The State Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, Kabuye Kyofatogabye, has reiterated the need for unity among representatives of the President in West Nile Subregion.
He made the call at the opening of a 2-day regional workshop for Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), Resident City Commissioners (RCCs), their deputies and District Internal Security Officers (DISOs) in Arua City, where he represented the Minister for Presidency, Milly Babalanda.
The retreat was organized at the backdrop of reports of continued divisions among representatives of the President and their deputies in various districts in West Nile.
According to the Minister, there should not be any cause of fighting since their roles are well defined. He said that deputies should desist from criticizing their supervisors while doing their rightful duties.
“The cause of all these problems are the Deputy RDCs who want to show how powerful they are. If you are representing the RDC, why do introduce yourself as the RDC? You will get problems for no reason and cause conflicts at work,” Minister Kyofatogabye told the congregation.
He said the challenge emanates from the failure to understand the Principles of the ruling political party, NRM, in terms of placement, roles and responsibilities of appointed officials.
“When appointed, we all perform on behalf of the appointing authority, who is the President in this case, no one operates on his own,” Kyofatogabye said, adding that “when you are in these offices, it is a matter of allocating responsibilities one should oversee. So, the moment, you are Deputy, just know there is someone above you.”
“I call upon them to understand the reason they were appointed. They are here to serve the people not to fight. They also need not to ashame the appointing authority. The President has a lot of faith in them, and so, when you fight, you ashame him and also limit the chances of the young people to be appointed in positions of responsibility,” reiterated the Minister.
“We want Arua and West Nile to be peaceful, the people to be economically empowered and also be politically-ideologically upright. So, when you fight, these will not be realised,” he added.
Kyofatogabye further asked them to work together to educate and sensitize people on various government programs including the Parish Development Model (PDM).
On his part, Hajji Yusuf Kakande, the PS to the Office of the President, said society must be managed when there is order, thus calling for discipline among RDCs, RCCs and their deputies.
“Deputy RDCs and deputy RCCs must respect their supervisors and vice versa. I would not want to see a situation where the RDC or RCC discrediting the Deputy, you must work as a team. If your office, is seen to be divided, then we are in a disarray,” Hajji Kakande said before reminding the congregation of government’s hierarchical order.
Focus on security
Minister Kabuye reminded the congregation that West Nile being a neighbor to countries like DR Congo which are politically unstable with rebel activities, the RDCs and RCCs being the heads of security, ought to be security conscious and vigilant to protect Ugandans from such criminals.
“You must to be alert, not to allow criminals to cross to Uganda to destabilize our people. Even if by and large the whole country is at peace within the borders, we should be aware that there are elements operating from outside the borders who are eager to destabilize us. These must be faught with both hands and it’s your role as RDCs, RCCs and DISOs,” he said.