Supporters of Kizza Besigye yesterday clashed with those of President Museveni in Kasese as the political battle for control of the district ensued.
While addressing a rally at Mubuku Sub-county in Busongora North, a group of 20 NRM youth draped in dry banana leaves arrived.
Dr Besigye’s supporters then seized the dry banana leaves from the group and set them on fire. It took about 10 minutes for the police to restore calm between the two parties.
Freedom to assemble
Mr Monday Karim, the district police officer in-charge of electoral offences, told Daily Monitor that two NRM supporters were arrested for trying to disrupt Dr Besigye’s rallies. He said they will be charged with violent conduct.
The IPC presidential candidate also tried to calm his supporters.
“Leave those sanja (dry banana leaves) people alone. They have failed to learn that we also have freedom to assemble.”
Dr Besigye’s party, the FDC, is fighting to consolidate its presence in this area, the only district in western Uganda where FDC has representatives in Parliament.
Dr Besigye, who carried out door-to-door campaigns in some villages and was set to address a rally in Kasese town later in the evening, was thanked for having advocated the restoration of the Rwenzururu Kingdom. He was accompanied by former army commander Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu and Busongora South MP Christopher Kibazanga.
Mr Kibazanga, who opted not to run for Parliament but for the district leadership position, said the NRM has resorted to organising “hooligans” because they are losing out to the opposition.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Museveni, Besigye battle for Buganda
The political battle to win the Buganda vote is hotter than ever. Inter-Party Cooperation flag bearer Dr Kizza Besigye has already completed his tour of the region while the NRM party flag bearer, Mr Yoweri Museveni, who also started his campaign in Buganda, is expected to end in the region.
Four of the seven opposition candidates, each while delivering their maiden post-nomination message, dug deep to get Buganda on their side. They all extolled the kingdom as the heartbeat of Uganda’s politics and competed in honouring its king, the Kabaka, who under the current Constitution, is supposed to be apolitical.
The political significance of Buganda region in the forthcoming elections cannot be underrated. It is the region with the biggest number of voters and it also has the highest number of elite voters than any other region in the country.
It is also home to presidential candidates Ms Beti Olive Kamya of the Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA), Mr Jaberi Bidandi Ssali of People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr Abed Bwanika of the Peoples Development Party (PDP) and independent candidate, Mr Samuel Lubega.
Unique region
Buganda is a unique region because of the things it has been demanding from the central government among which is a federal system of governmence, the 9,000sq miles of land and abolition of the land law.
Kampala Central MP Erias Lukwago who has been instrumental in agitating for the return of Buganda properties said the Baganda will not vote individuals they perceive to be anti-Mengo establishment because they always pay special allegiance to their king.
“The people of Buganda will definitely listen to Mengo,” Mr Lukwago said, adding, “the current land tenure system, which was introduced by this government, is only intended to grab Buganda land and people know that Mengo opposed the Land Bill.
“Buganda is a more institutionalised society. The people know that the current political dynamics do not work in favour of their Kabaka and there is no way they will support this government which created a legal framework that is hostile to the Buganda interests,” Mr Lukwago said.
The recent drafting of the Kampala City Bill, was the latest in a string of confrontations between Mengo and the central government.
The resolution of the current feud over land, power and money in Buganda will depend primarily on Mr Museveni’s NRM party’s calculated gains and losses from pursuing a political agenda at odds with the desires of Mengo.
The height of the confrontation between Mr Museveni and Buganda Kingdom was seen during the September 2009 riot that left at least 28 Ugandans dead and more than 50 injured. This exposed the tension between State control and the ambitions of the traditional Buganda Kingdom.
This violence erupted after supporters of the king were angered by the alleged government’s blocking of their cultural leader from attending a youth ceremony in Kayunga District, where a section of the local community, the Banyara, is trying to break away from his rule.
Some political pundits believe that Mr Museveni has not been happy with Buganda Kingdom that looks like a government-in-waiting, a kind of an alternative centre of power with all the trappings of a political administration. It seems he was left with no alternative but to take action in an attempt to reverse this trend.
In what is seen as a calculated move to exploit tensions between Mengo and Mr Museveni, Dr Besigye has promised to grant federal to any region of the country that wishes to have it.
“The problem is when people start thinking that they should be given their rights by the State,” Dr Besigye said in an interview with The East African newspaper this week. “The Justice Odoki Commission, which gathered views across the country, found out that over 65 per cent of Ugandans wanted to be governed under a federal system of governance.
All that we are saying is that if power belongs to the people, then we shall implement the peoples’ will.
“There is nothing bold or unique about what we are saying needs to be done in the case of Buganda. Some people think that a federal system of governance is only needed by the people of Buganda but that is not the case.”
The IPC leader contends that the other issues of concern to Buganda relate to debts owed by the central government and properties still being held that the kingdom wants returned.
“These are very minor issues and are not contentious because if you have a debt, what is contentious about that? Nobody is saying the debt is not there, only that they are refusing to pay,” he said.
Dr Besigye, who is believed to enjoy a cordial relationship with the King of Buganda, hopes to capitalise on his new promises to sway Baganda voters away from NRM’s Museveni.
However, this will not come easy and Dr Besigye knows it. Mr Museveni’s strongholds have always been western and central Uganda. Support in these regions needs to be consolidated, especially considering that Mr Museveni’s support nationwide has been falling by around 10 per cent in each of the past presidential elections. Buganda has been the source of a large percentage of Mr Museveni’s votes, even if the Mengo establishment itself has supported the opposition.
In 2001, Mr Museveni won about 70 per cent of votes in Buganda, although this included the support of a large number of non-Baganda. By 2006, his support had decreased, largely as a result of the strong
Nevertheless, of the 168 sub-counties in which Baganda are the majority ethnic group (which does not include all the sub-counties in the region of Buganda, explained by the fact that there have been many migrants to the area), Mr Museveni won just over a million votes. Dr Besigye won 700,000.
Thus, in 2006, the Baganda provided Mr Museveni with nearly a quarter of the total votes he received countrywide.Presidential spokesman Tamale Mirundi whose relationship with Mengo has been as icy just like that of his boss, believes that Mr Museveni by large remains the most popular political figure in Buganda whose following cannot easily get destroyed by Mengo’s smear tactics.
Buganda Kingdom, Mr Mirundi argues, has little capacity to influence voting patterns, especially that of the poor Baganda, whose support for Mr Museveni has remained, is believed to be high.”
“The Buganda Kingdom made one serious mistake whose consequence they are still suffering,” Mr Mirundi said. “They tried to undermine political parties after their fall out with Milton Obote and when Mr Museveni came to power, they (kingdom) helped to entrench the NRM system, which they are now trying to fight.
“People cannot take them seriously. You cannot every year be celebrating the restoration of the kingdom by the president whom you are denying. People will not agree with you and that is why you have seen the local Baganda voting against Mengo’s positions.”
Four of the seven opposition candidates, each while delivering their maiden post-nomination message, dug deep to get Buganda on their side. They all extolled the kingdom as the heartbeat of Uganda’s politics and competed in honouring its king, the Kabaka, who under the current Constitution, is supposed to be apolitical.
The political significance of Buganda region in the forthcoming elections cannot be underrated. It is the region with the biggest number of voters and it also has the highest number of elite voters than any other region in the country.
It is also home to presidential candidates Ms Beti Olive Kamya of the Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA), Mr Jaberi Bidandi Ssali of People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr Abed Bwanika of the Peoples Development Party (PDP) and independent candidate, Mr Samuel Lubega.
Unique region
Buganda is a unique region because of the things it has been demanding from the central government among which is a federal system of governmence, the 9,000sq miles of land and abolition of the land law.
Kampala Central MP Erias Lukwago who has been instrumental in agitating for the return of Buganda properties said the Baganda will not vote individuals they perceive to be anti-Mengo establishment because they always pay special allegiance to their king.
“The people of Buganda will definitely listen to Mengo,” Mr Lukwago said, adding, “the current land tenure system, which was introduced by this government, is only intended to grab Buganda land and people know that Mengo opposed the Land Bill.
“Buganda is a more institutionalised society. The people know that the current political dynamics do not work in favour of their Kabaka and there is no way they will support this government which created a legal framework that is hostile to the Buganda interests,” Mr Lukwago said.
The recent drafting of the Kampala City Bill, was the latest in a string of confrontations between Mengo and the central government.
The resolution of the current feud over land, power and money in Buganda will depend primarily on Mr Museveni’s NRM party’s calculated gains and losses from pursuing a political agenda at odds with the desires of Mengo.
The height of the confrontation between Mr Museveni and Buganda Kingdom was seen during the September 2009 riot that left at least 28 Ugandans dead and more than 50 injured. This exposed the tension between State control and the ambitions of the traditional Buganda Kingdom.
This violence erupted after supporters of the king were angered by the alleged government’s blocking of their cultural leader from attending a youth ceremony in Kayunga District, where a section of the local community, the Banyara, is trying to break away from his rule.
Some political pundits believe that Mr Museveni has not been happy with Buganda Kingdom that looks like a government-in-waiting, a kind of an alternative centre of power with all the trappings of a political administration. It seems he was left with no alternative but to take action in an attempt to reverse this trend.
In what is seen as a calculated move to exploit tensions between Mengo and Mr Museveni, Dr Besigye has promised to grant federal to any region of the country that wishes to have it.
“The problem is when people start thinking that they should be given their rights by the State,” Dr Besigye said in an interview with The East African newspaper this week. “The Justice Odoki Commission, which gathered views across the country, found out that over 65 per cent of Ugandans wanted to be governed under a federal system of governance.
All that we are saying is that if power belongs to the people, then we shall implement the peoples’ will.
“There is nothing bold or unique about what we are saying needs to be done in the case of Buganda. Some people think that a federal system of governance is only needed by the people of Buganda but that is not the case.”
The IPC leader contends that the other issues of concern to Buganda relate to debts owed by the central government and properties still being held that the kingdom wants returned.
“These are very minor issues and are not contentious because if you have a debt, what is contentious about that? Nobody is saying the debt is not there, only that they are refusing to pay,” he said.
Dr Besigye, who is believed to enjoy a cordial relationship with the King of Buganda, hopes to capitalise on his new promises to sway Baganda voters away from NRM’s Museveni.
However, this will not come easy and Dr Besigye knows it. Mr Museveni’s strongholds have always been western and central Uganda. Support in these regions needs to be consolidated, especially considering that Mr Museveni’s support nationwide has been falling by around 10 per cent in each of the past presidential elections. Buganda has been the source of a large percentage of Mr Museveni’s votes, even if the Mengo establishment itself has supported the opposition.
In 2001, Mr Museveni won about 70 per cent of votes in Buganda, although this included the support of a large number of non-Baganda. By 2006, his support had decreased, largely as a result of the strong
Nevertheless, of the 168 sub-counties in which Baganda are the majority ethnic group (which does not include all the sub-counties in the region of Buganda, explained by the fact that there have been many migrants to the area), Mr Museveni won just over a million votes. Dr Besigye won 700,000.
Thus, in 2006, the Baganda provided Mr Museveni with nearly a quarter of the total votes he received countrywide.Presidential spokesman Tamale Mirundi whose relationship with Mengo has been as icy just like that of his boss, believes that Mr Museveni by large remains the most popular political figure in Buganda whose following cannot easily get destroyed by Mengo’s smear tactics.
Buganda Kingdom, Mr Mirundi argues, has little capacity to influence voting patterns, especially that of the poor Baganda, whose support for Mr Museveni has remained, is believed to be high.”
“The Buganda Kingdom made one serious mistake whose consequence they are still suffering,” Mr Mirundi said. “They tried to undermine political parties after their fall out with Milton Obote and when Mr Museveni came to power, they (kingdom) helped to entrench the NRM system, which they are now trying to fight.
“People cannot take them seriously. You cannot every year be celebrating the restoration of the kingdom by the president whom you are denying. People will not agree with you and that is why you have seen the local Baganda voting against Mengo’s positions.”
Friday, October 15, 2010
Uganda's Electoral Commission not ready for elections - report
Failure by the Electoral Commission to address constant harassment, arrests and intimidation of politicians has largely dented its credibility four months to elections, says a new report. The findings, assessing Uganda’s compliance with international standards of conducting elections, notes that the whereas the EC is legally empowered to ensure a smooth playing field ahead of elections, it has not satisfactorily done that. The report asks Mr Badru Kiggundu’s team to ensure all political players gain fair access to public broadcast media in the electioneering season.
Violence cases
Authored by Ms Margaret Sekaggya, the former Uganda Human Rights Commission head and the current UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders, the report notes, “The EC’s failure to address the constant harassment, arrests and intimidations which political groups and some individuals are subjected to by the police and kiboko squads, has severely undermined its credibility.”
