Bubba Sparxxx – Country Folks, hans nye singel.

Bubba Sparxxx er tilbake. Dette er den andre store singelen etter han kom ut med Splinter, hvor han viste sitt gamle jeg. Ikke minst også at han har hatt tidligere suksseser og nedturer. Både med ‘Dark Days, Bright Nights’ i 2001 som kom ut på Beat Club som var da Timbalands plateselskap på Universial. Med singler som ‘Ugly’ og ‘Lovely’. Deretter ett annet album som ikke tok av, selv om det er blitt ansett blant mange som en klassiker ‘ Deliverence.

Nå har han etter en lang periode og etter klubb album. Kommet tilbake til røttene. Derfor ser jeg fram til albumet hans. Derfor vil jeg servere videoen til hans nye singel – ‘Country Folks’.

Link til forrige singel:

https://minbane.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/bubba-sparxxx-splinter/

Stortingsvalget 2013 – Unngå politisk farse eller mer politiker forakt.

Vi kan i disse dager oppleve stortingsvalget på alle kanaler, i alle aviser, kommenterer, debatter eller leserinnlegg. Stander på torv og på kjøpesenter. Løfter og kamp-program. Alt som skal gjøres og ikke gjøres. Husk å bruke din stemme. Stem. Glem ikke å bruke din stemme.

I denne situasjonen blir alle utsagn eller ideer brukt for å fange massen. Vi skal redde enhetsskolen. Vi andre skal redde miljøet. De andre vil ikke bygge veier. Glem barnehagene, vi trenger kontantstøtten. Mange små saker som kan skape spenninger mellom partiene. Akkurat som personlige lederstilen som er blitt debattert denne uken. Samtidig som Høyre setter fokus på 22. Juli rapporten istedenfor å komme med klareringer anngående hvem som blir medsammensvorne hos de borgerlige.

Samtidig som regjeringspartnerene til Arbeiderpartiet. SV og SP har en utrolig dårlig meningsmåling. Mens et parti som ikke har hatt noe mandat på stortinget noen sinne det Miljøpartiet DeGrønne(MPG) nesten 4% som er sperregrensen og vil gi dem ekstra mandater.

Det som kan skje den siste tiden av valgkampen inn til selvet valget. Er at motpartene vil gå mer til person angrep. Skittentøysvask ut i offentligheten. Komme med nedverdige ord istedenfor vise til sin egne politikk. Venter på at noen av disse partilederne blir desperate. Kommer til å love å redde hele verden. Partiene vil si og love å gjøre landet til et eventyrrike.

Ikke at vi allerede er i ett bra land. Et lite eventyr. Siden vi har en velferd og sikkerhet som mange ikke får oppleve i sin levetid. Derfor blir de valg og stemmen vi gir kan forsikre dette videre slik vi tror samfunnet trenger det mest.

Vi kan enten henge oss på den mest populistiske delen av debatten fram til september. Eller bare gi oss i gang med det vi tror er det beste for riket. Det vil være vanskelig siden avisene vil være fylt fra siden 1 til midten med stoff og kommentarer. Politikere vil være fløyelsemyke nikkedukker som viser et glansbilde. Et ønsket glansbilde om de får makten. Det er derfor vi kan enten overse bullshiten og se på realiteten. Hvis vi ikke ser på realiteten og virkeligheten. Mister vi da virkelighetsfatning og bare drømmer oss vekk.

Politisk farse kommer det kanskje til å bli jo nærmere vi er selve valgdagen. Å NRK og TV2 prøver å ha best mulig valgsending. Med grafer og historiske faktum plassert. Samtidig som resultatene elektonisk dukker opp på skjermen. Inntil da må politikerne bruke dagene lurt. Slik at det ikke blir mer politiker forakt. Den kan være viktig fordi vel, sofavelgerne blir flere av når de opplever at sin stemme er ubrukelig. At deres valg vil ikke skape en forandring. Å at politikerne formulere bare vakre ord som er selvmotsigende. Der de står på podiet og diskutere rundt grøten og egentlig ikke svarer på spørsmålet fra debattlederen og prøve å vinkle det inn på motstanderen. Det er da folk gir blaffen og skrur enten av tven eller på lydløs mens de gjør klar kveldsmaten.

Så får vi se om det blir moro framover. Eller om det blir som byttene av managere i Premier League. Vente i uvisse om spillerkjøpene og nye formasjoner. Ikke minst om deres spillestiler i klubbene vil gi enten tittelen eller bare komme rett under par. Inntil September håper at vi slipper både politisk farse ei heller mer politiker forakt. Vi er bedre enn dette og vi kan ikke si at vi vet resultatet før dagen. Før det vil bare prognoser, analyser og ikke minst valgdagsmålinger gi en anelse, men ikke hele bildet. Godt valg!

Anbefaler: Chamillionaire – Reignfall EP

Yepp, tredje EP’n siden fri fra Universial. Etter to gode album. Har han siden gitt ut kvalitets mixtaper. For så å starte med å jevne mellomrom å slippe ut Eper. Alle tre hører jeg på. Her er en av låtene fra EPen:

Neste låt, den som EPen er oppkalt etter:

Peace.

 

 

Spill og virkelighet – Satirens kunst via GTA V

Nå i valgkamp tider og lansering av GTA V. Så kommer det promoer her og der til spillet. At de samtidig er samfunnskritikk er passende. Selv om disse er gode i forhold til Amerikanske kandidater og kandidatur. Så kan vi si at de er passende for våres formål og parodier av Norske kandidater!

Her er to av kandidatene til fiksjonelle San Andreas:

Og kandidat nummer to:

Le og nyt det!

