The appointment of Hon. Balaam and his junior minister, Justine Namere, came at a critical moment when many Ugandans were nearly losing hope in the current government.
What the two ministers are doing is not showing off; rather, it is what should have been done by the previous ministers who occupied those positions.
As I said earlier, this is the first time Uganda has had real ministers for Local Government. Previously, we had ministers of local offices who remained seated in comfortable chairs, only rushing to districts whenever the President was scheduled to visit.
To me, what Hon. Balaam and Namere are doing by going down to the grassroots is the best approach because Ugandan universities are good at producing graduates with paper accountability but not practical, on-the-ground accountability. Yet Ugandans need real accountability on the ground.
I have seen comments from other leaders, including ministers, criticizing Hon. Balaam and Namere for allegedly crossing into their dockets. However, if you are not performing in your ministry despite being funded by taxpayers’ money, what do you expect?
In fact, in my view, any person, whether a minister or anyone else, who is trying to fight against Minister Balaam and Namere should be arrested and taken to the basement for proper orientation.
Local governments have become centres of corruption in this country. Without paying money to district service commissions, no matter how qualified a person is, they cannot get a job. In some cases, district service commissions award jobs even to candidates who fail interviews, provided they have paid bribes.
Local government has also become a centre of corruption where a project is budgeted at Shs800 million, but only Shs300 million is actually spent on the project.
Hon. Balaam and Namere, Ugandans are very happy with what you are doing. Please keep moving forward. No amount of intimidation should stop you or stand in your way.
Long live our President for appointing the two hardworking ministers. Long live the Badman General Muhoozi for appointing Hon. Balaam.
The writer is a senior veteran journalist.
