NTU holds various workshops in EU-funded TA to the Railway Transport Sector in Uganda and makes site visit to Gulu Logistics Hub construction site

The EU-funded project of “Technical Assistance for Capacity Building to Uganda Railways Corporation” being implemented by the NTU International A/S consortium held recently a number of workshops, which covered critical capacity gaps identified by the NTU TA team such as effective communications, human resource management and railway accident handling.

• Accident Investigation and Reporting Workshop: This workshop introduced and disseminated the procedures of railway accident investigation while clearly explaining the step to step action plan to follow in case of an accident. The workshop was practical, and participants were divided into groups to solve different practical incidents.
• Human Resource Management Workshop: This workshop was delivered through multiple sessions, with one session being tailored for only the HR department and other sessions for the Senior Management. The findings of the Human Resource assessment carried out were presented to the stakeholders and best practices for transformation of the Human Resource department and functions within the corporation and attainment of the desired situation in the Human Resource department were presented and discussed.
• Corporate communications and Marketing Workshop: Stakeholders who attended this workshop were exposed to the fundamental principles required in constructing a communication strategy and building a marketing plan. The participating stakeholders worked in small groups to develop Goals for URC, did a SWOT and a Short-Term Action Plan. The training notes were shared with management for their review and consideration.

The workshops were all designed to be engaging and participatory for the benefit of the participants. There has been positive feedback  with regards to the workshops held and the participating stakeholders found them to be very productive. As a result, NTU team is planning other trainings/workshops in the upcoming weeks, meant to build the capacity of URC.

In addition, NTU team held an inspection of the construction site of the Gulu Logistics Hub in Northern Uganda in order assess the progress made so far in development of the Hub and gain a better understanding of the geographical and economic situation in the region. The purpose of the inspection mission to enable the process of developing a sound operating plan for the Tororo-Gulu railway line (pertinent to the operations of the Logistics Hub) which is under renovation through counterpart funding from an EU grant and the Government of Uganda. The URC Technical Board Committee and staff from senior management were also present during the inspection exercise.

The rehabilitation of the Tororo-Gulu railway line is linked with the Gulu Logistics Hub as part of rail freight logistics chain and NTU is currently formulating the operating plan for the line. The Gulu Logistics Hub will have among others: Container Freight Station, Vehicle-holding area and traffic flows, Administration building and a Perimeter wall.