During the presidential investors’ roundtable at Speke Resort Munyonyo yesterday, several investors rapped what they called the persistent bureaucratic tendencies of government officials who refer to ‘powers from above’.
In this process, they said, the officials buy time to solicit for bribes from investors who are desperate to start work. Such officials, they predicted, are likely to resist the new information technologies.
At the roundtable, funded by the World Bank, prominent businessmen and women advise the President on how to improve Uganda’s business environment.
Baroness Linda Chalker, former British Secretary for International Development, said tackling the “horrendous paper passing” is critical in spurring investments.
Constantine Bitwayiki, the chairman of the e-government panel, said a national backbone for ICT has been put in place that enables the President meet the Cabinet through video-conferencing. He urged the Government to use the system to reduce the time for consultations. Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi said where there is a clear policy framework, a minister should be able to make decisions without referring to ‘above’.
“But where there is no clear policy, the minister should bring the matter to the Cabinet and should give the investor a time frame.”
Museveni said areas that are routine and do not require a new policy, like licensing a business, do not need rigorous consultations.
“Why should licensing land or taxation matters take forever?” he asked. This inertia in the government departments was harbouring corruption and simpler ICT systems will expose them, he vowed.
“They don’t want transparent systems like computerising the land registry,” he said.
He directed that Government departments, the public service and secondary schools be linked to the IT backbone, which should later be extended to primary schools and homes.
At position 112 out of 183 countries, Uganda is still ranked very low in the 2010 Doing Business Report of the World Bank, he noted.
At one point, there was tension when the President took on lands minister Asuman Kiyingi over the progress of computerising the lands registry.
The minister referred the matter to his technical man. The sweaty official had to grapple with a barrage of questions from the President.
“We rank very low in areas such as registering property, cross-border trade, protecting investors and starting a business. Some of these things like registering property are purely administrative,” he said.
The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index report, released recently, pointed out corruption, accessing finance, tax rates and work ethics as key challenges for Uganda that remain unresolved.
“I need your advice to transform this country into a middle income state,” Museveni told the investors.
He reminded the participants that the economy was resilient and this year’s GDP growth rate would exceed 7%.
Uganda’s oil revenue, he reiterated, will not be wasted but used to develop infrastructure, energy and science research.
“Sustainable and effective management of this resource is imperative. We shall never use our oil money for luxury consumption.”
He asked for advice on agriculture, especially cotton, where he said Uganda can produce high value textiles and garments but production levels remain low.
The other sectors where the President sought guidance were petroleum, transport and logistics, and effective use of ICTs and multimedia.
Recommendations following the discussions will be forwarded to the President in six months. After studying the recommendations, he will instruct his ministers to take action.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Cyprian Musoke and David Mugabe
Quelle/Source: The New Vision, 15.10.2009
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