By Aggrey Baba
The Ministry of Public Service has issued a new directive that makes it compulsory for all senior civil servants to mentor and prepare successors, marking a step towards reforming Uganda’s public service and ending the culture of power hoarding in Government offices.
The directive is detailed in Circular Standing Instruction Number Five of 2023, which was officially unveiled at the beginning of this month. Y Hon. Wilson Muruli Mukasa, the Minister of Public Service, during a press briefing at the Uganda Media Centre.
The instruction takes effect in the 2025/2026 financial year and targets all civil servants serving in supervisory and managerial roles across Government ministries, departments, and agencies.
The move is designed to eliminate the long-standing problem of senior officers who rise through the system but deliberately fail to prepare others to take over. These officers often treat institutional knowledge and responsibilities as personal property, and in some cases, remain in office for decades without mentoring a single junior officer.
Under the new rules, every public officer in a leadership position is required to submit a formal succession and mentorship plan, showing how they are identifying, training, and empowering their subordinates to take over in the event of retirement, transfer, or death.
This requirement will now form part of their annual performance assessments, and failure to comply will be treated as a breach of duty, attracting disciplinary actions.
The directive also aims to reduce the heavy financial burden placed on the Government by the widespread practice of re-hiring retirees on contract.
Each year, billions of shillings are spent bringing back retired officers, not necessarily because of their unique value, but due to the lack of prepared successors. With proper succession structures in place, the Ministry believes such costs will be significantly reduced.
While guidelines on mentorship and leadership handover have existed in the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders of 2021, they have not been actively enforced. The issuance of the directive now places legal and administrative weight behind those expectations, making them compulsory across the board.
The Ministry has also announced a restructuring of retirement and pension management, where any public servant who is five years or less away from mandatory retirement age will automatically be enrolled into a formal retirement preparation programme.
This programme will focus on helping them hand over responsibilities in an orderly manner, while preparing both the individual and their department for life after their exit.
In addition, changes are being introduced in how pension benefits are calculated. Going forward, benefits will take into account both the years of actual service and the projected period one was expected to serve before reaching retirement age, aiming at promoting fairness and improve retirement planning across the civil service.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Ms. Catherine Bitarakwate, has confirmed that the Public Service Commission and heads of all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) have been directed to implement the changes without delay.
Departments that fail to ensure their supervisors comply with the directive will be held accountable.
By ensuring that leaders pass on knowledge and responsibility to others, the Ministry believes that public service delivery will improve, and institutional stability will be strengthened.
The directive is also expected to address widespread frustration among junior officers who, for years, have been denied growth opportunities by their seniors.
Many competent young professionals have stagnated in the system due to lack of mentorship and intentional suppression by those above them.
By enforcing structured succession planning, the Government hopes to nurture a new culture in which every leader is expected to leave behind a capable and ready team. Leadership will now be judged not just by results achieved, but by the legacy left behind.
The Ministry of Public Service has made it clear that succession is no longer a voluntary act of goodwill but a professional obligation, and public officers are therefore advised to comply or risk facing sanctions, including loss of promotion opportunities, disciplinary action, and in some cases, removal from office. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
