NATIONAL RESISTANCE MOVEMENT OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL

Transcription

1 NATIONAL RESISTANCE MOVEMENT OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL TO THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL STATE HOUSE, ENTEBBE 12 TH JANUARY,

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Part I: Achievements 06 Staff & Institutional Development.06 Directors..06 Administrative Secretaries..07 Office Assistants 08 National Secretariat 08 Hire of Office Premises NRM Members Register NRM District Conferences Elections..1 2 Ad-hoc Committee on Adult Suffrage...20 Adhoc Committee on Issues NRM Electoral Commission Preparedness Constitutional Amendments Inter-Party Dialogue Manifesto Implementation Parliamentary Caucus Part II: Challenges Major Tasks Ahead

3 Your Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda and Chairman of The National Resistance Movement, and the First Lady Ho. Janet Museveni, The First National Vice Chairman of NRM The Second National Vice Chairperson of NRM The Vice Chairman for Central Region and Vice President of Uganda The Prime Minister of Uganda The Vice Chairmen for Northern, Western and Eastern Regions Members of the Central Executive Committee Distinguished members of the National Executive Council Ladies and Gentlemen A. INTRODUCTION Last year on May 26 th, 2009, National Executive Council (NEC) adopted the NRM Corporate Plan. I stand here today to present our achievements since that time, as well as the areas where great effort is still needed in order to have a successful campaign for the national general election in

4 With just 13 months to the general election, we must take stock of how far along we have come on our Corporate plan, knowing full well that the members of the NRM, the good citizens of Uganda, shall hold us accountable for the time they have given us to serve them in our various capacities. As we meet, as the term of the 1 st NEC draws to its end, we must be mindful that we stand at a historic moment in the history of our party. For posterity shall remember this NEC s role in spearheading change and progress in Uganda. Although, we have had many hiccups on our road to transformation, I would like you all to know that we are winners. What we have achieved during this last term, other parties could only talk about and write about. Today my fellow comrades, The Corporate plan is alive. It is not some words on paper. Together, we have brought it to life. This we were only able to do because the corporate plan is rooted in our two convictions. What are our convictions? 1. Unity and mutual respect for our diversity, our rights, and our aspirations as a nation and as individuals. 2. Freedom attainable by impeccable integrity where each individual is held personally responsible for his or her actions and accountable to the appointing authority as well as to the country at large. In order to realize these two achievements, we had to be committed and we continue to be committed. What are our fundamental commitments? 1. Self-denial: That we all put the NRM Party and Uganda above ourselves. 2. Commitment to Self-Sacrifice: As the NEC, we serve the NRM party, and everything we do, we do for the party. Even if it means taking 4

5 uncomfortable positions, we do so as long as our actions serve to enhance the ideology of the NRM. We must acknowledge that we are NRM, and that without our individual and collective action, none of the noble objectives NRM has for Uganda can be achieved. With 13 months to elections, we need to consolidate the unity and cohesion of NRM by overcoming differences and instituting conscious, political and organizational discipline. In May 2009, we, the NEC, met and discussed this as a challenge. Now we, NRM, can say that we have moved a long way to overcome this problem. This report is in two parts. The first part highlights our achievements and major developments in the work of the Party since we last met on the 22 nd and 23 rd June 2009, in CEC and NEC. In the second part of the report, we discuss our challenges and the way forward. 5

6 PART I: B. ACHIEVEMENTS Last year (2009) we made progress in a number of fields that we would like to highlight in this presentation but the fundamental development was that we were finally able to do the following; 1). Staff and Institutional Development The institutional structure of the Secretariat required that several posts be filled. A number of them have been filled as follows: a). Directors As I reported last year, 2 Directors at the National Secretariat: Mr. Norman Mutekanga as Director for Administration and Finance, and Dr. Hassan Wasswa Galiwango as Director for Mobilization, Recruitment and Cadre Development were appointed. Service to NRM requires total dedication to the party and to the principles of NRM. As freedom fighters, we have had to adjust ourselves to various challenges and hardships that have been presented to us at various points in history, it is therefore vital that any member that wishes to serve the party is wholly dedicated to the cause of NRM. Mr. Norman Mutekanga our Finance director excelled at all interviews and was the best suited for the job in terms of qualifications, however, NRM requires a lot more than paper qualifications. He has since resigned and we have this position open once again. Dr. Galiwango on his part continues to serve very well. He is also currently performing the duties of Acting Director for Administration and Finance. 6

