What you missed on NBS TV's Spotlight show

On February 22, 2021, NBS TV aired the first edition of the Spotlight show. The show is aims to put to task leaders of government Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to explain what their organisation nis doing.

National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC ), Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), UMEME, and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda were the first agencie to be put under the spotlight at the Next Media Park.

Samson Kasumba, the moderator of the show, highlighted the need for a discussion about the solutions to the challenges faced by the different sectors like electricity, water and roads as the crucial sectors to drive social economic transformation.

“The potential of Uganda is something we cannot debate but the reasons as to why we are not getting to that potential are what we shall discuss on this show," he said.

Allen Kagina, the Executive director UNRA thanked the government for prioritising the Ministry of Works and Transport where UNRA lies by allocating it a lion's share in the in the previous consecutive five financial years.

"The roads are expensive and we continue to implore Ugandans to respect the infrastructure put in place by UNRA," she said.

Kagina highlighted the achievements of UNRA during the half year running from July to December which include; increasing the network of paved roads, upgrading 192Kms against the annual target 400 Kilometers which represents 48%, rehabilitation of 34.7 Kilometers out of the annual target of 228.3 Kilometers, Completion of 9 bridges out of the 15 planned for completion, addition of 4 ferries onto the national road network.

Selestino Babungi, the executive director Umeme highlighted the efforts the concession is putting in place to reduce the cost of electricity per unit and reduce load shedding which not only affects manufacturers but households as well.

He noted that electricity tariffs are at 5 cents per unit for the large-scale manufacturers.

He added that Umeme has increased the electricity coverage to 1.3 million Ugandans on the grid from the 250,000, ten years ago.

Dr Silver Mugisha, the executive director National Water and Sewerage Corporation, revealed that plans to increase the number of people served by the entity from over 700,000 to 800,000 people are in the pipeline.

He said NWSC is a government organisation that operates like a private entity assuring thus Ugandans that the NWSC is improving water production in Soroti, Moroto, and Arua.

Gideon Badagawa, the executive director, Private Sector Foundation thanked government for their efforts to invest in infrastructure that reduces the cost of doing business for the private sector.

“The growth of any economy is anchored on the competitiveness of the private sector,’’ he said.

Patrick Bitature, the CEO of Simba Group said young people should embrace a mindset of saving as opposed to consumption if they to be at the forefront of development.

"The demographic dividend of Uganda is not doubtable but what the youth should do is to embrace the culture of frugality and saving," he said.

Bitature said a child born in Uganda today is better than a child born in Uganda 30 years ago and thus encouraged the youth to love their country and work hard leveraging the available infrastructure to chase poverty out of their lives.

The panelists thanked Next Media Services for providing this platform for civil engagements and promised to work together to transform the country.

Next Media, the show returns with another set of MDAs. Don't miss it!