What initiatives has Uganda taken since Nepad was endorsed by African heads of state in 2001?

We have put in place a steering committee and have mobilised key players like civil society, the government and the private sector to provide a holistic picture of what is happening in Uganda. The Ministry of Finance has been selected to co-ordinate this initiative.

We signed a memorandum of understanding for the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in March 2003 and ratified the protocol of the APRM. We also participated in the Kigali-Rwanda meeting in February and we are very ready for the base review. 

What programmes has Uganda engaged in to achieve Nepad's objectives?

Most of Nepad's programmes are in line with what the government has already initiated. There is therefore a lot of consistency between Nepad and the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), Uganda's national planning framework for policy reform and development of sector investment programmes. The government is therefore largely using this existing mechanism to commence the Nepad initiative.

So you think Nepad will fit in well with PEAP? 

All the issues that Nepad addresses are addressed by PEAP. For instance, Nepad is seeking to increase literacy and we have done that through the Universal Primary Education (UPE), so my belief is that having separate programmes for Nepad would be duplication. Integrating the two programmes will help us achieve more. The pillars of PEAP address growth and structural transformation, good governance and security, initiatives to raise incomes of the poor and to improve their quality of life, which Nepad addresses too. 

Shouldn't Uganda have a Minister in charge of Nepad to show it's seriousness about the programme, the way Ghana and Nigeria have done?

Not really, since we are looking at integrating it into other programmes. It would really be duplication of duties. For now the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs will work as partners to realise the Nepad programmes. 

What are you doing to make Ugandans aware of Nepad and its aspirations? 

We have planned an awareness campaign with the Nepad secretariat in South Africa, which we have already started running in the print media. We are now working closely with the secretariat to design messages for the electronic media. We are also mobilising non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society to sensitise the public. 

Are you ready for the peer review and have you paid the $100,000 contribution that countries that embraced it are supposed to pay?

We have laid the basic ground for the APRM and by mid-next year we should have done at least the base review, which we are ready for. We are just waiting for the questionnaire.

The $100,000 fee is the minimum that each participating country should pay, but we may not be able to remit it this financial year because the budget has already been discussed. But we will honour it if we can get alternative means. 

What challenges do you face?

Different people have diverse opinions on Nepad. Many of them look at it as a national project, for others it is a pot of money. So we have all these people calling the secretariat asking for Nepad money to fund their projects. There is basically no clear understanding of what Nepad is, so the challenge is to bring everybody on board with a clear perspective of Nepad. 

It is difficult to interact with the Nepad secretariat in Pretoria, South Africa. There is no clear cut way of how the secretariat links up with the national offices throughout Africa.

The biggest problem is on the secretariat's side. They are thin on the ground and I think they are sometimes overwhelmed by the requests for information from the country offices. But this has partly been solved by making Kenya the regional co-ordinator for the East African region. 

There is also no framework in place to implement regional initiatives. If you identify projects as Nepad projects, how do you implement them?

Why was Kenya designated as a co-ordinator for the region?

Kenya actually volunteered to co-ordinate Nepad activities in the region but the biggest challenge is to define clearly what they are supposed to do. 

What plans do you have for the future?

We have to beef up our secretariat and build capacity for it. As you see, I am a civil servant with a very different job description but I am also doing Nepad work besides my own. 

But since Nepad is about partnerships, we are looking at bringing in the Private Sector Foundation, the NGO Forum and civil society to co-ordinate Nepad activities with their respective groups. You know the peer review is going to be an independent assessment that will give a national view of the situation in the country. This structural representation has to include everybody, so we have to get opinions from all sectors to make it national.

What will Uganda and other countries gain from the APRM?

Countries that participate in the peer review will learn from each other's best practices. It will also boost investors' confidence, since it will ensure that most of the factors that create an ideal climate for investment are in place, like good governance, absence of corruption and smooth running of the economy among others. We shall also stop having conditionalities from donors. All the things that they tie on aid like sound macroeconomic control will be in place.
 

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