Opinion: Indifference from the public is a gift to the Political Sphere!

We live in a day and age where the content of information is accessible at any time of the day on all kind of formats. It isn’t only pamphlets, posters, newspapers and books. But there are blogs like this; it is digital videos, cable-TV, social-media and all the other ways of gaining information with or without membership pay-walls for the content. In that world of constant ability to gain this, it can either feed the hunger for knowledge or become tiring for the people as the constant newsflashes and breaking news can make your mind boggle and wonder what is really important.  Therefore before I continue let see a main definitions of Indifference!

Definitions of the Word:

“lack of interest in or concern about something: an indifferent attitude or feeling” (…)” 1:  the quality, state, or fact of being indifferent

2a archaic :  lack of difference or distinction between two or more things b :  absence of compulsion to or toward one thing or another” (Meriam Webster Dictionary).

As I tried to explain brief in this time and day, we’re all access to information and ability to download reports, getting brief headlines and watching reports on TV or tablets the clarity of what is important can sometimes not sink in. As we check the normal suspects for the commentary or the capability to get news and become reasonable updated on the matters at hand. Though there are stories lost and we can’t know what happens at every corner of the world, than we are stuck between all screens and behind every tweet dropped every hour of the day. We’ll live in a forever groundhog day and wish that we had comic talent of Bill Murray instead of trying to get up to date with current news.

The fear is with the level of information, the different formats and the ability of entertainment and tabloid news. The simplistic and breaking is taking over for the hardcore policy discussions as the direct terror threats and artists dismissals seems more important than the issues of trading and health care policies. The indifference towards the reasons behind the migrations and the reasons for the crisis in Syria for instance are lost in the battle against terror. The devastating idea for why Tunisia, Libya and other states who was has been under fire since the Arab spring have been lost in tales of Clinton and British death, instead of the iconic and important support to build state institutions for the citizens. In countries that before this we’re built around grand dictators like Ben Ali and Gaddafi. Therefore the indifference to the solutions and the real deal behind the fragile state is worrying.

The worrying indifference to the abysmal understanding of the financial structure of Greece and Italy, as the banks of Italy are in limbo; while the state sales and economic liberation while drowning a debt-burden Greece in more greasy debt as they trying to cope with the level of migrations. We should ask ourselves if the European Union forgot counting people or building swimming-pools for the new rich investor elites that got ability to buy state-resources and key installations like Piraeus port harbor for few cents on the dollar. Therefore the indifference for the swallowing the pride and the reactions this might have for the Greek state.

The indifference for rigging elections and supporting peacekeeping armies on the African continent, while the UN Peacekeepers in C.A.R. are using their power to rape and destroy, not only generate peace, as the UN Mission in Western Sahara is more a luxurious club for diplomates than generating mediation and justice for the people under siege from Morocco. But the world is silent. That the DRC are planning to exile more opposition or even detain them before the General Election for a third term for President Kabila and nobody flick their eyes. While the opposition is under siege in Rwanda, but President Kagame is hailed for the economic recovery as the totalitarian leader are oppressive and using forces in the Kivu’s to still steal resources from the Congo. The world doesn’t care or tries to forget. While the Burundi are still in crisis as the third term of President Nkurunziza is bloody, friends and foes of the President vanish and assassinated, while the Inclusive Dialogue by EAC and AU under former Tanzanian President Mpaka are at a standstill. So the state of affairs is far from beautiful. The indifference to matters is staggering as the knowledge of these actions shouldn’t be forgotten.

I wonder if I feel alone on it, like so many didn’t notice the skirmishes and the recent battles from the militias in Beni, in Democratic Republic of Congo. If it was just the Congolese diaspora who wore the yellow color clothes on Sunday’s to remember the dead and spread awareness of the continuing warfare in the region. As the world have forgotten the violence and want to be rest assure that the cobalt and other resources need in the smartphones are exported to factories far away.

The ignorance and indifference are so big as the cable-news and grand media-houses focus on the click-bait and easy journalism instead of digging deep and having questions to the matters. Only following the money, the money always says how the ethical principles a man or woman has; as a person will only spend money on the things and people that they care about. That is a forgotten one, at one point of time with the PanamaPapers, the big media-houses followed it, but when the leaks when silent the interest dwindled as quickly as the importance of Blackburn in British football, which division are they now in?

