The National Planning Authority has today held the planning conference for the upcoming Fourth National development plan (NDPIV) at the Office of the President Conference Hall, Kampala.
The conference was in attendance of a number of Stakeholders, ranging from the Head of Service, Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Treasury, Permanent Secretaries, all Planners at both the MDA and Local Government levels, Development Partners, and Colleagues from the Private sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and Academia.
Speaking at the event, the state minister for finance, planing and economic development Hon. Amos Lugoloobi disclosed that the draft plan for NDPIV should be ready by July 2024, with the final plan expected to be complete by September 2024.
He added and said, this will inform the country on its macroeconomic framework and budgeting processes for FY2025/26 and the subsequent years.
He however, outlined that the Conference officially kickstarts the decentralized planning processes at Programme level, MDA level and Local Government level. “It should also be noted that the guidance of this Conference also has implications to the operations of the Development Partners, Private Sector, Civil Society Organisations and NGOs.” Said Minister Lugoloobi
He also revealed that NDPIV is the fourth out of six National Development Plans (NDPs) that are meant to implement Uganda Vision 2040, adding that it’s the last plan to deliver the Global Agenda 2030 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to Minister Lugolobi, the goal of the NDPIV is “to achieve higher household incomes and employment for sustainable socio-economic transformation”as it is premised on the theme “Sustainable industrialization for inclusive growth, employment, and wealth creation”.
Meanwhile,the Permanent Secretary/ Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development Ramathan Ggoobi noted that there is need to ensure that development plans are grounded in the actual fundamentals for example availability ofl resources to prevent the pit holes of over ambitious projections and under funded priorities.” In Uganda we have that very disturbing terminology unfunded priorities. If something is a priority, how can it be unfunded or under funded. This all starts with planning.” Ggoobi said
He also disclosed that if the country aligns it’s resource allocation with realistic revenue forecast and existing obligations, we are likely to maintain financial stability. “ keyword here is maintaining because we are financially stable, we have to maintain it but also to enhance the physical policy credibility by avoiding disruptive budget shortfalls which we have faced in NDPiii mainly because of the intervening shocks of COVID-19.” He said
The president signed the forwarding page of NDPIII in lock down, since then we’ve been having issues of budget shortfalls. We hope really at the ministry of finance, planing and economic development that we’re going to have all these assumptions catered for.” Ggoobi added
The head of Public Service/ Secretary to Cabinet, Lucy Nakyobe called for the enhancement of the collaborations between the public and private sectors which she noted that could be crucial towards the successful implementation of NDPIV.
“We must foster an enabling environment that encourages private sector foundation in development initiatives. By leveraging on the expertise and resources of the private sector, we can drive innovations, enhance efficiency and improve service delivery across the various sectors in the government” She stated
She further notified that the parish development model (PDM), will continue as their last mile operation modality, adding that more guidance shall be availed on how the PDM should be prioritised to achieve the desired development goals and targets.
The National Development Plan III (NDP III) which is set to expire in June 2025 is the third in a series of six development plans whose primary goal is “To increase average household incomes and improve the quality of life of Ugandans” in the period 2020/21 to 2024/25.
