Opinion: NRM lacks 336 billion shillings for Village Radios

“The government plan for long-distance learning through the provision of the 9 million radios sets is on course, the money is available and those radios will be provided” – Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (20.09.2020).

In the upcoming Budget Supplementary No. 3 of the Financial Year of 2020/2021. In the 19^th edition of the COVID-19 Speeches this year on the 20^th September 2020. In the supplementary budget however, they are stating the troubles with both the procurement and the timeline of offering the village radios to the general public.

First of Orion Transformers & Electrics, the producer doesn’t even make radios of yet. They are making electrical transformers. The company needs a lot of training to shift their production. It will take up to 6 months before starting the production at OTE. The planning from Ministry of Education is already have an impossible timeline. As the state is supposed to be able to give 2 million radios in January 2021 and February 2021. So, that the radio learning program can start in March 2021. However, that is impossible, as we are in November 2020 and with the timeline of 6 months means OTE could earliest start production in May 2021. Which means the whole project is futile.

The other things is that this would cost 336.8 billion shillings to make the radios locally. The Ministry have also found no funds to make it possible to procure the radios. This means, the whole thing is impossible. Just like everyone of us said in September after the promise was made by the President.

A big big promise, but no execution or idea on how to actually do it. The only way the Government of Uganda could have made it happen. Was if they we’re able to get some of the United Nations Organizations hooked on the idea and they are covering the funds for the procurement. After that their logistics and such are able to transfer the radios across the Republic. That would be imported goods or radios. Not Build Uganda Buy Ugandan (BUBU). Still, it would benefit the general public and the needs for long distance learning. Which was the idea in the first place.

Just that the Supplementary Budget had the post in the paper shows how much work they put into this foolish enterprise. As everyone knew it wouldn’t stick. The government wouldn’t have the funds or capabilities to handle this. They are still lacking funds to keep old promises and funds to cover those as well.

The GoU with the NRM at the helm isn’t ready for this sort of affair. It is just to much work and needs a team who knows logistics, electronics and has the capability to use funds wisely. Not just handpick one company and hope they can solve the whole issue.

It is easily to see that this was bound to fail. The whole promise was empty hubris with no sort of idea how to implement it. The President wanted to talk big-game, but have no cards on his hands to win. Therefore, he hope the bluff would work. However, we all should see how his failing and how his government is pathetic.

Instead of promising within its means and acting fiscal responsible. The Presidential idea of greatness isn’t working. That is why this was bound to fail… Village radios won’t happen on the government dime. They will not invest and neither act upon it. These folk cannot manage it or have the funds to pay the engineers and technicians to fix it. Peace.

Analysis of the Pre-Election Period; as the Parties and Candidates make the preparations before the polls

As we go in the final week before the polls happens on the 18^th February as the public and citizens will go to the polls and give their votes. The parties are doing the final preparations and rallies to generate the outcome the want.

This has been three horse race, as the five other candidates has not shined as much as NRM’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, FDC’s Dr. Kizza Besigye and Go-Forward/TDA Amama Mbabazi. Not as Abed Bwanika of the People’s Development Party hasn’t had done a bad campaign; I would say the opposite; but he is not in the league of gentlemen first noticed. Another candidate who has done well considering the beginning is Gen. Benon Buta Biraaro of the Farmers Party has done a decent job and said certain things that have been spot-on. Still, his reach has not come to any level of challenging the big-league. Joseph Mabirizi has become a punchline and not a candidate that justify the time he has spent or the money his campaign used. The only female in the race Maureen Kyalya Wamula has not been great sport, she is smart and wise, but loses the final touch as she speeds away a month in London; when arrives back travers Busoga again. She should instead tried to become a MP from Busoga, then becoming President as it would be fitting by how she did her campaign! Professor Venansius Baryamureeba the independent candidate haven’t made any noticeable progress other than pledges that are out of his league and I personally lost touch of him after the #UGDebate16 as he been in the wind.