We can question if the world really want to care, as the violence, the single handily gun-men going on shooting spree and the endless bloodshed is sad to read about and would make your hard. The continuation of news on the freedom fighters or guerrilla of Niger Delta Avengers would be less interesting as long as they’re a giant force in Boko Haram that are steadily doing abductions, kidnaps and killings in Cameroon and Nigeria.

We can’t be able to be refreshed and know about all issues worldwide, but at least not care more about Pokemon Go, Donald Trump’s latest racist tweet or a Stephen Colbert skit. They might a moment of joy and laugh, but with the possible knowledge of destruction, lose forces and able information, we as people shouldn’t let this just go on without questioning the powers to be.

Because as long as the public is kept in the shadow and not knowing, the people will not be able to see what the government or civil society is doing. That gives leeway to do whatever. So with this in mind the people should be interested and question, wonder and check the resources and ability to gain information on the matters. Either if it by Youtube, library or on the newsstand; the government have it easier with ignorant public sphere and indifference to matters both domestic and international, as they don’t have to take a stand and change policy as long as the people doesn’t act upon the issue. Therefore the knowledge and questioning the businesses, government and NGO’s happens when the citizen’s acts upon what we know. Indifference is only earning the government and the ones that already are in power, the danger for them is if we already knows and can anticipate their moves. Because if so, then they can’t away with thieving, lying and deceit of public will. Indifference of this gives way and is a gift to political sphere. Peace.

Reference:

Meriam Webster – ‘Indifference’ link: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indifference

We thought we seen the worst; but the here comes the 20 Point Programme from Mzee!

Sometimes I think President Museveni is a bit too smart for himself, that must be it, as he have since start of his reign added and amended more plans than useful laws. That is something the world should know by now. He entered his first term after rebellion with the 10-Point Program that was supposed to reinvent and remake the democratic, accountability and facilitate the development of Uganda. Something that has been stalled for wish to stay in power and also his own nepotism, corruption and cronyism in government and state functions in general; together with no-need to leave the militaristic maneuvers of government.

“The NRM under the leadership of President Y. K. Museveni came up with the ten point programe of action. In 1987, Basing on the ten point program, President Museveni launched a Minimum Economic Recovery Programme followed by a series of reforms aimed at restoring macro-economic stability to provide a favourable environment for economic growth and private sector development. The key reforms were, liberalization, privatization, currency reform, changes in tax and fiscal policy plus restraining expansion in government expenditure while maintaining focus on economic recovery and growth” (Uganda 25 Years of Nation Building and Progress, Jan 1986 – Jan 2011, Printed: May 2011).

That is why that when I read that President Museveni had the genius idea of a 20-Point Program, I was latterly laughing and crying in sadness of this so-called leader. Who supposed to lead and make change; after thirty years in power with a 81 Cabinet and created astonishing amounts of districts and sub-counties, that every town and nearly all villages have either one or two central LCV and other councilors to be bribed by the central-government. And in his genius attempt to spoilt the trade, he comes with another plan to cover over the atrocities and pledges that we’re recycled under campaigning in 2015 and 2016.

This comes from the leader who of late has already these wonderful plans to hold onto and supposed to finish in his lifetime, as he wants to promise the Ugandans the middle-Income position and also economic progress in the levels of South Korea and Singapore. Though, the corrupt and donor-friendly behavior is still necessary since the Petroleum money, is still not certain as it is still needed more development and investment before the profits from the black-oil drilled in the Lake Albert basin and Albertine region.

The first plan that was supposed to take over the failed 10-Point Program from the Economic and Development of the Republic, where the magical and all-covering; the Second plan the famous ‘Vision2040’, where all pieces of government and private sector we’re interconnected as the NRM-Regime had plans to reconfigure and also establish what they had did between 1986 and 2013. The plan that we’re released in 2013 said this: “a transformed Ugandan society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years”; I do not feel the need to say how much further they have come in the last three years.