Stortingsvalget 2013 – Verdivalg: Felleskapet Vs Individet

Nå har valgkampen blitt startet. Eller startet for en del dager siden. Jeg vet at i sommer har det vært stortingspause, selv da har det vært innslag om kommende valg. Bare ikke med samme temperatur som nå. Det tok seg nok etter den første partileder debatten i Arendal.

Før dette har det blitt vist til i flere valgkamp målinger i større omfang gitt Høyre(H) noen få prosent mer enn Arbeiderpartiet(AP). Deretter kommer Fremskrittspartiet(FRP) bak. De andre partiene som Venstre(V), Kristelig Folkeparti(KRF), Senterpartiet(SP), Miljøpartiet DeGrønne(MGP) og Sosialistiske Vensreparti(SV) mellom 4 og 7 prosent etter hvordan undersøkelsen og målingen er gjort.

De fleste av oss vet at det er et valgt mellom Rød-Grønne blokken SP, SV og AP. Den andre blokken som er borgerlig og er en miks av disse partiene: H, FRP, V og KRF. Der det er ingen direkte løfter om hvordan konstelasjonen vil være. De andre partiene som er trodd kan få representanter på tinget er MPG, Rødt og blant noen De Kristne. Disse vil sloss om å komme opp på nivået med sperregrensen, da vil de få flere utjevningsmandat. Dette vil skap spenning mellom de rød-grønne og de borgerlige.

Derfor blir de fleste kampene og kommentarene enten for den ene eller andre. Disse to grupperingene er som oftest om retorikk og hva som er viktigst. Denne skillelinjen er om det er storsamfunnets interesser eller individets som skal være gjeldene. Man trenger å vite dette når man tar valget. Selv om de skal representere oss. Så må vi velge de som enten vil det ene eller det andre. De andre de vil komme vil være retorikk for å få den andre siden til å høres naive ut eller bare dumdristige. Akkurat som skatte debatten som kan virke teknisk som egentlig handler om hvordan man skal få inn avgifter og reguleringer som skal være rettferdige for samfunnet og oss som borgere. Å sikrer staten midler til helsevesen og andre nødvendige tjenester for å sikre vår hverdag. Derfor de parti vi stemmer på vil enten regulere disse mer, bygge ut eller omgjøre dagens praksis. At det ikke har vært direkte diskusjon rundt NAV forundrer meg. Fordi regjeringspartiene kunne ha kastet skit på borgerlige for dannelsen av direktoratet. Et direktorat de aldri har funnet løsningen på selv med flere reformer. Derfor håper jeg at de forskjellige partiene vil vise sine sanne ansikt i denne debatten. Fordi den er viktig for de svakeste i samfunnet og for de som faller utenfor felleskapet. Det trengs å vite hva de aktuelle kandidatene tenker å gjøre for disse. For er det ikke slik at et samfunn viser sine sanne verdier, på hvordan vi behandler våres svakeste? Derfor bør også eldreomsorgen og barnevernet komme opp. Da vil de som følger med få et ekte inntrykk av hva som er viktig for partiene. Menneskene, oss borgerne i mellom eller oljefondet, unnskyld pensjonsfondet. Sparegrisen, oljeboring i Lofoten, Grandtante Olga på Toten eller Oslo Børs.

Det er det du som ikke er sikker bør se på. Jeg vil ikke si hvem du skal stemme på. Det er ditt valg, akkurat som det er mitt valg. Vil bare at du tenker nøye igjennom hvilke verdier som betyr noe: er det familie, bedriftsetablering eller skole? Det er noe du bør se. Er det miljøet? Må Norge få en egen enhet for politisaker for husdyr og dyr?

Jeg vil ikke komme med mitt svar. Tidligere blogger har jeg vært bastant og adressert i politiske saker. Denne gangen vil jeg bare si at de to blokkene har forskjellig fokus. Dette er et sunnhetstegn ved demokratiet. Vi må ikke kaste dette bort. Bare ikke kaste det bort på populistiske retorikk og løfter. Se heller på program og ikke bare på enkelte utsagn etter en debatt på NRK eller TV2. Da får du en billig pakke med pølse. Istedenfor å ha en tre retters middag som kan gi det enten magesjau eller få deg til å si på statusen på facebook: «dette er det beste måltidet noen sinne».

Godt valg! I September btw værså snill å ikke glemme oss studenter.

Trailerens betydning

Etter å ha lest flere kommentarer på en side jeg ofte stikker innom får å få inspirasjon til å se filmer. Begynte jeg å tenke på hvordan jeg selv bruker trailere før jeg enten stikker på kino eller Blu-Ray.

Når man tenker seg om. Bruker Hollywood og film selskaper enda mer penger på reklamer og kampanjer får å få oss til å gå på kino. Vet ikke hvor mange ganger traileren for filmen ‘Pain and Gain’ med Mark Wahlberg og ‘The Rock’ produsert av Micheal Bay. Jo flere ganger jeg har sett traileren, har jeg bestemt meg for å vente til an er på Blu-Ray eller leie an med venner. Ikke kino. Det var ikke slik når traileren kom til Tarentinoes ‘Django Unchained’. Fra første sekund nesten var jeg helt sikker på at denne filmen villle være verdt å gå på kino. Den viste seg å være god nok til å dukke opp tre ganger innen kort tid.

