Thursday, 29 August 2013
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Monday, 26 August 2013
Clashes between top government officials are telling a tale
By Pathias Klinn Akabanjuna
Last
week, all newspaper tabloids were awash with headlines and stories of fighting
between top politicians and civil servants. First it was the Rt. Hon. Speaker
of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga’s outburst in response to earlier comments
allegedly made by the Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, suggesting that the former
is an opposition sympathizer. The feud between these two has been going on for
quite a while now but they have never come out to attack each other publicly
before like Ms. Kadaga did last week.
As
the leader of government business in parliament and NRM secretary General,
Mbabazi can be understood for trying to make parliament an appendage of the
Executive. But it seems the speaker is not about to let her powers be trampled
upon by a man who seems to wield so much power not only in NRM as a party but
also in Government, considering she is also a deputy National Vice President in
the party and she ranks number three in the state leadership hierarchy. The NRM
“rebel” MPs saga seems to have put a knife in the already wounded relationship
between the two power houses. Mbabazi wanted them expelled from parliament but
Kadaga defeated that resulting in court cases. Further controversy came in when
Kadaga ignored the ruling of the deputy speaker that the opposition MPs
suspended for causing chaos during the passing of the Public Order Management
Bill should first apologise to the house before they are accepted to resume
attending plenary sessions.
So
one wonders; is this unending exchange of hot air between these two
power-wielding individuals a matter of strong egos or respect issues or
both?
Then
there is the curious case of IGP Kayihura and State Minister for Lands Aidah
Nantaba. Both claim to get instructions from the president directly and yet
they seem to have disagreeing ideas or intentions. The funny thing is that the
president ignores them to fight each other, looking on unbothered as they
wrestle, both claiming to protect the interests of the squatters evicted from
land by so called “Land grabbers”. The truth is that Kayihura has been given
too much power with a close to limitless budget and authority that is visibly
greater than that of any government minister. All this started with kayihura
getting a “blank cheque” both of a job description and literally, to repress
political dissent. Now he seems to have spread his tentacles to wider areas
such as land issues, as much as he claims that his officers are “keeping law
and order.”
The
most recent fight of the titans involves Gen. Tumwine, one of the “27” and a member
of the high command, and one of the few 5 star general against Mr. Pius Bigirimana,
the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Gender, Labour and social development.
Their fight seems to be over rent for Nomo Gallery on National theatre or that
is just what they want us to think. I have learnt over the years that there is
always a story behind the story.
The
recent comments by Gen. Tumwine saying Bigirimana is angry and trying “to
splash dirt on others to resemble him and look[ing] for billions to mismanage
where they are not.” He added that, ”he is angry that he has been removed from
the high-table to a stool.” These statements did not go down well with many
people at Gender ministry and beyond. Gen. Tumwine essentially branded as “a stool”,
the ministry that handles issues of the largest population in Uganda (the
youth), women, workers and the disabled. This is ridiculous. We acknowledge
that the Office of the Prime minister has a much bigger budget than the Gender
Ministry, but that should not warrant anyone to refer to the gender ministry as
a stool, regardless of whether one is an army general or not. This complacency
of “untouchables” in Uganda needs to stop. The differences between Gen. Tumwine
and Bigirimana seem to be personal and therefore should not be brought into the
public fold.
Ever
since the inception of the ninth parliament after the 2011 General elections,
there has been in fighting both in NRM the government and in the party. Whether
this is telling about the regime’s future or not is yet to be seen. But
usually, the clashes seem to have one common denominator: the president
(including his appointees and directives). Usually, he lets the fights play out
for a certain calculated time before he comes to prevail. Again, whether he
reaps from these clashes is not easy to substantiate. But what is for sure is
that he has mastered the game of politics using divide and rule.