So I will not discuss the 5 candidates unless they did something magical. As there been moments, but not many. Just as the media report Museveni and his NRM has “owned” the media, had most space in papers, radios and TV, even with the issues Museveni has had with NTV, Daily Monitor and a rare bunch of local radio channels; Mbabazi comes second most of the time in the report, but either the same as Besigye or not; Besigye been third or second with around 20 %.. So when President Museveni has cried foul it’s been because his make-up hasn’t been perfect while the drones driving over the campaign venue or the headlines in the newspapers he never reads is written in wrong fonts so he can’t find out what it means. As he is watching the pictures and cartoons as that is deep enough for the Mzee!

We can easily see the hurt in NRM, as Go-Forward and Mbabazi is getting crowds without ferrying them, even when they work hard to pay people to shun his rallies, while they people to come to rallies; but never in the same place as the rally, the buses has to go into the villages and give UGX 5k and a t-shirt to get them to show-up at the Mzee venue. While Mbabazi Go-Forward has had massive deflections even major parts of his security detail went to the NRM and Go Forward officials in Teso region have disowned purported defectors, from their camp to the ruling National Resistance Movement-NRM party.  On Tuesday, more than 700 people were paraded before the First lady, Janet Museveni at Soroti State lodge claiming that they had defected from the camp of ex-prime minister. Even in Karamoja Janet Museveni has paid people who supposed to be FDC or Go-Forward to deflect to NRM.

While the NRM front-man was really humiliated in Kayunga Town on the 8^th February 2016 as the NRM Poor Youth would not mobilize for him. As he didn’t get the news from Isa Kato that NRM Poor Youth becoming Ugandan Poor Youth Forum on the 6^th January and pleading their alliance to Mbabazi. That must hurt Mzee! As his former outfit have distanced themselves from NRM by giving their credentials to Mbabazi; it’s not a good luck when especially his NRM Mobilisers like Mike Ssebalu (Sebalu) didn’t contact the locals in other ways, as also the locals did not want to be ferried to the campaign venue. That must be slap on his face!

Besigye, the People’s President is really having a blast on the campaign trail and his campaign rallies has been massive as he has not gone into the meager display of the NRM, which has to ferry crowds from other parts of the country or villages with their yellow buses or even hire other transport companies to send people to his venues. While Dr. Kizza Besigye get people hyped and walking with swagger before arriving, they washing the roads and making the venues ready, the roads are blocked by crowds in procession to the stadiums and main squares as the people is really ready for change of the guards.

NRM seems exhausted even when dropping millions upon millions to every village, having the NRM Mobilisers and NRM leaders giving money to villagers. NRM continue to give money to bribe people to vote for them, this is the way have to because they have no legitimate ways of political framework as everything seem more to corrupted by the position the leadership of NRM handling it. As the Primaries was a strange nearly fictional event which was marred with malfunctions.

Just as the NRM EC under Dr. Tanga Odoi has been capable of doing some strange things during the party elections; the Electoral Commission have recently hope that the Ugandan citizens and NGOs continue to be ignorant about their actions. As they introduced a new voting slip system that you search on their site to get your place to go to vote, also where to pick-up the slip.

The Electoral Commission have also dropped the voters register who was compiled with deceased people and ghost voters in the size of 20,000 that took the Chairman nearly two weeks before he addressed. Before he addressed it the rumors of trying to leave the country during this week, while being stopped by 7 military vehicles and not able to leave as he has to do a service for the Mzee. Badru M. Kiggundu is soon looking like a Thomas Moore kind of man; as he is a blind Yellow Fellow who has sold his soul to Mzee, while missing the ingredient of the he getting his head chopped for not following the orders the king gives to him.

The NRM people is addressing the public with fear and telling that the world will dismantle into pieces if they don’t go for the NRM. That is an terrifying way of rhetoric and that Mzee even had to address Lukwago in a dismissal and unfavorable way that none deserve, as the old man with the hat should show some respect to other leaders in the country. The Police continue to oppress the FDC and opposition parties.

The Army is deploying more and more people in the streets as pictures of trucks and soldiers to spread fear in Kampala as the legitimacy is gone. The only way people staying loyal to the ruling-party is if they are payed enough or facilitated to the max so the houses and cars paid by the NRM; not on their own original salary.

New Vision continues writing fictitious polls giving the NRM and Museveni 53 % as servicing the ruling regime until the end. But while we know the Vision Media group and it’s radios and newspapers are owned by Museveni; so they will write in favor of Mzee at any cost, even if it is far from the truth, because they got nothing else.

