Judiciary Wins the Simplifying Public Service Processes Award.
Cabinet approved a\r\nnew proposal to reform the public service for improved customer care and\r\ncost-effective service delivery, Prime Minister Hon. Amama Mbabazi disclosed. He\r\nsaid the proposal would tackle the sector use of Information and Communications\r\nTechnology (ICT) to provide digital services to the public. Hon. Mbabazi\r\nwas opening the 2nd Public Sector Innovation Conference at Hotel Africana on\r\nMonday December 9, 2013.
\r\n\r\n
Members of\r\nParliament, Permanent Secretaries, international public service experts and\r\ndevelopment partners attended the two-day conference organized by the Ministry\r\nof Public service under the theme "Transforming Uganda through process\r\ninnovation”.
\r\n\r\n
Hon. Mbabazi called\r\nfor modernization of public service delivery systems to solve government\r\ninefficiency, saying the measure would save billions of shillings spent on\r\nunnecessary processes annually. He said the reform programme had been\r\ndelayed by some traditional civil servants resisting change, warning that the\r\nchange would come anyway and they would be ‘caught off-guard’.
\r\n\r\n
Hon. Mbabazi noted\r\nthat red tape in government was a leading cause of corruption, with businessmen\r\ntaking too long to secure construction permits, forced to corrupt the system or\r\nput up illegal structures, leading to the proliferation of slums.
\r\n\r\n
The Minister of State\r\nfor Public Service, Mr. Seezi Mbaguta and the Ministry’s acting Permanent\r\nsecretary, Mrs. Adah Muwanga, said the conference would drive an organized\r\npublic sector through simpler processes, better connections, networking and\r\ninformal collaboration in innovation.
\r\n\r\n
The Courts of Judicature’s introduction of the\r\nsmall claims procedure enabled it to top the ‘Simplifying Public Service\r\nProcesses’ category. The measure reduced the cost of litigation because\r\nanybody can now lodge small claims of up to Shs 10m without involving\r\nadvocates.
\r\n\r\n
Kasese District Local\r\nGovernment was the overall winner of the 2013 Public service Innovation Awards.\r\nIt built stone-arch bridges which helped connect communities, boost agriculture\r\nand spur business, cutting procurement costs in the district by over 80\r\npercent.
\r\n\r\n
Kole District Local\r\nGovernment won the ICT category for digitizing its records and cutting costs by\r\nfive times. The Defense Ministry earned kudos for empowering vulnerable\r\ngroups by accessing soldiers’ spouses to the Wazalendo SACCO funds.
\r\n\r\n
Other finalists\r\nincluded the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social\r\nDevelopment, Mr.Pius Bigirimana, Dr Albert Byamugisha, the commissioner for Monitoring\r\nand Evaluation in the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Energy\r\nand Minerals.
\r\n\r\n
The Hon. Prime Minister's Key note address.
Posted 10th, December 2013