Hvis jeg er usikker på å kjøpe en usett film. Må jeg se på traileren og IMDB scoren. Ikke minst om hvordan anmeldelser er. Om de gir mening. Selv om den største tabben på dette nivået var den gangen meg og slektning gikk på Brad Pitts ‘Tree of Life’. En kunsterfilm som «nesten alle» anmeldere elsket. Det ente opp med å sovne i salen. Noe som du ikke forventer .. Når man betaler over 100 kr for biletten. Derfor vil man når man først skaffer seg biletter og ønsker å bli underholdt å ha god underholdning. Selv om flere filmer sikkert er bedre enn trailerne. Så sier de noe om hva skaperne og skuespillerene har gjort og laget. Enten om det er makkverk eller klassiker. Når et franchise som Fast & Furious kommer med en ny. Ender en person som har sett de før opp tilslutt å se siste. Traileren fortalte meg at det virket som en ok greie, men ikke noe som måtte ses med en gang. En annen film som ble virket real. Var ‘The Great Gatesby’. Hadde allerede sett den eldre versjonen med Robert Redford. Derfor ville med Leonardo De Caprio eller Carey Mulligan ville leve opp til forventingene til denne. Spesielt med tanke på boken. Ikke at jeg har hatt tid til å se den ennå. Så vil det bli prioritert når jeg har tid til det! Bare ved å se traileren.

Noe som også er essensielt med trailere er om de gir deg den stemningen som du håper på. Enten forteller den hele filmen. Slik som traileren gjorde med Idris Elba’s ‘Takers’. Selv om den gjorde det, ente jeg opp med å kjøpe Blu-Rayen.

Man kan tenke seg hva som helst. Nyheter og rykter om filmer kommer å går. Ikke minst også hvem som ender opp å produsere, når de kommer ut eller blir produsert. Akkurat som vi ventet i lang tid på Hobbiten. Å ryktene gikk lenge om 2 filmer på boken. Det ble tilslutt tre. Altså i fjerde kvartal i to år til vil Hobitten filmer komme fra Peter Jackson.

Noe som viser at gode trailere og bruk av kampanjer ikke alltid fungerer. Disney har hatt to store produksjoner. John Carter som kom og faded før folk fikk øyene opp for den. En film jeg selv ikke har sett. Ikke minst fordi den virket som svær kalkun. Ikke en ‘Gigli’ eller ‘Pinero’ aktig greie. Bare ikke god nok til å stikke på kinoen. Slik er det også på Disneys stor satsing med Johnny Depp og ‘Pirates of Caribbean’ teamet på ‘Lone Ranger’. Traileren har kommet ved flere anledninger på i kinosalen for å appelere til publikum. En del går nok automatisk fordi Depp spiller i den. Den virket helt grei. En western med en sær indianer på siden. Kan sikkert være en okay film. Bare traileren virker som å fortelle en historie annet enn at sidekicken er kulere enn hovedkarakteren. Noe som virker merkelig. Derfor kan den vente! Så mye kan traileren bety.

Hvor mye betyr traileren for deg? Har en trailer gjort at du har gått på kino? Eller har ryktene tatt overhånd. Vil vi bare gå på filmer med produsenter, regissør eller skuespiller som spiller som avgjør hvilken film man går på. Akkurat som når Tarentino regissere en film, vil en del av oss automatisk gå på filmen. Slik er det med mange. Det jeg vet i allefall at gjennomsnittet på IMDB eller kommentarer på Filmweb vil ikke gjør at jeg går eller ikke. Anmeldere må jeg se på med omhu.Fordi noen av de er enten veiledende, altfor lite nøytrale eller bare rett å slett ute etter en kunsterisk opplevelse som ikke blant alle film seere sees på som underholdning. Ikke at jeg har lest en anmeldelse av en dokumentar, men hadde sikkert følt at jeg hadde hatt en helt annen oppfatning av den filmen versus anmelderen.

Traileren er viktig for en film. Å om jeg skal se på den. Den forteller en følelse og ønsket utrykk av filmen. Av dens tankeverden og budskap. Eller om den har god historie eller bare er galskap ala Hangover. En ting jeg kan si utenom trailere. Hollywood – «jeg er lei 3D og ekstremt mange oppfølgere!». Peace.

Anbefaler: J. Cole – ‘Born Sinner’

Etter å ha likt mixtapene ‘The Come-Up’ og ‘The Warm-Up’. Så kom første albumet ‘Cole World – Sideline Story’. Som var hans første på plateselskapet til Jay-Z, som er Roc Nation og er i samarbeid med konsert selskapet Live Nation. Dette hip hop albumet ble utsatt fordi den ikke hadde en god radio hit før ‘Workout’ kom ut. En låt som Nas ikke likte. Derfor har det nå på neste albumet(Born Sinner) kommet en låt som heter ‘Let Nas Down’, som er super kul. Dessuten blir man ikke lei låtene, selv etter flere gjennom lyttinger på vei til jobb eller heim. Første singelen ‘Power Trip’ med Miguel. Er en skikkelig slager som er passende for radioen og hyggelig å høre på.

Vel, jeg kunne skrevet mange pene ord. Ufattelige pene ord. Men de ville ha vært min subjektive mening om albumet. De ville ikke spilt noen rolle. Det som betyr noe at du bør du streame albummet eller sjekke det ut. Til slutt skaffe dette. Dette albummet har vært så rå bra for min del at jeg ikke har brydd meg om Kanye West og hans ‘Yeesy’. Første album siden ‘808&Heartbreak’. Fordi jeg trenger ikke lytte til dette når man har et gjennomført og behagelig komponert sanger. For å vise hva han er god til hør på denne:

Når du har hørt denne. Så kan man tenke seg om. Deretter må jeg også bare vise deg denne også:

Da har du kanskje hørt på 3 låter fra ett album som er enten 19 lang eller 21 om du skaffer deg delux edition. Så da bør du forstå at dette albummet er vært å få tak i! Kos deg.