Hon. Francis Mwijukye said: “Today I visited Karungu government secondary in Karungu subcounty- Buhweju district where I found students studying under very disturbing circumstances” (Mwijukye, 25.06.2016)

The third plan that comes to mind was the National Development Plan II (NDPII) who we’re drafted and surely released during the 2015, and we’re written March 3, 2015. This was a plan for the infrastructure projects and the defining projects that we’re interconnected with railroads and also the major road projects of the UNRA, which is certain a magnifying economic prospect as the investments in infrastructure as the unfolding economic problems, that recently was reported from UNRA. So the President has issues with this alone, before releasing the 20-Points Program of 2016.

So with the hearing of a new plan from the grand National Resistance Movement and the Presidency of 30 years, if he had finished or wished to finish the first plan, the 10-Point Program. But, that wouldn’t make the political battlefield and the regression of progress so obvious; if anybody believes he will ever finish a program or even sufficiently have due-diligence behind a new program, you should dream on or reconsider you thought pattern.

With the newly released 20-Program Plan of 2016, is a rehash of old-ideas into a new format with the mix of the Vision2040, 10-Point Program and the National Development Plan II. That is a combined of these visions, as the 10-Point program is totally out of whack, the 2040 is in the midst of it and been in the works for three years without any real progress on the matter. The NDPII is a framework for basic transport and infrastructure that are parts of all the three other plans. So, this is far from finish and with the UNRA troubles, the World Bank suspension and the others issues with financing the grand infrastructure projects of late, while the Standard Gauge Railway and the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP), which is a collective planning of infrastructure between the East African nations we’re it need cooperative effort from the countries.

So with all of this in mind, when reading the progressive, the revolutionary, the rebels new plan like the monstrosity levels of belief that he can sell yet another amazing plan to the public and donors. The reassessment the donors should do is that this in the mass of affairs and tricks the NRM-Regime have come with for three decades and was supposed to be new-found governance; instead it has been more of the same, just in another name, another package and another head-honcho who been able to smile with Bill Clinton, Gadaffi and all the dignitaries that wanted spend money on his government and newly created institutions under his leadership. This has all happen, while the Western countries have accepted the atrocities and brutality against civilians for the peace and assurance of progression of democratic values that over time have been proven as fool’s gold.

The reality of this new Plan is to repackage the same of promises and the so-called progression of the government institutions and the civil service delivery as hospitals, schools and roads. Through the neo-liberal structural adjustment plan that we’re accepted to get more World Bank loans in the 1980s, while now because of less donor-funding adding more loans into the bloated government budgets together with bigger government spending on growing parliament, growing districts and sub-counties, while the added expenditure on the projects as the rising prices on roads with little due-diligence, higher interests on the fallen loans and the expenses on military equipment. This all with the steady level of inflation and proved little will to change the service delivery from the NRM-Regime, as the international community have let most of it go without any impunity or real care.

As even the European Union proudly did this recently after the fraudulent election they discredit in their own report, still they we’re so giddy to do this:

“Goverment of Uganda to hold political dialogue with European Union as mandated in Art 8 of Cotonou Agreement” (Emma Were Tinka, 28.06.2016). So the true ethics of the European Union and democratic values can be traded of with a decent agreement and when the NRM-Regime can even be validated by EU, this talk and consider, even sign the agreement, but they might not implement it; as the due-diligence have never been a thing for Museveni, so after all this year? Why should it all of a sudden matter?

This new plan is another one of his schemes and plot to get donor-aid and get funding for his nepotism, his cars and airplanes as the direct budget and the over-priced infrastructure projects have silenced his critics as that have been used on tear-gas, Russian fighter-jets and other needed procurement, not on fixing schools and buying school-books for the students. That is no-need and not proved added value. This 20-Program plan is just non-sense and the ones that buys into it, are long lost causes like Ofwono Opondo and Andrew Mwenda. Peace.

