Uganda Management Institute (UMI) organized the third international conference on service delivery with the theme: “Sustainable service delivery, partnerships and innovations.” The blended conference (both virtual and physical) ran from 25^th to 28th October 2022, and it attracted 200 delegates from 13 countries like Ireland, Malawi, Tanzania, Botswana, Switzerland, Cameron, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Germany, Burundi and India.

Dr. Lazarus Nabaho, the chief rapporteur at the conference, said the workshop was structured along ten themes which included; public sector transformation, human resource and performance management, environment sustainability & climate change, anti-corruption strategies, supply chain management, peace security and stability, finance and economic management among others. He later gave highlights on what the panelists discussed during the three-day conference and then thanked the participants from all walks of life for attending the conference.

Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, the Minister of Information, Communications Technology and National guidance gave the closing remarks of the Conference and he challenged the educated to strive and improve the quality of the locals in their communities. He also said that although Africa has gone through various transformations; from slave trade, colonialism and self-governance, there are still so many things to be done by leaders and Africans.  “Africa is rich in terms of resources but yet it is the poorest continent, why? Our people are still poor. We have gone to school but what have we done to improve the standards of our people,” he asked.

He added that the conference like this enables us to reflect on what can be done to improve the lives of our people. “What contribution can you make to improve the quality of the people out there? The condition of our people is the same wherever you go, how do we use the privileged positions we hold to improve the lives of the people out there who don’t have a chance to sit in air conditioned rooms like we are in today?” he asked.

He said that although we fought for self- rule, the main challenge in Africa is still governance and management of our affairs.  He said the colonial masters did not go willingly and the neo colonial project remained alive and in many places there were many disruptions including even in Uganda today. “Why are we lagging behind, is it true that Africans are not intelligent, is it a question of governance, may be yes and what can we do? Have we been able to subdue the earth, may be not, have we multiplied, may be yes,” he said. He said we have a lot of work to do to catch up with the rest of the world on the issue of subduing the earth using technology.

“We are now in the 4^th Industrial revolution with cutting edge technology like robots but where are we as a continent. We have always lagged behind. We need to run as Africans and be able to transform our communities. We have not been able to control our birth- rates, and yet the mortality rate is high because of high disease burdens which have retarded our development,” he said.

He said it was good to sit and reflect on the challenges affecting us adding that the conference was not in vain. “We have international instruments which guide us on what to do like the Millennium Development Goals but Africa as a continent failed to meet targets. Then came the sustainable development goals, National Development Plans and Strategic Development Plans.

Africa remains a continent of the future and is a continent on the move and we can attain targets we have set for ourselves,” he said.  He said there is evidence that our efforts are yielding fruits in many of the countries because the happiness index has improved in many countries. He appreciated the participants who travelled from far for attending the international conference and sharing the knowledge.

He concluded by thanking UMI for organizing the conference. He acknowledged that UMI in its 60 years of existence has imparted skills to many Ugandans  in public service, parliament, and cabinet adding that everywhere you go there are many fruits from UMI. He assured the administrators that government will continue to support the institution.