
Press Release: Kenyan arrested on charges of Human Trafficking in Uganda (22.01.2016)


On 19 January 2016, DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, delivered a landmark speech on race and identity in the DA and South Africa.
His whole speech here:
Ladies and gentlemen
Fellow South Africans
Bagaetsho
Dumelang
I stand before you as a child of Soweto, a proudly Black South African, a son of the African soil. I stand proud to live in a country that is no longer the skunk of the world, proud that out of the ashes of Apartheid a new nation could rise. I am a product of the Group Areas Act, the Population Registration Act and the 1913 Land Act. I was born four years after the Soweto Uprising, but the struggle that began at Morris Isaacson High School was my struggle. And the desire to break down the last vestiges of Bantu Education still burns within me. Because I cannot be free while our people are still in chains. We remain bound together by our shared history and common destiny.
I stand before you as an individual, with the right to decide for myself how to think and how to feel. No pencil test can define me. I’m so much more than the colour of my skin, but I will never deny who I am and the forces that shaped me. I will never forget where I come from. Apartheid may be history, but the racism that nurtured and sustained it continues to this day. Racism demeans us. All of us, black and white. It opens the wounds of its victims, and exposes the ignorance of those who perpetrate it. It robs us of the dignity that so many fought for. And racism divides us. Just look at us. At the very moment we need to be standing together, we are being torn apart.
It doesn’t have to be this way. When I look back, I still marvel at what we have achieved together. Some said we had no chance. They said our history was just too unfair, too brutal. They said the scars inflicted by centuries of colonial rule and half a century of Apartheid laws were just too deep. They said forgiveness and reconciliation were impossible. And then along came a leader who taught us that our scars would not be healed by more hatred, but only by love and understanding.
This humble man, incarcerated for 27 years for fighting against racial domination, was the embodiment of forgiveness and reconciliation. He urged us to look beyond our differences and find our common humanity. And so we did. Like in a marriage, we made a commitment to each other. Our antenuptial agreement was the Constitution we signed twenty years ago on the 8th of May 1996. On that day, we vowed to respect each other. We vowed to grow old together. We vowed to stick together, through thick and thin, in sickness and in health.
At first, our relationship flourished. We celebrated each other’s successes as if they were our own. When tragedy struck, we mourned together. But when the honeymoon ended, we found that we hardly knew one other. Now, after two decades, we sometimes struggle to recall what we saw in each other in the first place. Because, two decades into our new democracy, it feels as though we are drifting apart.
Part of the problem is that we – as black South Africans – are still made to feel inferior because of the colour of our skin. And this inferiority complex runs deep. I remember growing up how we used to refer to successful black South Africans as ‘ngamla’ (a white person). And I cannot tell you how many times I am told by black South Africans that I have “done well” because I happen to be married to a white woman. Apartheid was so dehumanising that, too often, even today, white people remain the benchmark that we set ourselves. How can this be?
As black South Africans, we are entitled to ask uncomfortable questions. We are entitled to ask why a black child is 100 times more likely than a white child to grow up in poverty. We are entitled to ask why a white learner is six times more likely to get into university than a black learner. We are entitled to ask why the unemployment level of young black South Africans is well over 60%.
There is a passage in Niq Mhlongo’s novel, After Tears, which captures the hopelessness so many feel. After graduating from university, the protagonist in the story arrives back in the township only to be told by his Uncle’s friend:
“If you’re black and you failed to get rich in the first year of our democracy, when Tata Mandela came to power, you must forget it, my bra. The gravy train has passed you by and, like me, you’ll live in poverty until your beard turns grey. The bridge between the stinking rich and the poor has been demolished. That is the harsh reality of our democracy.”
All South Africans – black and white – must talk about the persistence of racialised inequality twenty years after the end of Apartheid. And, if we believe this government has failed to redress Apartheid’s legacy, we must say that as well.
There can be no conversation more important than this one. It is a conversation we must keep having until the structural inequalities of our society have been flattened. This conversation is interrupted, however, every time a racist incident hits the headlines and explodes onto social media. Suddenly, we are back to square one. The injury of racial inequality is compounded by the insult of racism. It is like pouring salt in a deep wound. No wonder so many people are angry about racism. I am one of them.
So, today, I say: this far and no further. It is time to draw a line in the sand against racism. Now I know that there are many people in South Africa of all races who truly believe in non-racialism. I know that the vast majority of white people don’t think like Penny Sparrow does.
And I know that many, many South Africans are playing their part to redress the legacy of the past. But I also know that, for every racist incident that makes the front pages and trends on Twitter, there are hundreds that don’t. I know that there are people who talk to each other around the braai as if they were still living in the 1970s. And we all know somebody who is fond of starting a sentence with “I’m not a racist, but…”
Because, for every incident of overt racism, there are thousands of instances of casual, everyday racism: Talking down to people, laughing when people pronounce an English word incorrectly, not bothering to acknowledge people, believing somebody’s accent is a sign of their intelligence.
These are all subtle forms of racial superiority, and it is time we all acknowledged how damaging they are. Repeated over time, they erode the goodwill that once existed be-tween us.
It is equally important to acknowledge that racism is not the preserve of any one group. To say that black people are not capable of prejudice is itself a twisted form of racism.
As Advocate Thuli Madonsela reminds us:
“Being a victim of systemic racism and structural racial discrimination does not exempt you from being a racist.”
I could not agree more. We all have the capacity for greatness, and we all have the capacity for prejudice. That is what equality is about.
Fellow South Africans.
I still believe that most people in our country – black and white – feel a deep and abiding sense of shared destiny. More than anything, they want this imperfect union to succeed. And yet we are talking past each other, and we are not listening to each other. When we do listen, it’s like the meaning is lost in translation.It reminds me of the great poem by Roger McGough entitled “You and I”. It goes like this:
I explain quietly. You
hear me shouting. You
