1.     INTRODUCTION

This concept paper entails the processes of undertaking the midterm review of the manifesto by the Manifesto Implementation Unit in 2023. It details the proposed workplan, justification, methodology, timeframe and budget for successful implementation of the activity. Generally, the paper is to guide preparations and the mid-term review process of the Manifesto 2021-2026 which is targeted to take place starting the month of October 2023.

2.     BACKGROUND         

In May, 2021 the Citizens of Uganda renewed the Mandate of the NRM party by electing H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni the Presidential Candidate of the NRM Party as the President of the Republic of Uganda. The President assumed office on 12^th May, 2021 embarking on a new 5 (five) year political mandate that is geared towards accelerating Uganda’s socio – economic transformation.  The choice to vote the NRM Party was based on the party’s core principles of; Democracy, Patriotism, Pan-Africanism and Socio-Economic transformation and consistency of implementing the 10point programme in awakening Ugandans to meaningfully participate in wealth and job creation initiatives by embracing the need to integrate into the modern money economy. This is well stipulated in the NRM Manifesto 2021-2026.

The Manifesto 2021-2026 is based on the theme “Securing your Future” that is to be delivered through commitments that are structured in five thematic areas of; Creating Jobs and Wealth for all, Delivering Education Health and Water, Ensuring Justice and Equity, Protecting Life and Property, Achieving economic and political integration. Implementation of the Manifesto has been anchored on the National Development Plan III 2020/21-2024/25 and the Manifesto commitments have been aligned to the Programme Implementation Action Plans of the 20 NDP III Programmes.

While transitioning from the previous Manifesto 2016-21, the Manifesto 2021-26 stipulates the main areas of focus in the 5years termed as the unfinished business of;

1. reduction of the 39 household in subsistence
2. increase production and productivity (yield per acre), output and quality of agricultural commodities to sustain domestic and export markets.
3. Reducing of the post-harvest losses.
4. increase household incomes and reduce income inequality leading to low purchasing power.
5. reduce the cost of credit, electricity and transport — which lowers competitiveness of Ugandan products.
6. increase investment and uptake of scientific research and development (R&D)
7. Address Landownership and security, land use and land fragmentation issues.
8. eliminate corruption in government and private sector.
9. increase the level of Industrialization
10. increase labour productivity and reduce unemployment
11. increase export markets outreach
12. Improve the quality of healthcare and education services.
13. Reduce Environmental degradation and climate change.
14. Address high unemployment and underemployment of especially the young people.

The Office of the President through its mandate as enshrined in the Constitution under Article 99 (3) provides leadership in public policy management and good governance to ensure that the commitments made in the Manifesto are realized.  Accordingly, the Manifesto Implementation Unit in Office of the President monitors the progress of the implementation of the manifesto commitments and reports to the Presidency and the other government entities. 

The NRM Caucus held in June 2023 received a status report on the manifesto after two years of implementation delivered by the Minister for the Presidency, Hon. Milly Babalanda. However, the caucus required the Minister at the next retreat or any other appropriate arrangement to provide detailed programme reports on implementation of the Manifesto.

The Manifesto Implementation Unit therefore has an obligation to undertake a Mid-term review of the Manifesto 2021-2026 to ascertain the progress of the manifesto after 2 and a half years of implementation and generate a status report with detailed recommendations on how the remaining 2 and a half years can be fully utilized to consolidate and achieve the NRM Party’s manifesto. 

The mid-term review will be conducted in line with the National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy (2013) which emphasises the need for sectors/programmes to undertake regular reviews and periodic assessment of performance with the aim of satisfying accountability and learning needs for the sectors/programmes and Government as a whole.

3. RATIONALE FOR THE MANIFESTO MID-TERM REVIEW 2023

The National Planning Authority concluded the mid-term review of the third National Development Plan that indicated that Government had met only 17% of development targets within the NDP III. Specifically, among other things the report indicated the following, that;

1. Performance of the real economy in the first two years of the NDPIII was below the planned targets and this had ramifications on the overall economy. That slow implementation of public investments contributed towards the low growth outturns.
2. Performance of revenue collections is still below its potential. In the past two years of the NDPIII this has averaged at 13.3 percent of GDP. The revenue gap is about 5 percent of GDP an amount that can adequately cover the current wage bill and leave room for development expenditure.
3. To enhance budget efficiency the MTR found an urgent need to introduce annual spending reviews (expenditure tracking) prior to the budget process. These reviews should be used as the basis for prioritizing resources in allocation of resources.

