The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Trade Ministry employees have received a severe warning from General Wilson Mbadi, the recently appointed State Minister of Trade. He made it quite evident that under his direction, ineptitude and carelessness would not be accepted.
The UNBS should play a crucial role in upholding market standards for both domestic and export commodities, but Gen. Mbadi, the former Commander of the Defense Forces, claimed that the organization is mired in inefficiency, chaos, and corruption.Mbadi was addressing on Thursday at the Farmer's House handover event in Kampala. Despite Uganda's industrialization progress, General Mbadi underlined that a worrying amount of goods and produce are rejected because of UNBS and the carelessness of the quality control department. He said he was prepared to address these problems as soon as possible.
With Mbadi's move to a ministry's political role, the number of serving officers occupying such roles is increasing. This action has generated discussions, with many arguing that the President's confidence in military personnel's capacity to produce measurable outcomes is the reason behind his choice to place them in vital regions.
General Mbadi emphasized the importance of the Trade Ministry, stressing its pivotal role in matters of national concern. Although he was not an expert in trade and industry problems, he stressed that he understood the critical role that commerce plays in providing security on a strategic level.
Mbadi joins the ministry at a time when it is dealing with a number of issues, such as personnel disputes, accusations of corruption, and inconsistencies in procurement inside the ministry and its overseeing organizations.
The acting director of UNBS, Daniel Richard Makayi Nangalama, brought attention to the understaffing problem by stating that, as of just now, only 500 employees were employed, as opposed to the 1,200 authorized staff maximum. He also discussed the difficulties they had obtaining the technology and equipment required for standardization because of insufficient financing.
Information currently available indicates that the UNBS urgently needs over 31 billion Shillings to improve services to the public. Of these, 7 billion are needed for staff hiring and salary increases, 14 billion are needed for the UNBS Services decentralization project, and 10 billion are needed for operations (which include certification, standards development, equipment verification, calibration, and surveillance).
Gen. Mbadi remained unmoved in spite of these justifications, voicing his worries about the numerous flaws in UNBS. The one thing he did identify as good was the EU-funded endeavor to create standards that would harmonize Uganda with other East African countries.
The Minister of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, Francis Mwebesa, revealed that the Trade Ministry is facing internal problems as well, such as claims of employee underperformance. Despite having worked for the ministry for two and a half years, he disclosed that he was unfamiliar with several of the staff members in attendance at the meeting. I'll be upfront. This is the first gathering with this kind of attendance. Most of these employees, including senior staff members, have hardly been seen in their offices and have missed management meetings. Mwebesa stated, "Some people claim to be working virtually."
He said the ministry would be rejuvenated with the appointment of General Mbadi. In addition, he conveyed a strong message to the employees, warning them that tardiness would not be accepted going forward and that disciplinary action would be taken. This was stated in the following management meeting.
He disclosed that he intended to put in place a biometric clock-in system for employees and investigate the possibilities of using the data gathered to calculate pay according to the amount of time spent on activities.
Although the commerce ministry generates a large amount of the nation's taxes, Geraldine Ssali, the Permanent Secretary, pointed out that the agency lacks money. In her speech, she outlined several important topics and goals and disclosed that projects worth close to 500 billion shillings are still unfunded.
Mwebesa emphasized that it is expected of the incoming minister to promote funding.
According to Ssali, rivalry for market access and investor attraction has increased with growing liberalization and free trade. As a result, several nations are strategically assigning commercial attachés, or specially trained trade officers, to their foreign missions. She continued by saying that, although at an estimated cost of nearly 10 billion shillings, the trade ministry plans to send such attachés to important markets like the East African Community (EAC), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Europe (Brussels and Geneva), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and West Africa (Ghana).
Gen. Mbadi was alerted to the trade attache issue and noted that economic values are now prioritized in diplomacy as it develops. He emphasized the value of trade attachés as essential employees in each embassy.
But he said that throughout his travels, he saw that Uganda's high commissions and embassies lacked staff members committed to advancing the country's economic objectives.
Mwebesa also gave the minister other responsibilities, such as settling problems resulting from the Ministry of Trade and Finance's and organizations like the Uganda Investment Authority's overlapping missions.
He underlined the importance of giving the Uganda Cooperative Bank's problems top priority as well as the creation of a legally-required Chamber of Commerce.
Mwebesa pointed out that while the president essentially acts as the nation's chamber of commerce, Uganda does not now have this crucial department.
Ntabazi Harriet, who was removed in the most recent shuffle and designated as a senior presidential advisor, is replaced by Mbadi.
Ntabazi counseled Gen. Mbadi to spend time carefully reviewing a number of regulations and procedures prior to the handover. She also urged him to expand on the ministry's successes in order to take it to even greater heights.
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