7 b). Administrative Secretaries i) On 1 st June 2009, the appointments of 50 Administrative Secretaries appointed by CEC took effect. These have since taken up their offices except the one of Busia District who had taken up employment elsewhere. ii) CEC at its sitting in December, 2009 appointed another 32 Administrative Secretaries for all those districts that had fulfilled the requirements for these appointments. These include the replacement for the Busia District Administrative Secretary who was recommended by the NRM District Executive Committee. iii) I am also glad that the list includes the nominees for Bushenyi, Kumi and Mbarara, whose appointments were deferred by our meeting in April this year, pending clarification with the NRM Districts leaderships of the various Districts. Bushenyi and Mbarara upheld the appointments of their nominees, asserting that earlier reports on the subject to CEC that questioned the appointments were not true, while Kumi upheld the integrity of its nominee. iv). By and large, we have made great progress but there are still some unresolved issues regarding Administrative Secretaries. We still have to manage the disagreements over some of the appointments in certain Districts such as Bududa, Nakasongola and Kibaale. We have received written objections to these appointments by NRM leaders giving various grounds for their objections. It is important that we remind ourselves that the Administrative Secretaries serve more than the top leadership in the district. They are instrumental to the proper functioning of the party. It is therefore imperative that we see the administrative secretaries in the context of serving the greater good of the NRM. It is our hope that the NRM National Reconciliation Committee will go a long way in helping the resolution of conflicts such as these, in the Party. 7

8 v) In the case of new Districts where elections have not yet been held, the interim structures are required to recommend candidates for appointment as Administrative Secretaries. These Districts include: Otuke, Zombo, Lamwo, Buikwe, Ntoroko, Namayingo, Buyende, Luuka, Kyegegwa, Bulambuli, Amudat, Buvuma, Kiryandongo, Gomba, Alebtong, Serere and any other that may come up before c). Office Assistants On 1 st June 2009, the Secretary General appointed 53 Office Assistants, pursuant to Art. 16 (4), of the NRM Constitution. I am glad to report to this meeting that the Secretariat has now appointed Office Assistants in the remaining NRM Districts where elected structures are in place. As with the case of Administrative Secretaries, in new Districts where elections have not yet been held, the interim structures are still required to recommend candidates for appointment as Office Assistants. d). National Secretariat Staff The National Secretariat has been functioning with volunteers and interim officers. This being an election year, we will be expanding our departments to ensure that the Secretariat is operating at an optimum level throughout the year e). Hire of Office Premises The Secretariat provided rent for all District Offices up to August Exceptions occurred where some districts were found to have some confusion regarding location and, or, suitability of office premises. This was the case for example, in Abim, Moroto, Gulu and Manafwa. In the case of Amuru there were no offices at all. Kampala Central District as its Chairman reported to NEC last time required more funding than was budgeted and we are planning to raise its level of funding for them to acquire a fitting office for such a central place. 8

