As government works on merging the many agencies to create a seamless system of service delivery, Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), National Medical Stores (NMS) have been the first to face closure under the merger works.
Cabinet has taken a decision to scrap UNRA and NMS and transfer their mandate to the mother ministries to reduce wastage of resources.
Cabinet decides
The decision was taken in two meetings with the first held on August 20 and the last one on Monday last week.
A source said President Museveni was unhappy with the UNRA performance, especially in the rural areas where roads are impassable yet it is where majority of votes for his NRM party are.
According to the source, the Cabinet also took a decision that National Drug Authority and National Medical Stores that have been independent agencies, be scrapped and their tasks reverted to the Ministry of Health.
The Cabinet also resolved that the boards of the respective agencies be dissolved.
All education agencies will also be affected and workers will have to reapply for jobs under Ministry of Education and Sports.
The Mergers
In the new changes, electricity agencies that deal in power generation and distribution will be merged later and reverted to the Ministry of Energy.
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) and National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) will be transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The sources further said Cabinet will introduce a Bill which will seek to repeal the various Acts that gave rise to the scrapped or merged agencies.
In July 2017, President Museveni wrote to Vice President Edward Ssekandi and Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda ordering them to make a plan for merger of government agencies which are becoming a burden to taxpayers. The President told Dr Rugunda and Ssekandi that some agencies and departments be scrapped or merged in order to address “wastage of meagre resources.”
