily moved from lorries or even taxis to buses. Some start as cargo loaders and along the way start learning to drive. In a few years, they are bus drivers. Most bus drivers are paid per a trip so drivers consider sitting down for a meal or driving at the recommended kilometre per hour a wastage of time. The more trips they make, the more money they earn in a day, week or month. The more money a bus owner makes. I have though never understood why a businessman would spend Shs700 million or more on a bus and then hand it to the most incompetent driver ever or one who wouldn’t care about how the bus is driven. If bus owners don’t value human life, at least they should look at their investments. Many of these buses don’t have comprehensive insurance so once they are involved in an accident, that is the end of it. No compensation. That could explain why many bus companies struggle to stay in business for decades. So, I was impressed on a recent visit to Nakasongola where I met bus drivers undergoing skilling by Kiira Motors. Even though the program being implemented by Kiira is updating drivers with the skills they need to drive electric buses, it is also focusing on customer care and experience, traffic rules and regulations, routine service maintenance and repair as well as handling and operation of equipment including electric charging. If they can skill a big pool of bus drivers including those who drive internal combustion engine buses, the better for the country. Passengers eventually won’t be driven from one part of Uganda to another like bales of used clothing. But this work can’t be left to one entity and its parent ministry. Bus and taxi drivers must be equipped with regular skills they need to do a job that puts the lives of the passengers and other road users first. Not just thinking of how many trips they can make a day. Bus owners must be aligned to this necessity as well. Of course, it isn’t just bus and taxi drivers that require refresher driving courses. Many ‘my cars’ drive recklessly and don’t even know basic traffic rules and regulations. Once they have made some money, they buy a car and next day, they are driving for Christmas to the village to show it off to their relatives. Many arrive by sheer luck. Beyond the case for driving, last year saw an increase in the number of electric vehicles in Uganda albeit with nearly all of them in Kampala. Some corporate bodies, NGOs and diplomatic missions accredited to Uganda started electrifying their fleets. This heralds a new era of electric mobility. Sooner than later, there will be lots of electric vehicles without the skills to drive and maintain them. The opportunities for electric vehicles are massive and there is a lot for the private sector to play. We shouldn’t just wait when the vehicles are all over the city and then try to catch up. It isn’t just cars by the way. Some entrepreneurs have been converting boda bodas from petrol engines to rechargeable batteries. Since there are more boda bodas than cars in Uganda, that sector also has a lot of potential—from charging infrastructure, skilling, to maintenance. If you are reflecting on what to do in the new year, electric mobility is one option. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

January 10, 2024