Buganda Kingdom Development Strategy

VISION, MISSION, OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES

Introduction

Buganda’s Vision and Mission

BKDS Objectives

Target Population

Overall Strategies

BKDS Implementations Levels and Modalities

2.1 Introduction

In this new millennium, the challenge for the Monarchy and the Kingdom as a whole is to revive and harness their traditional and cultural institution in order to play their noble role in the attaining of sustainable economic and social development at a regional level, within the greater Uganda. Certainly, this requires concerted effort in blending the cultural resources with human, physical, financial, and technological resources within a well co-ordinated framework. Accordingly, in an innovative way, the Buganda Kingdom intends to work closely and tirelessly with the central government and the private sector fraternity using that combination of resources to overcome the problem of poverty and other societal ills in Uganda. It is against that background that the Kingdom presents the Buganda Kingdom Development Strategy (BKDS), code-named ‘The Royal Development Drive (RDD)’, that will guide the Kingdom’s community development programmes within Buganda Kingdom region within the subsequent ten years (2001-2010). This chapter outlines the Vision, Mission, and broad objectives and strategies that will guide the BKDS programmes. 

2.2 The Buganda Kingdom’s Vision and Mission

The overall vision of the Buganda kingdom is ‘to have a strong monarchy and be a self-sustaining kingdom with its people enjoying both quantitative and qualitative improvement in their living conditions’. Achieving this Vision will depend on effective mobilisation of physical, human, financial, technological and information resources under the leadership and guidance of the central and governments, and the Kabaka and culture as the driving force. The transformed Buganda Kingdom region is envisaged to be that with its people perpetually earning sufficient income, having equitably accessing access to improved social services, and enlightened and civilised.

The Buganda Kingdom Mission that will also guide the BKDS is: to facilitate a strong and united kingdom, with self-generating development, its people enjoying high quality of life and welfare, with the Kabaka and culture as the foundation and fountain of this unity and development, within a united Uganda. [The concept culture here is intended to mean ‘that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief (or values), art, morals, custom, values, law (social norms or rules of conduct) and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of a given society (Sir Edward Tylor 1871, in Horton et al, 1984 Sociology). Culture is both material and non-material.]

The basic principles that will guide the implementation of Buganda Kingdom development initiatives through BKDS objectives will be: 

(i)Active participation: enabling maximum use of participatory methods in project cycle,

(ii)Cost-effectiveness: ensuring maximum use of the available resources for optimal impact,

(iii)Partnership: seeking co-operation with other stakeholders for effective problem solving,

(iv)Teamwork: ensuring maximum use of group resources and capacities, 

(v)Commitment: determination of Kabaka’s people to achieve the strategy objectives, 

(vi)         Innovativeness: Blending cultural traditions and formal management resources, 

(vii)Result-Oriented: Desire to see and to show measurable or tangible results from each project activity and step undertaken,

(viii)Loyalty to the King: High level commitment of the Buganda people to the King’s call for development,

(ix)Sustainability: Planning and implementing projects that can sustain themselves after external assistance has been terminated,

(x)Management efficiency: getting the project activities done through planning, organising, co-ordinating, communicating, staffing, innovating, monitoring and evaluation. 

2.3 The Buganda Kingdom Development Strategy Objectives

The Principal Objective of the BKDS is to achieve sustainable improvement in the living standards and welfare of and for the people, with the accompanying social discipline by the year 2010, through the application of a blend of the centuries-old traditional community development and guidance practices, with contemporary development strategies.

The specific objectives of BKDS are:

(i)To achieve a descent household income as a result of improved agriculture and off-farm activities.

(ii)To achieve food self-sufficiency at the household and community level.

(iii)To attain improved quality of life through improved hygienic living standards in homesteads and investment in health services programmes.

(iv)To have a literate, skillful and competent society through investment in education programmes.

(v)To have an informed and alert society through the establishment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programmes.

(vi)To attain mastery of medium level technology in the field of production, processing, commerce and environmental management.

(vii)To attain commercial sector development through income savings and investment, and entrepreneurship development, at the individual and organizational levels.

(viii)To have the women and youth and other disadvantaged social groups empowered in attaining all the BKDS stated objectives.

(ix)To have the people realize their potential and aspirations through appropriate measures of socialization, mobilization, sensitization and enlightenment.

(x)To have the institutions of culture, heritage and artifacts promoted as a source of social discipline and income.

