I would like to congratulate President Museveni on his wise decision to appoint Hon. Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi as Minister for Local Government. Mr. President, the huge crowds that have been welcoming Hon. Balaam in every district he visits to monitor government activities are an indication that the country seemed to have had no Ministry of Local Government.
In fact, the majority of Ugandans have now concluded that President Museveni has no single problem in the country, but that the problem has been the sleeping drivers of various ministries.
Imagine people lining up along the roads, with others sweeping wherever Hon. Balaam passes as he goes to inspect projects.
My humble request to Hon. Balaam is that he should forget what others say. They talk from town hotels, but they don’t know what the ordinary person in the village is going through.
The Ministry of Local Government is the centre of corruption, and the President was right when he jokingly said he appointed Hon. Namere and Hon. Balaam to go and quarrel with civil servants in the local governments. It is true that this ministry doesn’t need smiling faces but a tough approach to challenge corrupt officials.
Hon. Balaam, Ugandans are proud of you. Please travel across the whole country, and please keep moving with new brooms to help you sweep every dirty corner in the Ministry of Local Government.
The writer is a senior veteran journalist.