Undervurdert artist – Kutt Calhoun

Kutt Calhoun er fra Kansas City, og har kommet nå ut med to offsielle plater via independent selskapet Strange Music som ble startet av Tech N9ne å nå på vei til å bli større med flere artister. Flowen til Kutt er kul og lyrikkene er ikke de mest avanserte eller tekniske. Ei heller kjapp som Tech N9ne. Derimot er det hele seansen mellom beaten og flowen som gjør Kutt Calhoun verdt å lytte på. Her er singelene fra albumet – Black Gold:

Dette er en av de beste sangene fra andre albumet ‘Black Gold’, helt utypisk Strange Music for de som hørt på album og singler fra plateselskapet. Selv om Tech N9ne – ‘Don’t tweet this’ var litt vel kommers til dem å være(sjekk den ut selv på youtube om du har interesse!).

Her er flere singler  til ‘Black Gold’:

Siste:

God helg.

Peace. 

 

FDC Press release(svar til) State of the Nation Adress(mer spennende lesing!)

THE 2013 STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS THAT NEVER WAS
The Truth that the President Should Have told Ugandans

1. The tradition of a President delivering a State of the Nation Address was never part of our constitutional tradition until the promulgation of the 1995 Constitution. When this requirement was enshrined in article 101, it was intended that the President, on an annual basis, gives a full account to Ugandan citizens and taxpayers, through their elected representatives, the State of our Nation. The State of the Nation address is therefore an address to appraise the Nation about the state of our democracy, the state of our economy, the state of our socio-economic infrastructure, the state of public service delivery, the state of our military, and the state of our international relations, among others.

2. It is therefore disappointing to see that after 27 years of leading this country, President Museveni would address the Nation and fail to address the issues that are central to the citizens of Uganda. In 2001, he deceived the Nation and wrote in his election manifesto that he was seeking the mandate to lead Uganda for the last term of office. Since then, he has deceived our teachers, our health workers, university professors and all Ugandans. At this rate, deception and corruption could turn out to be the most enduring legacy of his presidency.

3. The President needs to be truthful to Ugandans to the fact that what he calls the 10 strategic bottlenecks is a clear manifestation of his failed leadership. If he failed to end “ideological disorientation” through his Muchaka Muchaka courses, it only means that he is pursuing an ideologically disoriented system. If he hasn’t succeeded in building the pillars of state after 27 years in power, it means that all along he has pursued a wrong strategy. After 27 years at the helm of leadership, he can’t be talking about promoting the private sector or modernizing agriculture or developing the human resources of our country as if he started leading Uganda yesterday. That is being disingenuous.

4. What Mr. Museveni should be telling Ugandans in a State of the Nation Address is what he has done to build the pillars of state, what progress has he made and when does he hope to complete this undertaking? How does the increase in population from 14 million to 35 million constitute the development of human resource capital? The World Bank (2010) projects that at the current level of Mr. Museveni Government’s investment in education, Uganda’s labor force in 2030 will be worse off in terms of education attainment than that of Ghana in 2010 and lower than what South Korea and Malaysia were in 1970. Mr. Museveni’s Government projects to increase its percentage of the labor force with secondary education to 48 percent in the next 20 years by 2030. Malaysia achieved a 60 percent target in 10 years. Ghana has projected to raise its percentage of the labor force with post-primary education from 60 percent in 2010 to 80 percent by 2030.

5. Mr. Museveni has told the story of our economic growth for the last two decades but this is not our main point of contention. What we contested and what he continues to run away from at every State of the Nation Address is what does that growth mean to ordinary Ugandans? What does the 5.1% GDP growth or the size of GDP mean to the 400,000 young men and women that come through our tertiary education system to look for jobs in a jobless market? Out of every 100 youth of this country, 83 of them have no formal employment. What does the increase in revenue collection mean to these youth or how many jobs did his Government create over the last financial year? What does 3.6% inflation mean to hardworking business men and women who have to pay the highest interest rates in this region? How can he pursue monetary and fiscal policies that kill businesses through high interest rates and he calls it strengthening the private sector?

6. We will call upon Parliament, through the Leader of the Opposition, to put the President’s address to more rigorous scrutiny for it to pass for a State of the Nation Address. Parliament voted for over UGX10 trillion to be spent during the financial year ending June 30, 2013. Where is the commencement of works on the railway line that he promised in the last address? Where are the works for the Karuma project? How many kilometers of paved roads did the Government add on the Nation’s road network and what should we expect for the next financial year? How does the President account for the 16 mothers that continue to die every day after the taxpayer and donor money that has been sunk into our health services system?

7. Year after year, Mr. Mueseveni has deceived the country by committing and then failing to increase salaries or improving the working conditions of our teachers, health workers, and the men and women who service in our police services and the armed forces. The lame explanation is that Government has a limited resource envelop and everybody has to be patient by waiting for money from oil. But this Government squandered over UGX500 billions during the CHOGM debacle. A businessman walked away with UGX162 billion for building ghost markets. Without shame, over UGX6 billion meant for buying bicycles for village council leaders was stolen under his watch.

8. Of course if Mr. Museven cared, he would use the opportunity presented by the State of the Nation Address to announce major reforms to cut down the size of his bloated Government and the wastage associated with it, confront the cancer of corruption and channel the resources saved from such reforms to implement programmes that benefit had working Ugandans such as teachers, health workers, and the men and women who serve in our armed forces. On the contrary, he has become an expert, not in solving the problems facing the country, but by blaming others for his failures. Leadership by deception and blaming your failures on others has never been a formula for transformation of Nations.

