DR SILVER MUGISHA

National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) together with the Dutch Water Operators Vitens Evides International (VEI),Netherlands held a conference on Thursday May 20,2022 to hold deliberations on the provision of sustainable, improved water and sanitation services across 39 utilities from 15countries across the globe.

The conference is a follow up action to a signed Partnership Agreement by the two entities which was done in 2018 to engage in a Water Operators’ Partnership (WOP) designed under the WaterWorx program.

WaterWorx is an International Water Operators’ Cooperation program that brings together over 39 water utilities from 15 countries across the globe with a sole purpose of improving water and sanitation services across 10 million people by 2030.

The engagement featured main presentations in asset management of Kampala water group NWSC Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha, Director Business and Scientific Services Dr. Rose Kaggwa and the Kampala Water GM Mahmood Lutaaya.

The deliberations also highlighted the collaborative role of the Water Worx programme in the development of the Mapkit tool in Kampala Water.

NWSC Scoops Asset Management Award
On the last day of the formal presentations, and discussions held at Water Net offices, NWSC (among others) was presented with an award on best asset management solutions.

The award was received by the Managing Director, NWSC Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha.

This week, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Managing Director Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha shared the NWSC success factors and their corporation’s strategic intentions.

The MD, made the presentation during the panel discussion in the Peer to Peer Strategies for Performance workshop held in Madrid and organized by the Global Water Leaders Group.

He highlighted the success factors for NWSC turnaround story and what the future holds for the Corporation.

The workshop was a pre-event session that is part of the three day Global Water Leaders summit that is running from 16th to 18th May 2020 at the Novetel Center Hotel Madrid under the Theme, “WATER POSITIVE ZERO CARBON.”

The panel discussion centered on “Reflections on the importance and value of utility turnarounds and the offering of the Urban Water Catalyst Fund in support of turnarounds.”

During a meeting with the Kampala Water (KW) Top management, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation’s Managing Director, Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha, discussed strategies to boost the fight against Non-Revenue Water (NRW) in the region. 

NRW in the Kampala Water jurisdiction currently stands at 43.7%, contributing to the highest number of losses in the Corporation which simply calls for re-strategizing, hence the said meeting.

Dr. Eng. Mugisha in his address hinted on the fact that the high NRW in KW was affecting performance and overall achievement of targets. 

Against that, he advised Top Management to focus on a number of key areas thus; Meter reading efficiency and integrity, Non-revenue water investigation Strategy (including illegal connections, meter tampering, and water leaks, identification and responses to leaks and bursts), Non-revenue water measurement strategy (including data collection, analysis and communication), Auditing Strategy including (Predictive and structured House-to-House operations), Technology Input characterised by Geographic Information System (GIS) inputs and lastly, Collaborative community participation in the fight against NRW.

The NWSC MD Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha gave a lecture of opportunity to the newly recruited Kampala Water Engineers and Technicians.

In his remarks, he mentioned that his visit was aimed at appreciating the recruitment process and  share a strategic picture of NWSC.

He gave reason for the change in training style to include physical fitness assessment of new staff before deployment.

“Those who don’t pass will have to wait for another induction and during the wait,  salary won’t be paid until one passes. We want fit people for the field.” he said 

He congratulated the new staff for passing through the recruitment process on merit. It should be noted that the applicants went through a vigorous online free and fair recruitment process.

He urged the trainees to maintain good behaviour and  be respectful towards their workmates as a driver for a  harmonious working ground and career elevation in the Corporation. 

He explained that a strategy is a set of things one does in order to go where he/she wants to go, and reminded the trainees that NWSC vision.

He shared that the corporation is investing in them so that they can help attain the NWSC vision. 

He highlighted the NWSC transformative agenda for the next 5 years.

He explained that transformation is to change the way things are done and by the time the training is done the trainees should look at themselves as transformers and design initiatives to improve on the productivity of NWSC.

He further encouraged the new staff to be accountable, sustainable and transformative.

“When one is accountable, then there will be certain expectations one has to achieve. Sustainability of a service means it exists today, tomorrow and in the future.” he said

He underlined NRW as one of the reasons for their recruitment.

He explained that when NRW is high the sustainability of the Institution is affected.

Our promise to the customers is “Water For All” and he pointed out that all Ugandans in areas where NWSC exists have to receive water “For A Delighted Customer” meaning you have to ensure to leave the customer happy and want to work with a “Delighted Task Force”.

