The Minister for ICT and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi has said the disunity among Ugandans will only be erased when the country gets a unifying National Guidance Policy.
Speaking at a one-day consultation workshop with stakeholders on the development of Uganda National Policy at the President’s office conference hall in Kampala, the minister said Ugandans are disunited due to political or tribal sentiments.
“When I walk around this country, I see fear, on how we are disunited as a nation yet we are one. Politics, religion and tribal differences should not disunite us,that is why we need to come up with the National Guidance Policy to formulate a law that will unite us as one nation and also bring back sanity in our society,” he said.
Dr. Baryomunsi added that because of disunity and escalating levels of immorality, the spirit of nationalism and patriotism is lacking among Ugandans.
“Until we get to know our values, we shall be disunited. However, through National Guidance policy we can achieve this,” he said.
According to research made by the Ministry of ICT, National Guidance policy is a deliberate and continuous effort that instils, builds and emboldens Ubuntu, love, and humanity and facilitates the building of a shared understanding of, and responsiveness to, issues of national importance and shared vision.
The policy articulates Uganda’s national ideological orientation and rallies all stakeholders around one guiding framework on matters of national guidance interest. This is an effort to ensure building posterity based on patriotism, national pride and the common good.
On the other hand, the State Minister for National Guidance, Hon Godfrey Kabbyanga said the National Guidance law is very important but such a law can never be affected without a policy defining how things should be moving.
“So in this policy, the very most important thing you will find there, are the national values. Most people know that we have ethical values which were developed by the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity but they are less the same. However, National values are broader than ethical values. Ethical values normally answer work-related issues but national values are what define us. They answer issues to do with our identity.”
Hon. Kabbyanga added, “We must have the common identity that defines Ugandans and all this can be solved through National Guidance irrespective of our differences whether political, religious, tribal or any differences. We should have a common interest that is why we are putting a policy which can bring us together and we get a single identity irrespective of the rest of our differences. Therefore, we could not take far this policy to the cabinet without engaging you the stakeholders.”
He noted that if the policy is taken further into the law, many issues such as immorality will be solved if the people understand the impact of their common values.
Commenting on the same, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Dr Aminah Zawedde alluded that despite the fact that the ICT ministry is mandated to digitize government service deliveries and government programs to the citizens of Uganda, there has not been a national guidance policy to guide the nation.
“The reason we are here today, is to give input into the National Guidance Policy before taking it further to be approved to later stages for us to implement it. National Guidance is the matter that covers the entire country, not only internally but also in the foreign envoys. We have to guide the nation, people, government institutions and embassies and Ugandans who go to represent us outside the country.”
According to the Assistant Commissioner National Guidance, Bakalikwira J.J, the mission is to build a Ugandan society with shared understanding and responsiveness to national interests and the common good.
Its goal is to have a citizenry with a shared understanding and responsiveness to national interests and the common good.
Some of its specific objectives include; To build a national character that rallies all Ugandans around the National identity (Virtues, values, symbols, and doctrines) from 30 to 90 per cent of the Uganda population by year five.
To promote Nationalism, Patriotism, and Pan-Africanism among families, citizens, and communitiesfrom30 to90percentof of the population by year five.
To establish a National Service Program that can accommodate 100 per cent of the eligible candidates by year five. To increase National Mobilization among Ugandans to participate in their respective civic and development duties and responsibilities by 25 per cent of the population by year five.
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