The interesting last thing I will say my piece on is the second #UGDebate where Museveni actually said he will show up, but he needed to send Justine Kasule Lumumba to facilitate the events in favor of her meal-ticket. As the other parties has no issues about the event, NRM can’t handle that the one person moderate Voice of America own journalist Shaka Ssali from Kabale. They would rather have a UBC journalist or anybody they could pocket to make it beautiful fairytale the NRM want to portray. While Mwenda has said he is not Museveni’s campaign manager and would advise him not to show up and grace the event. That tells more about Mwenda then the debate, as Mwenda is more a closet fan of Museveni now than he will ever admit and seems like he has switches he googles and seen the Resistance Light as he has changed his view 360 from 2008. NRM might attend the event. The rest has promised like last time and will show up. We can be sure about that, they got nothing to lose.

The NRM and Museveni will look even more foolish if they fear Shaka Ssali, then he really is a Donald Trump character as he can’t handle Megyn Kelly of Fox News. There is a picture for you. This is my view of recent; it changes with information and the movement on the ground. This is how I feel, not how mr. Zeke on Kampala Road feels, this is all me. Peace.  

What NRM’s #Steady Progress really is…

We all know that the election is going on and that NRM have a campaign slogan as such: “Steady Progress”. This is the time when NRM is telling in each district they visit about the 29 years of “steady progress”. Well, I will not, I am not NRM. And not a great fan of the NRM. As those of you who read my page/blog should understand by now. I will show another story of the #Steady Progress have been under the NRM and Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s presidency.

#Steady Progress under the NRM-Regime is that there been violence and arresting the opposition leaders with different claims. And have rhetoric that attacks others then look into their own missteps. Especially when Mzee hear the reports of the violence were from NRM-Supporters together with the Police in an area (Ntungamo clashes for instance). There isn’t the first time the President Museveni spreads fear in the name of democracy and not the last. He can put his words into a leopard’s mouth and see if the animal bites.

#Steady Progress is to have close hospitals in the weekends and having no nurses at the referral hospital in the districts. #SteadyProgess is to suspend health workers after showing the terrible working condition of the Health Care facility.

#Steady Progress is to use the colonial law of preventative arrest when it fits the NRM-Regime and if it fits the new law Public Order Management Act then the Police will take care off or silence Political Opposition leader, Human Rights Activist or even random pedestrians.

#Steady Progress is that the police tells the world and journalist on how to conduct themselves and how to be a part of campaign convoys of the opposition leaders.

#Steady Progress is that the Police are interfering in Opposition leader’s rallies instead of securing them.

#Steady Progress is to give a higher pay-rise to the Electoral Commission chairman from 6 million shillings a month to 35 million shillings each month.

#Steady Progress is first to lose the money to sustain and make the National ID cards, and not give them to the citizens. Then later deliver this to the Internal Displaced People in the camps and also immigrants from neighbor countries then the initial voters and citizens of the country.

#Steady Progress is to have terrible roads in and around the villages. #Steady Progress is to finally have rail system working between Kampala – Namanve, but not for the rest of the country, and it had to happen right before the election.

#Steady Progress is to go into neighbor countries with the army without international mandate for securing the friends and caretakers of nations around to secure loyalty to the President of Uganda, not to secure Uganda.

#Steady Progress is to make the currency weaker and weaker. #Steady Progress is to make the Bank of Uganda a personal visa card for the government because of the new amendments to the Public Finance Bill of 2015.

#Steady Progress is to make the nomination of candidates for elections more expensive so only the ones that are friends and cronies of the President will be sure of having the funding and support to stay on as candidates.

#Steady Progress is to bankrupt the national airliner and still only have on international airport in the country, also to get British Airways to cancel their flights to Entebbe and stopping fly to it after the set date of contract with the Airport.

#Steady Progress is to give away expensive cars to Regional District Commanders to ensure the safety of NRM and not the people of the northern regions.

#Steady Progress is to promise loyal cronies more districts and sub-counties to secure loyal men in charge over areas and make the opposition unsure of the new constituency.