9 2. NRM Members Register In 2006, the NRM election national task force talked about the Movement machinery and our capacity to win the elections. We excelled in all levels competed for in the national and local elections. The party leadership has since felt it is important to digitize our members. It is not enough to win elections, but a strong party must know the people that it serves so that they can plan appropriately. Permit me to remind you of one of our core action areas of mobilization. In order for us to mobilize people, we must know who we are mobilizing. In the NRM Road Map, compilation of the NRM Members Register was scheduled for July to August Due to the involved nature of the requisite preparations, the exercise could not start on schedule. I am however glad to report that we have so far concluded collection of initial data in 63 districts of the 80 old districts. The remaining 17 districts will also be concluded soon. The compilation of the voter register is in two parts. We have sent out a research team to verify information and create a digital solution. At the same time we have designed the NRM members register yellow book which will be given to every NRM branch. I invite members to look at the samples that have been distributed in this meeting. The NRM Constitution confers on the branch the authority to register the members of NRM. The NRM Yellow Book members register has been designed for NRM to receive regular returns from the districts on new membership. This would mean that we are constantly updating our information on membership and since we have digitized our members roll, we would by the click of the button be able to retrieve any information that we require for planning and policy. This is very historic, for no political party has ever digitized its members roll. NRM has always led the way in transforming the country so it would only be natural to again be the leaders in using a digitized register. 9

10 I would like to proudly state to this great NEC meeting that for the first time since 1957, we have finally sorted the nomenclature of village, parish and all others. By paying attention to the finer details, we have achieved, among many others which we will have occasion to present in greater detail in future, the following; We know the voters and have now set the stage for free and fair elections within NRM and beyond. We now know exactly how many voters in the country actually support NRM. We have set the stage for full industrialization. To industrialize, we must know our workforce in terms of numbers, skills and capabilities. These are all the questions that the NRM Members Roll answers. We are now able to, by the click of a button, know who our cadres are We are now able to design effective systems for accountability and financial donations. With all these achievements, Uganda s democracy is alive and well. 3. The NRM District Conferences Earlier scheduled to commence in August 2009, these finally started in September and run up to early December The Conferences were facilitated by two teams led, respectively, by the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General. a). Working Documents of the Conferences: i). The report of the NRM District Chairperson: covering the state of affairs in the party in the District; implementation of the NRM Manifesto and government programmes in the District; central government financial disbursements for various programmes in the District, etc. 10

11 ii). The message of the National Chairperson His Excellency Yoweri K. Museveni, sub-titled Strategic Counter Offensive Against Bad Roads - which focused on the transformation of the roads sector, in the context of the overall qualitative transformation of the Ugandan economy. The National Chairperson s clarion call to the membership of the District Conferences to go out and recruit massively into the NRM, was conveyed by the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General. iii). The message of the Secretary General - which was an abridged version of the Secretary General s report to NEC in May last year. It also provided a summary of the resolutions and decisions of NEC, and an overview of how political parties function. b). Major Challenges for the NRM A number of challenges for the Party emerged in the course of the Conferences. Members were concerned about: i). Internal squabbles in the NRM; These squabbles only serve to undermine cohesion in the Party. For the most part not one single NEC has gone by without some accusation of kind cropping up. As to the authenticity of all these, we shall continue to strive to get to the bottom of them. The National Chairman set up an issues committee to look into this and they will give us feedback this week. The May, 2009 meet proposed that NRM sets up a National Reconciliation Committee. The retired Right Honourable Kintu Musoke indeed suggested this and volunteered himself to this noble cause. It is important for reconciliation within any competitive politics setting especially when our Political development as a country is still at infant stage. It is also equally important that we lead by example in understanding that we are all not going to share the same views at all times, but a certain level of maturity is required to put party first above self. This lesson will take time and we believe NRM is on the right track. 11

12 That we restored freedom of speech and expression is not in doubt. You need only attend an NRM district conference to see citizens actively participating and enjoying their freedom. ii). Corruption The greatest obstacle to successful government service delivery remains corruption. Through the district conferences, we have heard a recurring call for help in the hospitals, lack of drugs, NAADS co-ordinators that are not doing as we (NRM) set out to do as per our Manifesto, district tender cartels to mention but a few. These are all grave issues that serve to undermine our credibility as a party. That NRM has taken these reports seriously should be emphasized. We are currently in the process of securing our toll free line to enable us get information from the districts as it occurs. For historic perspective, I would like to mention that Uganda in 1917 started to take records of all its citizens through the death and birth registration. We should have converted that to a national ID where we are able to enforce greater discipline. But it is only the NRM government that has taken this task seriously. For example yesterday, you all experienced the hardship of having your bio-data collected. This was the first step to fighting corruption. We ensured that only the rightful person received their files and facilitation. This development happened in part due to the May 2009 NEC meet where the members raised this serious issue so you should count NRM biometric registration as your effort to fighting corruption. When Uganda eventually adapts a national ID, we will be able to track the corrupt and ensure greater transparency in all spheres of social, economic and political life. An example that comes to mind are the number of education qualification law suits that come before the courts and NRM spends lots of funds on. If we all have national ID numbers, then it would 12

