Ugandans Must Reject All Retrogressive Amendments to Our Constitution – A Statement by Leaders of Civil Society to Fellow Ugandans (16.09.2017)

My Letter to Evelyn Anite: If you need the army to amend the constitution, maybe you shouldn’t do it!

Dear Evelyn Anite!

I write to you in haste, seems like you have been forceful and aggressive. You need to calm down and take little soda. Seems like you need to sit under a tree and read a book. Maybe even two, that can open your mind and perspective.

Your the State Minster for Privatisation and Investment, Evelyn Anite, I have to first quote your own words. Since they are so rare and proven your weird solution to get the Constitution amended to fit the life of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

Here is your own statements!

You cannot intimidate a ruling party. For them they are looking for support, but we are not. We are the party in government; we have the support of the magye (military)” (…) “We have 265 members who have supported this bill. We have the numbers; we have the people; this is the battle of the brain” (…) “We heard they are threatening to beat us; we shall not beat them physically but on the floor of the house. But if the worse comes to worst; we are not going to the gym. They should know that we are the ones in charge. If they cannot outsmart us, they should shut up and wait for Ugandans to decide” (…) “You cannot tell me ‘togikwatako,’ when that is my job. So, you are asking me not to do my job? We shall amend that constitution! If we want to do amend it 10 times we shall do it” (Waswa, 2017).

Seems like you Anite wants to misuse the army in favor of a political party and their agenda in Parliament. That you as a State Minister is saying, that the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) will take brigades and military into parliament. Shut the doors and say, unless you enforce this law, we will keep all of your honorable Members of Parliament (MPs) hostage until the law passes in favor of the President.

It seems like you Anite, who already are an MP, in a republic, which is militarized already. The President wear military fatigue to Parliament when they had the last Budget reading on the 9th June 2017 at the International Conference Centre at Serena Hotel. So, it’s not like NRM are far away from the military. In the middle of the campaigning, President Museveni took a break and went on the shooting field. Showing his force in and power to the public. Clearly, this isn’t enough for you. That the President uses his army as favors for his fellow Commander-In-Chief in the likes of South Sudan and even Equatorial Guinea.

Hon. Anite, I understand that you have no valid reasoning for lifting the Article 102 (b), when you have to use the army to fight your battles in the Parliament. That your struggling with finding proper solutions and also arguments to continue the Presidency. You are doing the President his handy work and trying to show loyalty. With talking like him, that he will kill and get rid of the opposition.

But if you think this is the way of enforcing rule of law and enact amendments, you need some serious counseling. You need some people around Anite, that can guide you and make you understand how a Parliament supposed to work. Unless you want to act like military leader, instead of being a part of the National Assembly, where you make the laws and regulations for all Ugandans.

Seriously, you should ask for a paycheck and envelope from President Museveni. Since, you are doing his work and for his continued Presidency. That you are clearly misguided and misunderstands the role of the army and the Parliament. Clearly, you want a law to be voted through the Parliament, you need something else than the army. Maybe a consensus and public support for the possible bill. Not spread fear of guns and ammunition. Unless, you want a coup d’etat!

Hon. Anite, is that what you wanted, take hostage of the Parliament and enforce the law. Instead of an ordinary vote of the possible motion and amendment. Have possible Parliamentary work, as they have readings of the laws, and the Parliament has to PASS them; so they can enforce the laws all in the republic afterwards. So if the Honorable Anite wants something passed, it should follow protocol and procedure so that the bill could be enacted.

Evenlyn Anite, you should know this and should work so the Amendment could be passed if you believed it. Anite don’t need the army to get a law passed, in Uganda you just need President Museveni’s approval. This law is fitting his paradigm and vision. So, it should be no problem, since the NRM MPs are already trying to find new ways of being loyal to Museveni.

Anite, you should never need the Army to pass a law and if you do, then the MPs and Parliament is front. Is that what you saying? That your ruling party and ruling regime should not need to use the army in this sort of activity. The majority of the parliament should easily get it done, but still you have to spread fear and wishes of misuse of the army. Clearly, that is your way now.

So please Anite, learn your craft. Learn it well, act with sense and duty for your republic. Instead, your misunderstanding your role. That you are saying this is proving a vital point. Anite, that you don’t have good reasons, other than cronyism for wishing this bill to pass. Passing an Amendment that gives life Presidency to Museveni. Seems like that is the outcome by any means.

And your strongly in favor of it Anite. So, it is time for you to stop your betrayal of the National Assembly and the Army. Time to ask yourself why are an MP and what your role in the Parliament. Since you should know better, but apparently you don’t!

Best Regards

Write of Minbane!

