BRIEFING TO THE MEDIA ON CABINET DECISIONS TAKEN DURING THE CABINET MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 25THMARCH, 2019 AT STATE HOUSE, ENTEBBE.

Cabinet sat on Monday March 25th, 2019 at Office of the President on Sir Apollo Kagwa Road, and;

1.Cabinet approved the National Climate Change Bill, 2018 and the objectives of the bill include:

i.To provide a legal  frame work   for enforcing   climate change  adaptation  actions through which  Uganda will be able  to make  adjustments in natural or human  systems  in response to actual or expected  impacts of climate change  in a manner  that will reduce harm  or exploit potential opportunities;

ii.To enable Uganda pursue its voluntary mitigation targets of reducing national greenhouse gas emissions.

2.Approved the proposal by the Ministry of Works and Transport for the Government of Uganda to take over the Ownership of the East African Civil Aviation Academy(EACAA), Soroti  and the benefits of the takeover will enable Uganda to:

i.Train commercial Pilots and Aircraft maintenance Engineers for the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Air Forces, Uganda Police Air Wing , the Executive (Presidential) Jet, commercial and general  aviation  as well as feeding into the  newly  revived Uganda Airline;

ii.Maximize the benefits  from investments made by Government  of Uganda  at EACAA since 1977;

iii.Save the country colossal sums of foreign exchange  which  would be  used  for training pilots and Aircrafts Maintenance Engineers abroad/overseas;

iv.Strengthen the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as well as promote Uganda’s image andcredibility as a Centre of excellence in the aviation industry.

3.Approved the transformation the Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development Project (PIBID) into the Banana Industrial Research andDevelopment Centre (BIRDC) for industrial application as a successor body with a legal mandate as detailed in the BIRDC’s StrategicPlan for FY 2019/2020 to 2023/2024. The transformation will:

i.Provide Leadership in Research and Development over the banana theme;

ii.Generate competitive agribusiness models for rural transformation and commercialization;

iii.Unpackage and transfer appropriate technologies to entrepreneurs across the sector.

4.Approved the Guidelines for the Negotiation of loan and grants by the Government which will provide for:

i.Secure financing on affordable terms;

ii.Ensure that Loans and Grants are negotiated and closed with affordable rates and better terms and conditions;

iii.Avoid unnecessary risk to Government and to resolve foreseen implementation related issues.

5.Approved the National Research and Innovation Programme framework and its objectives include:

i.To promote science, research and Innovation in Uganda;

ii.To promote the implementation of innovative projects with the aim of facilitation  the  realization of new  or improved products, processes or services designed to raise the economic efficiency;

iii.To Improve the innovation potential  and  technological level  of enterprises;

iv.To increase private investment andenhance the dynamics of innovation processes in Uganda.

6.Noted the performance of the Youth Livelihood Programme for the FY 2013/14  and FY 2017/2018 and also Approved the performance improvement measures to be incorporated in the Youth livelihood programme  and these include among others:

i.Reduce the minimum  group size to five(5) youth from ten(10)  to enhance group cohesion;

ii.Allow youth who may not be from  the same village, but have projects of common interest to form  groups and access funding ,if they live within the same parish/ward;

iii. Disburse funds directly to group accounts (from the Ministry Project Account in Bank of Uganda to Youth Interest Groups Accounts).

iv.Maintain  only group Members as signatories to group accounts(Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer);

v.Increase the Resource Allocation  for Institutional  Support  to 20% from the current 10% to provide  sufficient  resources for training , technical  support  and supervision of groups;

vi.Integrate the use of technology through developing ICT platforms for monitoring project implementation as well as Mobile Money for easing the repayment process especially for hard to reach areas. 

vii.Promote local content reservation schemes for the youth in public procurement at local and National level.

Ofwono Opondo-Executive Director

Uganda Media Centre