Seven permanent secretaries have had their positions extended by President Yoweri Museveni for a further three years, ensuring that they will continue to play crucial roles in Uganda’s administration.
Ramathan Ggoobi, who is still serving as the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development’s Permanent Secretary, is one of them. He is an accomplished economist and policy analyst Ggoobi who spent most of his career teaching economics at different universities.
Between June 2020 and July 2021, he served as a Senior Presidential Advisor on National Economy and accomplished several tasks assigned to him by the President. As PS/ST, Ramathan has set his agenda to reform the national budget to make it more responsive national development priorities, improve appraisal and implementation of national development projects, and ensure accountability with measurable results.
Former Minister of Veteran Affairs and Defense Adolf Mwesige is still the Clerk to Parliament. He is a lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs in the Cabinet of Uganda from 6 June 2016 to 8 June 2021. He previously served as Minister of Local Government from 18 February 2009 to 6 June 2016. He has also been the elected Member of Parliament for Bunyangabu County, Kabarole District, since 1996.
He is instrumental in overseeing parliamentary operations and making sure that the legislative process goes without hiccups since 2021.
As the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Dr. Aminah Zawedde continues to hold her job since July 2021. She is a computer scientist, academic and public administrator. Before that Zawedde was a lecturer and researcher in the School of Computing and Informatics Technology at Makerere University.
She has been a major force behind Uganda’s digital transformation, especially when it comes to improving ICT services and infrastructure.
Pius Bigirimana is the Judiciary’s Permanent Secretary. In 2021, the High Court in Kampala ordered Monitor Publications Limited to pay 450 million shillings to PS Bigirimana, for defamation. Justice Musa Ssekaana ruled in favor of Bigirimana, who argued that between 2012 and 2017, the publication had released 15 defamatory articles. These articles falsely portrayed him as a key suspect in a financial scam within the Office of the Prime Minister, damaging his reputation.
The court found that these articles were published without verifying their accuracy and were crafted to incite public disdain against Bigirimana. During his term, substantial changes have been implemented to improve the legal system’s accessibility.
Lt. Gen. Joseph Musanyufu is still serving at the Ministry of Internal Affairs as the Permanent Secretary. Prior to his current appointment, he served as Joint Chief of Staff, the third highest rank in the military. Lt. Gen Musanyufu also served as the Chief of Personnel and Administration in the UPDF, a position that he was appointed to in 2014.
He was promoted to Major General at the time he was appointed as joint chief of staff.
Musanyufu has played a key role in overseeing administrative matters and preserving internal security due to his vast military experience.
Maj. Gen. David Kasura Kyomukama continues to serve as the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries’ Permanent Secretary. His main goal has been to modernize Ugandan agriculture in order to increase productivity and food security.
Pauline Irene Batebe continues to serve as the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development’s Permanent Secretary. Batebe was hired in February 2009 as the chief refining engineer at the Uganda Ministry of Energy and Minerals.
Her responsibilities at the ministry included the certification that all the equipment and machinery imported into Uganda to construct the refinery and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline meet international standards and is of the right quality and specification.
She has also presented papers at various oil and gas summits in Uganda and abroad including the SPE/AAPG Africa Energy and Technology Conference that was held in Nairobi Kenya in 2016.
The administration’s trust in these officials’ ability to further the country’s development objectives in their respective fields is reflected in their reappointments.
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