Launched in Kampala yesterday, the 70-page report published by the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa and AfriMAP, also raises concerns about voter registration and polling processes. “Problems with the voters’ register cited in previous elections, including duplicate names, missing names and names registered in the wrong district, have not been adequately addressed, and have already seen in advance of February 2011,” it notes.
Ms Sekaggya said although time has run out to implement most electoral reforms, civic education and human rights awareness are a quick and sure way to prepare voters for times ahead. She also made a case for dialogue among the political players to avoid a scenario of violence as it was in Kenya after the 2007 presidential elections. “There should be a provision in the law to ban individuals found guilty by courts of law of electoral offence,” she added.
The keynote speaker at the launch, retired Supreme Court Justice George Kanyeihamba said under the current conditions, it will be improbable to orgnise free and fair elections come 2011. “No substantial reforms have been conducted. The ground is not level. Candidates like President Museveni have unfair advantage, launching development programmes one year or several months before elections yet the EC does not see this as a problem,” he said.
According to Prof. Kanyeihamba, he’d advised EC head Kiggundu to ask President Museveni to reform the electoral processes or resign if his request was ignored. “It is no secret. We advised him (Kiggundu) to table the recommendations with the President. He asked us, ‘what if the President refuses them?’ We told him, then resign but as you see he didn’t,” said Prof. Kanyeihamba.
The retired justice also warned church leaders against receiving gifts from politicians, saying they could be construed as bribes. “I asked one church leader that when the congregation asks him the candidate to vote for, won’t that Prado guide his judgment to advise them to vote for the candidate that cares for the church? He kept quiet,” he said.
Besides recommending that the EC be empowered further to deal with violence by suspending violent candidates and calling for more financial support to the commission, the report also recommends streamlining the electoral laws—like drafting a code of ethics for political parties.
It also urges the Uganda Human Rights Commission to carry out constant mass sensitisation on fundamental freedoms such as freedom to associate and assemble, including circumstances under which such rights can be restricted
Violence cases
Authored by Ms Margaret Sekaggya, the former Uganda Human Rights Commission head and the current UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders, the report notes, “The EC’s failure to address the constant harassment, arrests and intimidations which political groups and some individuals are subjected to by the police and kiboko squads, has severely undermined its credibility.”
Launched in Kampala yesterday, the 70-page report published by the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa and AfriMAP, also raises concerns about voter registration and polling processes. “Problems with the voters’ register cited in previous elections, including duplicate names, missing names and names registered in the wrong district, have not been adequately addressed, and have already seen in advance of February 2011,” it notes.
Ms Sekaggya said although time has run out to implement most electoral reforms, civic education and human rights awareness are a quick and sure way to prepare voters for times ahead. She also made a case for dialogue among the political players to avoid a scenario of violence as it was in Kenya after the 2007 presidential elections. “There should be a provision in the law to ban individuals found guilty by courts of law of electoral offence,” she added.
The keynote speaker at the launch, retired Supreme Court Justice George Kanyeihamba said under the current conditions, it will be improbable to orgnise free and fair elections come 2011. “No substantial reforms have been conducted. The ground is not level. Candidates like President Museveni have unfair advantage, launching development programmes one year or several months before elections yet the EC does not see this as a problem,” he said.
According to Prof. Kanyeihamba, he’d advised EC head Kiggundu to ask President Museveni to reform the electoral processes or resign if his request was ignored. “It is no secret. We advised him (Kiggundu) to table the recommendations with the President. He asked us, ‘what if the President refuses them?’ We told him, then resign but as you see he didn’t,” said Prof. Kanyeihamba.
The retired justice also warned church leaders against receiving gifts from politicians, saying they could be construed as bribes. “I asked one church leader that when the congregation asks him the candidate to vote for, won’t that Prado guide his judgment to advise them to vote for the candidate that cares for the church? He kept quiet,” he said.
Besides recommending that the EC be empowered further to deal with violence by suspending violent candidates and calling for more financial support to the commission, the report also recommends streamlining the electoral laws—like drafting a code of ethics for political parties.
It also urges the Uganda Human Rights Commission to carry out constant mass sensitisation on fundamental freedoms such as freedom to associate and assemble, including circumstances under which such rights can be restricted
Besigye treason trial quashed
Dr Kizza Besigye yesterday called for the resignation of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General after the Constitutional Court ordered that he and 10 others be discharged from any further prosecution arising from the treason charges they have been facing since 2005. All the five judges said they could not allow continued trial of the suspects when their fundamental human rights were being grossly violated by state agents.
Unfair trial
“No matter how strong the evidence against them may be, no fair trial can be achieved and any subsequent trial would be a waste of time and an abuse of court process,” read the lead judgment, written by Justice Alice Mpagi Bahigeine.
The other justices were George Engwau, Amos Twinomujuni, Constance Byamugisha and Augustine Nshimye. Dr Besigye, the opposition Forum for Democratic Change president, who was present at court, said the DPP Richard Buteera and AG Khidhu Makubuya should resign because state agents had used them to concoct charges.
But Mr Buteera said Dr Besigye’s conclusions were baseless because the evidence was not the subject matter at the trial. “As you know, I have never investigated that case. Personally, I have never concocted anything against Dr Besigye,” he said. “But I don’t know on what grounds somebody can jump to such conclusions when the matter has not been determined before the trial court, where the evidence was presented,” Mr Buteera told Daily Monitor by telephone.
Prof. Makubuya yesterday declined to comment, saying he had not read the judgment.
The landmark ruling, which now blocks Dr Besigye and his co-accused from any further trial at the High Court, Bushenyi and Arua Chief Magistrate Courts, forestalls a situation like in 2006 where Dr Besigye spent much of his campaign time between prison, court appearances and campaigns.
State prohibited
Yesterday’s ruling also permanently prohibited the state from using any process to initiate and prosecute the petitioners in connection with the alleged treason charges. Yesterday’s ruling will be another major victory for Dr Besigye, who was arrested in 2005 upon return from exile and charged with rape but was found innocent by the High Court. The government yesterday was non-committal whether it would appeal the Constitutional Court’s verdict. “I cannot determine whether government will appeal unless I read the ruling,” Prof. Makubuya said.
In their ruling, the judges said the petitioners’ lawyer, Mr David Mpanga, adduced evidence with “mathematical accuracy”. In ordering for the discharge of the Dr Besigye and his co-accused, the judges pointed out that the attack on the High Court premises by security agents on November 16, 2005 and March 1, 2007 had created conditions whereby the accused were at the danger of failing to get rights to – fair trial, presumption of innocence, had violated the cardinals of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
“Can any trial resulting from tainted proceedings as has been described in this petition be fair within the meaning of Article 28 and 44(c) of the Constitution? We have anxiously examined evidence from which the petitioners draw this conclusion. We have arrived at a similar conclusion that no trial arises from proceedings bearing a history like the one described in this petition can ever be said to be fair within the meaning of [the Constitution)”.
Principal Judge James Ogoola’s poem “The Rape of the Temple”, chronicling the two absurd sieges at High Court, was quoted by the judges as a testimony of a colleague who saw security agents invade court.
The recitation of this poem in court yesterday by registrar Asaph Ntegye was one of the few comic moments, in what otherwise seemed to be a tense session.
However, at the conclusion of the 56-page ruling and with clarity that the state had lost, the crowd of mainly opposition supporters ruptured into roars of “Besigye Oyee! FDC Oyee! Winning Oyee!” Opposition MPs led by Erias Lukwago (Kampala Central) hugged Dr Besigye as they congratulated him. And Dr Besigye used the moment to ask the electorate to vote the “disgraceful” government out of office next year and pick leaders with integrity.
Some of the main issues determined by court
* Whether the security personnel’s conduct contravened the Constitution.
* Whether murder charges in Bushenyi and Arua murder charges contravened the Constitution.
* Whether the cumulative effect of the conduct of the state towards the judiciary and the petitioners in the matter connected with the Treason trial contravened the Constitution. The Judges answered all the issues in the affirmative – granting the petition
Unfair trial
“No matter how strong the evidence against them may be, no fair trial can be achieved and any subsequent trial would be a waste of time and an abuse of court process,” read the lead judgment, written by Justice Alice Mpagi Bahigeine.
The other justices were George Engwau, Amos Twinomujuni, Constance Byamugisha and Augustine Nshimye. Dr Besigye, the opposition Forum for Democratic Change president, who was present at court, said the DPP Richard Buteera and AG Khidhu Makubuya should resign because state agents had used them to concoct charges.
But Mr Buteera said Dr Besigye’s conclusions were baseless because the evidence was not the subject matter at the trial. “As you know, I have never investigated that case. Personally, I have never concocted anything against Dr Besigye,” he said. “But I don’t know on what grounds somebody can jump to such conclusions when the matter has not been determined before the trial court, where the evidence was presented,” Mr Buteera told Daily Monitor by telephone.
Prof. Makubuya yesterday declined to comment, saying he had not read the judgment.
The landmark ruling, which now blocks Dr Besigye and his co-accused from any further trial at the High Court, Bushenyi and Arua Chief Magistrate Courts, forestalls a situation like in 2006 where Dr Besigye spent much of his campaign time between prison, court appearances and campaigns.
State prohibited
Yesterday’s ruling also permanently prohibited the state from using any process to initiate and prosecute the petitioners in connection with the alleged treason charges. Yesterday’s ruling will be another major victory for Dr Besigye, who was arrested in 2005 upon return from exile and charged with rape but was found innocent by the High Court. The government yesterday was non-committal whether it would appeal the Constitutional Court’s verdict. “I cannot determine whether government will appeal unless I read the ruling,” Prof. Makubuya said.
In their ruling, the judges said the petitioners’ lawyer, Mr David Mpanga, adduced evidence with “mathematical accuracy”. In ordering for the discharge of the Dr Besigye and his co-accused, the judges pointed out that the attack on the High Court premises by security agents on November 16, 2005 and March 1, 2007 had created conditions whereby the accused were at the danger of failing to get rights to – fair trial, presumption of innocence, had violated the cardinals of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
“Can any trial resulting from tainted proceedings as has been described in this petition be fair within the meaning of Article 28 and 44(c) of the Constitution? We have anxiously examined evidence from which the petitioners draw this conclusion. We have arrived at a similar conclusion that no trial arises from proceedings bearing a history like the one described in this petition can ever be said to be fair within the meaning of [the Constitution)”.
Principal Judge James Ogoola’s poem “The Rape of the Temple”, chronicling the two absurd sieges at High Court, was quoted by the judges as a testimony of a colleague who saw security agents invade court.
The recitation of this poem in court yesterday by registrar Asaph Ntegye was one of the few comic moments, in what otherwise seemed to be a tense session.
However, at the conclusion of the 56-page ruling and with clarity that the state had lost, the crowd of mainly opposition supporters ruptured into roars of “Besigye Oyee! FDC Oyee! Winning Oyee!” Opposition MPs led by Erias Lukwago (Kampala Central) hugged Dr Besigye as they congratulated him. And Dr Besigye used the moment to ask the electorate to vote the “disgraceful” government out of office next year and pick leaders with integrity.
Some of the main issues determined by court
* Whether the security personnel’s conduct contravened the Constitution.
* Whether murder charges in Bushenyi and Arua murder charges contravened the Constitution.
* Whether the cumulative effect of the conduct of the state towards the judiciary and the petitioners in the matter connected with the Treason trial contravened the Constitution. The Judges answered all the issues in the affirmative – granting the petition
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Launch of book critical of Museveni cancelled
The author of the book thought to be critical of President Museveni’s reign yesterday announced that she was deferring its launch because the government is yet to release a consignment held at Entebbe Airport. Dr Olive Kobusingye, the author of “The Correct Line? Uganda under Museveni”, also reportedly received a telephone call from a hotel that had been booked for the launch, slated for today, that it could not host the function.
Meanwhile, Parliament chaired by Speaker Edward Ssekandi has tasked the minister of finance to explain why customs was holding Dr Kobusingye’s books. The matter was raised by opposition MPs Alice Alaso and Elijah Okupa who sought an explanation for the seizure. “The lady is going to lose the money she has put in her work. She won’t even get refund from government. If it is for security reasons, tell the country,” Mr Okupa said. Ms Alaso added: “It is our inherent right as Ugandans to read whatever we want. We ask that finance directs the immediate release of those books because books don’t pay taxes.”
Govt tasked
Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, the State Minister for Planning, said: “It could be tax issues, maybe another law like pornography,” throwing the House into laughter.
He, however, was given up to today to explain the seizure of books that normally enjoy a tax waiver.