9. You are all aware that some of our men and women in the UPDF are in faraway lands in Somalia, Central African Republic and elsewhere. These men and women are some of the best of our citizens because they pay the ultimate sacrifice in fighting terror, contributing to our pan African agenda and most importantly, safeguarding our freedoms and our democracy. The State of the Nation Address is a singular opportunity to recognize the sacrifice of these gallant men and women who carry our Nation’s flag in some of the most dangerous and treacherous environments. To fail to recognize their service in a State of the Nation address is to fail the litmus test of what such an address should cover. In any case, Parliament and the country should expect the President to appraise the Nation on the strategic policy goals of these deployments and the exist plan that enables our officers and men to be reunited with their families at an appropriate time.

10. The State of the Nation address is commanded by our Constitution which is the foundation of our emerging democracy. No doubt, there has been checkered progress in our democracy mainly expressed in our ability to hold regular elections. However, the gross imperfections in our democratization process epitomized in the excessive use of money, rampant rigging and election violence are all issues that a President should address in a State of the Nation Address. The increasing onslaught on free speech, the attacks on the media, the continuing harassment of organized civil society and the pushback on progressive and independent minded Members of Parliament are clear manifestations of democratic reversals.

11. Ugandans expected the President to outline the building blocks that his Government intends to pursue to strengthen our democracy enterprise: what is the road map to free and fair elections to 2016? What is the agenda and timeline for electoral reforms? Does the President hope to provide leadership on the restoration of presidential term limits? Does he have a succession plan or doesn’t he see his failure to organize a peaceful transition as putting him squarely in the docket of the previous leaders?

12. It is unfortunate that Mr. Museven’s rule is coming to an end before he is able to comprehend the simple fact that the best way to benchmark a country’s success and transformation is not to benchmark it against the failures of the past or the failures of others. Leaders that help nations achieve transformation benchmark their successes against a shared vision, targets and timeframes.

13. Mr. Museveni has for the last 27 years put more energy in blaming others for his failures rather than focusing on what he should have accomplished given the good will that Ugandans gave him and the resources at his disposal. Let me also remind him that deception, corruption, oppression and intolerance that have become the hallmark of his rule are not a winning formula for achieving socio-economic transformation. Unemployed youth, under resourced public sector workers or traders cannot be teargased into increasing productivity. History has taught us that it is only political and economic freedom that are capable of unleashing the ingenuity of a people to transform a nation. And you don’t need 27 years to learn that. I implore the President to use the remaining 3 years of his presidency to redirect his energies towards pursuing an agenda that strengthens our democracy and growing the economy to create jobs

14. In conclusion, the Forum for Democratic Change will shortly unveil an alternative development agenda aimed at putting our country on a growth trajectory that creates jobs, ensure the dignity of every Uganda and transforms our country.
For God and my Country
Major General (Rtd) Mugisha Muntu
President
Forum for Democratic Change

(Håper du likte å lese dette til å svare på den forrige saken jeg la ut!).

President of Uganda: Yoweri K. Museveni – State of Nation Adress. (Tenker dette er spennende lesing!)

H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,
President of the Republic of Uganda,

At the Uganda International Conference Centre, Serena, Kampala, 6th June, 2013.

His Excellency the Vice President,

Rt. Hon. Speaker,
The Rt. Hon. The Chief Justice,
Rt. Hon. Speaker of EALA,
Rt. Hon. Prime Minister,
The Leader of the Opposition,
Hon. Ministers,
Hon. Members of Parliament
Hon. Members of EALA,
Members of the Diplomatic Corp,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

I greet you and thank you for all the positive things you have been doing since I last addressed you on the 13th December 2012, at the Special sitting of Parliament when I was talking about the Oil Industry.

My main concerns, as you may by now know, apart from peace, are socio-economic transformation of our society and economy and the integration (both economic and political) of the African continent.

In the battle for socio-economic transformation, I have identified the ten (10) strategic bottlenecks that I have been repeatedly talking about. Even yesterday, I repeated them to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).

They are: ending ideological disorientation; building the State pillars to ensure that the State is capable of governing people and protecting them; developing the human resource through education and the improved health for all; promoting the Private Sector, which is a more efficient vehicle for enterprise identification and growth rather than persecuting them as used to happen in the past; developing the infrastructure (especially electricity, the railways, the roads, ICT, etc); modernizing agriculture; modernizing services; integrating the African market to assist the Private Sector; and ensuring democracy.

As you can see, integrating the African market is part of removing the strategic bottlenecks that I, normally, talk about. The East African Community (EAC) broke down in 1977 because of the incompatibility between the principled Mwalimu Nyerere and Idi Amin. Investors, however, cannot invest if they are not sure of the market.

As soon as we had a chance to lead Uganda, along with Presidents Mwinyi and Moi, we revived the EAC in 1999. The EAC does not only aim at Economic Integration, it also aims at Political Integration leading to the creation of the Federation of East Africa. This is a commendable step. Rwanda and Burundi have also joined the EAC, thereby expanding the Union. We (Uganda) are also members of COMESA and we are working for the Common Market of the whole of Africa. A federated East Africa will belong to those wider markets as one Political Unit. Therefore, on the bottleneck of fragmented markets, on account of colonialism, we are moving well. We could have moved much faster but, nevertheless, this is good enough.

Since 1987, we started tackling the issue of the human resource development when we launched Universal Immunization with vaccines against six preventable diseases. These were: measles, polio, tuberculosis, tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria. We have recently broadened the list to eight (8) vaccines, by adding the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine and Pneumoccal vaccine (PCV). The additional diseases to be prevented by immunization are pneumonia, diarrhea, meningitis, human papilloma virus (HPV). If the Ugandans, individually and/or collectively, could add hygiene, nutrition and personal discipline (e.g. avoiding umalaya, alcohol, smoking and obesity), the total disease burden eliminated would amount to 80%. We would only remain with 20% of diseases and traumas to deal with.