try a new tack. I
feel old wounds reopen.
You see both sides. I
see your blinkers. I
am placatory. You
sense a new selfishness.
I am a dove. You
recognize the hawk. You
offer an olive branch. I
feel the thorns.
You bleed. I
see crocodile tears. I
withdraw. You
reel from the impact.
Fellow South Africans, we need to find each other again. We need to recognise what we saw in each other all those years ago. I am not going to stand here and pretend I have all the answers. I don’t think anybody does. What I do know is that any road to reconciliation starts with a conversation. So, over the coming weeks, as Leader of the Official Opposition, I will initiate a series of dialogues on race entitled ‘Stand Up, Speak Out’ involving South Africans from all walks of life. These dialogues will not be dominated by public representatives, nor will they be conduct-ed under a party political banner.
People have had enough of politicians telling them how to think and what to feel. It’s time to let people talk for a change. Having said that, as a political leader, I have specific responsibilities that I will not shy away from. And, as Leader of the Democratic Alliance, I am all too aware of the unique challenges we face as a party. We are trying to do what very few parties have achieved anywhere in the world. We are attempting to bring people together across the colour line on the basis of shared values.
I want to be clear that this does not mean we must ignore race. When I was elected in May last year, I told the delegates at our Federal Congress “if you don’t see that I’m black, then you don’t see me.” Racial injustice is real and we need to redress it. We cannot wish it away by pretending to be colour-blind. I am proud of the fact that the DA is the most diverse political party in South Africa’s history. I am proud that we stand up for the rights of each individual to be what they want to be, regardless of the colour of their skin. But the DA is not perfect. No political party is. And I want to be quite clear about where I stand.
We have a duty, all of us, to act against those who engage in racial discrimination and racial mobilisation. Because there is no place in the DA for people who believe that the colour of their skin renders them superior to others. No DA member must be satisfied until we have fundamentally addressed the structural inequality in our society. We must build a society based on freedom, fairness and opportunity. And no DA member must ever turn a blind eye to racism, no matter how subtle or coded. We need to call people out on their behaviour, even when confronting them makes us feel uncomfortable. We have a duty to stand up and speak out for our values.
Because racists are not welcome in the DA. And if you’re a racist and you are thinking of voting for the DA, please don’t. We are not the party for you. I will not tolerate racism in the party I lead. This is why I will soon be introducing an anti-racism pledge that every new and returning member will be required to sign when they join the party.
It will read like this:
I pledge to uphold the values of the Constitution, to cherish its vision for a united, non-racial, democratic South Africa, and to nourish this vision in my personal conduct.
I acknowledge that Apartheid was an evil system, and recognise that its legacy remains reflected in the unequal structure of South African society today.
I reject discrimination in all its forms, and pledge to help root it out wherever I encounter it in South Africa.
I will not perpetuate racial division, and will never undermine the dignity of my fellow South Africans.
Instead, I will commit myself to working to overcome inequality and achieving shared prosperity.
Members found to be in clear violation of this oath will have their party membership immediately revoked, no questions asked.
Today, I challenge all political parties from all sides of the spectrum to do the same. Let us send out a message that racism has no place in our politics. The DA may be the most diverse party in South Africa, but we are not diverse enough. We must continue to embrace the rich diversity of South Africa – with all its challenges and contradictions. If we do not, we will not be able to have an honest conversation about our divided past, nor will we be in a position to craft our shared future. And so, from today, I will require our structures, at constituency, regional and provincial levels, to set targets for the recruitment and development of candidates for public office. These targets, and the progress made towards achieving them, will be reviewed regularly by the Federal Executive.
My objective is to ensure that, by 2019, our parliamentary and legislature caucuses, and our decision-making structures at all levels, reflect the diversity of our complex society. And we will do it without resorting to dehumanising quotas that reduce human beings to statistics.
Finally, in the coming weeks I will introduce a policy document for adoption at our Federal Council that sets out a vision for a fair South Africa. It will contain a focused plan to overcome the structural inequalities that continue to divide us. At its heart is the recognition that the majority of black South Africans remain locked out of opportunity. The policy identifies the key obstacles to redressing this inequality, including: our unequal education system, skewed patterns of land ownership, uneven access to justice and the concentration of capital in a few hands.
Ultimately, the only way to redress Apartheid’s legacy is to ensure that every child, no matter what their circumstances, has a fair chance to become the best they can be.
This means Black Economic Empowerment that benefits poor black South Africans. It means ensuring that black South Africans benefit from an efficient and sustainable land reform programme. It means a focus on spatial development that undoes the separate and unequal development of Apartheid. It means ensuring that all our children receive an education that prepares them to compete with anyone in the world. And it means building an inclusive and growing economy that creates jobs, so that all may prosper together.
In conclusion, there can be no denying that we stand at a difficult juncture in our history. But I know we can overcome any challenge if we stand together. We have done it before and we shall do it again. I draw inspiration from the first treason trial in 1956. We must never forget that black, Indian, white and coloured South Africans stood trial together that year. They were united around shared values: the ideals of a non-racial South Africa, and the freedom of black people. We must continue this struggle. So let us stand together against racism. Let us acknowledge and confront the harsh material realities that so many black South Africans still face. Let us find each other again. Let us build a nation where we can prosper together. And let us go into the future, as one people, with a shared destiny.
I thank you.
The Uganda Police Force in actions yet again, they can’t help themselves! This here is a clip of how the Police blocked the procession in Kabalagala in Kampala. They are so Partisan-Police that they all could just wear Yellow and be hired to work in the new call-center to the NRM-Party. I am sure not alone feeling that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2f2vo5ypcc
“Rwomushana says police does not have power to censure him. He says he is monitoring the Leopard” (NBS TV Uganda, 2016).

