Leadership is not about occupying an office. It is about the stability you bring to that office. In public administration, there is a saying: “Institutions are built by men and women who stay long enough to understand them, and serve long enough to transform them.”
That is the story of Hajji Yunus Kakande.
Yesterday, as H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni reshuffled Permanent Secretaries across Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies – retiring 11, bringing in 13 new faces, and retaining a trusted few – one name stood out for those of us who work in and around the Presidency: Hajji Yunus Kakande, Secretary, Office of the President, was retained.
His retention was not an accident. It was a testament. A testament to commitment, to loyalty, to discipline, and to strategic management.
1. A Public Administrator By Training, A Leader By Character
Hajji Kakande is not a politician who found himself in administration. He is a public administrator by training.
He has risen through all the ranks of the public service – from Assistant Secretary, Senior Assistant Secretary and Principal Assistant Secretary , step by step, file by file, until he became the longest-serving Under Secretary in the Office of the President.
In 2018, following the death of his immediate boss, the late Mama Tecla Kinalwa, he was elevated to Permanent Secretary / Secretary, Office of the President. For eight years now, he has held that docket with distinction.
Eight years in one of the most sensitive offices in the Republic is no small feat. The Office of the President is the nerve centre of government. It coordinates the Underscretaries, Administrators, Presidential Advisors, the RDCs , , and the entire political-administrative machinery of the country. To manage it requires not just knowledge, but wisdom, patience, and emotional intelligence.
Hajji Kakande has all three.
2. A Mentor To A Generation
Those of us who have worked under him can testify: Hajji Kakande is a mentor.
He listens. He guides. He mentors.
He has mentored many of us, including myself, and he has always given us the same counsel: _Work hard. Be creative. Be innovative. Be disciplined. Follow the Public Service Standing Orders if you want to become a good administrator.
He does not shout. He does not intimidate. He sits you down, he opens the Standing Orders, he explains the procedure, and he tells you: “My son, this is how government works. If you follow the law, the law will protect you.”
In an era where many bosses use fear, Hajji uses mentorship. In an era where many leaders hoard knowledge, Hajji shares it. That is why many RDCs, Deputy RDCs, Assistant RDCs and staff in the Office of the President today call him Hajji/ Mwalimu
3. Why Retention Matters: What Management Scholars Say
President Museveni’s decision to retain Hajji Kakande is in total alignment with modern management science.
The great management scholar, Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, taught that: _”The best way to predict the future is to create it, and you cannot create it if you keep changing the creators.”_ Continuity creates institutional memory.
Frederick Herzberg, in his Two-Factor Theory of Motivation, argued that employees are retained not just by salary, but by recognition, responsibility, and achievement. When a President retains a Permanent Secretary for 8 years, he is sending a message to the entire public service: If you perform, you will be recognised. If you deliver, you will be retained.
Similarly, Jim Collins in his bestselling book _Good to Great_ wrote: _”First get the right people on the bus, then get them in the right seats.”_ President Museveni has kept the right man in the right seat. Hajji Kakande is the right man for the Office of the President.
Retention of the best is not favouritism. It is strategic management. It saves government the cost of re-training, it preserves institutional memory, and it ensures that reforms started are not abandoned midway.
4. The Dynamic Duo: Kakande and Hon. Babalanda
The retention of Hajji Kakande is also good news because of the synergy he has with the political head of the Ministry – Hon. Milly Babirye Babalanda, Minister for the Presidency.
Together, this duo – the seasoned technocrat and the visionary politician – will propel the Ministry to greater heights.
Hon. Babalanda brings political will, mobilization, and the President’s vision. Hajji Kakande brings administrative discipline, technical depth, and institutional stability. When politics and technocracy work in harmony, service delivery flourishes.
We have already seen the fruits of this partnership.
5. The April Milestone: The Clients Charter
In April this year, the duo led the technocrats and the political leadership to launch the prestigious Office of the President Clients Charter, Service Delivery Standards and Customer-Centric Approach.
This was a historic moment. For the first time, the Office of the President told Ugandans: _This is what we promise you. This is how long your file will take. This is how we will treat you when you come to us. You are not a bother; you are our client._
That Charter was not just a document. It was a revolution in mindset – from bureaucracy to service, from delay to delivery, from arrogance to humility. And it was championed by Hajji Kakande and Hon. Babalanda.
That is what seasoned administration looks like.
Congratulations, Hajji
On behalf of all the young administrators you have mentored, on behalf of the RDC fraternity, and on behalf of all Ugandans who believe in a professional public service, I say:
Congratulations, Hajji Yunus Kakande, upon your retention as Secretary, Office of the President.
Your retention is well-deserved. Your service is a lesson to us all that hard work, discipline, humility and loyalty are still rewarded in this country.
May Allah continue to give you wisdom, strength and good health as you continue to serve H.E. the President and the people of Uganda, together with Hon. Babalanda.
The Office of the President is in safe hands.
For God and My Country.
Kagenyi Lukka is Deputy RCC Kampala – Kawempe Division
The post KAGENYI LUKKA: Hajji Yunus Kakande, The Seasoned Administrator At The Helm Of The Office Of The President appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.