Nevertheless, that residual percentage of diseases and traumas include accidents. These accidents are caused by reckless driving which contributes 20% to the hospital cases. I do not know where the water-borne diseases belong. Do they belong to hygiene or do they belong to their own category? The Ministry of Health will have to help me on this.

These contribute 20% of the sicknesses. Therefore, continued programme of providing safe water is a crucial element in disease elimination.

The district of Mukono recently came up with a good idea of buying its own borehole drilling equipment. This would enable them to make a borehole at a less cost compared to the money they spend when they private contractors. Even before borehole water is available, let everybody boil all the water that he/she uses. It is as effective as borehole water.

In 1997, we introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE), in 2007 we introduced Universal Secondary Education (USE) and we have now introduced free education for A-level as well as for vocational schools. In the coming budget we are going to introduce the Student Loans Scheme on top of the free education for the top 4,000 best performers admitted to Government Universities. The challenge, then, will remain, first of all, the diligent implementation of these schemes, eliminating all the corruption – especially the enforced collection of school fees. If you want voluntary contribution to the school, let the community contribute to the building of the school through labour. Then, those who are able to contribute in cash voluntarily could do so. Non of that should affect the student’s attendance.

The issue of lunch should also be handled in a voluntary manner – although my preference has always been for the parents to provide packed lunch in their own way (entaanda, peke, etc).

The second challenge with universal education is, then, giving the students vocational skills – technical skills as well as science education. One issue that is still lagging behind is the issue of maternal mortality. It is still 438 per 100,000. It must be brought down. What are the causes of this level of maternal mortality when we have got a health unit at every sub-county? When I was growing up in the entire district of Ntungamo plus Rwampara, there were only four Health Units at: Kinoni, Rubaare, Rwashamaire and, in 1959, Rwenyangyi or Kitwe, as I hear the present groups calling it, was added. In spite of these huge distances, I was born in the hospital in 1944 (at Mbarara), My sister Dr. Kajubiri, was born at Rubaare in 1949, etc.

That same area now has the following Health Units:

HC IVs 3

HC IIIs 11

HC IIs 25

Plus Itojo district Hospital.

All these total to 40 Health Centres in Ntungamo alone which in my time had only four Health units.

Therefore, the hardware facilities are there. What is not adequate are the soft-ware facilities; full staffing which we dealt with the other time. We decided that 19 health personnel be put at HCIV and 39 health personnel be at HCIII; female midwives instead of having men delivering women on account of our culture; underage marriages and pregnancies that turn children (abaana) into mothers (abazaire); etc. Let the Ministry of Health sensitize the population on these issues using the radios that spend endless time talking lies. The radios could be used positively to educate people about these challenges.

The remaining big health challenge is malaria. Malaria accounts for 40-50% of out patients and 20% of the inpatients of all the deaths in Uganda. We must get rid of the mosquitoes. There is the effort of bed-nets distribution. This is good. However, the real answer is to get rid of the mosquitoes through the use of larvicides. Our scientists are working on this.

I am, therefore, proud that the NRM has expended quite a bit of energy on the issue of human resource development – education and health – the very low base we started with notwithstanding.

Let everybody else do their assignment. Results will be much better. Even, however, with the failure of some of the actors doing their assignments, the results are good. That is why the population has grown from 14 million people in 1986 to 35 million now. That is why you can hardly see a youth or child below the age of 26 years crippled by polio. These are not mean achievements.

The other big bottleneck is infrastructure (electricity, the roads, the railways, water works and ICT). The issue of the underground and undersea cables has been handled. Telephones should become cheaper in time especially the international calls.

We are working aggressively on electricity, the railways and the roads. Karuma will be built. There is even the possibility that we may get good and cheap funding for it so that we can switch our own money to something else – e.g. the roads.

Karuma (600 mgws)
Ayago will be built (600 mgws),
Oryang will be built (392 mgws),
Kiba will be built (288 mgws),
Isimba will be built (188 mgws) etc.

We have got good offers for all these.

The railway will be built. We have got good offers from some reliable financiers. Besides, we have trained the UPDF Engineering Brigade to build the railways.

Some of the roads will be built by the use of our own money and others by financing from outside. The Minister of finance in her budget speech will give the details. I am, however, very confident that the infrastructure envisaged in the 2040 Vision will be built.

Then, there is our oil and gas. It has taken long because we have been haggling with the oil companies. Our plan is clear and unequivocal – it must include a right sized refinery of 60,000 barrels per day, built in two phases according to the dictates of the market.

When more reserves are discovered, provided the internal market so dictates, this refinery will be expanded. Although we did not, initially, have interest in a pipeline, our commercial Partners, the Oil Companies seem to have a big interest in it as do their financiers we are told. Their position seems to be based on their failure to understand the new dynamics in Africa and what was, previously, called the Third World. 

The groups in the West should know that this category of people categorized as Third World are an endangered species. In the next 50 years, certainly, Uganda will be a First World Country and a middle income country by 2017. You cannot have a country with 10 million of its children in schools continuing to be a Third World country for long. On account of their fundamental misunderstanding, they under estimate the consumption level of the Ugandans and their purchasing power. That is why they are desperate for a pipeline to insure their investments. They fear that they may invest and, then, nobody buys the finished oil products in Uganda.

Hence, the desperation for a pipeline. I have agreed to this re-packaging because, whatever the packaging, much of the money is ours – whether it goes through the refinery or through the pipeline. Of course, with this pipeline, the coastal countries deduct some money for transit and there is the fee for the use of the pipeline. Nevertheless, paralysis is also costly. We need the money to build our infrastructure and to do other important things.