Andrew Mwenda keeps with his flawed logic. Like he has lost the plot and forgotten his traits and his theories of old. But hey, he is hungry and wants to eat. Here is has ploy of arrogance on facebook:
“It is simplistic to argue that Uganda’s problem is Museveni. A better argument is Museveni has failed to solve the problems of Uganda” (…)”Museveni (with Besigye) once told us that getting rid of Obote would be a major step in improving anything. What happened?” (…)”Besigye’s weakness is to personalize Uganda’s problems to Museveni and argue that his removal is all we need. The problems of poverty, weak state, poor Government services and democracy deficit were there before Museveni” (…)“If we fail to diagnose Uganda’s problems, the solutions will always elude us” (Andrew Mwenda, 17.01.2016)
Well, in sum there has gone 29 years of the one-man rule since 1986. There have been many benefactors and Members of Parliament since them, but the main factor in the calculations have been President Museveni. Since he took rule he has marginalized or used tactics to get people loyal to Museveni and not directly to any state institution. Therefore he is a major problem, because if it didn’t really happen, then he didn’t sponsor the benedictional project or program. Museveni could only support a program if he could benefit from it.

That Mwenda has a problem with Besigye is that he is in stark contrast to Museveni. Besigye asks for accountability and transparency something that doesn’t fit the world of development and growth for the editor and creator of the Independent Magazine. Something that is weird considering his past at KFM Radio and trouble for blasting governmental cronyism.
It is true that Museveni isn’t the only problem, but he is the one that creates the problem and feeds the issues, instead of fixing them. He doesn’t mend or complement them. Instead he adds on the weight until he overpowers it; because he has to do what he can rule and control it. Therefore he is the problem, as he is the executive power and the man who has had the majority rule or even rigged himself the majority. So Mwenda must have forgotten that part of the issue, if not he is blind by his own ego.

It is true that all the issues that Mwenda mentioned in the government of Uganda as the bad governance, weak state-institutions and democratic deficit. This was inherited in 1986 from the Obote II and the short-term presidents in between like Yusuf Lule and Tito Okello. So there aren’t all Museveni faults, but he has had the time to fix many of the issues and defects in the governmental structures and democratic facilitation if he really cared about them. It is not like he was sitting for a hot minute and didn’t have the time to fix the corruption of UNRA, NSSF and other state-organizations.
When you see excellent record of higher and higher loan-rate on the government budget for any year, when the value of the currency falls and escalating inflations you can wonder if the government and economical institutions under the regime is for the people or the rich elite who is fed by the government. The Neo-Liberalization of Uganda has lead the government to expand the businesses into every part of society instead of governmental control as the Chicago School of Business wanted in 1970s, with the IMF and World Bank controlled Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) that demolished state-financed agricultural and subsidized industries that was supposed to be controlled by market-powers instead of supported by tax-money to sustain growth and higher employment rate. The result of inflicting this on the Ugandan economy as the NRM-Regime has done with such a passion is that the business that has no cut for the government has been left astray and the ones that is not strong enough has gone bankrupt. Now Uganda has to imports of finished products and stop of productions from industry and factories in former towns like Jinja. Also with the historical institution of the Uganda Development Corporations, who from the 1950s gave growth through state-funds, and not through direct market power!

That must have been forgotten by the Andrew Mwenda, that President Museveni sold everything to foreigners or liberated the economy to point that the URA can’t tax, or control to tax without losing the control over the sold merchandise. That is why Uganda has one of the lowest rates of taxation on products since the URA doesn’t have the manpower or the regulations to without taxes. They can’t keep up with citizens and movement of money, if they had then they might catch up with more of the embezzlement and corrupted agreements between liberated companies or new structures in the market own by the ruling elite. But that is not good is it? Send cases to the DPP and OAG to fix the matters together with Uganda Anti-Corruption Commission which is so meager that they can’t keep the state of affairs and make government institution accountable, something that President Museveni doesn’t really want them to do, unless he want to get rid of somebody who has the dream of succeeding him. Then they will find something on the man or woman show some of the dirty laundry.
You don’t need to be giant man with much knowledge to diagnose some of the issues that the government of Uganda has to tackle, some the state of affairs and some tangible structures that need to be fixed. The government needs taxation with representation, also need to re-focus the money and also be more accountable for their actions. Not have a one-big-man rule as they have had since 1986 that keeps to eating of the plate, instead of serving the people. That is a problem: a problem that knows that he is the problem, if he stills remember what he studied in the end of 1960s and beginning of 1970 at the University of Dar-Es-Salam in Tanzania. President Museveni should know the issues and know how he made them, or prepared them through his loyal cronies. As Andrew Mwenda seems more like one of his mouth-pieces more as the time goes, instead of pseudo-intellectual as he wishes to portray himself.

