New Jersey Governor Christie Sanctions a ‘State of Emergency’ over a State Budget standoff!

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the Donald Trump lackie has clearly had an all-powerful vision as the budget for 2018 hasn’t been able to negotiate. Therefore, he signed the Executive Order No. 228, this one he sealed on the 30^th June 2017. Just before the Independence day weekend. So the Jersey Shore will be sealed of the people going on vacations, the ones wants to chill in New Jersey, has to hit the casino’s and not the beaches. Clearly, not a populist strategy by the Republican governor.

Because the state representatives couldn’t constructively make a budget with his fellow people in the State Assembly. Clearly, the Governor must have an agenda, since he pulls the State Constitution and uses his powers to pull a ‘State of Emergency’. So the state functions stops, because of the powers he has as a governor. Certainly, he needs to show power and his strength towards the State Assembly.

What is striking from any perspective is these passages:

“I invoke the emergency powers conferred upon me by N.J.S.A. App. A:9-33 et seq., and all amendments and supplements thereto, and such other powers as may be conferred upon me by the Constitution and the Statutes of the State of New Jersey” (Executive Order No. 228). “Until such time as there is enacted a General Appropriations Law for Fiscal Year 2018, I reserve the right to take such actions and issue such orders or directives as may be necessary to meet the various problems presented by this emergency, to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people of this State, and to ensure the continued provision of essential State services. The exercise of these emergency powers shall, when required, be subject to future payment of the reasonable value of goods and services, subject to appropriation, and as provided by law” (Executive Order No. 228).

“All employees whose services are not deemed essential pursuant to this Order shall be deemed furloughed pursuant to N.J.S.A. 11A:6-1.1 and shall be governed by the rules implementing that program, except as may be prohibited by law. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to any such employees who are necessary to implement the orderly shut down of programs and functions as provided in paragraph 16 of this Order upon the completion of such shut down, as determined and documented by the head of the department or agency” (Executive Order No. 228).

So within the bounds of the State now, the core essentials will be working, the needed services and state officers will be there, but the rest will be suspended. Therefore, the famous lackie Christie decided to stop the funding and allocations to the different state functions. Because he wants the State to be on its knees, so the will of the governor can be counted in the budget of 2018. This proves his will for power. He will use Emergency Powers to settle the score of the budget negotiations. So he will keep the state functions hostage over debate and needed State voting in the State Assembly for budget. This isn’t for time of war, this isn’t for time of terrorist crisis. The Governor does this over Budget voting and Budget allocations for the next Financial Year. So they are making sure there a fiscal sound budget and good balance accordingly to the State needs.

Chris Christie has really taken the powers in his hands and he should also fix it with the representatives within the State Assembly, the State of Emergency over budget negotiations and voting of budget post is bewildering. Does seem like he feels his voice isn’t respected or his standing isn’t graceful enough. Clearly, the New Jersey National Assembly needs to talk and vote on the coming election. The State Services and the State Organizations shouldn’t be suspended by the governor, since the state representatives has their duty, the same has their executive. What is visible, that the invisible and needed show of power came into play. Since Christie clearly cannot talk or negotiate with his peers in New Jersey. Not only his ratings, but his scandals are now following him. Peace.

Andrew Mwenda’s flawed logic; He claims that Mzee is not the problem with Uganda; I beg to differ

Andrew Mwenda keeps with his flawed logic. Like he has lost the plot and forgotten his traits and his theories of old. But hey, he is hungry and wants to eat. Here is has ploy of arrogance on facebook:

“It is simplistic to argue that Uganda’s problem is Museveni. A better argument is Museveni has failed to solve the problems of Uganda” (…)”Museveni (with Besigye) once told us that getting rid of Obote would be a major step in improving anything. What happened?” (…)”Besigye’s weakness is to personalize Uganda’s problems to Museveni and argue that his removal is all we need. The problems of poverty, weak state, poor Government services and democracy deficit were there before Museveni” (…)“If we fail to diagnose Uganda’s problems, the solutions will always elude us” (Andrew Mwenda, 17.01.2016)

Well, in sum there has gone 29 years of the one-man rule since 1986. There have been many benefactors and Members of Parliament since them, but the main factor in the calculations have been President Museveni. Since he took rule he has marginalized or used tactics to get people loyal to Museveni and not directly to any state institution. Therefore he is a major problem, because if it didn’t really happen, then he didn’t sponsor the benedictional project or program. Museveni could only support a program if he could benefit from it.