Today marked the end of the 6-year tenure of the outgoing contracts committee chaired by KW-GM Mr. Mahmood Lutaaya. In his hand over remarks, Mr. Lutaaya thanked the Board and Management for the opportunity of presiding over the roles and functions of the committee. Mr. Lutaaya reiterated how the role came with a lot of learning opportunities and challenges for him and his colleagues on the committee. He thanked his outgoing team for being focused and resilient in executing the roles assigned to them. He concluded his remarks by urging the incoming team to always reach out to the outgoing committee for guidance where need arises and also hoped that they can even perform better than their predecessors. 

Senior Manager Procurement Nable Asimwe Byaruhanga in her remarks also thanked the outgoing committee for having executed its roles diligently and called upon the incoming committee to pick up from where their predecessors had stopped. Mrs. Byaruhanga went on to outline the structure, functions and powers of the Contracts committee as clearly stipulated below;

The contracts committee consists of a chairperson, Secretary, and other three members, out of the three members its mandatory that one of them is of a legal background. The members of the entity that cannot be part of the contracts committee include the head of Procurement and Disposal Unit, The Head of Finance and the staff of the department of internal audit.

The key functions of the contracts committee are;

I. To adjudicate the recommendations from the PDU and awards of contracts.

II. Approving evaluation committees.

III. Approving negotiation teams.

IV. Ensuring that before any procurement is approved and it is in accordance with the procurement plan.

V. Approving bidding and contract documents.

VI. Assessing and verifying the public assets identified by the user Department or by the board of survey for disposal.

VII. Causing the assets which have been identified by the board of survey or the user department to be valued in accordance with the regulations made under this act.

VIII. Approval of reserve prices for public assets to be disposed off.

IX. Approval of procurement and disposal procedures.

X. Ensure that best practices in relation to procurement and disposal are strictly adhered to by the Procurement Disposal Entities.

XI. Ensure compliance with the Public Procurement and Disposal Act. 

XII. Liaise directly with the authority on matters within its jurisdiction.  

XIII. The contracts committee is also supposed to make a report in respect of activities that have been highlighted under disposal and submit the reports to the accounting officer for approval. 

The powers of the contracts committee

I. Authorization of the choice of a procurement and disposal procedure.

II. Authorizing solicitation documents before issue.

III. Authorizing technical, financial or combined evaluation reports.

IV. Authorizing contract documentation in line with the authorized evaluation reports.

V. Authorize any amendments to an awarded contract.

VI. Recommend for the delegation of a procurement or disposal function by the accounting officer whenever the necessity arises.

The Parliamentary Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources has commended NWSC for it’s commitment towards provision of clean safe water and sewerage services to the people of Uganda.

The salutations were made by its members during a visit to the newly completed Katosi water Works.

The legislators noted that the project was completed on time and within cost as per financing obligations that Parliament set during the loan approval process in 2011 and 2019 respectively.

“We’re happy to witness value for money upon completion of the Katosi water project. This is a success story and great stride towards the achievement of SDG6 and transformational agenda of Uganda.” Committee chairman Hon. Dr. Emmanuel Otiam Otala said

He further commended the utility for the ongoing innovations i.e the proposed Captive Insurance and Construction companies among others, which he says will not only promote local content,  but also make monetory savings for NWSC.

NWSC Board chairman Eng. Dr. Prof Badru. M. Kiggundu called on the committee to support NWSC address the patent challenge of limited financing which has affected service coverage acceleration to all corners of the country.

Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha the NWSC MD while making a presentation to the committee shared NWSC performance highlights, key strategic interventions undertaken, implementation status of Capital Development Projects, key challenges faced by NWSC,  overview of the corporate plan 2021-2024 and the game changing strategic interventions. 

Using 1990 as the base year Dr. Mugisha reported that NWSC has achieved the following;

•From 5 towns of operation to 258 towns

•Used to serve less than 500,000 people to more than 15million people

•Service coverage was less than 18%. It is now 85%

•Had a network length of 300kms. It now has more than 20,000kms of pipe.

•NWSC had less than 20,000 connections. It now has more than 700,000 connections 

•Revenue was less than 4m$. This has now grown to over 130m$ per annum among others.

The MD of NWSC Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha this morning paid a working visit to the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI).

Buy Uganda, Build Uganda
While on a guided tour of the Model Manufacturing and Machining Centre in Namanve, Dr. Silver said NWSC was interested in in-house and in-country innovation to provide Ugandan engineering solutions for service delivery. He said buy and build Uganda was one of the key undertakings in the NWSC Corporate Strategy 2021-2024.

