National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Managing Director Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha has defended the utility’s strict performance management system, saying staff are assessed every quarter and those who consistently fail to meet expectations risk losing their jobs.
Mugisha said NWSC’s aggressive performance culture is one of the factors behind the corporation’s expansion over the past decade, during which the utility has grown from about 300,000 water connections to more than 1.06 million.
He was speaking during a media engagement at the corporation’s International Resource Centre (IREC) along Old Port Bell Road in Bugolobi, Kampala, on Friday. The engagement followed a tour of some of NWSC’s projects in the Greater Kampala area.
According to Mugisha, every NWSC employee is subjected to quarterly performance appraisal, with workers graded A+, A, B+, B, C or D.
He said employees who consistently obtain poor grades are subjected to corrective measures, including performance improvement plans, while contracts of staff who fail to improve may not be renewed.
“If you get C and D, you are in trouble,” Mugisha said, explaining that a C grade could lead to a conditional renewal and placement on a six-month Performance Improvement Plan.
He said an employee who fails to improve after the intervention could eventually leave the corporation.
Mugisha acknowledged that the approach can make management unpopular, but argued that maintaining high standards is necessary if NWSC is to sustain its growth and service delivery.
The tough performance regime is part of what he described as NWSC’s broader “cost efficiency and growth model”, which he said has enabled the corporation to expand while keeping investment costs under control.
Over the last decade, Mugisha said, NWSC has increased its main-pipe network from approximately 6,000 kilometres to 25,000 kilometres, with a target of reaching 30,000 kilometres within the next five years.
The corporation has also expanded its service footprint from 23 towns to 290 towns, while the number of Ugandans reached by its services has increased from about 4.5 million to 22 million.
NWSC hopes to increase that figure to 25 million people over the next five years.
Mugisha said the corporation’s assets under management have also grown from about Shs580 billion to Shs5 trillion, with a target of Shs6.2 trillion in the next five years.
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