That Mwenda has a problem with Besigye is that he is in stark contrast to Museveni. Besigye asks for accountability and transparency something that doesn’t fit the world of development and growth for the editor and creator of the Independent Magazine. Something that is weird considering his past at KFM Radio and trouble for blasting governmental cronyism.

It is true that Museveni isn’t the only problem, but he is the one that creates the problem and feeds the issues, instead of fixing them. He doesn’t mend or complement them. Instead he adds on the weight until he overpowers it; because he has to do what he can rule and control it. Therefore he is the problem, as he is the executive power and the man who has had the majority rule or even rigged himself the majority. So Mwenda must have forgotten that part of the issue, if not he is blind by his own ego.

It is true that all the issues that Mwenda mentioned in the government of Uganda as the bad governance, weak state-institutions and democratic deficit. This was inherited in 1986 from the Obote II and the short-term presidents in between like Yusuf Lule and Tito Okello. So there aren’t all Museveni faults, but he has had the time to fix many of the issues and defects in the governmental structures and democratic facilitation if he really cared about them. It is not like he was sitting for a hot minute and didn’t have the time to fix the corruption of UNRA, NSSF and other state-organizations.

When you see excellent record of higher and higher loan-rate on the government budget for any year, when the value of the currency falls and escalating inflations you can wonder if the government and economical institutions under the regime is for the people or the rich elite who is fed by the government. The Neo-Liberalization of Uganda has lead the government to expand the businesses into every part of society instead of governmental control as the Chicago School of Business wanted in 1970s, with the IMF and World Bank controlled Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) that demolished state-financed agricultural and subsidized industries that was supposed to be controlled by market-powers instead of supported by tax-money to sustain growth and higher employment rate. The result of inflicting this on the Ugandan economy as the NRM-Regime has done with such a passion is that the business that has no cut for the government has been left astray and the ones that is not strong enough has gone bankrupt. Now Uganda has to imports of finished products and stop of productions from industry and factories in former towns like Jinja. Also with the historical institution of the Uganda Development Corporations, who from the 1950s gave growth through state-funds, and not through direct market power!

That must have been forgotten by the Andrew Mwenda, that President Museveni sold everything to foreigners or liberated the economy to point that the URA can’t tax, or control to tax without losing the control over the sold merchandise. That is why Uganda has one of the lowest rates of taxation on products since the URA doesn’t have the manpower or the regulations to without taxes. They can’t keep up with citizens and movement of money, if they had then they might catch up with more of the embezzlement and corrupted agreements between liberated companies or new structures in the market own by the ruling elite. But that is not good is it? Send cases to the DPP and OAG to fix the matters together with Uganda Anti-Corruption Commission which is so meager that they can’t keep the state of affairs and make government institution accountable, something that President Museveni doesn’t really want them to do, unless he want to get rid of somebody who has the dream of succeeding him. Then they will find something on the man or woman show some of the dirty laundry.

You don’t need to be giant man with much knowledge to diagnose some of the issues that the government of Uganda has to tackle, some the state of affairs and some tangible structures that need to be fixed. The government needs taxation with representation, also need to re-focus the money and also be more accountable for their actions. Not have a one-big-man rule as they have had since 1986 that keeps to eating of the plate, instead of serving the people. That is a problem: a problem that knows that he is the problem, if he stills remember what he studied in the end of 1960s and beginning of 1970 at the University of Dar-Es-Salam in Tanzania. President Museveni should know the issues and know how he made them, or prepared them through his loyal cronies. As Andrew Mwenda seems more like one of his mouth-pieces more as the time goes, instead of pseudo-intellectual as he wishes to portray himself.

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

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

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

That is it. Peace.