Government has launched strategies to implement the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party manifesto.
The NRM has put a total of 293 campaign pledges under economic transformation, infrastructure, education, healthcare, governance and regional integration.
While launching the manifesto implementation roadmap yesterday in Kampala, Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs Minister of State, Kabuye Kyofatogabye, said the strategy merges manifesto commitments with the national budget, planning tools and the fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), which aims to modernise and reform Uganda’s economy.
‘To monitor performance and ensure corrective action, these pledges are translated into 596 measurable outcomes that government can monitor,’ he said.
According to Mr Kyofatogabye, the Manifesto Implementation Unit (MIU) under the Office of the President, will oversee the operationalisation of the strategy, monitor, confirm reported performance and develop quarterly and annual performance reports.
‘This strategy will establish a defined response when implementation falls behind schedule, including corrective action, and where necessary, escalation,’ he said.
A statement issued by the manifesto implementation secretariat, says the new system has introduced a standardised performance tracking system that requires ministries, departments and agencies as well as local governments to report quarterly against their manifesto objectives and targets.
The reported performance will then be assessed using a colour-coded classification system to determine whether implementation is on track or requires intervention.
‘Institutions that meet at least 90 percent of their annual goal will be categorised as green to indicate progress. Those that fall between 60 percent and 89 percent will be coloured yellow, a risk sign that requires a corrective action plan in the following quarter,’ the statement says.
The red colour will signal poor performance below 60 percent, which requires a written explanation and recovery plan. The matter will be escalated to the relevant programme working group and the Office of the President,’ the guideline states.
Mr Kyofatogabye said where implementation has not started or no data has been submitted, the case will be classified as grey and followed up by the MIU.
He also said the strategy strengthens the verification of reported performance, in which MDAs and local governments will report against indicators in the results framework, verified by the manifesto implementation unit.
Mr Willis Bashaasha, the director of the MIU, said in the absence of a baseline, institutions will collaborate with Uganda Bureau of Statistics to establish one during the first year of implementation and create a distinction between reported and confirmed performance to ensure evidence-based monitoring.
‘We are moving from broad commitments to a system where every commitment has a responsible institution, measurable indicators, annual targets and defined evidence for verification,’ he said.
He added that the accountability framework extends into the regular government planning and budgeting process.
He explained that accounting officers will reflect the NRM manifesto commitments assigned to their respective votes in budget framework papers, ministerial policy statements and annual work plans and submit quarterly performance reports against agreed indicators and targets.
‘The Finance ministry will then reflect the expected deliverables in sector planning and budgeting instruments. National Planning Authority (NPA) will vet submissions to confirm that commitments are provided for before the budget is approved,’ he said.
Mr Bashaasha added that manifesto implementation is going to be mainstreamed into the planning, budgeting and performance-management programme.
He said the strategy also introduces a stronger link between implementation, monitoring and financing.
‘The MIU, working with the Finance Ministry and National Planning Authority, will maintain a register of unfunded and partially funded manifesto commitments. The register will be considered during each budget cycle and reviewed at mid-term review,’ he added.
According to Mr Bashaasha, a continuous monitoring cycle covering the entire 2026-2031 political term has been established, with annual performance reviews, a mid-term review after two and a half years and an end-term evaluation in the final year of the political term.