Press Statement: “Some African leaders to blame for conflicts” – Obasanjo

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, March 21, 2016 – Some of Africa’s leaders are responsible for instability on the continent because they have failed to manage diversity in their societies, the former Nigerian President, General Olusegun Obasanjo, has said. By the same token, he noted, outside interference in Africa has been responsible for conflicts, citing the NATO air strikes in Libya in 2011 that led to the removal from power of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

“The repercussions are now being felt in Mali, Nigeria and the Sahel,” Gen. Obasanjo told a press conference on the upcoming Tana High-Level forum on Security in Africa (TanaForum.org) in Ethiopia. Asked whether African leaders were to blame for the conflicts on the continent, he said: “Yes and no.”

He said leaders were failing their people because they had not been able to prevent marginalisation in their societies, prevent injustice, reduce unemployment, reduce poverty, and that they had not embraced democracy and good governance.

The theme of this year’s Forum is Africa in the Global Security Agenda.

This is apt, given the continuing fallout from the NATO intervention in Libya, for which US President Barack Obama recently criticised the British and French governments for getting rid of Gaddafi without having plans in place for effective “follow-up”.

On the issue of African peacekeeping operations, he agreed that the lack of funding from African Union member states was a major setback for peace and security on the continent.

He said that when he was head of state, he was in charge of a high-level panel to search for alternative sources of funding for the AU, but this came to nothing.

He noted that when the AU was looking for funds to counter the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, member states failed to provide the money. “The AU eventually had to turn to the private sector and it was able to raise $40 million,” said Gen. Obasanjo, who is Chairman of the Tana Forum.

He was critical of AU member states for not contributing to the AU’s general budget, adding, “I think this is down to the lack of political will.”

Gen. Obasanjo noted that Ebola and migration from Africa had security implications not just for the continent “because we now live in a global community whereby if something happens in Africa, it affects the rest of the world”.

This was why Africa had to take a serious look at its security infrastructure, what Africans could do themselves to deal with these issues, and what should be the continent’s role in formulating security policies globally.

The Deputy Chairman of the Forum, Professor Andreas Eshete of Ethiopia, said that Africa had to have not only a stronger voice in the global security architecture but also for its perspectives to be taken into account and incorporated into the global security agenda.

The 5th Tana High-Level Forum will take place on 16-17 April 2016 in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. More than 150 participants are expected to attend, including current and former Heads of State and Government, high-ranking government officials, academics, civil society representatives, experts and policymakers from the AU, UN and other international institutions.

Interesting WikiLeaks about Uganda: Bunyoro, Lake Albert & Oil-deals

Here is WikiLeaks which shows quotes from 2007 to 2011 where Bunyoro, Rwenzuru and the security of the oil-rich Western-Uganda. Think that this should be interesting reading – also insights to the situation. Have an awesome time reading!

The Corruption story of Muhwezi and Mukula amd the NRM:

“Many Ugandans were happy to see Muhwezi and Mukula, members of the so-called “mafia”, arrested for corrupt activities” (…)”oo Much or Inefficient Corruption. Kategaya and Musa Ecweru, Minister of State for Relief and Disaster Preparedness, told P/E Chief the core issue was that Muhwezi, Mukula, and Kamugisha took more money than they had been authorized and failed to account for it. Muhwezi had been found “not politically responsible” in a Cabinet white paper follow-up on the Global Fund Investigation report in March. According to the Kategaya and Ecweru, the debate within the Cabinet over Muhwezi’s fate was heated, but that ultimately a majority of ministers rallied behind Muhwezi because they themselves could be implicated for corrupt activities. The President accepted the Cabinet recommendation, but still wanted to find a way to “clip Muhwezi’s wings.” The President decided that the use of the immunization fund for personal gain would provide a strong case against Muhwezi” (…)”Succession Politics. Another possibility, and not excluded by other theories, was that the arrests were an attempt by President Museveni to remove potential successors. This includes both Jim Muhwezi and First Lady Janet Museveni. Both have presidential ambitions and both profited beyond Museveni’s expectations from the embezzlement. Muhwezi’s financial independence, alleged ties to the Forum for Democratic Change’s Kizza Besigye, and the perception that he was advancing his own political ambitions rather than the ruling party’s could have contributed to the decision to arrest him at this time. Several Cabinet members say that Muhwezi, the former Chief of Military Intelligence, has been allowed to get away with corrupt activities because he has files on key political players and the First Family and has threatened to use them” (…)”The NRM-dominated Parliament also selected Muhwezi to head the Parliamentary Group for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. One Cabinet member told PolChief that there are signs of other politicians rallying to Muhwezi’s side because they fear they could be next in line for an arrest warrant. Ecweru posted Mukula’s bond to demonstrate ethnic solidarity” (…)”The arrests are generating a significant amount of speculation regarding the future of the ruling party and implications for the war on corruption. Many political contacts and other Western diplomats are wondering if Museveni has a clear game plan, desired outcome, or defined roles for the IGG and public prosecutors” (WikiLeaks, 29.05.2007).

