In the American two-party system, some will say two-party dictatorship, bipartisanship is a governing approach where the Democratic and Republican parties cooperate and find common ground through compromise. It involves developing policies or legislation that both parties find mutually agreeable, often by prioritising national interests over strict ideological or party loyalty. In Uganda, the word ‘bipartisanship’ has not yet filtered down to the fundamentals of our politics. We never hear of bipartisan support for a given policy from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP). We only hear muted noises about the two parties being in cahoots, nothing official.
Unofficially, however, the two parties agree on plenty: free and fair elections, a robust economy and a peace levered by the security of the land. On the flipside though, we find ourselves in a quandary. If most of the agreement between the Opposition and the government is tacit or unofficial, bipartisanship reflects neither the letter nor the spirit of what was agreed upon. The letter is absent because there is no fine print to any agreement, it being implicit instead of explicit. And the spirit was never allowed to express itself through the letter, overlaying the animating principle of agreement, because no such letter (read agreement) exists. As a country, we must correct this course: sure to collide with our better intentions. One way to do so would be to highlight the recent collaboration between the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank.
The two recently launched a Shs709.1 billion Public Investment Management Plus (PIMPLUS) operation, a results-based reform programme aimed at fundamentally changing how public investments are planned, executed and managed by rewarding performance rather than spending. Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, the permanent secretary and secretary to the Treasury (PSST), reportedly said government financing will be primed towards addressing longstanding inefficiencies that have delayed projects and buoyed costs across key sectors such as infrastructure, energy, water and social services. ‘This is not money that is earned by simply spending it,’ Ggoobi said. ‘Resources under PIMPLUS are earned by improving processes and institutions. You must first deliver results, then you access the funding.’
This is something that should attract bipartisan support of the deepest dye. Accordingly, the bipartisan agreement implied by such support should be made official. Both Opposition and the government must sign some kind of concord which binds them to work together so government works more efficiently. Who initiated the policy is immaterial; who benefits from it should be viewed as the opposite. That is because it will benefit all Ugandans if what they do is viewed through the lens of results, and not aspiration. Some of us are truly tired of hearing about all the things we plan to do. Yet, on the ground, nothing worth writing home about is occurring.
We must stop being so impractical. PIMPLUS, which is a rather unfortunate acronym in view of the way we’ve prostituted our potential, is key to us being more practical. You see, it is likely to create or foster a meritocracy. In a meritocracy-a system where advancement is based solely on individual ability, talent, and effort-results are primordial. According to a system such as this, where we get what we give, we shall soon be producing significant societal and organisational benefits while also creating deep-seated social challenges. Oh yes. Socially, our minds will be rewired towards outcomes instead of incomes. Thus, Ugandans will work knowing that if they do not work for Uganda by making their work count, as to its results, then the system will drop them like a bad habit.