SOROTI DISTRICT OFFICIALS TRAINED TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE AHEAD OF NATIONAL ASSESSMENT

By Abraham Ekwaru, Communication Officer Soroti District.

Heads of department and vote controllers in Soroti District have undergone a refresher training aimed at enhancing their performance in key areas of local government management ahead of the upcoming national assessment exercise.

The training, held on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at the district headquarters, was conducted by a technical team from the Ministry of Local Government.

 The session focused on addressing cross-cutting issues as well as thematic areas critical to effective service delivery, particularly human resource management specifically recruitment and planning and budgeting with emphasis on the technical appraisal of infrastructure projects.

This training follows the release of the 2024 Local Government Performance Assessment Report, which revealed widespread underperformance by many local governments in the thematic areas under review.

According to the report, only 20.9% of local governments scored satisfactorily in human resource recruitment, while 35.2% met the required standards in planning and the technical appraisal of projects.

Speaking on behalf of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Mr. Moses Esatu, the Acting Principal Secretary PAS-, acknowledged Soroti District’s unsatisfactory performance. He revealed that in the 2024 national ranking, Soroti was placed at position 85 out of 146 districts.

“This performance calls for urgent action. The ministry’s decision to conduct this training is timely and critical in helping us identify and address our weaknesses. As a district, we need to ensure that our planning processes are aligned with national standards and that we follow merit-based recruitment procedures,” Mr. Esatu said.

During the training, technical experts took the participants through standard procedures for the recruitment of staff, the importance of maintaining proper documentation, and the necessity of adhering to guidelines for planning and infrastructure appraisal.

The heads of departments were urged to work collaboratively, maintain compliance with service delivery standards, and improve internal supervision mechanisms.

The training is expected to contribute to better performance in the upcoming national assessment and, ultimately, to improved service delivery to the people of Soroti District.

ENDS