Dr Kobusingye yesterday said she was taking the legal path, starting with the courier company paid to deliver her books from London to Uganda. “I have instructed my lawyers to start the process,” she said. The consignment of books that largely profile opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye’s challenge to President Museveni in the 2001 and 2006 general elections, were seized by government officials on Sunday. Dr Kobusingye is sister to Forum for Democratic Change leader Kizza Besigye.
The book questions the fundamental changes promised by President Museveni when he took over power in January 1986 to-date and goes into detail to explore at what points and how the promise failed and the movement got derailed.
Published in London, The Correct Line? Was couriered into the country by a major international courier but was seized at Entebbe International Airport by the Uganda Revenue Authority Customs department under pressure from another unnamed arm of government
Meanwhile, Parliament chaired by Speaker Edward Ssekandi has tasked the minister of finance to explain why customs was holding Dr Kobusingye’s books. The matter was raised by opposition MPs Alice Alaso and Elijah Okupa who sought an explanation for the seizure. “The lady is going to lose the money she has put in her work. She won’t even get refund from government. If it is for security reasons, tell the country,” Mr Okupa said. Ms Alaso added: “It is our inherent right as Ugandans to read whatever we want. We ask that finance directs the immediate release of those books because books don’t pay taxes.”
Govt tasked
Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, the State Minister for Planning, said: “It could be tax issues, maybe another law like pornography,” throwing the House into laughter.
He, however, was given up to today to explain the seizure of books that normally enjoy a tax waiver.
Dr Kobusingye yesterday said she was taking the legal path, starting with the courier company paid to deliver her books from London to Uganda. “I have instructed my lawyers to start the process,” she said. The consignment of books that largely profile opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye’s challenge to President Museveni in the 2001 and 2006 general elections, were seized by government officials on Sunday. Dr Kobusingye is sister to Forum for Democratic Change leader Kizza Besigye.
The book questions the fundamental changes promised by President Museveni when he took over power in January 1986 to-date and goes into detail to explore at what points and how the promise failed and the movement got derailed.
Published in London, The Correct Line? Was couriered into the country by a major international courier but was seized at Entebbe International Airport by the Uganda Revenue Authority Customs department under pressure from another unnamed arm of government
To have or not to have; inmates speak out on right to sex
Should prisoners be allowed to make love to their partners? Is incarceration and denial of conjugal rights double punishment?
These were questions prisoners and students grappled with recently at a debate in Luzira Maximum Prison.
On Wednesday, inmates at the prison’s upper section took on students of Bishop Cipriano Kihangire SSS in a lively debate—where ironically—they were to make a case against conjugal rights, while the students pressed on that the men in detention should not be denied one of life’s greatest pleasures.
Davis Aleper, the lead prison debater, argued: “The government should first revise the laws to provide us with shorter sentences. This will enable us serve our punishments fast enough and go back home to meet our spouses other than providing us with conjugal rights which we shall not enjoy when locked up.”
With over 60 colleagues applauding, Aleper, who is serving time in jail for defilement, added: “Even then, conjugal rights can only be enjoyed if prisons are improved. We need more space for privacy, respect for prisoners and provision of finances to our families while we are in detention.”
This argument was taken up by the second speaker in the three-prisoner team, Julius Ogasi, who in fluent English said: “If our families are provided for, then our wives will be patient enough as we are locked up.
They will not have to look for other men to provide for them financially in exchange for sex.” But how feasible an idea is this in offences of a capital nature that may have an inmate locked up for decades?
Edna Mushabe, an S6 student of Bishop Cipriano, reasoned that the only way families could keep together is by letting spouses make love to their incarcerated partners.
“There is need for continuity in prisoners’ families and this can only be possible if they are allowed to meet and make love with their spouses,” she said, as she, interestingly, got cheered by her school mates and some of the prisoners.
Gideon Kintu of S5 observed that denying prisoners conjugal rights could be a recipe for disaster. “For someone serving 10 years in jail living without sex is like living in denial. It could drive them into committing worse crimes.”
Irony
The irony of teenagers making a case for jailed adults to enjoy sexual rights was not lost to many a watcher. But for Mr Charles Rubongoya, the director of Bishop Cipriano School, the more striking thing was the articulate manner in which the prisoners made their case.
“I came here on Monday and took them through the entire process of how the Karl Popper debate format works. I am surprised that they could argue this well and pull it off successfully.”
Another watcher dazzled by the prisoners’ eloquence was Mr Edgar Kangere, an official of the National Debate Council.
“The prisoners are really amazing and intelligent. Had they taken part in our regional schools championships, I am sure they would have made it to the national contest.”
Yes. Schools championship because actually the prisoners who debated are students—caged students.
The prison’s headmaster, Mr Anatoli Biryomumaisho, said the public should respect prisoners, adding that they are talented and the prisons service was helping them discover their potential.
He told Daily Monitor that the prison provides full education to the inmates from primary to university level—the latter offering diplomas in entrepreneurship and small business management.
The prisoners might have carried the day—but the main celebration was not in the successful defence of restrictions on conjugal rights but rather—that they had proved jail does not mean failure to argue
These were questions prisoners and students grappled with recently at a debate in Luzira Maximum Prison.
On Wednesday, inmates at the prison’s upper section took on students of Bishop Cipriano Kihangire SSS in a lively debate—where ironically—they were to make a case against conjugal rights, while the students pressed on that the men in detention should not be denied one of life’s greatest pleasures.
Davis Aleper, the lead prison debater, argued: “The government should first revise the laws to provide us with shorter sentences. This will enable us serve our punishments fast enough and go back home to meet our spouses other than providing us with conjugal rights which we shall not enjoy when locked up.”
With over 60 colleagues applauding, Aleper, who is serving time in jail for defilement, added: “Even then, conjugal rights can only be enjoyed if prisons are improved. We need more space for privacy, respect for prisoners and provision of finances to our families while we are in detention.”
This argument was taken up by the second speaker in the three-prisoner team, Julius Ogasi, who in fluent English said: “If our families are provided for, then our wives will be patient enough as we are locked up.
They will not have to look for other men to provide for them financially in exchange for sex.” But how feasible an idea is this in offences of a capital nature that may have an inmate locked up for decades?
Edna Mushabe, an S6 student of Bishop Cipriano, reasoned that the only way families could keep together is by letting spouses make love to their incarcerated partners.
“There is need for continuity in prisoners’ families and this can only be possible if they are allowed to meet and make love with their spouses,” she said, as she, interestingly, got cheered by her school mates and some of the prisoners.
Gideon Kintu of S5 observed that denying prisoners conjugal rights could be a recipe for disaster. “For someone serving 10 years in jail living without sex is like living in denial. It could drive them into committing worse crimes.”
Irony
The irony of teenagers making a case for jailed adults to enjoy sexual rights was not lost to many a watcher. But for Mr Charles Rubongoya, the director of Bishop Cipriano School, the more striking thing was the articulate manner in which the prisoners made their case.
“I came here on Monday and took them through the entire process of how the Karl Popper debate format works. I am surprised that they could argue this well and pull it off successfully.”
Another watcher dazzled by the prisoners’ eloquence was Mr Edgar Kangere, an official of the National Debate Council.
“The prisoners are really amazing and intelligent. Had they taken part in our regional schools championships, I am sure they would have made it to the national contest.”
Yes. Schools championship because actually the prisoners who debated are students—caged students.
The prison’s headmaster, Mr Anatoli Biryomumaisho, said the public should respect prisoners, adding that they are talented and the prisons service was helping them discover their potential.
He told Daily Monitor that the prison provides full education to the inmates from primary to university level—the latter offering diplomas in entrepreneurship and small business management.
The prisoners might have carried the day—but the main celebration was not in the successful defence of restrictions on conjugal rights but rather—that they had proved jail does not mean failure to argue
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Untold story of FDC primaries
Just like the ruling National Resistance Movement Party internal elections, the on-going Forum for Democratic Change polls have not been devoid of allegations of vote-rigging.
Unlike the NRM which used the universal adult suffrage system, FDC elections are being conducted through the electoral college system, where few parish, district and division officials decide the flag bearers for members of Parliament and local council seats.
Lacking enough manpower and facing other logistical challenges, the FDC decided to carry out voting in different regions of the country on different days. But even this did not guarantee a fair electoral process. In Arua District where voting was largely peaceful, the district FDC leadership was forced to postpone the exercise to the next day due to late delivery of electoral materials.
Related Stories
Stolen elections and the curse on Kigongo’s team
In Gulu District, a batch of losers is threatening to quit the party for what they called “lack of internal democracy”. The officials claim to have been rigged out.
They have given the party secretariat a two-week ultimatum to organise fresh polls or else they run as independents in the 2011 general elections.
The officials accuse FDC national secretary for campaigns and Aswa County MP, Mr Reagan Okumu, of having acted as a king-maker by endorsing their opponents, who eventually won the primary elections. But Mr Okumu told Inside Politics that he had little to do with elections in Gulu.
Guide voters
“All I did was to guide voters on choice of the best candidate. We needed candidates who are strong enough to beat the NRM flag bearers,” Mr Okumu said.
Mr Basil Odongpiny, the loser in Amuru FDC LC5 race said he has headed FDC in the district for many years and therefore would not budge after a shoddy electral process.
“I’m not going to accept this. I will contest as an independent candidate in the general elections because I don’t believe that my supporters can vote for someone else,” Mr Odongpiny said.
He said the number of registered voters on the register did not match the actual number of bona-fide voters. This, he argued, is a manifestation that the registers were tampered with.
The loser in the Amuru District race, Mr Gilbert Olany, also said he would stand as an independent candidate. He insists that Mr Anthony Akol who defeated him in the polls, did so fraudulently.
Ms Lily Dranzoa, another loser for the Adjumani Woman MP flag bearer, took the defeat so personally that she refused to sign the declaration forms as this would mean endorsing her opponent, whom she says won unfairly.
It is only the Gulu District vice chairman, Mr Makmot Kirata, who conceded defeat to district Speaker, Martin Ojara Mapenduzi.
Kampala test
The biggest test to FDC’s internal cohesion will perhaps be the elections for Nakawa MP seat and Kampala Woman MP. Kampala Woman MP, Ms Nabila Ssempala, is facing the challenge of her life, with Ms Rashida Naluwoza, a journalist-turned politician, breathing down her political neck. The two women’s camps have already been trading blows in the on-going parish elections in city.
Ms Ssempala seems to have run out of favour with some FDC officials who say she does not respect party leaders, is unapproachable, does not honour her party duties.
“She has spent three years without visiting the party headquarters,” said one FDC official who did not want to be named.
However, other senior party officials still regard Ms Ssempala as a person with good mobilisation skills and capable of retaining her seat. Her development programmes like the candle-making project for women has made her popular among Kampala women.
Even party leader Dr Kizza Besigye seems to be unsure who to back between the two protagonists in the Kampala Woman MP race. In one of the FDC national executive committee meetings, Ms Ssempala reportedly complained that senior party officials were sponsoring her opponent.
To this, Dr Besigye said, “If the two officials (Ssempala and Rashida) cannot agree by consensus, they should be left to face delegates. Even myself, I went through elections and you all saw how transparent it was. No one should be scared of going through the same.”
In Nakawa, FDC’s external relations coordinator, Ms Anne Mugisha is fighting tooth and nail to undo Mr Michael Kabaziguruka, a former FDC deputy electoral commission chairperson.
Ms Mugisha accuses the party electoral commission of incompetence and lack of will to conduct a free and fair election in Nakawa.
“Someone has to blow this out of the water,” said Ms Mugisha in a message posted on her facebook page. “The current FDC leadership has neither the capacity nor the will to conduct free and fair elections in Nakawa. I will not subject myself to the FDC electoral commission to determine my participation in Nakawa politics.” Ms Mugisha, however, insists that she remains a devoted member of the party.
FDC is conducting elections for Polling Area Branch (PAB) and Parish structures in Nakawa Division. But both Ms Mugisha and Mr Kabaziguruka have been on the ground, attempting to control the exercise since parish officials form the electoral colleges that will elect party’s flag bearers.
Related Stories
Stolen elections and the curse on Kigongo’s team
Petitions written
Mr Kabaziguruka is the current FDC chairman for Nakawa. He recently resigned his position as the national deputy electoral commissioner in order to take part in Nakawa polls.
However, Ms Mugisha has so far written three petitions asking the party to disqualify him for alleged interference with the voting exercise. Mr Kabaziguruka denies the accusations.
