By Spy Uganda
Dr.Pius Bigirimana who is the judiciary parmanent secretary has been elected Vice President of the Uganda Association of Public Administration Management (UAPAM) which gives him full authority to deputize the Head of Public Service, Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye.
Infact, Nakyobe has been the UAPAM president since 2020.
She replaced the former head Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet, Dr John Mitala, whose three-year term expired.
UAPAM is an affiliate of African Association of Public Administration and Management. This is a premier international professional organization that promotes best practices and excellence in public administration and management in Africa.
About BigirimanaÂ
He was born in Kisoro District on March 22, 1958. Pius Bigirimana is a senior civil servant in the Government of Uganda. He, presently, is the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Judiciary of Uganda, one of the three Constitutionally-mandated arms of Government besides the Executive and Legislature. His employment in Uganda’s Civil Service has spanned 30 years, to date. He has risen from the junior ranks to his current role as a Permanent Secretary (the highest non-political position of Uganda’s Civil Service) which he has held since 1984.
Over the years, Bigirimana has built a solid reputation as a transformative thinker and leader who is performance oriented with unique perspectives on assessing not only the outputs but also the outcomes and impact. He believes that Government interventions to solve challenges encountered by the citizenry are not an end in themselves. The outcomes (evidenced by higher productivity and improved livelihood) as well as impact (evidenced by contribution to national development) must be synergized in a 360-degree loop back system. Such a system ensures value-for-money and visible/demonstrable change in the quality of life of the populace underscored by their active contribution to national development.
Bigirimana has been a key player in the conceptualization, innovation, implementation and evaluation of a number of Government of Uganda initiatives prominent among them include but not limited to the following:
2005-2006
Spearheaded the Development of a Memorandum of Understanding between Government of Uganda and Development Partners to support the Public Service Reform Programme. He was pivotal in the high Level Stakeholder engagement that attracted funding for the construction of National Archives Centre and Civil Service College, Jinja.
2006-2007
Spearheaded the revival and developed a long term Institutional arrangements for Global Fund and GAVI, An institutional mechanisms developed which assured Global Fund smooth flow, utilization and accountability of Global funds. This followed previous mismanagement of the funds at the Ministry of Health which had led to the suspension of the fund.
2008-2013
He was a key player in the development and implementation of Peace Recovery and Development Programme (PRDP) Post War Economic Recovery and Resettlement Plan with Infrastructure Development. This was implemented alongside Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) which was one of the best performing project in the country with over 98% performance rate in terms of absorption and accountability.
Development of Government Assessment Tool referred to as the Uganda Annual Government Performance Review Mechanism Commonly referred to as the Traffic Light System that facilitates evaluation of the performance of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, semiannually and annually against set targets.
2013-2018
Conceptualized the Youth Livelihood Programme; A five year Programme that saw the empowerment of up to 250,000 individual Youth in various Enterprises some of which were in value addition. This reduced unemployment ratio, stimulated local creativity and enriched vocational skills.
Spearheaded the development of Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme; A Revolving Women Entrepreneurship Programme Fund that reached close to 180,000 individual women in five years. It economically empowered women through self-reliant enterprises.
2017-2019
Guided the development of Green Jobs Programme which leads to the establishment of Songhai Model Organic Production System that is Integrated Nature from Primary production to Secondary and Tertiary
2019-2023
Spearheaded the Construction of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal Buildings Turnkey Buildings to save Government rent of about Shs.6bn annually.
2019-2024
Supported the procurement of Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS) This is a system meant to automate the Case Management process in the Courts from e-filing to archival including online services to citizens. Focus is on expedited delivery of Justice and minimizing of corruption.
Supported the roll out of Video Conferencing in seven High Courts and Prisons Video Conferencing facilities introduced in Buganda Road Court linked to Luzira. Introduced other similar facilities to Arua High Court, Masindi High Court; Mbarara High Court, Jinja High Court and Masaka High Court.
Education
Pius holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences from Makerere University – 1984, a Master of Arts degree from University of Manchester – 1991 and a Master of Business Administration degree in Development, Administration and Management from East and Southern African Management Institute – 2010. Pius was also recently (2021) awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Leadership and Management by the Geofidel Institute of Leadership and Management (UK) in collaboration with Stratford University (USA).
He has also attended a number of post-graduate Leadership and Management courses twice at Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government – USA, and other specialized higher Institutions of learning like the University of Manchester in the UK. He is a sought-after speaker both in and outside of Uganda. He has spoken at the United Nations Evaluation Symposium in New York and a number of International conferences including the High Level London Symposium Panel on Ending World Poverty – 2010.
Authorship
He is also the author of six books; (i) Abundance Mentality, (ii) From Tears to Cheers, (iii) Corruption: A Tale of Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing and (iv) Youth Livelihood Programme for the Developing World (v) Corona Lockdown Chronicles (vi) Unchained: A public servant with private sector mindset.
Pius is married to Elizabeth Bigirimana with whom they live in Kampala, Uganda. They have children and grandchildren.