13 not be possible to change your papers. NRM would then have led in eliminating the costly lawsuits. The NRM members in the districts recommended that the National Chairperson appoints committees or establishes contact points within the Districts, which they could approach with information about corrupt practices. They are eager and ready to join the National Chairperson in fighting this vice. The proposed NRM call center will ensure that the centre is connected to the people directly. iii). Inadequate participation by the NRM leadership and Government officials in the monitoring of Government programmes. The Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) are said not to be adequately facilitated to perform this function well. iv). The need for a special post-conflict mobilization strategy in Northern Uganda. v). Ensuring the smooth and secure flow of funds from the centre to the grassroots. c). Election Related Issues A number of election related issues repeatedly came up during the Conferences. The Party in the run up to the General Elections, must find the necessary answers. The issues which are produced here in some detail for the enlightenment of NEC, include: Membership cards i). There is a common belief that many membership cards are in the wrong hands upcountry. This is a challenge that we must look into seriously. For the record, NRM database has so far processed bio data of 7,900,000 voting citizens on the National voter roll. We have also registered new membership to NRM of close to 7%. 13

14 The data returning from the field show a varied migration rate with the ranges of 3-15%. This 15% is alarming especially considering that we did not have systems in place to detect that voters are moving from one area to another with high frequency. What problem does this high migration rate create for us as NRM? This migration pattern would imply that in 5 years, if the Registrar is not an honest person then about 3-15% of voters would create ghosts on the system. This is a serious challenge and any attempt to create safeguards would be half measure, it would automatically mean that we have a system that can be abused. If all member cards however are tagged to fingerprints, then even if they move, nobody would have access to those votes. This is of course assuming that the presiding officer then is an honest person and will not try to abuse the system him/herself. So what systems then should we set up? This is a matter that is occupying the Secretariat because to safeguard one area and not another would weaken the safeguard. This is why we took both photo and fingerprint. We would like to say that apart from the start up of the registration yesterday which was slow and the power interruptions, we believe we were able to capture all members. The first test was at Kyankwanzi but as expected the first test had problems of quality of image and time for verification. Some of you may be wondering why we had to take both the picture and the fingerprint. If I may explain, the pictures taken at Kyankwanzi were good in the sense that we were able to test our facial recognition software. Facial recognition picks up 15 points that are unique to each individual but are not very time efficient to run. Finger print matches on the other hand are faster. So we created a system that matches faster the image and the fingerprint tied to it. We thank you all for your patience and your capacity to persevere the lengthy process 14

15 yesterday. But we believe NRM has capacity to create safeguards and that the best people to explain to the electorate is you, their leaders. The secretariat has been able to go deep into the villages and retrieve information from the branch as is specified in our constitution. The information processed so far show that 95% of voting members in the vast majority of villages subscribe to NRM ideals. The opportunity provided to the village level to communicate to the centre their exact problems has been fruitful. We are expecting a total membership of 9,500,000. With accurate data, we can now plan better our voter sensitization and communication with the village. We were able to retrieve information about the channels of communication, those that were broken and need to be restored. We were also able to discover that not all people that are alleged opposition are indeed against NRM, they simply lack the necessary information and a unified strategy from the center. The appropriate organs can now with all this information make the right decisions for mobilization. ii). Voters should vote from their areas of domicile or residence, rather than areas of work. iii). Some Government officials, including Parish chiefs and elections officials, were cited as giving a hand in rigging elections in various parts of the country like Kampala District, Northern Uganda, etc. iv). Early voter sensitization and education should be carried out to reduce the high number of invalid votes in the 2011 elections. v). Disenfranchisement of voters by the National Electoral Commission. Members reported that their names were missing in polling registers, while others had their names shifted to far flung polling centers. All these did not vote. 15