Ugandan Boarder Tension:

“Museveni and his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila met in Tanzania to discuss border issues after Congolese military units moved a border demarcation four kilometers into an agreed-upon no-man’s zone on the Ugandan border” (…)”Lt. Gen. David Tinyefuza, Museveni’s security czar, reported to Museveni that Congolese units allegedly erected a border crossing four kilometers on the Ugandan side of the border. However, a team of security officials led by Deputy Director of the External Security Service Emmy Allio, who is from West Nile, determined that the Congolese had not moved the demarcation posts into Uganda, only into the agreed-upon no-man’s zone. In his report to President Museveni and the Minister of Security Amama Mbabazi, Allio argued that the GOU should not “make a big deal” out of the incident. He found that the powerful Governor of Ituri ordered the move, with backing from some elements in Kinshasa, but that Kabila was likely unaware” (WikiLeaks, 21.05.2008).

”According to a joint statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Museveni and Kabila “noted with satisfaction” that progress had been made in the border demarcation process. They pointed to the Fifth Session of the Joint Permanent Commission in Kampala December 12-15, 2007, the Joint Border Remarking Committee in Bunia and Entebbe, and other bilateral engagement on the issue as evidence that efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the border question were ongoing” (…)”Museveni and Kabila agreed to accelerate the co-administration of the Rukawanzi Island as the demarcation process takes place. Situated on Lake Albert, Rukawanzi Island was at the center of the August 2007 border flare-up that led to the Ngurdoto-Tanzania Agreement. (Note: Congolese soldiers killed a British Heritage Oil worker in August 2007 claiming that the oil barge had strayed into Congolese waters (ref A). End note.) The prospect of oil exploration on Lake Albert, which is dissected by the Ugandan-Congolese border, has further complicated the demarcation process” (WikiLeaks, 21.05.2008).

The Oil-deals and Boarder Tension:

“The most recent border tensions comes in the wake of Kinshasa’s decision to revoke an oil exploration concession to a neighboring block in eastern Congo’s oil-rich region that it had granted to Tullow Oil and Heritage, two of four oil companies operating in western Uganda. The Congolese government awarded the tender to South Africa’s state oil company PetroSA, claiming that Tullow and Heritage violated Congolese territorial waters on Lake Albert (refs A and B), (WikiLeaks, 21.05.2008).

Museveni’s Plan to “Ring-Fence” Bunyoro:

“An internal July 15 memo from Ugandan President Museveni has deepened the ethnic divide between groups living atop newfound oil reserves in Uganda’s Western Region.  The memo, which was leaked to the press on August 2, instructs the Minister for Presidential Affairs to consider restricting key elected offices – including parliamentary seats – in what was once the Bunyoro Kingdom in Western Uganda to ethnic Banyoro only.  The memo also recommends preferential land ownership rights for ethnic Banyoro for the next twenty years.  Museveni’s memo may have been designed to appease, or perhaps distract, Banyoro leaders angered by long-standing land disputes and the government’s continued refusal to reveal plans for oil revenue sharing (reftel)” (…)”Museveni has not backed away from the idea of investing specific ethnic groups with special electoral privileges in Western Uganda, and several members of his Cabinet who hail from Bunyoro have ratcheted up pressure on Museveni to move forward with his proposal. Museveni’s apparent willingness to consider rewarding one ethnic constituency by disenfranchising many others reinforces concerns about his re-election strategy for 2011 and Uganda’s commitment to the transparent management of impending oil revenues” Sampson/WikiLeaks, 19.08.2009).

