For the past three weeks NWSC management has been integrating its new engineering staff through a rigorous training on the NWSC systems, procedures, culture and values. This has been achieved with the help of reputable trainers and keynote speakers.
As part of the induction and training program the corporation hosted the Commissioner for Patriotism in the Office of the President, Brig Gen Patrick Mwesigye, who was privileged to educate the new staff about mindset change and revolutionary behavior with emphasis on “Transformative (patriotic) discipline, subversive tendencies and revolutionary methods of work”
Brig. Gen. Mwesigye in his briefs pointed out that some of the outstanding issues in the country stem from ideological clarity and mindset change hinting on the fact that they are an imperative for socio-economic transformation. This he clarified with the National Planning Authority (NPA) as a case study. A body that has prioritized mindset change in the country’s development plan and has been mainstreamed in the Parish Development Model, with hope that the NWSC engineers and Water technicians would embrace the same ideology.
He went on to explain that the ideology can be affiliated to the contributions made by the new staff in terms of; “how we understand situations and how we analyze them” and, “a set of beliefs and ideas that guide one in different aspects of the society”.
One can only comply with this explanation as he clearly links poor mindset to the reason some people continue to elevate while others stumble. “For any organization to succeed, it must have a progressive ideology,” he said, commending the ruling party, particularly H.E the President of Uganda whose patriotism, Pan-Africanism, social economic transformation and democracy are the reasons for his continued success.
He put emphasis on the fact that countries that have attained middle income status have national ideologies and Uganda hasn’t had the time to crystallize ideologies because of issues like political instability, sectarianism or identity divisionism like tribe, religion, gender etc and said, the common good must be protected. “No matter what happens nothing should divide us. No matter what happens, Uganda should come first”.
He said if a country lacks ideologies, it makes it very difficult to attain middle income status despite financial aid or resources because there is lack of a clear direction. Something for the NWSC staff to truly think about considering the fact that the corporation aims to be the leading customer Service Oriented utility in the world. A clear direction and revolutionary methods are bound to come in handy for that to be achieved.
The General asked a question about “what makes one proud of being a Ugandan”. Most were dumbfounded and his reaction was justifiable, “…because you lack a common goal”.
Compiled by: Namirembe Mwajab
