By Nalusiba Agnes
The NRM Secretary General, Rt. Hon. Richard Todwong has said the party is satisfied with the performance of the government so far since the 2021 election.`
Giving his end-of-year address at the party headquarters at Kyadondo road, Nakasero on Wednesday, Todwong said the NRM government made several promises in its manifesto most of which have been fulfilled in the past year since elections.
“We were elected as a party to lead the country for another five-year term. We thank the people for trusting NRM and President Museveni to lead the country. Everything is moving in the right direction. We have been in office for one year but have registered tremendous progress in achieving most of the things we promised,” Todwong said.
Todwong added, “As a 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.”
He mentioned 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. “We are satisfied with our performance. We promised peace and stability, opportunities and many other things, and they are here,” Todwong told journalists.
The NRM Secretary General said 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.
Todwong 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 UPDF and President Museveni for responding swiftly.
He outlined other setbacks like the outbreak of Covid-19 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.
Todwong also mentioned the increase in commodity prices attributed to the war in Ukraine but the noted 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 also mentioned that a total of 50 election petitions directly affecting NRM 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 i.e. councilors at district and sub-county levels. The National Resistance Movement party won most of these elections with over 90%.”
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 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.
The 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 National Treasurer, Amb. 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 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.
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, an EC 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 end-of-year celebrations were crowned by a Thanksgiving service officiated by Msgr Gerald Kalumba, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Kampala, Apostle Joseph Sserwada of Victory Church, and Sheikh Muhammad Ali, among others.
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