A leaked report of the parliamentary committee on Equal Opportunities has revealed widespread regional imbalance when it comes to appointments to public offices.
Majority of the senior officers in public offices hail from Western Uganda, the report notes.
The committee’s investigation into presidential appointees, was commissioned by the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga in September 2016, after MPs raised concerns on the composition of the Judicial Service Commission.
The report is dated June 2017 and is scheduled to be tabled before Parliament.
The committee, chaired by Muhammad Nsereko, the Kampala Central MP, considered several variables when it comes to public appointments gender, religion and region.
In its bid to furnish the House with a more “exhaustive outlook of the pattern and composition of Presidential appointees” the committee expanded the scope of its appraisal to include 35 Ambassadors to Uganda Missions abroad, 109 Resident District Commissioners and 35 Accounting Officers of Missions Abroad, 115 Central Government and Local Government votes, 40 accounting officers in various Municipalities, 31 cabinet positions, and 45 ministers of state.
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Others analyzed were; 54 heads of parastatals and agencies, 71 District Police Commanders (DPCs), 27 Regional Police Commanders (RPCs), 23 Members of the Police Top Brass, 51 Brigadiers of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), 9 Generals of the UPDF, 6 Lieutenant Generals of the UPDF, 16 Major Generals of the UPDF, 69 Regional and District Prisons Commanders and 20 Members of the Prisons top brass.
Of these 943 public officials, Western region takes the lion’s share with 356 (38%), followed by Eastern with 271 (29%) then Central and Northern trails from behind with 162 (17%) and 154 (16%), respectively.
But the job distribution in public service, according to the findings of this report, contradicts the population distribution by region, according to the figures contained in the latest population census.
Uganda’s population distribution is as follows: the central region has 9.6m people (27.4%), followed by eastern with 9.1m people (26%), western 8.9m people (25.4%) and northern 7.2m people (20.5%).
Below are some of the key findings contained in the report.
Appointees to Commissions
The committee found out that of the 85 presidential appointees spread across 11 Commissions, Western region had the highest share with 29 (34%), Eastern 2o (24%), Central 19 (22%), and Northern 17 (20%).
Other presidential appointees
The committee also examined the composition of 31 cabinet ministers and 49 state ministerial positions.
On conclusion, the committee established that of the 76 ministerial positions, Western region leads with 24 (31.6%), followed by Central and Eastern regions with 19 (25%) each then northern trails with 14 (18.4%).
Heads of Uganda Missions abroad
Of the 35 ambassadors, there, Eastern region leads with 12 (34.3%), followed by Western with 10 (28.6%), trailed by Central and Northern regions with 6 (17.1%) then 1 (2.86%) whose region is unknown.
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RDCs
A review of the composition of the Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) revealed of the 109 district/administrative units sampled, Western region leads with 39 (36%), followed by Eastern region with 32 (29%), trolled by both north and Central regions with 19 (17%) respectively.
Accounting officers
Relying on the list of Accounting Officers for the FY 2016/17 contained in two letters from the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Treasury dated 31st March 2016 and 21st April 2016, the committee reviewed the composition of accounting officers of various central government votes, District Local Governments, Uganda Missions abroad and Municipalities.
Of the 35 Accounting Officers spread across the various Uganda Missions abroad, Western had the biggest share with 18 (51%), Eastern with 10 (28.%%), Central with 4 (11.4%), and northern comes last with 3 (8.5%).
Central Government
Of 84 accounting officers in ministries and agencies that directly serve the Central Government votes, Western region had 33 officers (39%), followed by Eastern with 22 (26%), Central with 16 (19%) and then northern with 13 (15%).
Health sector
A review of 18 accounting officers in health sector revealed that Northern Uganda accounts for 7 positions, followed by Eastern with 5 and Western and Central regions with 4 and 2 respectively.
District Local Governments
An analysis of the regional distribution of Accounting Officers of District Local Governments revealed that the Eastern region accounts for 45 (39%), followed by the West with 29 (25%), Central with 24 (21%) and Northern with 17 (15%).
Municipalities
An examination of the Municipalities’ accounting officers, that of the 40 municipalities sampled, Western has 13 (32.5%), followed by Eastern with 11 (27.5), with Central closely following with 10 (25%). The Northern region accounts for 6 (15%).
Heads of sampled parastatals and agencies
The Committee examined the composition of the Chief Executive Officers of 54 sampled parastatals and agencies and found out the following;
Western region leads with 34 (63%), followed by Eastern with 9 (16.7%), Central with 7 (13%), then northern with 4 (7.4%).
Armed Forces
Four-star generals
On analyzing of the 9 highest-ranking UPDF personnel it was established that Western region has 6 (67%) trailed by Central, Eastern and Northern with 1 each, constituting 11%
Lieutenant Generals
Of the 6 examined, 2 were from Eastern Uganda with the other regions sharing one apiece.
Major Generals
In examination of the 16 major generals, it was revealed that Western region had 11 (69%), Eastern and northern stood at 2 (13%) and Central with 1 (6%).
Brigadiers
In terms of regional distribution, Western region stands higher with 27 (53%), followed by Central 10 (20%), Northern 8 (16%) and Eastern which has 6 (12%)
Police Force
The examination of the top brass of the police indicated that out of the 23 high-ranking police officials 14 (61%) hail from Western region, 5 (22%) are from Eastern, then 2 (9%) hail from Central and Northern regions respectively.
Regional Police Commanders
An analysis of 27 RPCs reveals that Western region leads with 12 (44%), followed by Eastern with 7 (26%), northern with 6 (22%) and central trails with a minimal 2 (7%).
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District Police Commanders
An examination of 71 DPCs revealed that Western region dominates with 28 (39%), followed by Eastern with 25 (35%), then trolled by Central and northern with 9 (13%) respectively.
Regional and District Prisons Commanders
The Committee’s examination of the composition of 69 RPCs and DPCs of Uganda Prisons Service revealed that Eastern leads with 34 (49%), followed by northern with 15 (22%), Western with 12 (17%) then Central with 8 (12%).
When it came to Prisons Service top brass, the analysis revealed that Western Uganda was in lead with 9 (45), followed by Northern and Eastern with both having 4 (20%) then central trails with 3 (15%).
An MP on the committee which came up with the report told The Nile Post that the findings are not aimed at “attacking” a certain region or tribe but to try to cause a discussion around issues of “equity and inclusivity”.
“While some sections of society would rather be coy on matters of regional imbalance as portrayed by this report, it should be noted that equity and inclusivity in any nation state in as far as the allotment of opportunity for the various groups of citizens is concerned, is the bedrock for sustainable and resilient nationhood,” said one of the MPs on the committee.
Source:Nile Post News