16 vi). Members reported cases where candidates ferried or hid the Electoral College members in internal NRM elections, thus denying other candidates access to them. vii). The majority of members of all the District Conferences were in support of Adult Members Suffrage. Except that some District leaders had reservations, because of the perceived heavy cost involved. There was a view that after members went through the primaries, they should be fully funded (100%), by the party. Everywhere, emphasis was placed on early registration in preparation for the Adult Members Suffrage process. Effective NRM structures Indeed this has been a challenge to NRM since The change from the Movement system of government to Multiparty was not flawless. The fact that we actually achieved that transition within such a short period of time should be commended. Our branch level has not till this point been held accountable for their performance in all elections. With the hardcover book or yellow book as we call it at the village and with monthly returns being submitted to the Secretariat, we will be able to question in more detail some of these claims. It is important to note that NRM till this point has planned all its elections based on data provided by the National Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Local government. Now we have capacity to handle all election management issues with because we have built our own capacity. The case of Moroto county emphasizes this point; The NRM Presidential candidate (NRM) in Moroto county in the Lango sub-region scored from 0-4 votes at 14 polling stations. One of the tasks we have been doing as the Secretariat has been to understand why this happened. NRM is expected to have between branch level executives so how did this occur? 16

17 The failure to gazette villages from 1957 has been used as a loophole by the opposition to rig us out of office. Indeed, our score in Moroto County was reflective because those villages don t exist. How have we dealt with this challenge? NRM has harmonized with all relevant government departments the right nomenclature and the exact villages. We will share this information with all so that we can take a greater supervisory role as a collective. We must understand that the success of NRM depends on the success of all. This is the Movement machinery Other Election Challenges raised viii). National constitution be amended to eliminate independents. ix). In some Districts, there were suggestions that Presidential and Parliamentary elections should not be held on the same day - holding them on the same day leaves the Presidential and Parliamentary candidate each looking for his/her own vote. x). Joint candidature meetings/campaigns are recommended for internal NRM elections. xi). The national Constitution should incorporate representation of elders in Parliament and Local Government Councils, like other special interest groups. xii). The party constitution should be amended to have a provision that each time a member is elected to a higher post in the party structure, he/she forfeits the lower post and by-elections are held to fill the lower post. 17

18 xiii). Facilitation for Party work including support for flag bearers, has not always been forthcoming. This has been the case since the elections of 2005, to the Local Government by-elections. xiv). Registrars and other NRM officials involved in managing elections must not contest in the internal elections. Accusations against top party leadership xv). The national leadership is accused of promoting and supporting preferred candidates in both internal and national elections against the wishes of local people. We explained to the District conferences where this issue was raised that top party leadership does not interfere in internal elections. However we do recognize that the confusion in districts would be resolved if there was a direct link to the party central nervous system by having in place easier communication means. xvi). Task forces from the centre go to the Districts, and operate parallel and in competition with the district and lower structures. d). Achievements/Outcomes of the District Conferences: i). The District Conferences contributed tremendously to a heavy mobilization of members, with a sense of rejuvenation in the party. ii). The Conferences contributed to the sense of a renewal of unity and cohesion. Some District Executive Committees which had been badly split and never met, met for the first time. iii). Interim NRM District Executive Committees were put in place in Namutumba and Nakapiripirit where structures have not been in place, and Tororo where the Party has been split by the cleavage between the Teso and Jopadhola ethnic groups. iv). There was direct interaction and engagement between the centre and the Districts. 18

