The Centre for Urban Governance and Development’s on-going effort to make significant contribution to Uganda’s good governance system for effective national economic development the Centre is proposing a partnership with the Institute of Parliamentary Studies to skill members of parliament in good urban governance and integrated development.

This flagship program at the Centre is prepared to build the capacities of newly-elected legislators in good urban governance and integrated development planning as a vehicle to sustainable development. This will be spearheaded by the university in partnership the Institute of Parliamentary Studies.

Legislators play a significant role in shaping the path and quality of local government and constituencies’ urban development, and having been elected every five years presents an excellent opportunity to influence local and national urban development policies and plans that favour controlled urbanization.

The challenge is to build the capacities of the newly elected members of parliament to become effective leaders, as evidence from best-practices shows that an enlightened and committed leadership can build effective institutions for responsive local development and good urban governance.

What is needed is a systematic, purposeful and strategic program to develop the capacities of these newly elected officials, to enable them to become aware of the broader context of good governance, integrated planning and development, the political leaders’ role in the process, and their responsibilities in it. More the emphasis of developing programs to address the rapid urbanization phenomena before us in this part of the continent.

As a capacity building program, it will focus on three areas:

• improving the knowledge of political leaders on the operations and development challenges of their respective constituencies and local governments:
• sharpening their management competencies and leadership skills in urban governance; and
• enhancing their awareness of the social, economic and political environment challenges affecting their constituencies.

At the same time, there is also need to enable the legislators to build alliances with national government agencies and local government units to ensure that their constituency development agenda is consistent with the national development plan and with the priorities at the national level. Its ultimate objective is to sharpen the capacities of the political leaders to achieve inclusive growth and reduce poverty in their communities.

The program is thus designed to respond flexibly to the demands of legislators within their term. The legislators are expected to determine their own learning needs and preferences and are encouraged to drive their own learning processes. To facilitate this, the program provides an opportunity to identify and map the capacity development gaps of the legislators.Through the program, it will influence the development outcomes by making the legislators more ready and prepared to take on their responsibilities and challenges.

It is vital that through this program we will develop the potential of individual constituencies, enhancing their competitiveness through policy actions that deliver the cornerstones of competitive local governments (enterprise, connectivity, sustainability and attractiveness and inclusivity).

In view of the long lead times for the delivery of necessary infrastructure and services, it is critically important that we plan now to ensure that our constituencies are well positioned to meet the longer term needs of our citizens across the country.