Dr. Silver said there was need to change the mindset which says everything used in Uganda must be imported from outside the country.

Prototype prepaid meter
During the visit NWSC engineers were able to demonstrate a prototype of a prepaid water meter innovated and designed in-house by NWSC engineers and software developers.

The meter has passed proof of concept and is fit for purpose. What remains is final fine tuning and collaboration and partnership for in-country manufacture and assembly.

Dr. Silver said while prepaid meters will bring convenience to customers who need them and provide ease of revenue collection, the key priority of NWSC remains the provision of water to those who are not yet served. Most of the NWSC resources will go to extending access to water for all.

This afternoon, the Minster of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Hon Matia Kasaija inaugurated the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) 12th Board of Directors.

Hon. Kasaija in his remarks said that the announcement to members of the Fund is in pursuant to Section 3(2) of the NSSF Act.

“I have appointed the NSSF Board of Directors/Trustees for a period of three years.
The appointment took effect on 1st September 2021.
I have also appointed Dr Peter Kimbowa as Board Chairperson.” he shared

Other members include:
1. Richard Byarugaba
2. Patrick Ocailap
3. Aggrey David Kibenge
4. Peninnah Tukamwesiga
5. Sam Lyomoki, Member
6. Bahemuka Julius
7. Lwabayi Mudiba Hassan
8. Fred K. Bamwesigye
9. Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha

According to Hon Kasaija, the job of a member of the NSSF Board is derived from the NSSF Act. It is “to ensure that there is secure, profitable and effective financial management of the Fund for the benefit of the workers in particular and the country at large.”

The National Water and Sewerage Corporation has signed an MoU with the Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB).

Speaking at the signing ceremony, NWSC MD Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha said that the NWSC–UBTEB collaboration is aimed enhancing cooperation in strengthening NWSC staff capacity and competence in selected disciplines and trades.

“The collaboration will exploit the unique expertise and experiences of the two parties in the delivery of capacity building programmes to staff of NWSC.” he said

Dr. Silver added that the partnership is in line with the new NWSC Corporate plan (2021- 2024), objectives.
“Skilling and workforce development is one of our strategic priority areas under our corporate plan in line with NDPIII.
At NWSC, Staff capacity building initiatives are paramout for excellent service delivery.” he shared

Dr. Rose Kaggwa the Director Business and Scientific Services at NWSC said that the MoU will immensely contribute towards implementing the Skilling Uganda Strategy (2012–2022) and TVET Policy (2019) by promoting demand driven competence–based training, relevant for the labor market by the industry and assessment body.” she said

Dr. Kaggwa added that NWSC has training hubs/centres and desires to have these centres recognized as UBTEB
accredited assessment and training centres to ease the process of staff training and assessment
for improved performance.

In line with the Government of Uganda’s drive for industrialisation as a way to grow the economy and create jobs, the President of the Republic of Uganda recently sanctioned the creation of the Nshaara Industrial Park in Lyantonde.

To aid the establishment of the Industrial Park, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) was tasked to ensure the provision of safe and reliable water supply services for the Park and surrounding areas.

Following this directive, NWSC undertook detailed designs and commenced on the procurement of a works Contractor for the Upgrading and Expansion of the Lyantonde Water Supply System.

Project Scope
The Project shall entail construction of a new Intake and new 5,000,000ltrs/day Water Treatment Plant at Lake Kacyera, from where the water shall be pumped to the nearest Reservoir in Nshaara Ranch, for distribution to the Industrial Park and the surrounding Lyantonde Water Supply Area.

Project Objective
The Project is aimed at improving water supply reliability in Lyantonde Town and the surrounding areas, including the newly created Nshaara Industrial Park.

Project Scope
Water Abstraction Intake/Sump at Rukukuru Landing Site Kiruhura, Raw Water Pumping Main and associated pipework fittings and civil works, Water Treatment Works at Rukukuru Landing Site Kiruhura, Treated Water Pumping Main and associated pipework fittings and civil works

Project Cost and Implementation:
The Project shall cost UGX 15.7 Billion, financed from NWSC’s internally generated resources.
The construction works shall commence in September 2021, and last twelve (12) months.

The Contractor is Plumb Base Uganda Ltd in Joint Venture with Anhui Sijian Holding Group Company Ltd, and the works shall be supervised in-house by NWSC staff.