“At Naguru Community Centre, Ms Harriet Nakweda, who was handing out electoral materials and acting on the instructions of the chief electoral commissioner, left the vehicle of the chairman of Kampala District on the insistence of Mr Kabaziguruka, her former boss, and joined Mr Kabaziguruka in his vehicle with electoral materials and voters cards.
The two proceeded to deliver the materials together and to collect returns from several polling stations at the end of the voting exercise,” reads the September 13 petition by Ms Mugisha to the chairperson of FDC electoral commission.
Ms Mugisha says Mr Kabaziguruka should have disqualified himself from the race because of the conflict of interest. “In Bugolobi Parish, at Kayembe polling station, voters claimed that Mr Kabaziguruka availed them with copies of electoral materials (return forms) with instructions to pre-select names of candidates and demand that the presiding officer copy those lists in the true original return forms,” she says.
Kampala FDC chairman, Mr Livingston Kizito, who oversaw voting for parish elections in Naguru, described the exercise as “sham”.
“I was there and there was nothing like voting,” Mr Kizito said.
“I am the one who saved the returning officer from angry supporters who were accusing her of rigging in favour of Mr Kabaziguruka. I am surprised that she now says she has the results. Where did she get the results from?”
While acknowledging that she was pulled from the angry crowd that was threatening to lynch her, Ms Dembe Catherine, the returning officer who oversaw the voting exercise, told Inside Politics that voting had taken place before chaos broke out.
“I have actually just finished submitting the results. Let any aggrieved party petition the electoral commission. But I have finished my work,”Ms Dembe said.
To Ms Mugisha’s relief, the FDC National Executive Committee on Tuesday cancelled the Nakawa voting and ordered for fresh polls this weekend. It remains to be seen how the FDC will deal with disagreements emerging out of its internal elections
Unlike the NRM which used the universal adult suffrage system, FDC elections are being conducted through the electoral college system, where few parish, district and division officials decide the flag bearers for members of Parliament and local council seats.
Lacking enough manpower and facing other logistical challenges, the FDC decided to carry out voting in different regions of the country on different days. But even this did not guarantee a fair electoral process. In Arua District where voting was largely peaceful, the district FDC leadership was forced to postpone the exercise to the next day due to late delivery of electoral materials.
Related Stories
Stolen elections and the curse on Kigongo’s team
In Gulu District, a batch of losers is threatening to quit the party for what they called “lack of internal democracy”. The officials claim to have been rigged out.
They have given the party secretariat a two-week ultimatum to organise fresh polls or else they run as independents in the 2011 general elections.
The officials accuse FDC national secretary for campaigns and Aswa County MP, Mr Reagan Okumu, of having acted as a king-maker by endorsing their opponents, who eventually won the primary elections. But Mr Okumu told Inside Politics that he had little to do with elections in Gulu.
Guide voters
“All I did was to guide voters on choice of the best candidate. We needed candidates who are strong enough to beat the NRM flag bearers,” Mr Okumu said.
Mr Basil Odongpiny, the loser in Amuru FDC LC5 race said he has headed FDC in the district for many years and therefore would not budge after a shoddy electral process.
“I’m not going to accept this. I will contest as an independent candidate in the general elections because I don’t believe that my supporters can vote for someone else,” Mr Odongpiny said.
He said the number of registered voters on the register did not match the actual number of bona-fide voters. This, he argued, is a manifestation that the registers were tampered with.
The loser in the Amuru District race, Mr Gilbert Olany, also said he would stand as an independent candidate. He insists that Mr Anthony Akol who defeated him in the polls, did so fraudulently.
Ms Lily Dranzoa, another loser for the Adjumani Woman MP flag bearer, took the defeat so personally that she refused to sign the declaration forms as this would mean endorsing her opponent, whom she says won unfairly.
It is only the Gulu District vice chairman, Mr Makmot Kirata, who conceded defeat to district Speaker, Martin Ojara Mapenduzi.
Kampala test
The biggest test to FDC’s internal cohesion will perhaps be the elections for Nakawa MP seat and Kampala Woman MP. Kampala Woman MP, Ms Nabila Ssempala, is facing the challenge of her life, with Ms Rashida Naluwoza, a journalist-turned politician, breathing down her political neck. The two women’s camps have already been trading blows in the on-going parish elections in city.
Ms Ssempala seems to have run out of favour with some FDC officials who say she does not respect party leaders, is unapproachable, does not honour her party duties.
“She has spent three years without visiting the party headquarters,” said one FDC official who did not want to be named.
However, other senior party officials still regard Ms Ssempala as a person with good mobilisation skills and capable of retaining her seat. Her development programmes like the candle-making project for women has made her popular among Kampala women.
Even party leader Dr Kizza Besigye seems to be unsure who to back between the two protagonists in the Kampala Woman MP race. In one of the FDC national executive committee meetings, Ms Ssempala reportedly complained that senior party officials were sponsoring her opponent.
To this, Dr Besigye said, “If the two officials (Ssempala and Rashida) cannot agree by consensus, they should be left to face delegates. Even myself, I went through elections and you all saw how transparent it was. No one should be scared of going through the same.”
In Nakawa, FDC’s external relations coordinator, Ms Anne Mugisha is fighting tooth and nail to undo Mr Michael Kabaziguruka, a former FDC deputy electoral commission chairperson.
Ms Mugisha accuses the party electoral commission of incompetence and lack of will to conduct a free and fair election in Nakawa.
“Someone has to blow this out of the water,” said Ms Mugisha in a message posted on her facebook page. “The current FDC leadership has neither the capacity nor the will to conduct free and fair elections in Nakawa. I will not subject myself to the FDC electoral commission to determine my participation in Nakawa politics.” Ms Mugisha, however, insists that she remains a devoted member of the party.
FDC is conducting elections for Polling Area Branch (PAB) and Parish structures in Nakawa Division. But both Ms Mugisha and Mr Kabaziguruka have been on the ground, attempting to control the exercise since parish officials form the electoral colleges that will elect party’s flag bearers.
Related Stories
Stolen elections and the curse on Kigongo’s team
Petitions written
Mr Kabaziguruka is the current FDC chairman for Nakawa. He recently resigned his position as the national deputy electoral commissioner in order to take part in Nakawa polls.
However, Ms Mugisha has so far written three petitions asking the party to disqualify him for alleged interference with the voting exercise. Mr Kabaziguruka denies the accusations.
“At Naguru Community Centre, Ms Harriet Nakweda, who was handing out electoral materials and acting on the instructions of the chief electoral commissioner, left the vehicle of the chairman of Kampala District on the insistence of Mr Kabaziguruka, her former boss, and joined Mr Kabaziguruka in his vehicle with electoral materials and voters cards.
The two proceeded to deliver the materials together and to collect returns from several polling stations at the end of the voting exercise,” reads the September 13 petition by Ms Mugisha to the chairperson of FDC electoral commission.
Ms Mugisha says Mr Kabaziguruka should have disqualified himself from the race because of the conflict of interest. “In Bugolobi Parish, at Kayembe polling station, voters claimed that Mr Kabaziguruka availed them with copies of electoral materials (return forms) with instructions to pre-select names of candidates and demand that the presiding officer copy those lists in the true original return forms,” she says.
Kampala FDC chairman, Mr Livingston Kizito, who oversaw voting for parish elections in Naguru, described the exercise as “sham”.
“I was there and there was nothing like voting,” Mr Kizito said.
“I am the one who saved the returning officer from angry supporters who were accusing her of rigging in favour of Mr Kabaziguruka. I am surprised that she now says she has the results. Where did she get the results from?”
While acknowledging that she was pulled from the angry crowd that was threatening to lynch her, Ms Dembe Catherine, the returning officer who oversaw the voting exercise, told Inside Politics that voting had taken place before chaos broke out.
“I have actually just finished submitting the results. Let any aggrieved party petition the electoral commission. But I have finished my work,”Ms Dembe said.
To Ms Mugisha’s relief, the FDC National Executive Committee on Tuesday cancelled the Nakawa voting and ordered for fresh polls this weekend. It remains to be seen how the FDC will deal with disagreements emerging out of its internal elections
Electoral Commission not ready for elections - report
Failure by the Electoral Commission to address constant harassment, arrests and intimidation of politicians has largely dented its credibility four months to elections, says a new report. The findings, assessing Uganda’s compliance with international standards of conducting elections, notes that the whereas the EC is legally empowered to ensure a smooth playing field ahead of elections, it has not satisfactorily done that. The report asks Mr Badru Kiggundu’s team to ensure all political players gain fair access to public broadcast media in the electioneering season.
Violence cases
Authored by Ms Margaret Sekaggya, the former Uganda Human Rights Commission head and the current UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders, the report notes, “The EC’s failure to address the constant harassment, arrests and intimidations which political groups and some individuals are subjected to by the police and kiboko squads, has severely undermined its credibility.”
Related Stories
Clinton’s new report praises and attacks EC
Mbabazi: I am ready to serve anywhere
Why MPs passed financial budget without debate
Launched in Kampala yesterday, the 70-page report published by the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa and AfriMAP, also raises concerns about voter registration and polling processes. “Problems with the voters’ register cited in previous elections, including duplicate names, missing names and names registered in the wrong district, have not been adequately addressed, and have already seen in advance of February 2011,” it notes.
Ms Sekaggya said although time has run out to implement most electoral reforms, civic education and human rights awareness are a quick and sure way to prepare voters for times ahead. She also made a case for dialogue among the political players to avoid a scenario of violence as it was in Kenya after the 2007 presidential elections. “There should be a provision in the law to ban individuals found guilty by courts of law of electoral offence,” she added.
The keynote speaker at the launch, retired Supreme Court Justice George Kanyeihamba said under the current conditions, it will be improbable to orgnise free and fair elections come 2011. “No substantial reforms have been conducted. The ground is not level. Candidates like President Museveni have unfair advantage, launching development programmes one year or several months before elections yet the EC does not see this as a problem,” he said.
According to Prof. Kanyeihamba, he’d advised EC head Kiggundu to ask President Museveni to reform the electoral processes or resign if his request was ignored. “It is no secret. We advised him (Kiggundu) to table the recommendations with the President. He asked us, ‘what if the President refuses them?’ We told him, then resign but as you see he didn’t,” said Prof. Kanyeihamba.
The retired justice also warned church leaders against receiving gifts from politicians, saying they could be construed as bribes. “I asked one church leader that when the congregation asks him the candidate to vote for, won’t that Prado guide his judgment to advise them to vote for the candidate that cares for the church? He kept quiet,” he said.
Besides recommending that the EC be empowered further to deal with violence by suspending violent candidates and calling for more financial support to the commission, the report also recommends streamlining the electoral laws—like drafting a code of ethics for political parties.
It also urges the Uganda Human Rights Commission to carry out constant mass sensitisation on fundamental freedoms such as freedom to associate and assemble, including circumstances under which such rights can be restricted
Violence cases
Authored by Ms Margaret Sekaggya, the former Uganda Human Rights Commission head and the current UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders, the report notes, “The EC’s failure to address the constant harassment, arrests and intimidations which political groups and some individuals are subjected to by the police and kiboko squads, has severely undermined its credibility.”
Related Stories
Clinton’s new report praises and attacks EC
Mbabazi: I am ready to serve anywhere
Why MPs passed financial budget without debate
Launched in Kampala yesterday, the 70-page report published by the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa and AfriMAP, also raises concerns about voter registration and polling processes. “Problems with the voters’ register cited in previous elections, including duplicate names, missing names and names registered in the wrong district, have not been adequately addressed, and have already seen in advance of February 2011,” it notes.
Ms Sekaggya said although time has run out to implement most electoral reforms, civic education and human rights awareness are a quick and sure way to prepare voters for times ahead. She also made a case for dialogue among the political players to avoid a scenario of violence as it was in Kenya after the 2007 presidential elections. “There should be a provision in the law to ban individuals found guilty by courts of law of electoral offence,” she added.
The keynote speaker at the launch, retired Supreme Court Justice George Kanyeihamba said under the current conditions, it will be improbable to orgnise free and fair elections come 2011. “No substantial reforms have been conducted. The ground is not level. Candidates like President Museveni have unfair advantage, launching development programmes one year or several months before elections yet the EC does not see this as a problem,” he said.
According to Prof. Kanyeihamba, he’d advised EC head Kiggundu to ask President Museveni to reform the electoral processes or resign if his request was ignored. “It is no secret. We advised him (Kiggundu) to table the recommendations with the President. He asked us, ‘what if the President refuses them?’ We told him, then resign but as you see he didn’t,” said Prof. Kanyeihamba.
The retired justice also warned church leaders against receiving gifts from politicians, saying they could be construed as bribes. “I asked one church leader that when the congregation asks him the candidate to vote for, won’t that Prado guide his judgment to advise them to vote for the candidate that cares for the church? He kept quiet,” he said.