2.4 Target Population

The current official statistics estimate a population of 5,500,000 persons living in Buganda region, with majority (approximately 85%) subsistence farmers living in the rural areas. This entire population will be the primary beneficiaries of the proposed development strategy. The secondary beneficiaries will be the other Ugandan communities living outside the Kingdom, who subscribe to similar traditional values. The mobilization programmes through the public media, for instance, is likely to benefit a greater number Ugandans, especially given the fact that Luganda language is used by many of Ugandans. At the national level, Uganda as a nation will benefit from the implementation of the BKDS as prosperity in nation results into peace and stability. 

However, special consideration will be given to the vulnerable groups, namely; the old, Widow, Orphan, People with AIDS (PWAs), the landless, squatters, fishermen, migrants, refugees and others. In brief, the proposed intervention programmes will not only improve the capital asset and livelihood of the population, but will also crease an infrastructure and institutions for technological innovations and human resource development. 

2.5 Overall Strategies 

Whereas each programme components has specific operational strategies, there are fundamental strategies that will guide the implementation of the overall BKDS. Some represent the key unique strengths and opportunities of the Kingdom that are critical for the success of BKDS. Using the Monarchy, the Executive, and the Kingdom’s administration as the principle movers of the whole process, the following strategies will be deployed:

(i)Establishing an all-participatory development mechanism revolving around the monarchy, its administrative structures, and the Local Government System;

(ii)Setting goals in rhythm with the Central Government’s overall development policies, priorities and strategies, and synchronized and harmonized with the plans and activities of the Local Authorities, the NGOs and CBOs in the Kingdom;

(iii)The blending of the successful and cherished centuries-old traditional/cultural practices and traits of traditional community mobilization and developmental guidance and advocacy with the modern management systems to formulate the BKDS management and implementation system;

(iv)Adoption of Community Based and Participatory Approaches in programme planning and development;

(v)The rejuvenation of the popular self-help spirit, coupled with limited facilitation, for the construction and maintenance of community-based infrastructure; 

(vi)Exploitation of cultural norms and values for the development of community infrastructure, entrepreneurship and commerce;

(vii)Promotion of oral history, Art and Drama as a vehicle for information dissemination, community mobilization, fundraising, and participatory development;

(viii)The availing of the BKDS as an efficient and cost-effective framework for the implementation of the Central Government, the Local Administration, the NGO’s the CBOs and the Donor Community grass-root community development programmes and projects in the Kingdom;

(ix)Forging partnership with the Central Government in poverty reduction process and other relevant areas;

(x)Forging partnership with the existing Institutions, Non-governmental Organizations and the Private sector;

(xi)Identification and Mobilization of locally available physical and human resources as a means in program implementation process;

(xii)Mobilization of financial, logistical and technical support from bilateral and multilateral agencies;

(xiii)Networking and seeking support from Ugandan Diaspora;

(xiv)Strengthening the administrative and managerial capacity of the kingdom as a basis for implementing the strategy;

(xv)Strengthening monitoring and evaluation and accountability processes;

(xvi)Institutionalizing ‘Role modeling’ as a key requirement for all leadership in the Kingdom; and

(xvii)Establishing at all levels, the institution of the ‘Royal Reward System’ whereby excellent performers, in recognition of exemplary performance towards BKDS success (individuals or groups/communities), will be appropriately honoured.

2.6 BKDS Implementation Levels and Modalities

For effectiveness implementation of the BKDS, it will necessitate for each of the programme components presented below in Chapter Three to bear a two-tiered implementation levels namely, the Kingdom/Central-based Approach and, the Grass-root/Community-based Approach thus:

1) The Kingdom/Central-based Approach

This will be a quasi-macro approach under which appropriate programmes and projects under each BKDS sector will be:

(i)Suitably developed under the BKDS by the Kingdom or in partnership with other organizations/bodies for and with the participation of the targeted community; and

(ii)Implemented by the targeted communities where the Kingdom/BKDS structure plays the role of awareness creation, publicity, popular mobilisation and training, provision of developmental guidance and positive coercion of the whole or targeted sections of the Kingdom community, co-ordination of programme activities, monitoring, and guiding the whole process to ensure programme/project success.

Under positive coercion, among other things, relevant authorities would be influenced to pass relevant by-laws and policies that would (i) help combat immoral behaviour, laziness, idleness, drunkardness, corruption, fraud, etc… and (ii) facilitate the efficient and effective implementation of the BKDS programmes/projects.

2) The Grass-root/Community-based Approach

Under this micro-approach, the Kingdom, through its relevant agents/NGOs and project officers will:

(i)facilitate the target beneficiaries to form CBOs for the purpose of developing and implementing viable projects within their respective communities,

establish pilot or demonstration schemes deemed necessary; and

(ii)undertake all the necessary steps and actions for sustainable implementation of the projects. 

Both approaches will take stock and put into consideration the existing or proposed projects by other stakeholders, for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing the interventions drawn under this strategy.

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