Dr. Nangoli Sudi, a senior lecturer and deputy dean at the faculty of business administration at Makerere University Business School, lectured today, May 29, 2023, to the Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), Resident City Commissioners (RCCs), Deputy Resident City Commissioners (DRCCs), and District Internal Security Officers (DISOs) on monitoring and evaluation of government programs.
In his opening remarks, he cautioned all stakeholders appointed by H.E. the President to desist from misusing the power entrusted to them by the head of state.
He made these remarks during a two-day workshop for capacity building attended by RDCs, RCCs, DRCCs, and DISOs from Bunyoro and Rwenzori subregions at the Miika Eco Resort hotel in the oil city of Hoima.
Nangoli also cautioned participants to report on time, report facts, and be transparent while monitoring and reporting on government programs.
“The issue of timeliness is key, because if you don’t report in time, then the beneficiaries are likely to miss out on many opportunities,” Nangoli explained.
He went ahead to caution the officers against having misguided priorities while implementing government projects.
“Please avoid having conflicting interests as you monitor these government projects, or else you will be in trouble.” He added.
Nangoli emphatically told the officers to always ask themselves the following questions as they execute their responsibilities: Were the program activities implemented? Were resources available and used as planned? Did the outputs result in the expected outcome? Has the government achieved what it wanted to achieve?
According to Nangoli, messing up with government programs may lead to low development. He therefore urged the officers to double their efforts in monitoring and evaluating government programs to ensure that such programs benefit the intended beneficiaries at the bottom of the pyramid.
He also asked officers to keep a watchful eye on the causes of deviations from the national budget, which include corruption, weak procurement systems, fund diversions, inadequate funding, and weak oversight by public accountability institutions.
Dr. Nangoli concluded by advising the RDCs and DISOs to study work plans and budgets in order to know whether some activities were planned and budgeted for, to analyze financial flows, and to examine the functionality and use by the population.
The RDCs and DISOs are thankful for the workshop, as it has equipped them with various tools and knowledge on how to evaluate government programs in their respective districts.
“The training on M&E was very timely, as it taught us key methodologies for implementing and evaluating government programs.” said Hassan Kasibante, the Deputy RCC Hoima West.
Businge Emmanuel the Fortportal City Deputy RCC FortPortal City Central, noted that “the workshop is key as it is empowering us on how to do our cardinal role of monitoring and supervising government programs with a view to having value for money,” Businge Said.
The meeting was organized at a time when the President has emphasized the importance of key stakeholder groups in all districts to supervise, monitor, and evaluate the current Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga projects.
Recently, H.E. the President emphasized that the only way to get people out of poverty is to benefit from the Parish Development Model (PDM), which aims to increase household incomes and improve the quality of life of Ugandans with a specific focus on the total transformation of subsistence households.