Besides recommending that the EC be empowered further to deal with violence by suspending violent candidates and calling for more financial support to the commission, the report also recommends streamlining the electoral laws—like drafting a code of ethics for political parties.
It also urges the Uganda Human Rights Commission to carry out constant mass sensitisation on fundamental freedoms such as freedom to associate and assemble, including circumstances under which such rights can be restricted
Friday, September 10, 2010
Uganda gets Shs31 billion for nutrition
The World Food Programme has said it has invested up to $14 million (about Shs31 billion) this year to fund nutrition programmes in Uganda.
The money is particularly benefiting nutrition programmes in Karamoja, Acholi and South western Uganda where cases of malnourished children are high.
“Food security and proper nutrition are closely linked,” Mr Stanlake Samkange, the WFP country drector, said yesterday. “WFP’s traditional emergency support to disaster-affected populations, combining nutrition with agriculture is a key part of WFP’s efforts to help the government eradicate hunger.”
High risk
Although Uganda produces large amounts of food, many people lack iron, Vitamin A and other essential micronutrients, without which children cannot have fully productive lives and pregnant women are at risk of death.
The result of this has been a high malnutrition rate especially among children under the age of five in Uganda. Statistics from the Ministry of Health show at least 38 per cent of all Ugandan children under the age of five are stunted as a result of malnutrition. Another six percent are wasted, meaning they have low weight for their height while 16 per cent are under weight-meaning that they have low weight for their age.
The report shows that this poor health status of children in Uganda is also accounting for the high infant and child mortality rates currently at 76 and 137 deaths for every 1,000 live births respectively.
“While this year WFP will spend over $9 million on more traditional programmes including the school meals’ programmes aimed at addressing food insecurity in the Karamoja region, it has also made important longer term investments in nutrition security in line with Uganda’s National Development Plan,” Mr Samkange said.
He said WFP works closely with the government, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organisation on nutrition programmes.
From Daily Monitor
The money is particularly benefiting nutrition programmes in Karamoja, Acholi and South western Uganda where cases of malnourished children are high.
“Food security and proper nutrition are closely linked,” Mr Stanlake Samkange, the WFP country drector, said yesterday. “WFP’s traditional emergency support to disaster-affected populations, combining nutrition with agriculture is a key part of WFP’s efforts to help the government eradicate hunger.”
High risk
Although Uganda produces large amounts of food, many people lack iron, Vitamin A and other essential micronutrients, without which children cannot have fully productive lives and pregnant women are at risk of death.
The result of this has been a high malnutrition rate especially among children under the age of five in Uganda. Statistics from the Ministry of Health show at least 38 per cent of all Ugandan children under the age of five are stunted as a result of malnutrition. Another six percent are wasted, meaning they have low weight for their height while 16 per cent are under weight-meaning that they have low weight for their age.
The report shows that this poor health status of children in Uganda is also accounting for the high infant and child mortality rates currently at 76 and 137 deaths for every 1,000 live births respectively.
“While this year WFP will spend over $9 million on more traditional programmes including the school meals’ programmes aimed at addressing food insecurity in the Karamoja region, it has also made important longer term investments in nutrition security in line with Uganda’s National Development Plan,” Mr Samkange said.
He said WFP works closely with the government, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organisation on nutrition programmes.
From Daily Monitor
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Population time bomb: 89m Ugandans by 2037
The latest Population Reference Bureau report indicates that Uganda has the world’s second youngest population. Up to 48.7 per cent of Ugandans are under 15 years of age. This explosion of young people places the country at the edge of a demographic challenge. Saturday Monitor's Evelyn Lirri asks how Uganda will employ and feed these numbers.
It’s a time bomb! But one that will take another thirty years to explode and when it does, Uganda could find itself unable to feed its population, it will not have enough schools, hospitals, there will be more squalid settlements and traffic jam will probably be ten times worse than what we know of today.
Thousands will be jobless and ultimate chaos could be the rule other than the exception leading to serious political mayhem but only if, as a country we do not control our population growth.
The average age of Uganda’s 31 million people is just 15 years, ranking the country in second position in the world with the youngest population after Niger, according to the 2010 world data sheet from the Population Reference Bureau.
But a young population with more consumers than producers has enormous implications for a developing country like Uganda, particularly in the area of social services and the growth of the economy in general.
The PRB data sheet shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, young people make up more than 42 per cent of the total population, and there are only 1.3 working-age adults for every child under 14.
In more developed countries, children under 14 make up only 17 per cent of the total population, and there are 4.1 adults of working age for every child under 14. As a result, youth dependency or the number of children economically dependent on the working-age population is relatively low.
“In countries such as Uganda, where a woman has on average more than six children, there is a 1-to-1 ratio of working-age adults and children under 14. This high youth dependency burdens governments, communities, and families as they try to meet the needs of large, young populations,” the report reveals.
Demographers' take
Demographers agree that providing for the needs of young people, particularly education and healthcare makes more economic sense if it is distributed over a larger number of working adults, which is the challenge that Uganda will have to confront as it tries to satisfy the needs of the bulging numbers.
Mr Charles Zirarema, the acting director at the Population Secretariat, explains that having more than half of a country’s population under the age of 18 years not only stretches the economy, it also makes it highly dependant.
According to the National Development Plan, the dependency ratio stands at 110 per cent - meaning that for every nine workers, there are 10 dependents. The result of this has been high unemployment coupled with a high dependence burden, denying the country the potential contribution of this redundant labour force.
“The danger is that you have a small working group stretched to service the young largely unproductive group of people,” said Mr Zirarema. Yet this is not about to change. If anything, Uganda’s population is increasingly becoming younger, with the proportion of children under the age of 18 having increased from 51 per cent in 1969 to 56 per cent when the 2002 National Census was conducted.
Population boom
The Population Secretariat says this population boom is likely to eventually overwhelm government. In a report titled “Uganda: Population Factors and National Development”, it notes that Uganda’s population has been growing rapidly from five million in 1948 to 31 million by 2009.
Like the global population that rose from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 6.9 billion in 2010, much of this bulge is a consequence of high fertility rates and an equally high unmet need for family planning services.
In Uganda, fertility rate stands at 6.7 per cent among women of child-bearing age, while contraceptive use is at a low 23 per cent.
Projections from the Population Secretariat show with continued high fertility, the population would increase from about 30 million to 50.9 million in 2022 and 88.8 million by 2037.
But in the case of a declining fertility projection, the population would increase to 62.4 million persons in 2037, meaning there would be nearly 26.6 million fewer persons. Health experts say one underlying reason for the high fertility rate is the high teenage pregnancy where women start child bearing as early as 14 years.
Uganda has one of the highest teenage pregnancies in Africa (25 per cent). Dr Peter Ibembe, the national programme manager at Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), says the majority of young females in Uganda are married off by the age of 24 and two in three women in the country begin childbearing by the age of 19.
“Part of the reason for this is that not all young people have been reached with reproductive health services,” says Dr Ibembe. Because reproductive health services don’t easily reach young people, he explains that contraceptive use among this category of people remains at a low 10 per cent compared to the national average of 23 per cent. This has consequently led to a high rate of induced abortion; many using crude high risk methods and maternal deaths among young girls under 24 years of age
supports making available adolescent sexual and reproductive health services, inadequate enforcement and implementation has led to many young people being left out of key reproductive health messages.
The introduction of free primary education in 1997 was meant to increase the enrolment of girls in school but also delay marriage which could consequently reduce early pregnancies. But a high dropout rate-especially among girls had frustrated the programme.
“This is the reason why we are advocating that young girls should be allowed to go back to school even after giving birth because their future will be affected if we allow them to continue having more children when they are young,” said Dr Ibembe.
Experts observe social services, housing, jobs and opportunities have not expanded at the same pace as population growth.
The Population Secretariat report has projected that if population continues to grow at its current pace, it will affect all sustainable development objectives in virtually all sectors-health, education, agriculture, environment, economic development and urbanisation.
“A fast growing population only discounts all other gains in education, health and infrastructure. With a lower growth rate, we would have a lot more gains,” says Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba, a development economist at Makerere University.
The report has projected that if fertility rate continues as it is the number of pupils in primary school will increase from the current 7.5 million to 18.4 million by 2037. This would require a significant rise in the number of teachers from 152,000 to 459,800 in the same year.
However if fertility were to drop to 2.2 per woman, the number of children in primary school would only increase to a modest 10.3 million by 2037, and this would require only an additional 253,900 teachers. According to the report, over the projection period, the cumulative saving made by having to fewer teachers and children in school would be Shs230bn.
“Some of the savings could be used to increase expenditures to achieve and sustain free education, enhance teacher training and improve classrooms,” the report notes.
The effect of the high population growth is also being felt in the health sector. It is projected that the need for health facilities will increase with the continued rapid population growth and better health seeking behaviours.
In 2007, there were 3,045 health centres II, III and IV-or I, for every 9,500 people. If this ratio per person of health centres continues in the future, with a high fertility rate the country would need 9320 health centres by 2037. But with a restrained fertility rate- this figure would be 6,550 health facilities.
Public health costs would also rise with increasing fertility.
Job pressure
Due to the growing young population as well as a high fertility rate, population and development experts observe that Uganda is likely to face an increase in job creation pressure for the youth over the coming decades.
Unemployment is already a huge challenge in the country, where officials say almost 400,000 students graduate from tertiary institutions every year only to compete for 18,000 government jobs created in the same period.
Consequently, those who fail to enter the job market end up in the informal sector or without jobs at all. The NDP is what the government believes will transform Uganda from a predominantly peasant society to a middle income country by 2015.
It shows that out of the 12 million Ugandans in the working age group, only 6.4 million were actively working by 2002.
One of the constraints to the performance of the labour and employment sector, according to the NDP is the current education and training system which prepares graduates to be job seekers, other than job creators. Mr Zirarema says Uganda will need to change the education system to reflect the needs of the economy, but also address the growing unemployment.
“There is a mismatch between what is learnt in schools and what the job market offers,” he said. Development experts like Prof Nuwagaba agree.
According to him, while the country has a relatively well educated population; most of this populace is not skilled. This is in part because the current higher education training system is more theory based and less focused on practical, hands-on teaching.
According to Prof. Nuwagaba, many graduates are missing out on good jobs because the education curriculum does not place enough emphasis on practical skills
“Getting a university degree is not a big deal any more. What the country needs is a person who is able to earn a living by the skills that they hold but not the degree,” he says.
He argues that Uganda needs to redesign the teaching curriculum so that it focuses on the skills needed to develop its human capital and make it more competitive.
“What we should be seeing are innovative and skilled graduates who are able to create goods and services, and not just graduates looking for jobs. Countries like Malaysia have done this successfully,” he told Daily Monitor.
With the current high population growth rate of 3.2 per cent per annum, Prof. Nuwagaba says Uganda will need a GDP growth rate that is four times the population growth rate. At the moment, Uganda’s economy is growing at an annual rate of six percent, meaning that the population is growing faster than the economy can support.
This means that to sustainably support a huge population, GDP growth rate should be at least 12.8 per cent by 2037. “This is likely to be unachievable given that even a country like China which has the highest GDP growth in the country at the moment is growing at 10.3 per cent,” said Prof. Nuwagaba.
While a big population size has generally led to prosperity in many countries like China, Prof. Nuwagaba says Uganda’s fast exploding population is a liability.
“Uganda’s population is a poor quality one because it’s highly dependant, unskilled and doesn’t create demand and jobs.”
Big labour force
According to him, Uganda will have to ensure that its labour force is far larger than both its dependant young population and older population-with the ability to generate wealth, save and invest. Demographic gift or dividend is the rise in the rate of economic growth due to a rising share of working age people in the population
Demographic dividend usually happens when fertility rate falls and the youth dependency ratio declines. The drop in fertility rate was one of the key factors that, for example, helped Thailand and Singapore-which once had the same GDP per capita as Uganda to become middle income economies in a single generation.
The government hopes to address challenges of population and development through its recently launched NDP and the National Population Policy. The NDP addresses structural bottlenecks in the economy in order to accelerate socio-economic transformation for prosperity like creating employment, raising average per capita income levels, improving the labour force distribution and improving Uganda's competitiveness.
The national population policy was also launched in 2008 to address development challenges posed by a rapidly growing population
It’s a time bomb! But one that will take another thirty years to explode and when it does, Uganda could find itself unable to feed its population, it will not have enough schools, hospitals, there will be more squalid settlements and traffic jam will probably be ten times worse than what we know of today.