I recommend that we all support the addition of the pipeline provided the refinery gets the first call on the crude oil if the internal and the regional market justify it. A number of groups have shown interest in building and financing the refinery.

Of course, oil and gas will also contribute to the electricity generating capacity of Uganda. These infrastructure projects will boost our growth and expand our GDP by a factor of 9%.

With the battle for an integrated market, for a developed human resource and for infrastructure going well as shown above, we need to conclude the battle on another front – a conducive atmosphere for the Private Sector-led growth. I call this concluding because we long ago started this battle in 1987 when we liberalized, de-regulated and privatized many activities in the economy. We put in place a Code of Investment and a one-stop-centre for registering and enabling investments to be implemented. The one-stop-centre has, however, never worked properly. I will insist that this Investment Authority becomes a real one-stop-centre. I will also bring amendments to the Investment Code to criminalize malicious sabotage of investments in Uganda.

The achievements and struggles enumerated above will be in vain if we do not attract and retain private investments. Nobody should obstruct private investments out of malice with impunity. A request for an investment should not take more than three days. Why? It is because these processes are well known. They are not new science for most of the time. What does a leather processing plant need, for instance? What does a maize milling machine need? Etc. Does it have those requirements or does it not? UIA, NEMA, should have these standard requirements and should be able to approve or disapprove quickly.

While market integration, the human resource development and the infrastructure development are enablers, the real wealth creation is effected and created by the Private Sector investing in real estate, services, manufacturing, agriculture, ICT, etc. Everybody must promote this and not obstruct or delay investment. It is the Private Sector that will create jobs, produce more goods and services for domestic consumption as well as exports and expand the tax base. The investors may be local or outsiders. They are all, however, doing one job of expanding the GDP of Uganda.

The ignorant but really subversive talk I normally hear must stop. You hear people talking of “factory y’omuyindi” – an Indian’s factory; or “factory y’omuzungu” – the European’s factory. When I was commissioning Coca Cola factory in Namanve recently, I told those present that there is not a single Muyindi’s factory or Muzungu’s factory in Uganda. All the factories in Uganda are Ugandan whether they are owned by Ugandan citizens or outsiders. If a Ugandan African built a factory in India, that factory would not be Ugandan, it would be Indian. Sometime ago, we had a Ugandan that was getting wealthy, the Late Chris Mboijana. He had businesses and properties in Kenya, in Mombasa. Those properties were Kenyan and not Ugandan. To prove they were Kenyan, when he died suddenly, I heard some wrangles about those properties but I could not easily follow up precisely because they were in Kenya and not in Uganda.

Apart from the small investments that will be attracted by the conducive atmosphere created by us, especially if UIA and NEMA correct their ways, there are big projects that we have for long been promoting without success. There are two in particular – the Phosphates factory in Tororo which will also produce Sulphuric acid and iron ore and the Muko iron ore near Kabaale. We seem to have, finally, identified capable investors who can get these huge projects going. These will add significantly to the size of our GDP and also feed into the other sectors of the economy – fertilizers into agriculture and iron ore and steel into construction, dam building, manufacturing, etc.

The sector that can reach many Ugandans and quickly is agriculture. Let us work on the 68% of the homesteads that were found by 2002 census to still be in subsistence agriculture. What is amazing is the lack of seriousness by many of our actors. Since 1996, we talked of a cluster of enterprises per household per zone – the 18 zones of Uganda. Where this has been implemented, the results have been dramatic – in the Bundibugyo area, in the Kanungu area, in the Kiruhuura area, in the Kapchorwa area. Yet the other day, when I was in Asia, I heard some of our people talking of Asian Model of “one product per village”!!! Maybe that is a good model. However, before you go for that model, what about our own model of several products per zone? Where it has been implemented, it has done miracles. Why not implement it elsewhere? Let each home of 4 acres of land do the following according to the respective zones: an acre of coffee, an acre of fruits, an acre of bananas and an acre of elephant grass or other pasture. In some variations, you can plant cassava, Irish potatoes or rice instead of bananas or you could have two acres of fruits instead of giving one acre to coffee. At the level of processing, you will then have all those products to deal with. In the courtyard, behind the house, you will, then, add chicken as layers, Pigs, Improved goats, apiary in one corner of the land and fish farming in the valley. Then, there are the six or so cows fed by animal fodder in the shelters (what we call zero grazing). This will work. It has already worked in some parts of the country.

There are two disappointments in the sector of agriculture and fisheries. One is the problem of over fishing on Lake Victoria and the other is the mismanagement of tick control in Uganda. African communities have been specializing in their respective activities over the millennia – crops, livestock, fishing etc. Normally, these specialized communities develop conservation practices that ensure sustainable use of these resources even in very difficult circumstances. These practices get ingrained in the culture. Banyankore, being cattle-keepers and crop people, have practices that have preserved certain activities, the neglect and discouragement by the colonial and subsequent governments notwithstanding. That is why the Ankore cattle, this bananas and the millet, for instance have been preserved. A Munyankore will, for instance, never slaughter a female young cow (enyena) under any circumstances. Even today, in spite of the commercialization of the economy that has forced Banyakore to sell female cattle, they still sell the middle aged ones (ejigija) and not the young ones (enyena).