This is a direct address to the issue, as he can try to clean his slate, but he has lost the plot. The problem and the real man behind it is President Museveni is only leader and nearly the only one who has been there from the get-go and have ruled so long that he know what has been done differently than under his wings. The reign will not be remembered as the ones who follow the dream story of liberation, but also of eating the riches and wealth while forgetting to feed the public, or let the get opportunity to eat and earn a living.

So Mwenda has a flawed view on the matter, that he at the same time says Besigye is wrong. Besigye has also said that the institutions need accountability and transparency which is starch contrast to Museveni. Something that is vital to rebuild them and prove that the government institutions are for the people and not the Executive to eat of. So if that have to change then the public funds and public expenditure together with strengthen them, not in ownership of the executive but by giving the civil servants power to execute the necessary flows of technical assistance or regulations to let the teachers, policemen, judges and bureaucrats to do their initial service to the public; now they are handpicked men to serve the executive. That is problem because the paycheck from the executive is more important than doing their job to the public who need the men to secure their daily life and be there to safely govern the territories of the state.

As we can see Mwenda has judged the matter very easy without thinking it through, if he has then his logic is very flawed as President Museveni is a problem in state clogged with issues and the problems. There isn’t a way solution to it all, how to fix the economy is there many theories, though the stability of the currency and inflation should be the first, also secure low loans-rate so that the growth can be similar to the inflation rate. There is also the level of building trust between government institutions and people as they are supposed to be connected and for each other. Not letting the state and its institutions being on an island, and when they need the public hire a ferry to let the visit. That is not the idea of the state, the state is supposed to be mirrored in the people with transparency and accountability where the public can question the behavior of the rulers, governors and mayors, as they are set to represent the public, not just execute the laws and regulations without mercy, then the government is an totalitarian state, where justice will not prevail unless you are on good term with the head or executive power on the top. That is how the system is now with government of Uganda. We can easily see that he is one of the major factors, why President Museveni is the elephant in the room when you discuss progress and development issues in the country, since he can decide where to go or who to hire to fix it.
That is it. Peace.

The first president after independence from Belgium in Democratic Republic of Congo was assainated on this day in 1961. That is why I have this post on him today as rememberence of him. Because we should not forget his contribution to equality and freedom in DRC. That is why I will add on his last letter written on 4th January 1961 from Thysville prison, the letter was sent to Special Representive A.M. Dayal, here it is:
Mr. Special Representative,
On December 27 last, I had the pleasure of receiving a visit from the Red Cross, which occupied itself with my plight and with the plight of the other parliamentarians imprisoned together with me. I told them of the inhuman conditions we are living in.
Briefly, the situation is as follows. I am here with seven other parliamentarians. In addition there are with us Mr. Okito, President of the Senate, a Senate employee and a driver. Altogether there are ten of us. We have been locked up in damp cells since December 2, 1960 and at no time have we been permitted to leave them. The meals that we are brought twice a day are very bad. For three or four days 1 ate nothing but a banana. I told this to the Red Cross medical officer sent to me. I spoke to him in the presence of a colonel from Thysville. I demanded that fruit be bought on my own money because the food that I am given here is atrocious. Although the medical officer gave his permission, the military authorities guarding me turned down my request, stating that they were following orders from Kasavubu and Colonel Mobutu. The medical officer from Thysville prescribed a short walk every evening so that I could leave my cell for at least a little while. But the colonel and the district commissioner denied me this. The clothes that I wear have not been washed for thirty-five days. I am forbidden to wear shoes.
In a word, the conditions we are living in are absolutely intolerable and run counter to all rules. Moreover, I receive no news of my wife and I do not even know where she is. Normally I should have had regular visits from her as is provided for by the prison regulations in force in the Congo. On the other hand, the prison regulations clearly state that not later than a day after his arrest a prisoner must be brought before the investigator handling his case. Five days after this a prisoner must again be arraigned before a judge, who must decide whether to remand him in custody or not. In any case, a prisoner must have a lawyer.
The criminal code provides that a prisoner is released from prison if five days after he is taken into custody the judge takes no decision on remanding him. The same happens in cases when the first decision (which is taken five days after a person is arrested) is not reaffirmed within fifteen days. Since our arrest on December 1 and to this day we have not been arraigned before a judge or visited by a judge. No arrest warrant has been shown to us. We are kept simply in a military camp and have been here for thirty-four days. We are kept in military detention cells. The criminal code is ignored as are the prison rules. Ours is purely a case of arbitrary imprisonment. I must add that we possess parliamentary immunity.
Such is the situation and I ask you to inform the United Nations Secretary-General of it. I remain calm and hope the United Nations will help us out of this situation. I stand for reconciliation between all the children of this country.
I am writing this letter secretly on bad paper. I have the honour to be, etc.
Patrice LUMUMBA,
Prime Minister
Source: Patrice Lumumba, The Truth about a Monstrous Crime of the Colonialists, Moscow, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1961, pp. 68-69.

