The Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, has questioned the basis for which the government appointed assistant Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) in light of the recent rationalization policy.

Ssenyonyi made the remarks on April 23, 2024, during the plenary session in parliament, and queried how the government that has been spearheading the abolishment and merging of some agencies back to ministries would be the same to appoint over 300 assistant RDCs. He therefore questioned the role of the new team that isn’t being played by the existing RDCs and Deputy RDCs.

“But while we are rationalizing, here comes another huge government expenditure because you can’t preach water and then drink wine. What role are assistant RDCs going to play that RDCs and deputy RDCs aren’t playing? We need to have a good understanding of that,” Ssenyonyi queried.

He emphasized that the government has been pushing for rationalization, saying that there is a need to rationalize entities. He added that the government should send them back to the ministries in order to save taxpayers’ money and cut down on government expenditures.

Ssenyonyi referred to the Minister for Presidency, Milly Babalanda’s communication, where she said that the Assistant RDCs are going to promote patriotism, carry out mobilization, and fight corruption. Ssenyonyi, therefore, needed to understand whether the Assistant RDCs are now taking over the work of the Inspectorate of Government because there seems to be a lot of duplication.

In response, however, David Bahati, Minister of State for Industry, faulted Ssenyonyi for assuming ignorance about the appointment of assistant RDCs, yet he was part of the team that approved funds for the appointment of assistant RDCs in the current 2023/24 budget, adding that the Minister of Presidency was merely taking action.

The Government Chief Whip, Hamson Obua, also asked the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among, to give the government more time to bring a statement to Parliament in order to explain the matter and also for the Minister of Presidency to come and provide clarification on the appointment of the assistant RDCs and Assistant Resident City Commissioners (RCCs), their roles and responsibilities, and why the NRM thought it wise to empower more those offices that do exist in the districts.