By Joshua Israel Akandwanaho
The writer is NRM Flag Bearer, Workers MP, 2026
Uganda stands at a defining moment. With President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni beginning another term in office, the national agenda is unmistakable: create jobs, accelerate wealth creation, deepen service delivery, and push Uganda toward middle-income status.
The President’s ideological compass — patriotism, Pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation, and democracy — has guided the country for decades. At Kyankwanzi earlier this year, he challenged the Movement to protect its gains and execute a decisive economic leap. But that leap will require more than policy speeches and resolutions. It demands a serious rethink of how Uganda deploys its human capital.
Today, one of the quietest but most damaging inefficiencies in governance is the concentration of too many responsibilities in too few hands.
It has become common to find one individual simultaneously serving as a Cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament, Chairperson of a government board or authority, and member of the NRM Central Executive Committee. Four powerful offices. One person. One schedule.
The result is predictable: divided attention, delayed decisions, weakened supervision, and blurred accountability.
When a minister is abroad attending international meetings, ministry files stall. When an MP is occupied with parliamentary business, constituency oversight weakens. When the same leader is expected to chair a strategic board meeting, party caucus, and district mobilisation event in the same week, something inevitably gives way.
And usually, it is service delivery.
The cost of this overload is not theoretical. It affects implementation at every level of government. The Parish Development Model, which the President has championed as the engine for household wealth creation, depends heavily on constant grassroots supervision. SACCOs need monitoring. Parish leaders need coordination. Communities need visible leadership.
That becomes impossible when leaders are stretched across multiple national obligations.
Uganda’s problem is no longer simply a shortage of jobs. It is also a shortage of deployment.
Across the country, highly qualified NRM cadres remain underutilized while a small circle of leaders carries overlapping responsibilities. Uganda has professors, engineers, lawyers, economists, agricultural scientists, public health experts, and mobilisers ready to serve. Yet many remain spectators while the same familiar faces rotate through ministries, committees, boards, and political offices.
This is not sustainable for a country seeking tenfold economic growth.
The President’s ambition of growing Uganda’s economy from $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040 requires focused leadership. Agro-industrial transformation cannot be supervised part-time. Manufacturing expansion cannot be driven between parliamentary sittings. Wealth creation cannot thrive on exhausted schedules.
Even military strategy teaches the value of specialization. In battle, every fighter has one assignment, one command, one mission. The sniper is not simultaneously the medic and the logistics officer. Focus increases effectiveness.
The same principle should guide governance.
The NRM itself has demonstrated this model before. The Secretariat functions because directors are assigned clear mandates and measured against specific deliverables. They mobilise, organise, and execute with concentration. That discipline should now extend across government and party structures.
Uganda needs a “One Cadre, One Hill” approach.
Let MPs focus on legislation and constituency mobilisation. Let ministers concentrate fully on ministry performance and national policy execution. Let strategic boards be chaired by competent cadres who are not already overloaded with parliamentary and executive duties.
This is not about sidelining experienced leaders. It is about multiplying national capacity.
When opportunities are spread wider, institutions become stronger. Younger cadres gain experience. Accountability improves because responsibility becomes clearer. Most importantly, government delivery becomes faster and more visible to ordinary citizens.
The current model unintentionally narrows the leadership pipeline. When one person occupies several influential positions, talented young cadres begin to believe that advancement only comes when someone else exits the stage. That mindset weakens institutional growth and discourages participation.
Uganda does not lack talent. Uganda has failed to fully deploy its talent.
The economic battles ahead will not be won by overburdening a few trusted individuals. They will be won by activating the full national workforce — from Soroti to Kabale, from Gulu to Mbarara.
As the Luganda proverb says, “Akamwa k’omuntu kamu tekalya bitungulu bibiri” — one mouth cannot eat two onions at once.
If Uganda truly wants faster transformation, stronger institutions, and broader prosperity, then the next phase of leadership must embrace one simple principle: one cadre, one hill.