Thousands will be jobless and ultimate chaos could be the rule other than the exception leading to serious political mayhem but only if, as a country we do not control our population growth.
The average age of Uganda’s 31 million people is just 15 years, ranking the country in second position in the world with the youngest population after Niger, according to the 2010 world data sheet from the Population Reference Bureau.
But a young population with more consumers than producers has enormous implications for a developing country like Uganda, particularly in the area of social services and the growth of the economy in general.
The PRB data sheet shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, young people make up more than 42 per cent of the total population, and there are only 1.3 working-age adults for every child under 14.
In more developed countries, children under 14 make up only 17 per cent of the total population, and there are 4.1 adults of working age for every child under 14. As a result, youth dependency or the number of children economically dependent on the working-age population is relatively low.
“In countries such as Uganda, where a woman has on average more than six children, there is a 1-to-1 ratio of working-age adults and children under 14. This high youth dependency burdens governments, communities, and families as they try to meet the needs of large, young populations,” the report reveals.
Demographers' take
Demographers agree that providing for the needs of young people, particularly education and healthcare makes more economic sense if it is distributed over a larger number of working adults, which is the challenge that Uganda will have to confront as it tries to satisfy the needs of the bulging numbers.
Mr Charles Zirarema, the acting director at the Population Secretariat, explains that having more than half of a country’s population under the age of 18 years not only stretches the economy, it also makes it highly dependant.
According to the National Development Plan, the dependency ratio stands at 110 per cent - meaning that for every nine workers, there are 10 dependents. The result of this has been high unemployment coupled with a high dependence burden, denying the country the potential contribution of this redundant labour force.
“The danger is that you have a small working group stretched to service the young largely unproductive group of people,” said Mr Zirarema. Yet this is not about to change. If anything, Uganda’s population is increasingly becoming younger, with the proportion of children under the age of 18 having increased from 51 per cent in 1969 to 56 per cent when the 2002 National Census was conducted.
Population boom
The Population Secretariat says this population boom is likely to eventually overwhelm government. In a report titled “Uganda: Population Factors and National Development”, it notes that Uganda’s population has been growing rapidly from five million in 1948 to 31 million by 2009.
Like the global population that rose from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 6.9 billion in 2010, much of this bulge is a consequence of high fertility rates and an equally high unmet need for family planning services.
In Uganda, fertility rate stands at 6.7 per cent among women of child-bearing age, while contraceptive use is at a low 23 per cent.
Projections from the Population Secretariat show with continued high fertility, the population would increase from about 30 million to 50.9 million in 2022 and 88.8 million by 2037.
But in the case of a declining fertility projection, the population would increase to 62.4 million persons in 2037, meaning there would be nearly 26.6 million fewer persons. Health experts say one underlying reason for the high fertility rate is the high teenage pregnancy where women start child bearing as early as 14 years.
Uganda has one of the highest teenage pregnancies in Africa (25 per cent). Dr Peter Ibembe, the national programme manager at Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), says the majority of young females in Uganda are married off by the age of 24 and two in three women in the country begin childbearing by the age of 19.
“Part of the reason for this is that not all young people have been reached with reproductive health services,” says Dr Ibembe. Because reproductive health services don’t easily reach young people, he explains that contraceptive use among this category of people remains at a low 10 per cent compared to the national average of 23 per cent. This has consequently led to a high rate of induced abortion; many using crude high risk methods and maternal deaths among young girls under 24 years of age
supports making available adolescent sexual and reproductive health services, inadequate enforcement and implementation has led to many young people being left out of key reproductive health messages.
The introduction of free primary education in 1997 was meant to increase the enrolment of girls in school but also delay marriage which could consequently reduce early pregnancies. But a high dropout rate-especially among girls had frustrated the programme.
“This is the reason why we are advocating that young girls should be allowed to go back to school even after giving birth because their future will be affected if we allow them to continue having more children when they are young,” said Dr Ibembe.
Experts observe social services, housing, jobs and opportunities have not expanded at the same pace as population growth.
The Population Secretariat report has projected that if population continues to grow at its current pace, it will affect all sustainable development objectives in virtually all sectors-health, education, agriculture, environment, economic development and urbanisation.
“A fast growing population only discounts all other gains in education, health and infrastructure. With a lower growth rate, we would have a lot more gains,” says Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba, a development economist at Makerere University.
The report has projected that if fertility rate continues as it is the number of pupils in primary school will increase from the current 7.5 million to 18.4 million by 2037. This would require a significant rise in the number of teachers from 152,000 to 459,800 in the same year.
However if fertility were to drop to 2.2 per woman, the number of children in primary school would only increase to a modest 10.3 million by 2037, and this would require only an additional 253,900 teachers. According to the report, over the projection period, the cumulative saving made by having to fewer teachers and children in school would be Shs230bn.
“Some of the savings could be used to increase expenditures to achieve and sustain free education, enhance teacher training and improve classrooms,” the report notes.
The effect of the high population growth is also being felt in the health sector. It is projected that the need for health facilities will increase with the continued rapid population growth and better health seeking behaviours.
In 2007, there were 3,045 health centres II, III and IV-or I, for every 9,500 people. If this ratio per person of health centres continues in the future, with a high fertility rate the country would need 9320 health centres by 2037. But with a restrained fertility rate- this figure would be 6,550 health facilities.
Public health costs would also rise with increasing fertility.
Job pressure
Due to the growing young population as well as a high fertility rate, population and development experts observe that Uganda is likely to face an increase in job creation pressure for the youth over the coming decades.
Unemployment is already a huge challenge in the country, where officials say almost 400,000 students graduate from tertiary institutions every year only to compete for 18,000 government jobs created in the same period.
Consequently, those who fail to enter the job market end up in the informal sector or without jobs at all. The NDP is what the government believes will transform Uganda from a predominantly peasant society to a middle income country by 2015.
It shows that out of the 12 million Ugandans in the working age group, only 6.4 million were actively working by 2002.
One of the constraints to the performance of the labour and employment sector, according to the NDP is the current education and training system which prepares graduates to be job seekers, other than job creators. Mr Zirarema says Uganda will need to change the education system to reflect the needs of the economy, but also address the growing unemployment.
“There is a mismatch between what is learnt in schools and what the job market offers,” he said. Development experts like Prof Nuwagaba agree.
According to him, while the country has a relatively well educated population; most of this populace is not skilled. This is in part because the current higher education training system is more theory based and less focused on practical, hands-on teaching.
According to Prof. Nuwagaba, many graduates are missing out on good jobs because the education curriculum does not place enough emphasis on practical skills
“Getting a university degree is not a big deal any more. What the country needs is a person who is able to earn a living by the skills that they hold but not the degree,” he says.
He argues that Uganda needs to redesign the teaching curriculum so that it focuses on the skills needed to develop its human capital and make it more competitive.
“What we should be seeing are innovative and skilled graduates who are able to create goods and services, and not just graduates looking for jobs. Countries like Malaysia have done this successfully,” he told Daily Monitor.
With the current high population growth rate of 3.2 per cent per annum, Prof. Nuwagaba says Uganda will need a GDP growth rate that is four times the population growth rate. At the moment, Uganda’s economy is growing at an annual rate of six percent, meaning that the population is growing faster than the economy can support.
This means that to sustainably support a huge population, GDP growth rate should be at least 12.8 per cent by 2037. “This is likely to be unachievable given that even a country like China which has the highest GDP growth in the country at the moment is growing at 10.3 per cent,” said Prof. Nuwagaba.
While a big population size has generally led to prosperity in many countries like China, Prof. Nuwagaba says Uganda’s fast exploding population is a liability.
“Uganda’s population is a poor quality one because it’s highly dependant, unskilled and doesn’t create demand and jobs.”
Big labour force
According to him, Uganda will have to ensure that its labour force is far larger than both its dependant young population and older population-with the ability to generate wealth, save and invest. Demographic gift or dividend is the rise in the rate of economic growth due to a rising share of working age people in the population
Demographic dividend usually happens when fertility rate falls and the youth dependency ratio declines. The drop in fertility rate was one of the key factors that, for example, helped Thailand and Singapore-which once had the same GDP per capita as Uganda to become middle income economies in a single generation.
The government hopes to address challenges of population and development through its recently launched NDP and the National Population Policy. The NDP addresses structural bottlenecks in the economy in order to accelerate socio-economic transformation for prosperity like creating employment, raising average per capita income levels, improving the labour force distribution and improving Uganda's competitiveness.
The national population policy was also launched in 2008 to address development challenges posed by a rapidly growing population
Ssejjaaka wants more exposure for students
It was his not-so-good performance at O’ level that finally woke Dr Samuel Ssejjaaka Kisakye to the need to take his education seriously. He had done very well in his Primary Leaving Examinations. But when he scored 18 aggregates in the best six subjects in his Uganda Certificate of Education exams, Dr Ssejjaaka says he felt it was equivalent to failing.
“The performance shocked me. I had to concentrate on books for better marks in A’ Level because my best teachers, Reverand Bombo and Mr John Mpagi, the deputy headmaster by then, had been disappointed with the performance. So I had to change the bad impression they had about me,” explained Dr Ssejjaaka, who says the poor performance was down to a stubborn spell in his O’ level.
“I started reading hard; attended all classes. I never strayed out of the school laws. Surely I didn’t cheat myself again,” the academic says of his time at King’s College Budo.
The transformation was impressive. By the time he completed his Senior Six in 1983, Dr Ssejjaaka had emerged the second best arts student in Uganda, scoring 3AAB in Literature, Economics and Geography.
At Makerere University, Dr Ssejjaaka enrolled for a Bachelor of Commerce degree and majored in accounting. He passed with a second class lower degree. Because of that lukewarm performance, he decided to pursue further education.
Clear goals
Dr Ssejjaaka has since pursued a diploma in Computer Science from Makerere University, a Masters in Science, Finance and Accounting, as well as a certified accounting course (ACCA). He topped it all with a PhD that he completed at Makerere University in 2005.
“I never stopped at the first degree,” he said. “I had to continue with my studies so that I could get exactly what I wanted since the shock of the bad performance had failed to go away from my head. So I had to do all it takes to see that I change it.”
The Mubs academic says the current crop of students pass highly but often fail to relate to the needs of their surroundings because they are not given chance to explore on their own. “Teachers left us to explore and learn on our own, which is not the case today,” he said. “Much more emphasis was put on learning than passing. We had to pass our exams but the results reflected more than what we had learnt.”
Dr Ssejjaaka attributes the problem to the big number of students that universities accommodate. This, he says, cannot allow all students ample time to utilise the available resources sufficiently, compared to his days when they were only 60 students in the class.
“We enjoyed during our days. The library was filled with all kinds of books. As for the study trips, our lecturers could organise them for us,” he said. “We generally had good time at the university.”
Studying in the university at a time when the government changed hands twice through military conquests had its fair share of distractions. Ssejjaaka says he almost joined the National Resistance Army bush war. He intimates that he only failed to join because his uncle who had promised to pick him, never turned up. “I think it was just excitement at that age because I never had a positive political perspective,” he says.
When he completed his education, Dr Sejjaaka started out as an accountant at Sapoba Bookshop. He then joined the Ministry of Finance as an accounts officer in the economic analysis office. When he completed his tenure in the ministry, he joined Mubs and has since risen through the ranks to the position of deputy principal. He is also a partner at Ssejjaaka, Kawaase & Company.
Dr Ssejjaaka, 46, is married to a Tanzanian. “It was very simple for me because my parents didn’t harden on me when I took my beautiful Tanzanian wife to them. We legally got married while studying. We are now living happily with our children,” he said. However, he got his first born while still in his first year at university but that did not stop him from pursuing his academic goals
“The performance shocked me. I had to concentrate on books for better marks in A’ Level because my best teachers, Reverand Bombo and Mr John Mpagi, the deputy headmaster by then, had been disappointed with the performance. So I had to change the bad impression they had about me,” explained Dr Ssejjaaka, who says the poor performance was down to a stubborn spell in his O’ level.
“I started reading hard; attended all classes. I never strayed out of the school laws. Surely I didn’t cheat myself again,” the academic says of his time at King’s College Budo.
The transformation was impressive. By the time he completed his Senior Six in 1983, Dr Ssejjaaka had emerged the second best arts student in Uganda, scoring 3AAB in Literature, Economics and Geography.
At Makerere University, Dr Ssejjaaka enrolled for a Bachelor of Commerce degree and majored in accounting. He passed with a second class lower degree. Because of that lukewarm performance, he decided to pursue further education.
Clear goals
Dr Ssejjaaka has since pursued a diploma in Computer Science from Makerere University, a Masters in Science, Finance and Accounting, as well as a certified accounting course (ACCA). He topped it all with a PhD that he completed at Makerere University in 2005.
