By Jumah Kakomo
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) says it is satisfied with the performance of the government since the 2021 General election so far.
The revelation was made by party Secretary General Hon. Richard Todwong on 14th/12/2022, at party headquarters Kyadondo road Kampala while delivering his end of year message at saying the NRM government made several promises in her manifesto most of which have been fulfilled in the past year since elections.
He says they were elected as a party to lead the country for another five-year term and they thank the people for trusting NRM and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to lead the country whereby everything is moving in the right direction. He adds that they have been in office for one year but they have so far registered tremendous progress in achieving most of the things they promised.
“As NRM party, we are satisfied with the performance of the government on the major manifesto pledges such as infrastructure development and other sectoral developments such as roads, energy, health, education, agriculture, peace, and security.” Todwong added”.
He outlined the Parish Development Model, peace, security, and improving the economy as some of the issues promised by the government during the 2021 general elections that he said are moving on well. He says they are satisfied with the party performance, they promised peace and stability, opportunities and many other things where they are now.
Todwong revealed that the party is alive to challenges on the wealth creation pledges which are mainly caused by regulatory and policy-related issues, but these will soon be addressed.
He however noted that despite the achievements in the first year of implementing the NRM manifesto, there have been some challenges that have led to setbacks.
He mentioned that the recent attacks on police officers are a challenge but applauded the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) and President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni for responding swiftly.
He highlighted other setbacks like the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and Ebola that caused the country serious economic setbacks, cattle rustling in the Karamoja sub-region and the immediate neighboring districts as well as landslides and flooding of river banks in some parts of the country.
He also mentioned the skyrocketing prices of commodities attributed to the war between Russia and Ukraine but he noted that government has put in place measures to control this.
“We are optimistic that the question of mass youth unemployment; corruption in public service, rampant land grabbing in some parts of the country, and poverty shall all be resolved since we have been steady in tackling them one by one; step by step.” Todwong added.
He says a total of 50 election petitions directly affecting party flag bearers were lodged in the Court of Appeal, with only 10 decided against NRM flag bearers.
“During the same period, there were quite a several local council by-elections such as councilors at district and sub-county levels. The National Resistance Movement party won most of these elections with over 90%.” he added.
Going forward, Todwong said the ruling party will, starting next month January, resume meetings around the country to speak to the party district leaders “We are embarking on a program to train leaders on national and local levels to feel people’s concerns and how to respond to them. As the President says, leaders are social doctors and need to understand the social and economic situation of people before addressing them,” he said.
He also noted that the party will continue with the ideological clinics that he said will be extended to universities and districts as well as teaching Kiswahili to NRM leaders as part of efforts to embrace the East African Community.
“We will embark on the expansion of ideological clinics in universities and other tertiary institutions of higher learning; and to the Ghetto youth in Kampala City, but later spread to other urban settings in the country,” he noted.
Meanwhile the party Deputy Secretary General, Rt.Hon.Rose Namayanja Nsereko urged staff members to speak in cohesion as a reflection of the values that the party holds. On her part, the party National Treasurer, Barbara Nekesa appreciated the Secretariat staff for the selfless effort they render while executing their duties. She said the successes so far recorded have been as an effort of all pillars of the party from the Central Executive Committee (CEC) to the party staff. “We are better off than we were, we are not where we would wish to be, but we are sure the working conditions will continue to improve” She said.
The end-of-year celebrations at the party headquarters were attended by party secretariat directors including Mr.Oscar Kihika-Legal, Emmanuel Dombo-Public relations, Rosemary Sseninde-Mobilisation, Jackeline Kyatuhaire-the deputy national treasurer, Director Finance- Hajjati Medina Naham, party Electoral Commission deputy chairman John Alimpa Kigyagi and Jane Alisemera Babiha, party electoral Commission commissioner as well as members of the Central Executive Committee, Lydia Wanyoto, the NRM Women’s League chairperson and other members who joined secretariat staff to mark an end of the year.
The celebrations were also crowned by a Thanksgiving service officiated by Msgr Gerald Kalumba, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Kampala, Apostle Joseph Sserwada of Victory Church Ndeeba, and Sheikh Muhammad Ali, among others.
