By Jimmy odooki Acelam
NRM policies making you poor-Bobi Wine (DAILY MONITOR September 6, 2023) and KAZIIMBA CLEANS CITY (The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda urged the government of Uganda to enforce the ban on kaveera)-NEW VISION September 6, 2023) are leading stories on the front pages of Uganda’s mainstream newspapers. They speak to some policy issues which the government is grappling with.
Thus, why have many good government policies failed to be implemented? The ban on kaveera which the Archbishop alluded to while taking part in a cleaning exercise in Nakulaybye, Kampala to mark Africa Climate Week was passed a few years ago. The implementation of that ban though has failed miserably. However, the story is different in neighbouring Rwanda where there is zero tolerance towards the use
and sale of buveeras. Disposal and recycling of plastics are well managed. Uganda’s problem in enforcing policies seems to be stemming from the top echelon of political leadership. The lack of political will to enforce policies is an impediment to effective implementation.
Enforcement of policies in many cases are done selectively. There are a number of instances where people floating laws, policies and even
Presidential directives have been let off the hook. Charcoal and timber traders causing deforestation in Northern Uganda have been
allowed to go on with their businesses. Balalo cattle keepers, roaming Northern and Eastern Uganda grazing cows have continued to do so,
ignoring the presidential directive stopping them. Enforcement of policies in the country is problematic. As Castree, (2002:360) noted,
“Policy is too political-too much power and values-to be simply passed off as a domain of technical judgments and practices.” Earlier this year, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) introduced a policy to reduce littering in what was called, the ‘car dustbin penalty,’ in which driving a car without a trash bin would lead to a maximum fine of six million shillings. There was uproar from Ugandans and the Uganda Law Society challenged this policy/law in court. It appeared impossible to implement such a policy.
Some analysts likened it to being dead on arrival. Similarly, policies regarding noise pollution, encroachment on wetlands which are the mandate of NEMA have stalled. Talk about policies around regulation of boda cyclists in the Central Business District (CBD) by the Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA). What should be done There should be reforms in many government policies to enable effective implementation of quality services delivery to the citizens. That said, policies ought to be well thought out and with the involvement of technocrats in the field. Political interference and corruption in the country are issues which should be addressed for these policies to be effective.
The 2016 Uganda Health and Demographic survey released by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) shows that 98.3 percent of Uganda’s population was using biomass fuel for cooking while only 0.6 percent was using clean fuel at the time of the survey. In 2022, the government decided to give out gas cylinders to one million households through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.
This strategy and policy was to protect forests from being depleted for charcoal and firewood. We could make mention of the much hyped
government policy to transit people from the subsistence to the money through the Parish Development Model (PDM). All these policies
have had negligible impact on