19 v). Offices of the NRM across the country (with the exceptions alluded to above) were opened by the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General. The NRM and Ugandan flags were hoisted, and now fly high at the Offices. vi). Everywhere in the country, hundreds of converts from opposition parties including their leaders, were received into the NRM during the Conferences. vii). NRM District Disciplinary Committees were elected during the Conferences, except for a few Districts because of time and other constraints. The Secretariat teams ensured that the NRM 40% quota for women, was observed. viii). The Secretariat succeeded in promoting understanding of the fact that lower structures of the Party have considerable autonomy, and do not have to wait for instructions from above for them to perform their functions. The structures have duties and responsibilities of leadership, which they must discharge at all times. ix). The Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General appreciated that the Secretariat has not always provided necessary guidance to Districts regarding party work, including meetings, etc. x). The Secretary General undertook to ensure that regular circulars and bulletins containing detailed information on various aspects of Party and Government work were sent out to all levels of party leadership. Guidelines on operations of organs and structures, would also be sent to the Districts. xi). The District Conferences provided an important opportunity for the delegates to be sensitized about the challenges involved in ensuring service delivery, and monitoring the flow of resources from the centre to the Local Governments. The Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General urged the NRM District leaders to get involved in monitoring the implementation of government programmes. The NRM District leaderships were assisted to 19

20 appreciate the fact that government programmes are NRM programmes, and that it is their responsibility to hold Local Governments accountable for their successful implementation. 4. THE AD-HOC NEC COMMITTEE ON ADULT MEMBERS SUFFRAGE The Sub-Committee completed its work, including holding micro-mock elections across the country, to test the feasibility of holding primary elections by adult members suffrage. The Deputy Secretary General, Hon. Dorothy Hyuha, will present the report of the Sub-Committee to this meeting and to NEC. 5. THE AD-HOC NEC COMMITTEE ON ISSUES The Ad-Hoc NEC Issues Committee completed its work, including conducting regional and other hearings. The Chairperson of the Committee Hon. Margaret Zziwa, will present the Committee report to NEC. 6. NRM ELECTORAL COMMISSION PREPARATIONS FOR ELECTION YEAR The NRM Electoral Commission is involved in preparations for the forthcoming internal elections, both for the structures and for the primaries. The purpose is to build capacity, and work towards a clean, transparent, credible and efficient internal electoral process. To this end: a). A one day retreat for the NRM Electoral Commissioners on their assignment, was held in Kampala on 3 rd December

21 b). A training programme for NRM District Chairpersons, Administrative Secretaries, Registrars and Assistant Registrars in election management and related work, was held at the National Leadership Institute, Kyankwanzi, from 15 th to 18 th December The National Chairperson addressed the participants. c). Next month, the NRM Electoral Commission rolls out a training programme in election management for NRM elections officials from the sub-county to the village. d). The Secretariat proposes to find separate office space for the NRM Electoral Commission, effective January CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AND REGULATIONS FOR INTERNAL ELECTIONS The NRM Legal Affairs Committee is involved in preparing additional draft NRM constitutional amendments to be adopted by NEC, for presentation to the National Conference. The Legal Affairs Committee has also updated the regulations for internal elections. 8. FUNCTIONING OF THE SPECIAL ORGANS The Secretary General held a consultative meeting with the Chairpersons of the Special Organs. The Organs are now preparing reports on their current organizational situation and for the forthcoming national conferences as I will outline later on. 9. BY-ELECTIONS i). A by-election is due on 25 th January 2010, in Budiope. This follows the tragic death in an accident, of the NRM MP, the late Henry Balikowa. 21

