Today we have launched the FDC leadership academy and flagged off the trainers of trainers.
This leadership academy has come at a time when there is leadership deficit in the country. The quality of our leaders is wanting due to lack of such elaborate processes and mechanisms to help them grow politically. The lack of mentorship, couching and inspiration is accountable for the poor leadership that we are grappling with at local government, Parliament, party structure level and at national level.
We have made wide research about this leadership academy looking at the organization, the concept and its sustainability. We have benchmarked this from reputable leadership academies both local and international so as to get this hybrid product of the academy which suits the needs of the FDC and the country.
We have looked at the set up of Uganda Youth Network (UYONET), Pogram for Young Politicians in Africa (PYPA), Friedrick Ebert Stiftung, Senator McCain fellowship, Musalia Mudavadi leadership Centre , African National Congress (ANC) leadership school among others.
This has shaped the establishment of the FDC Leadership Academy and we are proud to announce that FDC is the first 1st Leadership Academy by an Opposition Political Party in the whole of Africa
The academy is here to train leaders, harness them, and uplift their ambitions and intentions strategically step by step. The academy will also act as a tool of mobilization. The Party is in final stages of undertaking targeted recruitment of members, among whom the Party will undertake leadership identification, and then the identified leaders will be trained under the leadership academy and there after the trained leaders will be deployed to offer leadership at various stages.
The Forum for Democratic Change largely enjoys relative support of the young People who are the back bone of the Party as demonstrated in the previous elections and several Party activities.
The FDC Leadership Academy provides an avenue for answering this leadership gaps and challenges so as to increase Youth, women, PWDS participation in leadership and governance.
The Leadership academy is anchored in the recently launched FDC 5 years strategic plan under strategic objective 4 which moots to “Build a robust electoral infrastructure to compete, win and defend victories.” It’s upon that background that the Party National leadership decided to actualize and implement this strategic directive.
The Party Leadership decided that this academy be established henceforth with the training of the trainers where 60 participants (3) people representing each sub region are gathered today here at the Party Headquarters for the pass out and witness the launch of the academy after inaugural training of the two days intense training.
We intend to conduct a pilot study in the four sub regions within the four regions where we shall assess its viability which will inform the training at the remaining sub regions where the epicenter of training is expected to be constructed.
We have developed 10 training modules which will be used to train other leaders. Our expectation is to train over 1000 leaders after the one year of the Leadership academy.
This leadership academy concept isn’t cast in stone, it will be evaluated from time to time according to the needs of the time and the situation this will help in improving and perfecting it. Already we have received feedbacks from the participants through the evaluation questionnaire which was circulated to all the participants. We shall be able to review them and act accordingly. We shall always conduct dry runs and retool the Trainers of trainers from time to time.
It will go into the annals of history that these inaugural training sessions of the academy set in motion this wonderful idea and laid a foundation for the future of the leadership academy. We must look at the sustainability of this programme if we want the Party to grow.
We shall continue to unlearn, and relearn, as we grow the party to build a better Uganda.