I was sure that the Bassese and other fishing communities of Lake Victoria had such deeply ingrained cultural practices to preserve the resources of the lake. Who, then, was destroying the resources of the lake by eating the young fish? It is called mudeeke in Lussesse dialect. If only you allow the fish to survive for 9 months, it will have laid many millions of eggs. The lake will always be well stocked. Who, then, is so uncivilized, so unconcerned that he/she eats the mudeeke? I am beginning to get information that the people causing destruction to the resources off the lakes are not indigenous people around the Lake. That it is immigrants who come from other areas of Uganda and/or other parts of East Africa, push aside the locals and inflict such damage to our heritage. One thing I cannot compromise on is our heritage. Those who do not respect our heritage should not be tolerated. What should we do with this situation? We are going to discuss it in the cabinet and in the NRM Caucus and find a radical solution.

In the meantime, the many factories we attracted on Lake Victoria, 21 of them in number are closed or are operating far below capacity. This is not acceptable. Our earnings from fish had gone to US$ 196 million in 2005/2006, they have now declined to US$ 142.6 million in 2012/2013 because of these parasites. This is not acceptable. The Banyakore have a superstition regarding preventing lightening strikes (enkuba). It is called okugangahura. When the lightening damages something, the most indigenous resident of the area is the one that can perform the ceremony and rites that will stop the lightening from causing damage again. Riding rough against indigenous practices can sometimes, lead to serious mistakes. We should all assist the Minister Nankabirwa to solve this problem. It is a big shame. It is a type of suicide. Polluting the Lakes must also stop. People who dig gardens up to the edge of the lakes or the rivers should be stopped. The Minister of Environment should ensure that. I flew over Luzira Bay the other day. The whole lake is full of algae, a sign of pollution. This should also be addressed by the Minister of the Environment.

The other bad phenomenon is drug resistant ticks because of the laxity of the veterinary department. There are four categories or classes of acaricides. These are: Pyrethroids, the amidines, the organophosphates and the co-formulations. Each class kills ticks in specific ways. However, ticks develop resistance after about three years. The correct thing is to change to a different class after three years. Unfortunately, the technical staff never told us about this. We, therefore, ended up, including myself, using the same class of drugs for up to 15 years, in my case. When the ticks became resistant to the drugs, recently, the cattle started dying. Although the good news here is that the Ankore cattle and the other indigenous cattle are still immune to the tick-borne diseases. One of my cattle, Kiremba, was found with 154 drug resistant ticks and it was still up ticking and kicking. Anyway, I have moved from pyrethroids to the amidines and all the ticks have disappeared. We have instructed the veterinary people to sensitize the farmers on this issue. I, recently, went to Ireland (UK) specifically on this issue and the drug manufacturers have solution to these drug resistant ticks.

In any case, we are also working on vaccines with other African countries – such as Kenya and Malawi.

Yesterday, I read the malicious self-deception of the Daily Monitor. I am told that the so-called “The East African newspaper”, which is a sister to the Daily Monitor, was similarly jubilating that Museveni will have a hard time making the State of the Nation Address this year, because the things he talked about last year were not fulfilled. Of course, not all the things I talked about last year have been fulfilled because many of them take time and, in any case, the resources are limited. Does the Daily Monitor and the East African paper and some members of the opposition in the Ugandan Parliament, think that Ugandans cannot understand that? Mao Tse Tung once said: “It is still better if the enemy attacks us wildly and paints us as utterly black and without a single virtue; it demonstrates that we have not only drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves but achieved a great deal in our work.” Therefore, it is a compliment when the Daily Monitor and the East African paper attacks us because it means we are right. However, unfortunately for the anti-NRM groups, Uganda is moving forward. The performance of the economy this year has been as follows:

GDP rate of growth is 5.1%;
Inflation rate is 3.6%;
Foreign exchange Reserves are US$ 3.3 billion;
Export earnings are US$ 4.9 billion;
Remittances from Ugandans abroad are US$ 767.26 million;
The total size of GDP of Uganda is 54.7 trillion shillings;
The total size of GDP in US$ (exchange rate) is US$ 21.2 billion;

This is reasonable given the difficult situation created by the past mistakes caused by the anti-NRM elements prior to 2011, when inflation went up to 30%. I said that the difficult situation will be reversed and it has been reversed. We are also resolved to resist firmly those who block investment programmes, delay development and when difficulties arise they turn round to criticize. The bottlenecks are clear to us. They will be solved partly using our money, partly using money from our Partners outside or through a sovereign bond using regular financial sources because Uganda’s credit rating is good at B+. Besides, our oil money is not very far off.

The evil of corruption is being handled. You saw what happened to the officers who were accused of stealing money in the office the Prime Minister and in the Ministry of Public service by holding ghost seminars, in 2011. In the past, NRM has handled bigger problems than bunches of thieving public servants. These are easier to handle. I promise to give a special address on corruption.

Madam Speaker, it will be recalled that the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament commenced on 7th June 2012. As at 14th February 2013, Parliament had been able to transact business as follows:

Bills passed – 11
Motions passed – 12
Reports considered and concluded by Parliament – 6
Petitions considered and concluded by Parliament – 5
Ministerial Statements presented to Parliament – 13
Other statements – 2
Questions for oral answer presented – 3

Among the Bills which Parliament has passed are the following:
The National Council for Older Persons Bill, 2010;
The Finance Act 2006 (Amendment) Bill, 2012;
The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2012;
The Excise Tariff (Amendment) Bill, 2012;
The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2012;
The East African Excise Management (Amendment) Bill, 2012;
The Uganda Communications Regulatory Authority Bill, 2012;
The Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2012;
The Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Bill, 2012;
The Accountants Bill, 2011;
The Geographical Indications for Bill, 2008;

In the coming session, the Government will present a number of Bills including the following anti money laundering Bill, Public Finance Bill, etc. The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister will communicate these Bills to you.

I thank you very much.

6th June 2013 – UICC, Serena

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