”Two other individuals of note reportedly also spoke at the August 15 Bunyoro Symposium: the Bunyoro Kingdom’s spokesman Henry Ford Miriima and Presidential Advisor on Land Issues Kasirivu Atwooki. In recent days Miriima has advocated for taking President Museveni’s “ring-fencing” idea even further, arguing that non-Banyoro living in Bunyoro should assimilate into Banyoro culture and adopt the Banyoro language of Runyoro” (Sampson/WikiLeaks, 19.08. 2009).

Tension because of Museveni’s plan to “Ring-Fence” Bunyoro:

“Tensions between the Banyoro and “immigrant” populations in Bunyoro have been simmering for some time. President Museveni’s memo significantly heightened these tensions by elevating them to national prominence. Explanations of why Museveni seized on the Bunyoro question now, after more than two decades in power, focus on two topics: elections and oil. Using Uganda’s 2002 census as a guide, one local news magazine noted that the Banyoro are in fact not marginalized and that ethnic Banyoro hold 10 of the 14 parliamentary seats from the four districts that make up the Bunyoro Kingdom. Although Banyoro appear to be the largest ethnic group in these districts, they do not hold a majority. Restricting elected offices to only ethnic Banyoro would therefore disenfranchise a majority of the population resident in these districts” (Sampson/WikiLeaks, 19.08. 2009)

“Captain” Mike Mukula, disgraced former Ugandan Health Minister and current National Resistance Movement (NRM) vice-chairman for eastern Uganda, warned that the 2011 presidential elections will be worse than the deeply flawed 2006 presidential contest. Mukula, whose political reputation was battered by the 2006 Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) scandal, said the September 10-12 riots provided a brief preview of one potential election scenario. He also said President Museveni’s popularity was decreasing within the NRM, and speculated that Museveni may be interested in setting up his son, Muhoozi, as dauphin. Mukula said Museveni ultimately listens to only two countries – the U.S. and the U.K. – and urged the U.S. to pressure Museveni to reinstate presidential term limits. Mukula himself, however, hopes to run for president in 2016″ (…)”Mukula lost his Cabinet post in 2006 and was briefly imprisoned in 2007 after being accused of diverting USD 1.5 million from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) program to NRM coffers. Describing himself as Museveni’s “fall guy,” Mukula blamed his involvement in the GAVI scandal on Museveni’s need to placate international donors concerned about corruption, and his own rising popularity as evidenced by a newspaper poll that listed Mukula as more popular with the NRM faithful than the President” (…)”Now the NRM’s vice-chairman for eastern Uganda and a key member of Museveni’s re-election campaign, Mukula complained that there is no separation between the NRM and Ugandan state institutions. He called the military Uganda’s “fourth estate” and said Museveni regards the army as his personal political party. Mukula highlighted the complete dominance of Museveni’s Banyankole ethnic group throughout the government, military, and business community, and asserted that the NRM now serves as nothing more than platform for the President, springing to life only during election campaigns” (…)”Bukenya, an ethnic Baganda, as the NRM’s most popular leader. He said Museveni kept Bukenya on as his Vice President to keep tabs on Bukenya’s potential presidential ambitions” (…)”Mukula said the recent political moves made by Museveni – from pandering to ethnic Banyoro along Lake Albert (ref. A), to the recognition of the Rwenzururu Kingdom in southwestern Uganda and the decision to support the minority Banyala’s quest for autonomy from the Buganda Kingdom (ref. B) – were all designed to obtain the two percentage points needed to push Museveni from 49 to 51 percent during the first round of voting in 2011” (…)”Mukula said Museveni was increasingly patterning himself after Robert Mugabe and wants to position his son, Lieutenant Colonel Muhoozi Kainerugaba Museveni, as his eventual successor. Muhoozi returned from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in mid-2008 to assume command of the new Special Forces, a still-murky component – or potentially entirely separate unit – of the praetorian Presidential Guard Brigade comprised of all the PGB’s elite, technical, and specialized non-infantry capabilities. Noting that Muhoozi may still be too young to mount a credible presidential bid in 2016, Mukula again volunteered that he had presidential ambitions of his own for 2016” (Sampson/WikiLeaks, 23.09.2009).