Well, the day finally came and the Presidential Candidates of these elections have step-up to the plate and showed their platform while certain journalists would keep them in check.
Even UMEME had to tell the public today:
“#UGDEBATE16. We have standby teams to ensure you enjoy the presidential debate. All teams clothed, cars fueled, and tools in hand to ensure any outage is resolved as quickly as possible”.
Well, the UMEME has been reported that in Fort Portal, Entebbe, Jinja and so many other places the electricity went down so that the citizens couldn’t get the feed and watch the debate, even in parts of Kampala the power went off in Ntinda, Kiwatule, Naalya, Njeera around 21:00PM. This is just a little trait’s of the reported suspicious malfunctions and glitches in the system that let a lot’s off people lose the live feed, because Mzee was busy having his campaign rally in Bushenyi and wouldn’t let the people listen to the rest of the Presidential candidates. He was moving his mouth and brain there while the rest of candidates where explaining their manifestoes and programs in a civilian and peaceful manner to the citizens and the world.
There will be many set of commentaries on this, I am sure mine will be biased as, well as it should be, because this will be that. First my favorite quotes, then what I think about their performance. Seems fair right?

One memorable quote from each candidate:
Joseph Mabirizi said: “I am the only candidate who has Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. I won’t allow vote rigging so please vote me in”.
Amama Mbabazi said: “My clear answer is that I am not aware of election rigging. I have heard some stories, but I have no personal knowledge”.
Professor Baryamureeba said: “oil companies must publish what they pay to Gov’t and Gov’t should publish what it earns from oil so far”.
Maureen Faith Kyala said: “There is more tear gas at every police post as compared to medicine in the hospitals”.
Abed Bwanika said: “I have never mentioned that Baganda should support me, I asked for support from the people in Buganda”.
Gen. Biraaro said: “The only soldier who has been in power lives in state house, this regime has not served me well, that’s why I am here”.
Dr. Kizza Besigye said: “The real change is that power moves from those with guns to the citizens that is the project I am working on. The urgent change that our country needs is empowerment of our citizens. I have promised that in every Ugandan will walk with swagger”.

The moderators that the organizers put in place we’re BBC’s Newsday programme presenter, Allan Kasujja and KTN’s Nancy Kacungira. The one who was persistent with the candidates was really Kasujja, but it seemed that he was not a fan of Besigye, since he always cut him of in the middle of reasoning and addressing a question he had.
Kacungira was more the soft spoken mediator who levelled the hardheaded Kasujja, at one point I was waiting to see the red-eye-machine in light from wall to turn into the shades of mediator; so he would look a macho terminator. But that was just me.

Professor Bayra got the questions first, but didn’t earn that well, his quotes got easily forgotten and his stamina during the debate died down. I am sure in writing as professor he could have argued with strength, but he proved more to mayoral of a town in the eastern town in Tororo district then being a president. He has the words and etiquette of leadership, but doesn’t have the program or manifesto to really seem deemed for a lower-level position, as he has already been in-charge of the university of Makerere.

Maureen Faith Kayala seemed more focused on her gender as the questions tended to become focused on that. She was also on her own will more directly telling the issues of Busoga instead of the national issues, seems like she should become an MP for the district or a sub-county fitted for her in the area, since it’s also where she has moved the most and campaigned. When she hasn’t been lost in London; she could be more interesting with time and like wine become better in her game, but right now she is unfinished and seems to scattered to focus national.

Joseph Mabirizi must have had bad advice or lost his tongue at some point. Seem like he was stressed by the cameras and public watching his every move. He was walking through the wilderness stuttering and thinking… pounding the matters into the first thing that pop-up into his mind and wasn’t really address the question properly while saying it in such a fashion he was cracking Ugandans up, instead of making sense of the political issues. If he will gain crowds in the same stage as Professor Joel, no wait, Professor Joel should have come in President Museveni place, well, we come to the shadow of Bushenyi later!

Gen. Benon Biraaro the NRA historical who stood firm and was very apologetic in his tone. Much more than I expected he seemed clearer than and not as aggressive as the reports from the campaign trail. This man made more sense and was intelligent. Something I was not expected to say. But if this will make a giant difference in his whole campaign, I doubt it. The thing is that he will be more respected for his attitude and progression then some of his peers by the mere fact on how he precieve the matters.

Abed Bwanika was a gentle surprise and show lots of character at the debate. He had a much bigger presence then I expected, he ate of the hands and was shining actually. This was unexpected since he seems very uninteresting while following the campaign trail. The candidate showed that he had class and also thought through manifesto and plans for development.

Now I will take the two big-men who was at the shin-ding and debate the two of the three since the ghost of the event where in districts campaigning thinking that UMEME let the public miss the debate as they was ordered too. Who is the fool now? If his men will tell him something is that the Twitter #UgandaDecides and #UgandaDebate16 was going hectic in the hours. Before the start even discussion and had the spotlight of CNN telling about the historic event happening in the country that Mzee had to miss, because Ofwono Opondo and Mike Mukula said it was waste of time, seems like Bushenyi was really wasting time. For the NRM-members this must have been time is a wasting!