He
disappoints just as fast as he appoints and he is the pace setter because he holds
the all the cards in his hands. There’s no NRM without Museveni. There’s no
government without Museveni. Most elites believe he has presided over the death
of institutions in a deliberate move to give him all the power. The day he lets
go of the rope on which everyone is hanging, the entire pack will crumble. The
clashes between senior government officials might not tell us much for now, but
it gives us a clue about where we should look.
The writer is a socio-political commentator and Blogger
Twitter: @PathyKlinn
Friday, 23 August 2013
Monday, 12 August 2013
HON. OULANYAH, THE “CONTINGENCY PLAN” AS KADAGA LEADS FROM BEHIND
Early last week, Ugandans watched
on as the controversial Public Order Management Bill was passed by an NRM
dominated parliament amidst flaring tempers from the Opposition Members.
Plenary chaired by Jacob Oulanyah, the deputy speaker of the house was objected
to by minority opposition voices which he ignored and hurriedly passed the bill
without listening. Despite all Opposition protests, Deputy Attorney General
Fred Ruhindi announced to the house that the bill had been passed, only waiting
presidential assent to become law.
However, what was amusing was the
fact that two Order Papers were circulating in the house, one having the Public
Order Management Bill and the other without. The one with the bill was
reportedly agreed upon following an impromptu meeting in the Speaker’s
boardroom with the Prime Minister and a host of other top NRM ministers that
appear to have put pressure on the speaker to reverse her earlier agreement
with the opposition not to include the bill on the order paper citing risen
tempers in parliament as the reason.
She had a lot of support when she
contested for Speaker because many MPs across the political divide seemed to
believe in her credibility having served as deputy speaker in the 7th
and 8th parliament. However, it seems that it is this same credibility
that made the NRM top shots uncomfortable especially with her enjoying support
from both NRM and Opposition members. They didn’t trust her to be loyal to the
party and safeguard their interests all the way. Being the fast thinkers, they
imposed on the House, a “contingency plan” in the names of Jacob Oulanyah to be
deputy speaker.
This is a man who entered
politics in 2001, to a winning start taking the “Omoro county” parliamentary
seat in Gulu district on a Uganda People's Congress (UPC) ticket. Before his
first term in parliament ended, he chaired the parliamentary legal committee
that recommended the constitutional amendments which lifted the presidential
term limits in 2005. This probably came to haunt him the following year despite
taking part in LRA peace talks. He lost the bid for re-election to the 8th
parliament in 2006 as a UPC candidate. In July 2006, he quit the UPC political
party and joined the National Resistance Movement (NRM) political party which
seemingly earned him his seat back in parliament in the 9th
parliament.
This is why I think this man
feels like he owes the NRM a big favour, and they know it. They don’t hesitate
to use it to their advantage. A section of MPs claim that Mr. Oulanyah is
trying to obtain acceptance and approval from the president when he decides to
vie for Speaker of the house. Well, personally, I would not have a problem with
Mr. Oulanyah settling his scores if he didn’t do it using the country’s
interests and future in making ridiculous laws.
My issue with Madame Speaker is
letting Oulanyah do it in what seems like a well thought out plan to keep her
reputation intact and having Mr. Oulanyah do her dirty work. She is highly
respected having put her foot down in her first year in the speaker’s docket,
impressing many, she ranked 3rd in possible successors of president
Museveni. She conveniently refused to comment on this debate as well as
allegations of a power struggle between her and the Prime Minister.
All was well until her convenient
absence from the House when controversial issues were being discussed and unconstitutional
bills being bulldozed through parliament became evident. From the approval of a
Minister of Lands that didn’t have sufficient qualifications, to passing Oil
Bills that were clearly inconsiderate of the public interest, and the most
recent Public Order Management Bill. It seems to me that whenever such
controversial issues appear on the order paper, the speaker has a workshop, a
meeting with her constituents or is just simply absent.