The Oil-deals between ExxonMobile/ENI/Tullow/Heritage Oil Company with corruption and deals made with the Ugandan Government:

“A December 17 report by the External Security Organization (ESO), which Intelligence Coordinator General David Tinyefuza allegedly forwarded to President Museveni, says Security Minister Amama Mbabazi is “eyeing” a $200 million commission for securing a deal between Heritage Oil and the Italian firm ENI” (…)”confidential Ugandan intelligence report on negotiations between Heritage Oil and the Italian oil giant ENI (see attached document and reftel). Tullow has previously expressed concern that ENI is using illicit payments to Ugandan officials to obtain government authorization for purchasing Heritage and depriving Tullow of oil holdings in Lake Albert” (…)”The report says western governments – including the U.S., U.K., Sweden, and France – oppose the opaque ENI deal, that Tullow hopes to sell 50% of its Ugandan holdings to ExxonMobil, and that ENI offered Ugandan officials facilitating an ENI-Heritage agreement a $200 million “commission” (…)”The report claims that Mbabazi is using a front company belonging to the European owner of Asante Oil, and that ENI representatives distributed “fat envelopes” to a number of visitors – including Energy Ministry officials, representatives from the Office of the President, journalists, and Bunyoro Kingdom officers – while installed at a safari lodge in Murchison Falls National Park close to where drilling has occurred. NOTE: EconOff witnessed ENI’s presence at this lodge during a trip to Murchison in early December. END NOTE. Much of the report highlights ENI’s Libyan ties and accuses Qadhafi of funneling money to the Bunyoro and Buganda Kingdoms to destabilize the Museveni regime. The final two sections of the report purport to “show how ENI corrupts a country’s leadership and forces them to take unpopular selfish policies,” and the “dangers” of an ENI/Libya deal” (Sampson/WikiLeaks, 13.01.2010).

Continuation of Mbabazi and Government involvement in Oil-Deals:

“We believe Mbabazi is positioning himself for a significant payoff, but the security report is undermined somewhat by Tullow’s apparent involvement in its drafting. In December, ExxonMobil said it lacked concrete evidence that its Ugandan interests have been harmed, but noted that ENI’s involvement has had a negative impact. If the Heritage-ENI sale proceeds unchanged, it will significantly reduce the value of Tullow’s Uganda holdings, zap ExxonMobil’s interest, and put Uganda on the road to rampant oil sector corruption” (Samson(WikiLeaks, 13.01.2010)

“President Yoweri Museveni has ordered the freeze in order to protect the rights of locals, whose tenure continues to be threatened by the influx of business people interested in the oil-rich land, Stephen Birahwa, a lawmaker representing Bulisa told Dow Jones Newswires” (WikiLeaks, 29.05.2011).

Peace!

Links:

Richards/WikiLeaks – [OS] UGANDA/ENERGY – Uganda imposes oil land ban – FRANCE/UK/CHINA (06.06.2011), WikiLeaks, Link: https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/31/3161601_-os-uganda-energy-uganda-imposes-oil-land-ban-france-uk.html

 

Sampson, Aaron & WikiLeaks – MUSEVENI MIXES TOXIC BREW OF ETHNICITY AND OIL IN WESTERN UGANDA (19.08.2009), WikiLeaks, Link:

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09KAMPALA946_a.html

 

Sampson, Aaron & WikiLeaks – UGANDA: NATIONAL RESISTANCE MOVEMENT INSIDER SEES TROUBLE AHEAD (23.09.2009), WikiLeaks, Link: https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09KAMPALA1096_a.html

 

Sampson, Aaron & WikiLeaks – UGANDA: SECURITY REPORT DETAILS OIL SECTOR CORRUPTION (13.01.2010), WikiLeaks, Link: https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10KAMPALA19_a.html

 

WikiLeaks – UGANDA: MUSEVENI AND KABILA DEFUSE BORDER TENSION (21.05.2008), Link:https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08KAMPALA674_a.html

 

WikiLeaks – UGANDA: CORRUPTION SCANDAL’S POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS (29.05.2007) Link:https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/07KAMPALA909_a.html