Reference:

Waswa, Sam – ‘We Have the Support of the Army – MP Anite Warns Age Limit Bill Opponents’ (14.09.2017) link: https://www.chimpreports.com/we-have-the-support-of-the-army-mp-anite-warns-age-limit-bill-opponents/

Gen. Mugisha Muntu: Official Statement on the Ongoing Attempt to Subvert the Constitution (14.09.2017)

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu MP: A Very Important Message to Uganda (14.09.2017)

Opinion: A Motion to unleash Mzee for life!

That the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Members of Parliament, the 250 MPs did this earlier today: “NRM MPs pass motion to table a private members bill to amend article 102b to scrap the presidential age limit” (NTV Uganda, 12.09.2017). So the NRM MPs has now decided that they will make it possible for President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni can become Executive for life. Life Presidency is the mission and to do so, since he cannot amend and cannot change his Date of Birth. Even if he tried to do so earlier this year. Now, the NRM MPs wants new suits and new perks, they want to eat more funds and prove loyalty to Museveni.

The NRM MPs has argued like this:

Ugandans have the capacity and freedom to choose the person who should lead the country as President in accordance with art 103 of the Constitution. The people’s freedom of choice of the President is expressed through regular free and fair elections and this right should be guaranteed and not restricted. If the voters do not want a particular person to lead them or they are tired of his/her governance style, they will reject that person at the time of elections and vote them out” (…) “The law is discriminatory against Ugandans who are aged 75 and above. Article 32 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination based on age and other factors. Members of Parliament and other leaders (except President and District Chairperson) do not have this kind of restriction. It is necessary that this imbalance is redressed as provided by the Constitution” (NRM Arguments, 12.09.2017).

It is rare that in a Republic like Uganda, in 2016 there are about 750,000 over the age of 65 year old. That is out of 38 million citizens, which means it is about 2%. So the discrimination cannot be serious, but the groups with little voice and possibilities are the youths under 21 years old is 69 % of the people in country. They are about 26 million people, which is a bigger group. It is special that the young republic filled with youths are caring about the age limit and making sure the 2 percentage of the people can get one title.

Clearly, it is not made for discrimination, it is cater-made and tailor-made for Museveni. That his own party and his own cronies are creating excuses to make a bill, a bill made for life presidency. Nothing else, the other words are lies or made to secure funding of their enterprises. To make sure the cronyism is staying alive. President Museveni will make sure the Constitution of 1995, be more drilled into. So that the Constitution is made for Museveni and no-one else.

That is the reality, not that its breaking news. President Museveni has been working on this and now they are trying let his die in charge. Become Uganda’s Mugabe, as noble as that is. To stay in-charge until he falls asleep abroad and his wife becoming vicious. That is what the NRM wants for their own. Peace.

NRM failing on bills again, this time to New Vision!

There been sent a letter to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) from the New Vision Group. The NRM and the President paper, who usually write all the favorable propaganda for the NRM Regime. Therefore, that the New Vision sent a letter on the 13th June 2017, didn’t pay for its adverts in the Vision Group in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, the party haven’t paid the bill of 508,886,927 Uganda Shillings and in 2011, the bill is 406,578,614 Uganda Shillings. The total lacking funds are 915,465,541 Uganda Shillings. So the NRM are closely behind to 1 Million in debt to the Vision Group.

Just like another report from the same campaign in 2016:

Judgement on admission is hereby entered against the respondent (NRM) in the amount of Shs4.9b. The issue of cost of the application shall be determined by the suit” Mr. Opesen held yesterday” (…)”The money arouse of supply 60,000 T-shirts, one million scarves and 200,000 sleeveless shirts” (…)”Kampala Modernity Stationers and Printers sued the ruling party in 2013 for contribution of the said money to be paid to Dubai based firm, Bright Arrows Trading which supplies the ready-made garments” (…)”M/S Bright Arrows Trading have sued Kampala Modernity for breach of contract leading to third party proceedings compelling court to add NRM as party in the case” (Buule, 2016).

So the NRM Party and the NRM Campaign of 2011, clearly the NRM Campaign of 2011 was not run well. The NRM Organization clearly doesn’t respect the providers of the needed materials for their campaigns. This are old bills from the previous presidential election campaign.

You can wonder if they have stifled the men and woman making campaign material for 2015 and 2016. As they have done for 2010 and 2011, as if the providers want to come forward and leak it now? It would be natural to complain a year after for the missed tab created by the ruling regime and the ruling party. Seemingly, the funds from the NRM party are not sufficient, as even parts of 2016, the NRM wasn’t paying out salaries to their own staff.

The organization isn’t functioning or have good audits of their accounts, since they are not paying on time or being able to plan their actions and campaigns. That is why the old bills keeps pumping. This is just another one. There might be more skeletons in the closet, we just have to wonder if the NRM has paid the bus companies and the other one delivering services during the campaigns. Peace.