The speaker looking on last week
as two different order papers were circulated in parliament, with one type for
the opposition and another for the ruling party, in clear contravention of
parliamentary rules of procedure that she is supposed to offer custody, was the
last straw. This was all because she could not manage to hold off the NRM
ministers that stormed her board room a few hours before the plenary session
chaired by her deputy, that would turn out to be a disgrace to a House Ugandans
hold in very high regard. The conduct we saw in the House can be attributed to
many things. It could be frustration out of a feeling of helplessness by
opposition MPs with inability to stop a clearly unconstitutional law or it
could be politics to earn a shot from the media cameras. Whatever it was, it
disgraced Parliament.
All this could be speculation.
But one thing is for sure: Madame Speaker cannot continue to lead from behind.
She must come back, announce her presence and put the house in order. And that
is not a responsibility she can entrust with her allegedly biased and serial
procedure-flouting “contingency plan”.
The writer is a socio-political commentator and Blogger
Twitter: @PathyKlinn
Friday, 9 August 2013
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
THE REAL IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER CARE SERVICES IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
By Pathias Klinn Akabanjuna
If there's any place where customers are likely to be paying attention to the type of service they receive, it's within the hospitality industry. From restaurants to hotels, beaches to resorts and everything in between, your job as a hospitality service provider is to maintain customer happiness and satisfaction. This demands effort and concentration from the service providers which has been disappointing sometimes especially to the fast-rising middle class in the region whose expectations are rising as fast. There is the ever-growing need to benchmark experiences, the value added, memories and emotions that matter, other than the provision of the service itself. If I come to your Hotel or club, I need to feel enthusiasm, affection and kindness. It is very imperative to keep your customers at the forefront of your operational plans to hold your business afloat.
The usual "please" and "thank you" or getting service with a smile no longer cut it. Although those go into the recipe for proper etiquette, it's just not enough. We seek a memorable experience and dynamic service. From being served quickly to bending the standard practices, such as extending my check-out in a hotel or customizing a menu item in the restaurant, the small things that make me feel appreciated. To be able to do this, you must anticipate your customers’ needs and be able to have your staff deliver accordingly. Hoteliers in the region who have learnt the important lesson of engaging their customers and consistently making sure customers get the same awesome service or better have reaped big from the industry and their stars continue to rise.
Happy customers are loyal customers. Not only is it important for you to provide stellar service, but awesome products as well. Make it a point to be on the fast track for keeping up with trends that your customers may follow such as building personal assistance services for traveling customers or making special concessions for avid repeat customers. Be available. If I have to continuously wait for you to do your part, I may grow tired, no matter how loyal I am, and venture off to your competition. Keep customers loyal by focusing on them at all times.
More so, as a customer, when I get disappointed at your service that day, I need to be comfortable enough to air my grievance. If I am not allowed to vent, I will probably vent out on someone else, a potential customer. In the corporate setting, news travels fast. You will probably end up losing business. Therefore it is important that you let me advise you on how better you could have handled serving lunch in the conference so that I can expect better service next time.
Maximizing customer satisfaction makes an important contribution to maximizing profitability as well. Although other factors such as cost control, productivity and marketing strategy also impact the bottom line, it is your ability to increase the opportunity for repeat sales to customers that reduces costs of sales and marketing which translate into increased profit. It is not uncommon for a customer to bring their friends to a hotel where they had their car parked properly for them or where the waitress went out of her way to make sure he got his drink chilled to the right temperature, just the way he likes it. Satisfied customers have an indirect impact on profitability when they share their opinions and experiences with others. In this era of technology, social networking sites play an important part in shaping attitudes towards a service or product. By maximizing customer satisfaction and encouraging customers to post their views on a forum or service review site, you can attract new customers who use the reviews to make their business decisions. Therefore, it is almost a must for every player in this industry to have at least a twitter page.
Having excellent food, beverages and world class accommodation is no longer enough. Processing customers through your service system is not sustainable. Everyone does that. Without a personal connection, hospitality businesses are just expensive vending machines. To deliver better and learn faster is the only truly sustainable competitive advantage.
The writer is a socio-political commentator and Blogger
Twitter: @PathyKlinn
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