Uganda’s economy is projected to grow at 6% in financial year 2023/2024 and this growth is expected to spur local economic development from the grass level through the implementation of the Parish Development Model.

In line with the above findings, the mid-term review (MTR) of the manifesto will therefore focus on evaluating the development commitments made by the Manifesto, progress made towards attainment of anticipated targets, identify the lessons learned along with the structural, and institutional reforms required to fast track the implementation of the Manifesto within the remaining time of this political mandate.

4. OBJECTIVES OF THE MANIFESTO REVIEW

The Manifesto Implementation Unit will undertake the mid-term review of the Manifesto to establish the implementation status so far in implementing manifesto as enshrined in the Constitution and Charter of Fiscal responsibility, on the benchmark that like the NDPIII, Covid 19, Ukraine-Russia war among other external factors affected the implementation of Manifesto. Specifically, the review will;

1. Assess the extent of progress made towards the achievement of the Manifesto goal/theme, objectives, key result areas and Programme-level service targets and results;

1. Assess the extent to which the Manifesto has been adapted in guiding national policy and strategic direction towards the achievement of national goals and priorities, including regional and international engagements;
2. Assess the efficiency gains realized through the implementation of the Manifesto in light of the Programme approach to planning, budgeting, reporting and coordination (within Government and with the private sector, development partners, the civil society and other non-state actors);
3. Assess the extent to which the national budget has been aligned to and addressed the Manifesto priorities; and
4. Make actionable, realistic, results-oriented and concrete recommendations on policy changes required to achieve the Manifesto targets.

 

5. OUTPUTS OF THE REVIEW

The Mid-term review will generate the following outputs;

1. Midterm review report structured in different thematic areas of Creating Jobs and Wealth for all, Delivering Education Health and Water, Ensuring Justice and Equity, Protecting Life and Property, Achieving economic and political integration.
2. A manifesto performance score card

The report will be tabled before various organs of Government and within the NRM Party structures for consideration.

 

6. METHODOLOGY FOR THE MANIFESTO MID-TERM REVIEW

6.1. METHODOLOGY

 

6.1 Data collection

The data collection for the Manifesto midterm review will involve both primary and secondary data collection. The secondary sources will include: Annual Programme Performance Reports; Ministerial Policy Statements; Budget framework papers; Approved estimates of Revenue and expenditure; Private Sector and CSO reports; UBOS Statistical Abstracts and survey reports; Background to the Budget; among others. The mentioned sources are complimented by national survey reports and National Annual Performance Report (NAPR).

Primary data will be collected from both MDAs and LGs based on the manifesto targets and NDPIII Results and Reporting Framework. The primary data from MDAs will be institutional (Vote) based, while the LG data will be district and Municipality based.

Additionally, we shall undertake stakeholder consultations to validate the findings progress performance results. This will involve convening working sessions with key stakeholder’s offsite from MIU premises.

6.2 Data analysis and Report writing

The review will adopt a thematic and programme review approach to enable performance analysis of the MDAs along the various NDP III programmes.  The programme analysis will determine the;

 

1. The Commitments implemented and achieved
2. Status of the on-going but uncompleted commitments within the first 2 (two) years of implementation.
3. Commitments that have not be attended to yet during the implementation period.
4. Recommendations for consolidating the achievements so far realized and how to fast track the un attended to commitments.

 

6.3. Technical Review Committee.

A Technical review committee comprising of 30 technical Officers will be constituted with representation from the Office of the President (Planning, DSMEA, Policy and MIU as Secretariat), MoFPED, NPA, UBOS and OPM and the technical supervision of the Director, Manifesto Implementation Unit.

 

The committee will be responsible for the data collection, regular qualitative and quantitative analysis of the review data and onward report writing.

 

7. TARGET PARTICIPANTS

The Manifesto Review will attract  a cross section of participants including Programme/ MDAs, Ministers, Members of Parliament, Representatives from the NRM-Secretariat, representatives from selected Local Governments, Development Partners, Civil Society Organizations, Academia, Private Sector and the Media.

