It has been
our privilege to meet the Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office. To meet
someone of such a high position in Uganda's government so freely and so early
in our travels was something unimaginable for me. In the United States it would
have taken a lot of time and a lot of people to go through in order to talk to
someone of an equivalent position. I am not sure how many emails or phone calls
were done on the backend on our behalf to get us this opportunity. Nonetheless,
it was not an event that anyone of us has taken lightly. I’m sure we would all
like to thank those who have made it possible.
When the Permanent Secretary walked in and sat at the head of the table, he made his position known. He spoke to us with knowledge of the current issues of Uganda, the governmental policies to address them and the past events that have contributed to making both the issues and the policies what they are today. He spoke with great tact and great control of his words as he briefed us on the state of Uganda and the position the government has taken as northern Uganda fights towards peace and reconstruction.
Then, we were able to have a discourse with him. We were able to ask a few questions on how the government will facilitate greater transparency in the future as this is important to the Ugandan people as well as a condition for the United States’ continued support of the PRDP. It is a known fact in this country that North and South Uganda has not always seen eye to eye. The question of how this Southern focused government will address the needs of the recovering war torn north as well as provide the transparency needed to legally prove and ensure the carrying out these actions was a question that many of us had on our minds. Some of the things that we were told in response to this question were that
1. Local governmental actions covered by a budget will be documented so that there will be written support to what has been done and what has been not.
2. Locals will be given a meeting place in which they can voice their concerns and complaints.
and
3. The Permanent Secretary, himself, will investigate any complaints suggesting that local governments have not done their job.
The Permanent Secretary further went about telling us what a success the PRDP has been so far and what it has already done to move Uganda toward reconstruction. We were even given a hardcopy listing everything that the PRDP has done for Uganda so far. However, coincidentally, we were also warned of the "negative attitudes" that we would find in the North, and how black is not always seen as black or white as white.
As we travel north, we ourselves will be on the lookout for evidence of the PRDP at work.
We look forward to discussing further the issues concerning the PRDP and Northern Uganda with the Permanent Secretary once we return and our journey comes to the close. We will have more of a "meal" of knowledge to work with once we return. Perhaps, in the end, we will also see how black is black. Perhaps, though, black will appear white on the first look or perhaps to those who it affects black could be white afterall.
When the Permanent Secretary walked in and sat at the head of the table, he made his position known. He spoke to us with knowledge of the current issues of Uganda, the governmental policies to address them and the past events that have contributed to making both the issues and the policies what they are today. He spoke with great tact and great control of his words as he briefed us on the state of Uganda and the position the government has taken as northern Uganda fights towards peace and reconstruction.
Then, we were able to have a discourse with him. We were able to ask a few questions on how the government will facilitate greater transparency in the future as this is important to the Ugandan people as well as a condition for the United States’ continued support of the PRDP. It is a known fact in this country that North and South Uganda has not always seen eye to eye. The question of how this Southern focused government will address the needs of the recovering war torn north as well as provide the transparency needed to legally prove and ensure the carrying out these actions was a question that many of us had on our minds. Some of the things that we were told in response to this question were that
1. Local governmental actions covered by a budget will be documented so that there will be written support to what has been done and what has been not.
2. Locals will be given a meeting place in which they can voice their concerns and complaints.
and
3. The Permanent Secretary, himself, will investigate any complaints suggesting that local governments have not done their job.
The Permanent Secretary further went about telling us what a success the PRDP has been so far and what it has already done to move Uganda toward reconstruction. We were even given a hardcopy listing everything that the PRDP has done for Uganda so far. However, coincidentally, we were also warned of the "negative attitudes" that we would find in the North, and how black is not always seen as black or white as white.
As we travel north, we ourselves will be on the lookout for evidence of the PRDP at work.
We look forward to discussing further the issues concerning the PRDP and Northern Uganda with the Permanent Secretary once we return and our journey comes to the close. We will have more of a "meal" of knowledge to work with once we return. Perhaps, in the end, we will also see how black is black. Perhaps, though, black will appear white on the first look or perhaps to those who it affects black could be white afterall.
No comments:
Post a Comment