Reference:

Buule, Jon – ‘N.R.M. in 4 billion debt over poor quality Yellow T.Shirts!!!’ (01.03.2016) link: http://mycampusjuice.com/2016/03/01/n-r-m-in-debt-over-poor-quality-yellow-t-shirts/

Uganda Local Government Workers Union (ULGWU) letter to PM Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda – “Reminder: Remunerations Enhancement for Local Government Workers” (29.08.2017)

Uganda Police Force – Press Release: “We refute claims by a local daily of using sex workers as spies” (25.08.2017)

Opinion: President Museveni claims in a letter to the FM Kasaija – ‘that the government is “mushrooming”’, well, that is his own creation!

 

It is ironic and hard to take serious that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni wrote a letter to the Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, Minister of Public Service Muruli Mukasa, Minister of the Presidency Esther Mbayo and Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet John Mitala. This letter was sent on the 17th July of 2017 and was titled: “Re: Mushrooming Agencies/Authorities”. It is ironic and weird, it is the irrational part of Musevenism. The ones that speaks against corruption, but give provisions for a “Presidential Handshake”. Therefore, this is in line of the others chronic problems, this is just one of them.

This here is in line of this, just like the President has problems to understand that the state will have higher costs with each added district and carving out every single county to have someone to be leaders as Residential District Commander and other local government. The same feeling I’m getting by this letter. Since it is his creation and his vision behind the new agencies and the bold hiring of cronies to any department in Uganda. That shouldn’t be shaved from history. He has had 30 decades, most of the Ministries and their agencies has come as answer to his reasoning and him sanctioning it.

Therefore this quote from the letter is obvious trying to put blame elsewhere:

The questions are: “Why have an Agency when you have a department of the government dealing with the same area of responsibility?” “Why have an Authority when you have a department of the government dealing with the same area of responsibility?” “Why have Boards for money consuming units rather than money generating units?” Boards came into existence when capitalism was growing. In the infancy of capitalism, the owner (the proprietor) would also be the manager because the operations were small. When capitalism grew, it was too much for the owner to manage. Ownership, therefore, got divorced from supervision (board work) and management (managerial work)” (Museveni, 17.07.2017).

I would say most of them are created for the same issue that the state are soon paying former ministers with remuneration to them, even when they are not in cabinet. The same procedure is with hiring cronies to the boards and agencies. Not all about need or necessary for the government or the ministries. How come there are City Hall of Kampala, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the Ministry of Kampala. That is because the state needs to hire enough cronies to make sure they stay loyal, also the state needs more administrative organs to make sure they can find jobs for their loyalists. Not because Kampala needs all of these administrative bodies to function, it does not help that the state also have a Presidential Advisor for Kampala. All of this is proof of the mismanagement. This is only in Kampala and without taking a deep dig into the wards and under all the mayors of Kampala. Not what that is under Lord Mayor and KCCA Executive Director.

The letter continues:

Why, then, should you separate the policy role from the regulation role for the non-commercial bureaucratic portions of the government; Forests, National Parks, Roads, NAADs, etc? Their functions are just two: policy and regulation. There is no business involved. If the Ministries of Works and Finance want to form Road Construction companies that will compete for construction jobs, then it makes sense for those companies to have Boards and Management but not a Board for a unit whose only job is to award contracts using government money” (Museveni, 17.07.2017).

It is ironic again, because NAADs, SACCOs and other Youth Livelihood Programmes have all been created by Museveni and run by close associates, even Salim Selah in some instances. That the President suddenly have issues with this weird. Since on the Campaign Trials, it seems like it is remedy and the solutions to use these government programs, but now with growing debt, it is an issue? You need this money to build a petroleum pipeline and refinery? You can wonder, I wonder, if this is the reason! Since these sort of boards, sort of agencies has been put in place, by laws signed by Museveni and accepted by him. Many is part of legislation to secure each and several ones for pivotal parts of government. Others are just created to hire cronies! Therefore, weird that he want to sack cronies… but maybe it is within need?

I want efficient with no further delays. You have up to 20th December 2017, to propose a plan to Cabinet” (Museveni, 17.07.2017). It seems only to able to change this with bringing in new tools. President Museveni needs these boards for every produce and every parts of government. That is within himself, as the ideology has no value and also no vision. Other than keeping himself in power by any means. Therefore, the boards and agencies will not cease to exists, he needs to hire cronies and pay them by either a hook or a crook. If not he has to go forward or change his system. Maybe he shouldn’t create so many ministries, districts and sort of specialized organizations, but he cannot help himself. That is his MO, nothing else. This will not change! Peace.

The letter:

President Museveni letter to Hon. Muruli Mukasa, Minister of Public Service: “Re: Emolument on Personal to Holder Basis” (01.08.2017)