“I never stopped at the first degree,” he said. “I had to continue with my studies so that I could get exactly what I wanted since the shock of the bad performance had failed to go away from my head. So I had to do all it takes to see that I change it.”
The Mubs academic says the current crop of students pass highly but often fail to relate to the needs of their surroundings because they are not given chance to explore on their own. “Teachers left us to explore and learn on our own, which is not the case today,” he said. “Much more emphasis was put on learning than passing. We had to pass our exams but the results reflected more than what we had learnt.”
Dr Ssejjaaka attributes the problem to the big number of students that universities accommodate. This, he says, cannot allow all students ample time to utilise the available resources sufficiently, compared to his days when they were only 60 students in the class.
“We enjoyed during our days. The library was filled with all kinds of books. As for the study trips, our lecturers could organise them for us,” he said. “We generally had good time at the university.”
Studying in the university at a time when the government changed hands twice through military conquests had its fair share of distractions. Ssejjaaka says he almost joined the National Resistance Army bush war. He intimates that he only failed to join because his uncle who had promised to pick him, never turned up. “I think it was just excitement at that age because I never had a positive political perspective,” he says.
When he completed his education, Dr Sejjaaka started out as an accountant at Sapoba Bookshop. He then joined the Ministry of Finance as an accounts officer in the economic analysis office. When he completed his tenure in the ministry, he joined Mubs and has since risen through the ranks to the position of deputy principal. He is also a partner at Ssejjaaka, Kawaase & Company.
Dr Ssejjaaka, 46, is married to a Tanzanian. “It was very simple for me because my parents didn’t harden on me when I took my beautiful Tanzanian wife to them. We legally got married while studying. We are now living happily with our children,” he said. However, he got his first born while still in his first year at university but that did not stop him from pursuing his academic goals
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
4 Ugandan soldiers killed in Somalia
FOUR Ugandan peacekeepers were killed and eight others injured yesterday in the Somali capital Mogadishu when al-Shabaab rebels fired mortars at the presidential palace, an African Union spokesman said.
Uganda and Burundi have deployed more than 6,300 troops to the anarchic Horn of Africa nation to guard the port and airport and shield President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed from attack.
The AU’s peacekeepers concentrate their efforts on shielding the president and guarding the port and airport.
“We lost four Ugandan soldiers in mortar fire on Villa Somalia this morning,” AU spokesman Barigye Ba-Hoku said, referring to the presidential palace.
Another eight Ugandan soldiers were wounded, he said.
The AU forces are locked in heavy fighting with the Islamist rebels who want to topple the transitional administration. Last week, the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group vowed to intensify its holy war against the UN-backed government which it denounces as a puppet of the West.
Yesterday the Somali leader said his government needed more international assistance against the militants who launched their first attack on foreign soil in July, killing 79 people in Kampala.
“It is quite impractical to expect Somalia alone to contain the evil alliance of al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab, as Somalia is emerging from 20 years of destruction and a chaotic political environment,” Ahmed said in a statement
Uganda and Burundi have deployed more than 6,300 troops to the anarchic Horn of Africa nation to guard the port and airport and shield President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed from attack.
The AU’s peacekeepers concentrate their efforts on shielding the president and guarding the port and airport.
“We lost four Ugandan soldiers in mortar fire on Villa Somalia this morning,” AU spokesman Barigye Ba-Hoku said, referring to the presidential palace.
Another eight Ugandan soldiers were wounded, he said.
The AU forces are locked in heavy fighting with the Islamist rebels who want to topple the transitional administration. Last week, the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group vowed to intensify its holy war against the UN-backed government which it denounces as a puppet of the West.
Yesterday the Somali leader said his government needed more international assistance against the militants who launched their first attack on foreign soil in July, killing 79 people in Kampala.
“It is quite impractical to expect Somalia alone to contain the evil alliance of al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab, as Somalia is emerging from 20 years of destruction and a chaotic political environment,” Ahmed said in a statement
Vote of no confidence
Electoral irregularities and malpractices on an unprecedented scale yesterday forced the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to suspend primary elections for the party’s parliamentary and local council flag bearers in nearly every corner of the country.
The widespread indiscretions, which included outright attempts to stuff ballot boxes with thousands of pre-ticked votes, sparked off violent clashes in some parts of the country, which, though not extensive to the scale of those witnessed during elections for NRM district chairpersons, angered several party faithful enough to accuse their leadership of gross incompetence.
Late delivery
Around the country, party members reeling at the extent of malpractices also accused the NRM electoral commission of delivering voting materials late, distributing flawed voters’ registers with missing names, swapping voters’ registers belonging to different constituencies and failure to prevent vote rigging.
Among the districts where elections in some constituencies were suspended over irregularities are Fort Portal, Kasese, Mbarara, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Kamwenge, Isingiro, Kabale, Ntungamo, Kiruhura, Ibanda, Rukungiri and parts of Kanungu in western Uganda; Mbale, Kapchorwa, Sironko, Manafwa, Busia, Butaleja, Kamuli, Bulambuli, Serere, Abim, Iganga and Nakapiripirit in the east; Arua and Moyo in the north-west; as well as Kampala, Mukono, Entebbe, Wakiso and Rakai in central. In Sembabule, voting did not take place after ballot papers mysteriously went missing.
Over 100 arrested
By press time last night, police had arrested about 100 NRM members in different parts of the country, including eight soldiers in Kabale District and students from a secondary school belonging to a contestant from Lwengo District, for allegedly attempting to vote illegally and masterminding some of the violence.
Deputy ministers Simon Ejua (state for transport) and Richard Nduhuura (state for health, general duties) and Dorothy Hyuha (Minister without Portfolia) were also accused of possessing already ticked papers and attempting to stuff them in the ballot boxes in their respective constituencies. Mr Ejua survived being lynched by supporters of his opponents.
Intimidation, harassment
The NRM primaries also had their fair share of alleged voter intimidation and harassment. In Mbale and Kibuku, police arrested atleast 15 people who were armed with sticks, pangas and guns at night that they were allegedly using to intimidate, harass and beat up opponents of Bunghoko South MP Michael Werikhe and MP Saleh Kamba respectively.
In Busoga region, Busiki County MP Musa Mukose Mutabaali was pelted with stones. Mr Mutabaali, who was injured and his car damaged, blamed the attack on supporters of his opponents. Another aspirant, Ms Charity Namuwoza, who is contesting for the Namutumba District Woman MP seat, was admitted to Iganga Hospital after a midnight attack by a yet-to-be-identified group.
In Rubaga North, former MP Tom Kayongo was roughed up by voters who accused him of tampering with the poll process. The numerous illegalities forced many party leaders to concede that the NRM had reached a new low. In Mbale, LC 5 chairman Bernard Mujasi told the press that the incidents point to major internal problems within the ruling party because it has failed to lead by example. “Where voting materials are inadequate and ballot papers are already in the streets, we should not deceive ourselves that we have democracy,” he said.
Vice President Gilbert Bukenya also weighed in after casting his vote at Nagulu polling station in Kakiri Sub-county, accusing the Mbabazi-led party leadership of incompetence.
Prof. Bukenya, who is vying for the position of party general secretary against Security Minister Amama Mbabazi, said, “You can imagine it is 12p.m. and most people have not started voting because materials never arrived on time. These are serious organisational problems.” “In some places in my constituency there was no voters’ register. These are anomalies that could have been solved if the secretariat was strong,” he added.
Administrative issue
Mr Mbabazi, who is contesting to be the NRM flag bearer in the parliamentary elections to represent Kinkizi West constituency in Kanungu District, was not available to comment. However, the NRM electoral commissioner, Ms Lydia Wanyoto, yesterday admitted that administrative problems had hampered the voting exercise. She, however, said the party was working on quick solutions to the problem. “It is a challenge for all of us,” admitted Ms Wanyoto. “We are getting reports that ballot papers are not enough and alleged ballot theft. We shall meet to see what to do after receiving all the complaints.”
The widespread indiscretions, which included outright attempts to stuff ballot boxes with thousands of pre-ticked votes, sparked off violent clashes in some parts of the country, which, though not extensive to the scale of those witnessed during elections for NRM district chairpersons, angered several party faithful enough to accuse their leadership of gross incompetence.
Late delivery
Around the country, party members reeling at the extent of malpractices also accused the NRM electoral commission of delivering voting materials late, distributing flawed voters’ registers with missing names, swapping voters’ registers belonging to different constituencies and failure to prevent vote rigging.
Among the districts where elections in some constituencies were suspended over irregularities are Fort Portal, Kasese, Mbarara, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Kamwenge, Isingiro, Kabale, Ntungamo, Kiruhura, Ibanda, Rukungiri and parts of Kanungu in western Uganda; Mbale, Kapchorwa, Sironko, Manafwa, Busia, Butaleja, Kamuli, Bulambuli, Serere, Abim, Iganga and Nakapiripirit in the east; Arua and Moyo in the north-west; as well as Kampala, Mukono, Entebbe, Wakiso and Rakai in central. In Sembabule, voting did not take place after ballot papers mysteriously went missing.
Over 100 arrested
By press time last night, police had arrested about 100 NRM members in different parts of the country, including eight soldiers in Kabale District and students from a secondary school belonging to a contestant from Lwengo District, for allegedly attempting to vote illegally and masterminding some of the violence.
Deputy ministers Simon Ejua (state for transport) and Richard Nduhuura (state for health, general duties) and Dorothy Hyuha (Minister without Portfolia) were also accused of possessing already ticked papers and attempting to stuff them in the ballot boxes in their respective constituencies. Mr Ejua survived being lynched by supporters of his opponents.
Intimidation, harassment
The NRM primaries also had their fair share of alleged voter intimidation and harassment. In Mbale and Kibuku, police arrested atleast 15 people who were armed with sticks, pangas and guns at night that they were allegedly using to intimidate, harass and beat up opponents of Bunghoko South MP Michael Werikhe and MP Saleh Kamba respectively.
In Busoga region, Busiki County MP Musa Mukose Mutabaali was pelted with stones. Mr Mutabaali, who was injured and his car damaged, blamed the attack on supporters of his opponents. Another aspirant, Ms Charity Namuwoza, who is contesting for the Namutumba District Woman MP seat, was admitted to Iganga Hospital after a midnight attack by a yet-to-be-identified group.
In Rubaga North, former MP Tom Kayongo was roughed up by voters who accused him of tampering with the poll process. The numerous illegalities forced many party leaders to concede that the NRM had reached a new low. In Mbale, LC 5 chairman Bernard Mujasi told the press that the incidents point to major internal problems within the ruling party because it has failed to lead by example. “Where voting materials are inadequate and ballot papers are already in the streets, we should not deceive ourselves that we have democracy,” he said.
Vice President Gilbert Bukenya also weighed in after casting his vote at Nagulu polling station in Kakiri Sub-county, accusing the Mbabazi-led party leadership of incompetence.
Prof. Bukenya, who is vying for the position of party general secretary against Security Minister Amama Mbabazi, said, “You can imagine it is 12p.m. and most people have not started voting because materials never arrived on time. These are serious organisational problems.” “In some places in my constituency there was no voters’ register. These are anomalies that could have been solved if the secretariat was strong,” he added.
Administrative issue
Mr Mbabazi, who is contesting to be the NRM flag bearer in the parliamentary elections to represent Kinkizi West constituency in Kanungu District, was not available to comment. However, the NRM electoral commissioner, Ms Lydia Wanyoto, yesterday admitted that administrative problems had hampered the voting exercise. She, however, said the party was working on quick solutions to the problem. “It is a challenge for all of us,” admitted Ms Wanyoto. “We are getting reports that ballot papers are not enough and alleged ballot theft. We shall meet to see what to do after receiving all the complaints.”
The police have come under the spotlight again after documentary evidence showed that senior officials of the National Resistance Movement influenced the Force to arrest the mayor of Hoima Town Council, Francis Atugonza.
Vice President Gilbert Bukenya has blamed the NRM Secretariat for the mess that characterised yesterday’s party primary elections.
Speaking to journalists after casting his vote at Nagulu polling station in Kakiri Sub-county, Wakiso District yesterday, Prof. Bukenya said the NRM secretariat was facing serious organisational problems that can be ironed out by a competent leadership.
“You can imagine it is 12 noon and most people have not started voting because materials never arrived on time,” Prof. Bukenya said, adding, “Even the materials they have sent are not enough and the presiding officers are being told to use exercise books as ballot papers. These are serious organisational problems.
