On 29th November 2018,The Annual Visionaries of Uganda Awards was hosted at Serena Hotel Kampala.

“Competition in the private sector and accountability of government institutions will be crucial drivers in Uganda’s ambition to achieve middle-income status, officials observed.”

This was mentioned during the Visionaries of Uganda Awards ceremony held at the Kampala Serena Hotel recently. While endorsing the significance of the awards, the guest of honour, the Vice-President, Edward Ssekandi, said by recognising and rewarding excellence, the awards encourage quality products, service and positive competition, which are the bedrock of socio-economic development.

Competition in the private sector and accountability of government institutions will be crucial drivers in Uganda’s ambition to achieve middle-income status, officials observed.

This was mentioned during the Visionaries of Uganda Awards ceremony held at the Kampala Serena Hotel recently. While endorsing the significance of the awards, the guest of honour, the Vice-President, Edward Ssekandi, said by recognizing and rewarding excellence, the awards encourage quality products, service and positive competition, which are the bedrock of socio-economic development.

“This ceremony comes at an opportune moment when local producers and service providers need to benchmark what they put on the market vis-a-vis global players,” he said. “The spirit of this event, therefore, underscores the need to emphasize quality products and services in a competitive global village.”

“Proper accountability of funds in government institutions will facilitate the implementation of initiatives aimed at propelling the country to middle-income status by 2040,” Job Mwesigwa, the team leader of the award organizers, said in an interview. “Every year, government institutions are given billions of shillings, so we have to see value for money.

Thus, we go to the ground to see what they have done,” Mwesigwa said, stressing that it is a result-oriented initiative. Research and surveys are done by the National Planning Authority (NPA), a partner in the implementation of the initiative. Mwesigwa added that prior to the awards, the private sector and government agencies showcased their work.

He highlighted that besides performance in the market, they look at corporate social responsibility from private companies. Ssekandi said Uganda needs organizations and entrepreneurial-minded people who are market-driven and meet the expectations of the people and economy.

The annual initiative was launched in 2012 by President Yoweri Museveni. Sectors that have been earmarked as drivers for the realization of Vision 2040 include agriculture, due to its multiplier effect in terms of increased production and value-addition, which will lead to the creation of smaller industries into processing and give birth to industrial hubs.

UNIFREIGHT CARGO HANDLING LIMITED was honoured as the best visionary CLEARING & FORWARDING COMPANY 2018 by the people of the Republic of Uganda for the outstanding contribution towards Uganda middle-income status aspiration and vision 2040.