Let me continue on the two last candidates while done with Mzee and NRM for the moment, just have to throw a snag at them. They deserve them. Well, Hon. Amama Mbabazi, Mr. 30 years under the NRM and parts of the NRA. He was very defensive. Extremely defensive except for the matters of the detaining and Christopher Aine; also cleaning his hands on the land deal with NSSF which have followed him and still be a torn in his flesh. It did seem like he never was ready for the debate or that all the questions from the other candidates. It was like hot-water into a glass and not a cup that he wasn’t ready to hold it while drinking it. He addressed things more as an former NRM Prime Minister than actually address the Go-Forward manifesto or wishes. The most extreme was that he hadn’t heard or could talk well about the borrowing money that the government has done; and that it was a good thing! That bugs me and shows that he was just washing his hands instead of taking leadership, showing character like Gen. Biraaro og Besigye. So as knowing he was a lawyer before becoming a politician in the NRM, he has lost touch with good arguments that Bwanika and Biraao had compared to him. And they do not have the new machine for elections that Mbabazi has!

The last candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye he had for me a slow start it was a bit out of character for a man who has a gift for speeches and give’s the people show for the money; while at the same time address the matter at hand. This took time to get there and to show his plans to the public about the manifesto of the FDC. Besigye was slow, but had lots of energy when it came after the first commercial break. There where points where there was heavy with questions to him, like the other candidates singled him out, it often came to him or Mbabazi, not like Professor Bayra would ask Mabirizi some governance questions that would just be out of touch with formula of the debate. Besigye came after the accusations of the closeness to the first-family because of his wife, and his answer was clear that they we’re far away anything near them. Also with the answers on economic policies and how it was structured into the agricultural sector, we’re inspiring though sounding alike to Biraaro and Bwanika, though they had the luxury of always to answer before him. So Besigye ideas seemed less enthusiastic since there were modifications compared to them considered to them. I wished for my part that he we’re more on point in the beginning. I am a supporter of Besigye and his cause. Seemed like also one of the moderators tried to stop Besigye from finishing his arguments and answers, more than the other candidates, also cut him generally shorter than for instance Maureen or even Joseph they we’re not stopped in the same way, only Maureen jumped once into the whole madness when it was not her turn; Besigye proved leadership and calmness while growing into the debate and taking more and more space. I got more and more enthusiastic on his part, while feeling sorrow over the ways the Mbabazi was portraying himself like a sorry victim instead of being one of the big-men in the race for presidency.

Now that I have gone through the thing, let’s have one thing clear there was like a way of letting Besigye be last or late like every time while the other candidates got early shots, and also being more direct visible. I don’t know if that was fixed before Mzee we’re part of the event, since the empty seat would have eaten the issues and would have made the debate differently, though he would not have stopped talking while the mediator asked kindly to succeed spotlight to the next candidate. The ghost was there the whole evening since they we’re discussing governance, systematic failure and government inconsistency in general. The men who shined was not one or both presidential candidates who is in the top three. Bwanika and Biraaro had the smart ways of portraying and answering. All the NRA/NRM historical persons answered well, especially Besigye, but this was after his mojo was on fire. He ended the evening on the spark, the other last remarks was more humble and obliged then trying to convince them of voting on them.
What saddens me was the way Kasujja kept his composer and acted kind of differently between the candidates, he acted humble and nice against those who shined in the debate, while Amama Mbabazi and Dr. Kizza Besigye was either asked long-long questions or stopped in the middle of their arguments trying to answer the matter. The other mediator asked shorter and easier question, there wasn’t much fuzz about her and was more trying to keep cool while Mabarizi was answering questions. Mabarizi was like Professor Joel and a funny-character instead of acting as presidential candidate, he didn’t make the funniest face that was Mbabazi who looked lost at one point… The picture from that moment tells more than his answers in the debate, though the debate was not a good luck for Amama Mbabazi. That is clear, I myself have many unanswered questions about his past and what he really wants to achieve in the future.

