Local government leaders under the Regional Development Platforms have partnered with the United States Agency for International Development -USAID to develop the capacity of local leaders and ensure proper coordination in service delivery.
Regional Development Platforms have been in existence since 2016 and were established with the help of USAID to among others increase the efforts for local scale investment and planning, effective management of shared resources beyond district boundaries, and also address cross-district boundary challenges among other objectives.
The platforms bring together both local government political leaders and technical staff such as Chief Executive Officers to plan as a region and cooperate in the implementation of several activities. The platform is in the three regions of Karamoja, Northern and South Western Uganda covering 56 districts and four cities.
The program dubbed Local Priorities and Partnership activity-LPPA shall be funded by USAID with two million US dollars and implemented by Governance System International.
Tom Kyakwire, the Chief Party of the project says that they shall provide training and coaching services, facilitate their meetings such as outreaches and Elections, and support them to develop private investment plans among others. He says that the main objective is to build the capacity of the platforms and set them going to play as a region and set the agenda for development collectively.
Abel Bizimana, the LCV Chairperson Kisoro District says that the program shall be key in guiding leaders on what to do to achieve development goals collectively. He says that one of the main challenges in improving service delivery and achieving development is politicking.
Bizimana says that several projects are frustrated by people playing cheap politics, frustrating efforts for development for as long as it gives them political capital to secure the next term of office.
The Vice Chairman of the Northern Uganda Regional Development Platform James Leku says that building the capacity of leaders shall help address the challenges faced in advancing efforts of the regional development platforms.
He says that one of the major needs that leaders should push for is the development of infrastructure such that local capacity for development can be enhanced.
Richard Nelson, the Mission Director for USAID in Uganda says that they are supporting the Platform with 2 million dollars for three years.
Nelson explains that the activity shall not cover other regions of Central and Eastern because of limited resources. He hopes that in the future, the platforms shall be able to sustain themselves and also grow to other regions.
The Director of Government Inspection at the Ministry of Local Government John Walala, applauded the initiative and committed Government support. He says that collective planning shall enable local governments to leverage each other’s resources like equipment, commissions, and manpower.
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