22 ii). The Mbale Municipality seat is now vacant, following the resignation of Mr. Wilfred Kajeke (FDC). A by-election is due. iii). There is a need for the NRM to prepare thoroughly and to decisively win these seats, particularly in the run-up to the General Elections. 10. INTER PARTY DIALOGUE The NRM has been involved in discussion with the Opposition CP, DP, FDC and UPC, about inter-party dialogue and co-operation. A number of meetings have been held including one in Ghana, facilitated by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD). The NRM team to the last four meetings has been led by Hon. Daudi Migereko, and included Hon. Saleh Kamba and Mr. Hippo Twebaze a volunteer research officer in the Movement. Hon. Adolf Mwesige and Mr. David Mafabi, were involved in the initial meetings. At this point, when the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is being mooted, it is absolutely necessary that the policy and leadership organs of the NRM become involved in evaluating the process, its direction and purpose, and expected outcomes. CEC at its recent December 2009 meeting endorsed the MOU which is due to be signed sometime this month by all the participating political parties. It is however, important to give the context and background of the current engagement with the Opposition. On Friday 28 th July 2006, His Excellency Yoweri K. Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda and National Chairperson of the NRM, hosted a historical meeting of political parties at State House, Nakasero. The Democratic Party (DP) and the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) delegations to the aforementioned State House meeting were led by Mzee John Sebana Kizito and Mama Miria Obote, respectively, while former Independent Presidential candidate Dr. Abed Bwanika also attended. For 22

23 the record, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) were invited, initially gave out signals that they would attend, but finally declined to attend. Permit me to quote the NRM National Chairperson on the purpose of the State House meeting: To establish contact with you as leaders of now established political parties or significant political actors; Give you a broad brief on major issues like security, foreign relations and economic matters; To discuss with you and agree on a way forward to promoting inter-party co-operation instead of confrontation in our national politics in order to promote what I can call the Common Good; Indeed, beyond the consensus on co-operation and dialogue that started emerging in Nakasero, up to four concretization meetings were held under the aegis of an Inter Party Committee (IPC), between August and December Significantly, these were attended by delegations of the DP, UPC, Conservative Party (CP) and representatives of the former Independent Presidential candidate Dr. Abed Bwanika. For the information of this CEC Meeting, a number of important decisions were reached on both substance and procedure, as for example on: A rotational Chairpersonship for the IPC (initially to be held by the Secretary General of the NRM) A summary of issues to be tackled during inter-party dialogue Rules of Procedure for the IPC Evolving a Work Plan for the IPC We must report however, that the initial healthy progress of the IPC was greatly slowed down by the insistence of some voices both within and without the IPC, that the IPC was different from the statutory Consultative 23

24 Forum envisaged in the Political Parties and Organizations Act. Never mind that some of these voices are now involved in the emergence of another IPC, and that the Consultative Forum in the law today emerged from earlier consultations with political forces initiated by the Movement Government in 2004! As made clear by the National Chairperson during the Nakasero meeting, the NRM envisages multiparty co-operation and dialogue, beyond cooperation around only electoral concerns. The NRM therefore additionally looks to: ensuring transparent and accountable government that serves the peoples interest, and the consolidation of the Common Good; the Opposition as a useful and necessary component of democratic governance - offering a credible alternative to the majority in power. Four years later, we still look to the same purpose in engaging with the Opposition. 11. The 2006 NRM Manifesto Implementation As we come to the end of the Presidential and Parliamentary terms, it is very critical that we take stock of the state of implementation of the pledges the party made to the people in its manifesto. We have therefore on the programme a presentation on Implementation of the 2006 NRM Manifesto. 11. NRM PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS The NRM Parliamentary Caucus has continued discharging its responsibilities with diligence and commitment. The Caucus deserves special commendation for expeditiously dealing with the Land Act (Amendment) Bill, as well as with the recent creation of new Districts. 24

25 The Party must however, consider imposing sanctions and penalties, on members of the NRM Parliamentary Caucus who vote in the plenary against Caucus positions. C. THE MAJOR TASKS AHEAD (WAY FORWARD) The attention of the party must start focusing on the major nodal points ahead, in the NRM Road Map. These are: the internal NRM Elections; the NRM Primaries, the Nominations of Candidates for Presidential and Other Elections; the Presidential and Other Campaigns. This means therefore, that the Party leadership should take necessary measures for planning and execution of the Campaign programme, covering for example, the following areas: 1). NRM Election Manifesto ). Research 3). Communication/Media 4). Campaign Management and Strategy I thank you. 25