#Steady Progress is to have a chaotic internal elections with pre-ticked ballots, late ballot delivery, wrong names on the ballot, stealing the forms for final counting, winners jailed for misconduct, bribing voters in villages to vote for candidates, letting members of other parties vote in the internal ones, sole candidacy in many constituencies and also clear indication of rigged for loyal Mzee men and woman.

#Steady Progress is to land as hunting-grounds or for services rendered for the government either to the likes of Aga Khan or other foreigners, even trade of forests and mineral rich land, to get it pocketed while the Government of Uganda can.

#Steady Progress is to borrow more and more money to fund the aid deficit created by the “Anti-Gay-Bill” fiasco. That left a vacuum from foreign interest together with the strategic loss of partners to sustain their aid to the country and picking other feasible projects there.

#Steady Progress is give money to religious leaders to secure their congregation who their God has picked as leader and who their lord has anointed to the position.

#Steady Progress is to get a bigger government and more ministries so that all the ones closes and most loyal get a place in the central government.

#Steady Progress is to give a person the role of ministry without a portfolio or office

#Steady Progress is to use more on private plans and military equipment then on basic school kits, school buildings or even medical supplies.

#Steady Progress is for the President to claim again and again that he is the only Mzee who can keep the country safe and keep control of the army.

#Steady Progress is to have old medicine or copy medication instead of having extra supplies through the NMS.

#Steady Progress is to have ghost-workers, ghost-voters, ghost-schools, ghost-roads or ghost-expenditure.

#Steady progress is to fire all of the UNRA workers and getting the funding for bigger projects through the World Bank cancelled.

#Steady Progress is to see that Uganda Human Rights Commission loses it funding from it’s donors.

#Steady Progress is to hire “Crime Preventers” as securing votes and create havoc in other candidate’s rallies to make sure that people stay loyal to the Mzee, and also ship them from NRM rally to NRM rally to make the party look more popular.

#Steady Progress is to have more and more car accidents on the bad roads, even lose the lives of more Members of Parliament due to bad roads in the districts.

#Steady Progress is for the rich and for the wealthy to take their family members or themselves to health facilities abroad to heal and prosper.

#Steady Progress is to borrow money on the future-oil monies and trade of the oil refinery from Russian state-owned company to buy military equipment.

#Steady Progress is to lose battalions and soldiers in Somalia and leave new recruits with little or no supply. The army in Somalia has to sell equipment for food and necessities; instead of fighting the terrorist group Al-Shabab.

#Steady Progress is that landslides after heavy rains and floods have no covering or security funds from the government nor any restrictions or helping agents to save lives on that matter.

#Steady Progress is given funds of 51 billion to the post-election violence for the Police and army for the “excuse” to secure the safety and peace in the country.

#Steady Progress is to tear down other candidates posters while sealing off and securing with Police force the incumbent presidential candidates ones on the walls.

#Steady Progress is to use a tiny fortune to make a gig-song and have singers on the campaign trail.

#Steady Progress is to pay boda-boda men in town and villages to not drive to opposition rallies.

#Steady Progress is to have a rising inflation and devalue the currency before and after every election time, leading the results for more expensive fuel, food and living prices in general. 

#Steady Progress is to send SMS’s to everybody to tell them to VOTE MZEE, even if they don’t are NRM members or belongs with the Party, instead he sends to all Ugandans in the companies to gain support.

#Steady Progress is to pay boda-boda drivers to drive people to Mzee’s venues, give away t-shirts, give away free fuel, feed the public food and give money to the attendance of the crowd.

#Steady Progress is to use 500 billion shillings for campaigning for the presidential candidate, to give out handouts to loyal men and woman in the districts, cars to chiefs and other gifts of that nature to feed the loyal NRM people in up-country and the rest of the country.

#Steady Progress is to close off transmitter of radios who send messages opposing the NRM-Regime.

#Steady Progress is to deliver a campaign package of 20 million shillings to NRM Parliamentary candidates.

We can all see and this a gist of the actions and events leading up to the 29 years of #Steady Progress from Mzee and his NRM party. This was certainly not the things he fought for in the bush-war or the idea he sold at the time. It has surely changed. I could have displayed all the corruption cases, embezzlements and such, but as I said this gist of the actions from the NRM party and Mzee. We have not taken in account his foreign adventures and military actions, or all the people that have been left behind. Peace.