The biggest and strangest about this is that the incumbent President Museveni, the almighty Mzee, the executive ruler and the one who reign in the land. Mzee have had the first chance to show together with other candidates his true self, instead he loved himself up-country where the people would listen to his voice without being asked any critical questions. If he had been in the studio he would have been shut-down while talking to long and had to answer the questions in a manner he is not used to. Mzee would be out of character and without his spin-doctors to make his message soft and beautiful. They could have prepared him, but he would have entered into the only mode he knows, his voice and his achievements, without seeing the issues that are there. Then he would go defensive like Amama Mbabazi and blame somebody else, since the executive wouldn’t order everything and opposition MPs has issues. Mzee would not be able to address the matter in humble way. But humility and humbleness is not in his ways as we all know. Therefore the empty chair show more his blissful arrogance then the attitude towards the debate. The brief and shallow seat where the camera sometimes went to; especially when the questions on the NRM-Regime were heavy! The NRM was not present or had their presidential candidate at the debate. So there was a lose end, and the losing end was not the other candidates, they had an ability show accountability and transparency towards the public. Something that is unusual and not the norm! The NRM can’t be looking weak and Mzee can’t handle not being seen as the almighty his Excellency instead of being just one of the candidates for the elections. He rather blast them in all of his papers and radios until the 18th February then being a man who could move his mouth and brain in the TV-studio, but being critical of him is a sin, therefore opposition mobilizers and members get jailed, while NRM members who insist on violence get’s supported either by the police force or by NRM organizers, then the police and electoral commission wonders why the FDC candidate have the campaign of defiance, since they taste the endless violence from the NRM-Regime. It would be an interesting event to see if Mzee could have given a proper answer on the matter.
Mediator: “What are your take on the recent election violence and campaign harassment of opposition parties?”
Wonder if Mzee would have had it in him to answer that or if he had gone the IGP Kale Kayihura road, and said it is the laws and people have to follow the rules, secondly there is also bad police and violent opposition so there can’t all be wrong in the NRM or the Police. Well, we didn’t get that kind of fashion because Mzee doesn’t have it in him to be together with the candidates unless he is in the spotlight like when the Papal visit we’re in November 2015. This here was a small-time event for him and Bushenyi was more important.
The other candidates were graceful and tactful, even when asked very critical questions. Hope the next time there will be a mediator who doesn’t act like Kasujja and stop Mbabazi and Besigye constantly while giving space to the other ones. There were some unjustified actions from his part, instead of being a peace maker and making the transition between the candidates going smooth. For me he was the Terminator with those shades and light. But that is just me. Hope this was enough of one evenings debate, and I sure there been pointed out at many venues and media-houses, but this here is how I saw it.
Look forward to the second Live TV Debate in the history of Uganda at the 10th Feburary 2016. When the second live presidential TV debate will be hold, and what a grand event that will be and in the closing stages of the campaign trail. Just a week before the polls and actual voting! Peace.

It’s hard for me to write this in all seriousness. Since I writing about an African President whom himself said this in 1986: “The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power” (Ross, 2011). The President in particular is His Exellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the President of Uganda for 29 years and counting!
Mzee said this in 1980 while running as a presidential candidate:
“Using a government position to a mass wealth is high treason. If the UPM is not going to be supported because it denounces such methods of getting rich, let it be”.
This he said while campaigning in Bushenyi and Mbarara districts(Weekly Topic, August 27. 1980).
So Mzee have had a few points back in the day and knew this was an issues. Now he deflects them to the extreme, to a point where it nearly get’s boring. Still here is his recents comments on the matter of riches and staying in power.
This was what Mzee said in November 2015:
““I have my own job at home of keeping cattle. Why would I stay when I have been defeated in the elections? I am not power hungry but I have missions to accomplish. I can’t leave without finishing with them” (Kazibwe, 2015).
Well, he has promised to step-down before, doubt he means this for long or even if this utter words was sincere other than for a show. This was for show from Mzee because of the coming Papal visit in Uganda (all seriousness the visit happen around 2 weeks after this interview). Well, let me continue on what he has said over the new-years and his ordinary modus operandi. When the pope has left the country and he could do what he normally do!

Mzee saisd this on 5th January 2016:
“I have been hearing people accusing me of sticking around; that I don’t want to leave government. Why would I want to stay in government?” (…)”First of all I am a very rich man. I have a lot of wealth and therefore it cannot be riches that I am seeking in government” (Waswa, 2016).
Well, you have in been in power since 1986. That is sticking around for a while in government and as executive power for nearly three decades. We know you are rich you have a giant farm in Ankole, you and your families own a dozen businesses, some hotels and even some transport businesses as well. You started earning big bucks on transport under the DRC war in the 90s, but that is a nearly forgotten chapter for you and your brother Salim Selah, right? Still you’re in government because you fear what will happen if you leave it. Especially when there is oil-money soon coming into the accounts of Uganda and you want that slice to. The minerals and wood from Kisangani will be small-fry a bogoya. Well, we know about that and as your businesses and family businesses can be lost if you leave government. Therefore you want to secure those, it is a valid argument to stick around in government for wealth as man men make their wealth that way, one of the reason why you went to the bush to eradicate corruption and embezzlement. Well, that chapter is also forgotten and loyal cronies is more and more important therefore we have NRM-Independent and NRM Flag-Bearers in the coming elections, this is new and the NRM-Independents are breach of inner-party law. We know it is okay as long as Mzee,says it’s okay; he even pays the fees for the NRM-Independents to the Electoral Commission. This is to gain their loyalty as well as the ones the members picked in the district and sub-county. That is beautiful right? So, that is the reason why people wonder why you stick around and what can you do now that you haven’t already done? Still, let’s continue to the 10th January 2016.

Mzee said this on 10th January 2016:
“cannot leave power now because all he planted has started bearing fruits” (…)”Those who say, let him go, let him go, they need to know that this is not the right time. This old man who has saved the country, how do you want him to go? How can I go out of a banana plantation I have planted that has started bearing fruits?” (…)”We can’t be in the middle of a forest and want the old man to go. This is not right. We must concentrate on development, my time will come and I will go. I don’t fear going because I have where to go, but we must first see where we go” (…)”We can’t be in the middle of a forest and want the old man to go. This is not right. We must concentrate on development, my time will come and I will go. I don’t fear going because I have where to go, but we must first see where we go” (Rumanzi, 2016).
Now he is proclaiming that he has made a country into a banana-plantation, where it is finally bearing fruits. That means sweat bananas with good yields. That must be from the mustards seed he planted in 1986. Wait, this isn’t a mustard farm, but still the metaphor can be extended to the Banana farm. Yes, he has made the country into a Banana farm or should I say a banana republic. Now that all of that was daft, but the point is clear.
The economic state is getting dire in Uganda, the loans rate on the government budget is going up while the aid and donor funds goes down. While the oil-price lowers before the oil-monies are getting in. The sale of coffee is growing but it has not the yielded price on it neither is the sale of the tea. Like they are not producing enough sugar for consumption and have to import from Kenya.

