President Yoweri Museveni has cautioned public servants to resist prioritizing their interests but rather understand and serve the interest of Ugandans while executing their duties.
Museveni made these remarks in a speech that was read to the congregation in Kololo during World Public service day by Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja.
“Your role is to help Ugandans achieve their interests, you’re expected to understand and serve those interests in the day-to-day execution of your duties” Museveni noted.
“You must resist from prioritizing foreign, imperial, selfish, and parasitic interests as these frustrate the aspirations and the goals of Ugandans” Museveni added.
According to Museveni, the primary responsibility of Public Servants is to work for peace and prosperity of Uganda and this can be achieved through patriotism a vehicle that fosters the unity and progress of the nation.
“Besides being patriotic you must also work for the unity of East Africa and Africa in order to guarantee the prosperity and security of Uganda even better. The unity of Uganda’s market alone isn’t enough to guarantee our prosperity and security” he asserted.
The President also urged public servants to prioritize their health by doing exercises as this will help them execute their duties well and profoundly.
“If you know that you are a patriot and your family depends on you, you can’t handle your life recklessly, you should engage in sports and exercises in order to be fit and leave a disciplined life because failure to do that, you undermine your ability to make a contribution to the country” Museveni articulated.
This year’s celebrations have been the 4th in Uganda, and they have been commemorated under the theme “ACFTA will require a fit for purpose African Public Administration to succeed”.
The Minister of Public Service Wilson Muruli Mukasa in his remarks noted that the government is committed to increasing resource availability and also increasing the remuneration levels of all public servants as it is in line with the pay plan projection.
“Much as there are still a lot of challenges, there is a commitment that they will be sorted one by one and they will be sorted out” he highlighted.
Muruli also called upon all Public servants especially those that haven’t gotten the required remuneration to be patient that the time is coming when their sectors will be enhanced such that they work with great confidence.
The Head of Public Service in Uganda Lucy Nakyobe highlighted that the aim of this commemoration day is to reflect on the provision of an enabling environment and a platform for Public Servants to reflect on their challenges, solutions, and achievements in their area of work.
“This day also gives us an opportunity to encourage and motivate Public Servants to continue doing their work whilst coming up with new initiatives and innovations of delivering services to the citizens” she further explained.
Nakyobe also acknowledged that there are gaps in capacities within the Public administrative machinery and she noted that there is a need to find a balance between building a capable public service and cost-cutting measures which would require a lot of sacrifice and innovation to facilitate effective service delivery in Uganda.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of Public Service Catherine Musigwiire thanked the government and all heads of government institutions for supporting their teams to come and showcase what they do because at such times they display what they do and also offer some quick services to the public which many times aren’t aware of.
Some MDAs that participated in the exhibitions included the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Energy, KCCA, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of local government amongst others.