 

REMARKS FROM THE MINISTER OF PRESIDENCY

Hon. Ministers,

Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet,

Deputy Head of Public Service and Deputy Secretary to Cabinet,

Secretary/ Office of the President,

Permanent Secretaries,

Director Manifesto Implementation Unit,

Local Government Leaders, 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

1. I welcome you all to this meeting, and extend greetings to you from H.E. the President of Uganda and appreciate you for having honored our invitation.

 

2. Today we convene to kick start a landmark event of undertaking a Mid-Term Review of the Manifesto 2021-2026. This will entail identifying the progress that Government has made in delivery of the Manifesto commitments; the strategies to consolidate the commitments achieved and the efforts to be made in addressing the identified implementation challenges.

 

3. The Office of the President through the Manifesto Implementation Unit has been undertaking regular monitoring of the level of implementation of the commitments. By end of the Second year of implementation, Government had achieved over 20% of the commitments and allow me to highlight some of the key highlights;

 

1. The country has generally continued to enjoy peace from border to border with the exception of the Karamoja region, where spikes of cattle rustling have been registered. We applaud the strategic partnerships with our peace friendly countries Like DRC, that is giving us the chance to flush out the ADF rebels and Russia that is enabling us to build out military capacity and other key development agendas.
2. Government has undertaken deliberate measures to revive the economy. In FY 2022/23, the economy grew by 5.5 percent, an improvement from the 4.6% and 3.5 percent registered in the year 2021/22 and 2020/21 respectively.  This has seen formal jobs increase by 3.03% from 1,380,972 employees in 2020/21 to 1,422,857 employees in 2021/22.
3. Under the presidential initiative on Skilling the youths in Uganda 12 of 19 industrial hubs in Mubende, Kyenjojo, Mbarara, Mbale, Kween, Napak, Kayunga, Masindi, Gulu, Zombo, Kasese and Lira were launched from which 2,650 learners graduated.
4. All the planned 10,506 have received over 100m under the Parish Development Model, and over Ushs. 390 billion has been disbursed under the Emyooga programme. As of today, 205,710 parish-based associations under 6,748 Emyooga SACCOs were mobilized.
5. Government has completed the construction and of 102 new secondary schools 3.3% along with the construction of 612 staff houses for the teachers.
6. Government has Increased the number of public HC IIIs from 1,165 in 2018/19 to 1,536 in 2022/23 within 340 sub-counties.
7. Access to safe and clean water has increased in various parts of the country. 70 percent of the current population (33,180,420 people) (68% in the rural and 71.6% in the urban) have access to clean and safe water services. 70,512 villages in the country out of which 49,102 villages representing (70%) have access to at least one safe water source.
8. The average case filing rate increased by 2.8% through the introduction of technology backed up with video conferencing in various courts namely; Supreme court, court of appeal and 11 high court circuits. Courts recorded an overall decrease in case backlog from 32% to 26%.
9. A total of Ushs1.918Bn has been disbursed over the period 6,063 youth enterprises have been supported in the last 2 years under Youth Venture Capital Fund worth UGX 22.8bn providing employment to estimated 12,126 youth. A total of Ushs25.15Bn has been disbursed to 3,544 women groups covering 30,142 beneficiaries have been supported by the Women Enterprise Fund under UWEP.
10. In ensuring safety of persons on land, Government issued 75,000 Certificate of Customary Ownership (CCOs).
11. I am sure that the review will indicate an even higher performance of the commitments that have been achieved as well as enabling us to realize the implementation gaps that need to be addressed to enable full realization of the Manifesto Commitments. I therefore implore all concerned stakeholders at political and technical level to treat this exercise with the deserved attention that it deserves. 
12. I would like in a special way to appreciate the Manifesto Implementation Unit led by Mr. Willis Bashaasha for having spearheaded this activity and must say that we are all eagerly waiting for the findings from this whole process.

Launch of the Online Manifesto Reporting System;

6. Today we have been introduced to the online Manifesto Reporting System, a tool that will be used to enable accurate and timely collection of information relating to the Manifesto Commitments. it is my singular honor to Launch this Manifesto Reporting tool.

Launch of the Mid-term Review process

7. I take this opportunity to launch the Mid Term review of the Manifesto 2021-26.

I thank you for listening

For God and My Country