IMF in July 2015 wrote in their report this: “Short-term benefits of the oil price decline have been less pronounced in Uganda than in other countries in the region. In the past nine months, petrol average pump prices have declined by 10 percent in domestic currency”.
He surely isn’t done by seeing all the campaign teams struggling with the villages roads his been building since 1986. Since FDC Campaign Convoy have been stuck in Rwenzori and in certain northern districts, while Mzee himself needed a military vehicle to be able to get to campaign rallies in Abletong. Well, the Banana-plantations don’t need a good road as long as the banana gets to market?

Or is it the growing amounts of districts, sub-counties and municipalities? Is that your proud work to make sure that that every corner of the country have a local council to control 1000 people and have loyal payment from you? That seems like the final goal while going through your banana-plantation. In 1967 there was only 18 districts, by 1989 where already 34 districts and 150 counties. By my reckoning in late 2015 there are 111 districts and 167 counties. So the numbers has grown staggering amount of districts and steady rise of counties. Was this the big plan in 1986 make sure that there 3 times over district then when you came to power?
You might feel that you’re in the forest and not really in the mellow place of the banana-plantation since the situation economically, infrastructure, youth-employment, industrial-development, police-violence and so on. There are much darkness in the forest and not any sweat yields of the banana-plantation. The development that you have left is surely questionable; secondly the legacy you’re leaving behind is not the ones you wish you had. You could have been a man who led to real progress and stand for something new. Instead you’re the same old tribe of African leaders who overstays in power and does let other people rule.
The economic state, together with the lower prices on coffee and oil should be worrying. Together with edged prices on imports as Uganda imports are higher than their exports. The weaker currency and higher inflation makes the trading barrier even higher. There are so many signs that the general election together with the laws that parliament passes gives more and more power to the Executive and his regime. Ever since Public Order Management Act there been more and more laws who gives the government more stronghold over the public instead of giving them freedoms and opportunity to evolve and think on their own. The laws that gives the government carte blanche to borrow money through the new Public Finance Management Act; one section of this law says this: “Amendment of Section 36: (5a) In addition to subsection (5), a loan raised by the Government as a temporary advance by the Bank of Uganda, which does not extend beyond a financial year shall not require to be approved by the Parliament” (P5, 2015, PFMA). That says how the government can initially use the Bank of Uganda as an ATM, was that the problem you had in the forest or the fruits your having yield on the banana-plantation?

I know that you have no plan of stopping being in power, I am just wondering when you actual thought of leaving since you have been there as long as have lived. Something not many Presidents have done except your friend in Zimbabwe, and maybe aquatints like Paul Biya in Cameroon, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatoral Guinea. But hey, they are from francafrique countries so I only expect you smile at them when you arrive at African Union meetings in Addis Ababa. Since they know and you know that all the fellows who meet with decades ago are no longer there.
We know that what you said before new years are utter rubbish since you have promised before to step down and haven’t. That has happened before 2001 and before 2006. Even before you got the multi-party system back into place; Gen. Benon Biraaro said this early part of his campaign in 2015: “When we captured power in 1986, Mr Museveni promised to rule for only five years and after he will go and look after his cows, I never knew his cows would be Ugandans”.

Surely, if his still is in the forest or in the banana-plantation or even with his cows in Ankole, it is for certain he is still the executive power and will do what he can to keep that in 18th February 2016 or make sure the counting is fixed to measure the right way. Mzee will make sure that the counting of the ballots from the Electoral Commission declares him the President, AGAIN! If not he has prepared the police with a bucket full billions of shillings for post-election violence. So he must have looked in the darkness of the forest and worried for the outcome. In the sense that he smells the people are not his anymore. They do not follow him blindly and let him guide them freely. The banana-plantation is not as peaceful as it once was; This means that Mzee is not directly entitled anymore, to get the fruits of the plantation without any questions, from the people who are working on it. Peace.
Reference:
Kazibwe – ‘Museveni: I am Ready to Hand Over Power If Defeated’ (19.11.2015) link: http://www.chimpreports.com/museveni-i-am-ready-to-hand-over-power-if-defeated/
Ross, Will – ‘Would Uganda’s Museveni recognise his former self?’ (07.05.2011) link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9477930.stm
Rumanzi, Perez – ‘I can’t leave power now – Museveni’ (10.01.2016) link: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/I-can-t-leave-power-now—Museveni/-/688334/3027090/-/ldhhetz/-/index.html
Waswa, Sam – ‘It Is Never My Intention to Stick To Power – Museveni’ (05.01.2016) link: http://www.chimpreports.com/it-is-never-my-intention-to-stick-to-power-museveni/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8XxGNRc0ew
“Following a press conference that was slated for today, Aine’s brother who was going to the venue was whisked away. Kayihura has come out to dismiss the allegations that the police is behind this” (NBS TV Uganda, 2016).