The 16 female district speakers while meeting the speaker Rebecca Kadaga said that the former local government minister Adolf Mwesige approved this amount to be paid to each district speaker but when the new minister for local government Tom Butime assumed this office he rescinded the decision.

They asked the speaker to help them meet the president to make their case over this payment. The female district speakers led by Amuria district speaker Ketty Akol  also expressed dissatisfaction with scanty resources accorded to the office of the district speakers.

They also want government to allocate a vehicle to each district speaker saying they often work till late and need transport. 

“I am surprised that the issue of transport for speakers has never been effected because I met the President and we agreed on its implementation, ” Kadaga said.

District female Speakers meeting Speaker Rebecca Kadaga at her boardroom

They stated that all chairpersons of LC.5 and Chief Administrative Officers have vehicles yet for them are excluded. The district female speakers also demanded an explanation on why most kidnaps and killings are targeting women.

They further expressed the need for government to boost their capacity to interprete laws in order to guide district council meetings effectively.

Kadaga in turn pledged to root for training opportunities at the Institute of Parliamentary Studies in July and August. She further committed to mobilize donor agencies like UNDP and UN Women to support female speakers participate in national and intentional meetings of women leaders.

“There are conferences such as the annual UN Commission on the status of Women in New York and CommonWealth meetings which you can attend and learn,” said Kadaga.

The speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga promised to seek help from parliament to be trained to boost their capacity to interprete laws and get them to the president to voice their concerns.

Currently there are 16 district female speakers, the number that increased from 7 in the last tenure of office.

Some of the districts with female speaker include Kalangala,Kyankanzi, Namisindwa, Bushenyi, Amuria, Kween, Manafwa, Bulambuli, Kibuku and Busia

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Sekandi being awarded at a previous function for his contribution to the decentralization process in Uganda.

The President said this in a speech read for him by the Vice President, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, during the annual commemoration of the African Day of Decentralization and local Government at Masaka Liberation ground on Wednesday.

Museveni, said that decentralization was a key milestone that enabled the involvement of Ugandans in the decentralization process from the beginning in order to bring services nearer to the people.

The event was held under the theme; ‘Decentralization at 24: Re-engineering Locally initiated Development decision-making and leadership at all levels’.

Museveni also revealed that the Country’s GDP has shifted from about 300 dollars per capita in 1985 to the current about 800 dollars.

“Uganda’s average GDP is growing at 6.2 percent annually. This is one of the fastest growing economies on the continent,” he said, adding that the number of Ugandans living below the poverty line of less than 20 percent of the population has also significantly reduced.

Museveni however, said there was need for more concerted efforts to reduce absolute poverty for the East African region and on the continent in general.

He said this can mainly be achieved through investing in infrastructure improvement and that this in turn would reduce the cost of doing business and hence attract more investment and link markets.

Tom Butime, the Local Government Minister revealed that Local Governments have established business economic forums, which comprise all economic development stakeholders identifying comparative viable economic ventures which will propel the country to the desired middle income status by 2020.

He said that among other achievements, decentralization has provided leadership from the village to national level, adding that civil servants who deliver the basic services are recruited based on need of the respective local Government.

Thomas Ole-kuyan, the Deputy Country Director United Nations Development Programme, said that with Uganda’s focus on local governance, its people will have greater access to services, security and have their priority development goals met.

He pledged UNDP’s support to the decentralization process in Uganda in order to achieve uniform growth across all districts.

Ole-kuyan added that during the 24 years of decentralization, Uganda has evolved in the areas of; political and administrative governance, financial management, Service delivery and economic development functions which, he said are imbedded in the power shared across the government administrative spectrum.

During the same function, Sekandi was among individuals honored for their exemplary public service records and support to the decentralization process in Uganda.

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Tom Butime draged his political challenger David Muhumuza and electoral commission to court questioning the academic papers of Muhumuza after it emerged that he had never attended and completed primary seven.

In his petition Butime said it was improper for the electoral commission to have nominated Muhumuza David yet he lacks some other academic paper qualifications.

High court presided over by justice Byabakama Mujenyi dismissed Butiime’s petition on grounds that it lacked proper evidence.

After the ruling,  Butime and his lawyer’s observed that the trial judge failed to analyze the evidence properly provided to court. They say they will appeal against the ruling.

When asked for a comment, David Muhumuza said he is ready to work and cooperate with all his political rivals for the development of the county.

By Mugisa Isaac Mathias

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