Phionah Kesaasi
    
The Minister of Information and National Guidance Hon. Kabakumba Masiko has said that there has been a general improvement in the entire service sector. This was in a press conference held at the Uganda Media Centre in her summary of the recently concluded cabinet retreat with regard to service delivery.

The Office of the Prime Minister organised a two day retreat for cabinet ministers and permanent secretaries from the 11th to 12th February, 2010 at Sheraton Hotel Rwenzori Ball Room. The purpose of the retreat was to discuss the performance of government across sectors in the financial year 2008/2009 and come up with recommendations for improvement.

“The purpose of the retreat was to discuss the performance of government across sectors in the financial year 2008/2009 and come up with recommendations for improvement” she said.

She observed that service delivery has improved especially in the accountability sector where 88% of the public felt government buildings were used well.

“Production of audits on target was done as per targets. The Office of the Auditor General over-performed against the targets set for the year, reflecting strong demand for accountability: Ten value-for-money audits were conducted, up from 6 in the previous financial year and against a target of 8”.

Hon. Kabakumba also noted that strong performance of the Justice, Law and Order Sector
“The sector’s strong performance was reflected in the perusal and prosecution of cases in the High Court, magistrates and the Court of Appeal; substantial reduction of case backlog growth rate over the year and in the time it takes to resolve issues/ cases” 

The works and transport sector registered excellent performance in construction and rehabilitation of specific roads like Soroti- Dokolo, Dokolo-Lira, Hoima- Kaiso-Tonya and Hoima- Kiziranfumbi, Jinja- Bugiri, Luwero- Kafu, and Gayaza- Zirobwe roads. But under- performance on rehabilitation/ re-sealing and upgrading to bitumen standards is evident

However the Agricultural sector performance was mixed. “Households that are food secure reduced. The sector needs an Agriculture Development Sector Investment Plan (DSIP), breeding policy, irrigation policy, fertilisers use policy and effective agricultural extension services” she said.

Just like agricultural sector, the Health Performance in the sector was mixed with good performance in immunisation and proportion of mothers delivering in health centres but poor in drug stock outs, attendance care of patients, absenteeism and shortage of health workers, child and maternal mortality.

Parliament’s performance was marred by absenteeism and lack of quorum leading to delays in passing bills, answering questions and meeting the set targets. “The quality of representation and quorum issues for plenary and committee sittings in Parliament need to be improved”, she asserted.