Yesterday’s voting for NRM’s parliamentary and local council flag bearers in Kampala, Mukono, Entebbe municipality, Rakai and parts of Wakiso District were postponed over allegations of election malpractices. Even where voting took place, it started late due to lack of voting materials.
Secretariat blamed
Prof. Bukenya, who is running against Amama Mbabazi, the incumbent, in the race for the NRM secretary general, argued that most of the hiccups that led to suspension of voting exercises in most districts in Uganda could have been avoided if the party had an effective secretariat.
“In some places in my constituency there was no voters register, while in other places the presiding officers were told that if someone is a known NRM supporter who can be identified by the people, then he can vote even if his name was not on the register,” Prof. Bukenya said. “These are anomalies that could have been solved if the secretariat was strong”, he said. Prof. Bukenya, however, refused to put the blame on Mbabazi, saying he does not want to mention individuals.
The National Resistance Movement Electoral Commission chief Lydia Wanyoto yesterday admitted that administrative problems had hampered the voting exercise but said the party was working on a quick solution to the problems. “It is a challenge for all of us,” Ms Wanyoto said. “We are getting reports that ballot papers are not enough and the alleged ballot theft. We shall see what to do after receiving all the complaints.”
Meanwhile, the NRM presiding officer for Masulita Sub-county in Wakiso yesterday survived getting lynched by a mob who accused him of disappearing with ballot papers meant for election of the district NRM flag bearer. Mr Naliima Waswa told Daily Monitor at Masulita Police Station, where he took refuge, that he ran away with the ballots because they were not enough.
Ballot shortage
He said after realising that the ballot papers could not tally with the big number of voters present, he called the party headquarters for more ballots papers but he was instead advised to use exercise books. “That was unlawful because there is nowhere in the NRM constitution where it is written that exercise books shall be used as ballot papers,” Mr Waswa said yesterday. “ When I refused the unlawful directives from the party headquarters and packed the ballots to leave the place, the crowd followed me thinking that I had stuffed the ballots.”
Speaking to journalists after casting his vote at Nagulu polling station in Kakiri Sub-county, Wakiso District yesterday, Prof. Bukenya said the NRM secretariat was facing serious organisational problems that can be ironed out by a competent leadership.
“You can imagine it is 12 noon and most people have not started voting because materials never arrived on time,” Prof. Bukenya said, adding, “Even the materials they have sent are not enough and the presiding officers are being told to use exercise books as ballot papers. These are serious organisational problems.
Yesterday’s voting for NRM’s parliamentary and local council flag bearers in Kampala, Mukono, Entebbe municipality, Rakai and parts of Wakiso District were postponed over allegations of election malpractices. Even where voting took place, it started late due to lack of voting materials.
Secretariat blamed
Prof. Bukenya, who is running against Amama Mbabazi, the incumbent, in the race for the NRM secretary general, argued that most of the hiccups that led to suspension of voting exercises in most districts in Uganda could have been avoided if the party had an effective secretariat.
“In some places in my constituency there was no voters register, while in other places the presiding officers were told that if someone is a known NRM supporter who can be identified by the people, then he can vote even if his name was not on the register,” Prof. Bukenya said. “These are anomalies that could have been solved if the secretariat was strong”, he said. Prof. Bukenya, however, refused to put the blame on Mbabazi, saying he does not want to mention individuals.
The National Resistance Movement Electoral Commission chief Lydia Wanyoto yesterday admitted that administrative problems had hampered the voting exercise but said the party was working on a quick solution to the problems. “It is a challenge for all of us,” Ms Wanyoto said. “We are getting reports that ballot papers are not enough and the alleged ballot theft. We shall see what to do after receiving all the complaints.”
Meanwhile, the NRM presiding officer for Masulita Sub-county in Wakiso yesterday survived getting lynched by a mob who accused him of disappearing with ballot papers meant for election of the district NRM flag bearer. Mr Naliima Waswa told Daily Monitor at Masulita Police Station, where he took refuge, that he ran away with the ballots because they were not enough.
Ballot shortage
He said after realising that the ballot papers could not tally with the big number of voters present, he called the party headquarters for more ballots papers but he was instead advised to use exercise books. “That was unlawful because there is nowhere in the NRM constitution where it is written that exercise books shall be used as ballot papers,” Mr Waswa said yesterday. “ When I refused the unlawful directives from the party headquarters and packed the ballots to leave the place, the crowd followed me thinking that I had stuffed the ballots.”
Police on spot over Atugonza graft case
The police have come under the spotlight again after documentary evidence showed that senior officials of the National Resistance Movement influenced the Force to arrest the mayor of Hoima Town Council, Francis Atugonza.
Mr Atugonza, who is also the secretary for trade and Industry in the Forum for Democratic Change party, was in December last year arrested and charged with abuse of office for allegedly selling the town council’s land to a telecommunication company without the council’s authority. He denied the charge in the Anti-Corruption Court.
According to documents seen by Saturday Monitor, the arrest of Mr Atugonza was allegedly politically orchestrated by the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Service, Mr Henry Muganwa Kajura with whom the has a long-term disagreements.
The orders
Saturday Monitor has seen a written directive from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to the Police Commander in–charge of the Anti- Corruption Department, asking him to work with Minister Kajura during the entire investigations to ensure that Mr Atugonza is produced in court.
“Thoroughly and speedily investigate those complaints [against Atugonza),” reads a directive from the Inspector General of Police to the head of police anti-corruption department. “Closely work with the second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public service.”
When the IGP’s directive reached the head of Anti-Corruption police, he directed a junior officer, whose name was not revealed in the document, to investigate the matter with the help of Hoima District NRM general secretary, Mr David Kaboyo, Hoima Resident District Commissioner, Ms Martha Asiimwe and the Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Walter Iryama.
More investigations
“Thoroughly investigate this case and ensure that the culprits are produced before court,” reads an order from the head of Anti-Corruption Department.
It is not clear why the IGP was relying on senior NRM officials to investigate Mr Atugonza who is a known opposition figure in the region. Under the Ugandan laws, the police force is supposed to be non-partisan, and is not supposed to be under the guidance or control of any individual or authority while performing its duties.
The head of Anti-Corruption Department also ordered the detectives to investigate the source of Shs30m paid by the FDC Hoima District Chairman, Mr Jackson Wabyona, to bail out Mr Atugonza from prison.
Mr Atugonza, who is also a member of FDC National Executive Committee, came into limelight in April , 2009 when he was arrested by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force and CMI operatives and taken to Kololo torture cells. He claimed to have been beaten by security operatives before being dumped at Old Kampala Police Station after a severe search for him mounted by FDC and human right activists.
When Saturday Monitor contacted police spokesperson Judith Nabakoba yesterday, she refused to comment on the matter but the Commissioner of Police in-charge of Anti-Corruption, Mr Joseph Otim, said he was not aware of any form of political influence behind the case.
“Whenever letters come to the IGP, the IGP can comment on them and send them to us,” Mr Otim said, “After seeing the comments, I instruct my officers to open a file. “You should understand that with issues of corruption, we try to get attention of everybody because we are all stake holders. May be that is why all those officers were informed about the case.”
Mr Otim, who investigated all the four cases against Mr Atugonza, said yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecution informed him last week that three cases; one relating to the misused of council property, the second relating to illegal sale of land to Link Bus Limited and the third relating to hiring an illegal tax collector, will be dropped.
Survives ousting
Last year, Mr Atugonza survived being ousted when the NRM Secretary General, Mr Amama Mbabazi, prevailed upon all NRM councillors on the town council executive committee to resign. Mr Mbabazi reasoned that without NRM-leaning councillors on his side, Mr Atugonza would fail to constitute another executive committee and would thus be forced out. Indeed all the councillors resigned, except one, an NRM-leaning independent.
“What are you doing on Atugonza and FDC’s executive? You should resign and if Atugonza fails to constitute an executive within 60 days, he will be thrown out of office and fresh elections shall be organised,” Mr Mbabazi is quoted to have said then.
Mr Atugonza, who is also the secretary for trade and Industry in the Forum for Democratic Change party, was in December last year arrested and charged with abuse of office for allegedly selling the town council’s land to a telecommunication company without the council’s authority. He denied the charge in the Anti-Corruption Court.
According to documents seen by Saturday Monitor, the arrest of Mr Atugonza was allegedly politically orchestrated by the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Service, Mr Henry Muganwa Kajura with whom the has a long-term disagreements.
The orders
Saturday Monitor has seen a written directive from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to the Police Commander in–charge of the Anti- Corruption Department, asking him to work with Minister Kajura during the entire investigations to ensure that Mr Atugonza is produced in court.
“Thoroughly and speedily investigate those complaints [against Atugonza),” reads a directive from the Inspector General of Police to the head of police anti-corruption department. “Closely work with the second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public service.”
When the IGP’s directive reached the head of Anti-Corruption police, he directed a junior officer, whose name was not revealed in the document, to investigate the matter with the help of Hoima District NRM general secretary, Mr David Kaboyo, Hoima Resident District Commissioner, Ms Martha Asiimwe and the Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Walter Iryama.
More investigations
“Thoroughly investigate this case and ensure that the culprits are produced before court,” reads an order from the head of Anti-Corruption Department.
It is not clear why the IGP was relying on senior NRM officials to investigate Mr Atugonza who is a known opposition figure in the region. Under the Ugandan laws, the police force is supposed to be non-partisan, and is not supposed to be under the guidance or control of any individual or authority while performing its duties.
The head of Anti-Corruption Department also ordered the detectives to investigate the source of Shs30m paid by the FDC Hoima District Chairman, Mr Jackson Wabyona, to bail out Mr Atugonza from prison.
Mr Atugonza, who is also a member of FDC National Executive Committee, came into limelight in April , 2009 when he was arrested by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force and CMI operatives and taken to Kololo torture cells. He claimed to have been beaten by security operatives before being dumped at Old Kampala Police Station after a severe search for him mounted by FDC and human right activists.
When Saturday Monitor contacted police spokesperson Judith Nabakoba yesterday, she refused to comment on the matter but the Commissioner of Police in-charge of Anti-Corruption, Mr Joseph Otim, said he was not aware of any form of political influence behind the case.
“Whenever letters come to the IGP, the IGP can comment on them and send them to us,” Mr Otim said, “After seeing the comments, I instruct my officers to open a file. “You should understand that with issues of corruption, we try to get attention of everybody because we are all stake holders. May be that is why all those officers were informed about the case.”
Mr Otim, who investigated all the four cases against Mr Atugonza, said yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecution informed him last week that three cases; one relating to the misused of council property, the second relating to illegal sale of land to Link Bus Limited and the third relating to hiring an illegal tax collector, will be dropped.
Survives ousting
Last year, Mr Atugonza survived being ousted when the NRM Secretary General, Mr Amama Mbabazi, prevailed upon all NRM councillors on the town council executive committee to resign. Mr Mbabazi reasoned that without NRM-leaning councillors on his side, Mr Atugonza would fail to constitute another executive committee and would thus be forced out. Indeed all the councillors resigned, except one, an NRM-leaning independent.
“What are you doing on Atugonza and FDC’s executive? You should resign and if Atugonza fails to constitute an executive within 60 days, he will be thrown out of office and fresh elections shall be organised,” Mr Mbabazi is quoted to have said then.
FDC member attacks party’s electoral process
Despite leading a campaign against the Electoral Commission, Forum for Democratic Change’s internal electoral system has been compromised, the party’s external relations coordinator has said.
In a petition to party president, Dr Kizza Besigye, a copy of which Saturday Monitor has seen, Ms Ann Mugisha accuses the party EC headed by Dan Mugarura of breaching the principles of impartiality and transparency. She said it cannot preside over a free and fair party primaries.
Case in point
Ms Mugisha advised Dr Besigye to move swiftly and address the internal electoral matters. Otherwise, she said, FDC will lose its credibility as a party modelled on the principles of good governance, social justice, transparency and integrity.
Ms Mugisha, in particular, pointed out the case of Nakawa FDC chairman Michael Kabaziguruka, whom she said, continued to hold his office as the party deputy electoral commission boss months after he declared his intentions to run against her for the Nakawa MP’s seat.
Ms Mugisha argued that the failure to remove Mr Kabaziguruka from the office of the electoral committee soon after he made known his intention to contest for the position constituted an incurable error on the part of the commission.
Ms Mugisha also protested the 75 parish stations that have been added in Nakawa, saying they are ghost stations created by Mr Kabaziguruka to rig elections.
Grievances discussed
“Note that if a contestant came up with an extra 75 parish chairpersons unknown to other contestants they would have 75 extra assured votes in a primary election,” Ms Mugisha said. Saturday Monitor understands that during Wednesday’s FDC National Executive Council meeting, members discussed Ms Mugisha’s grievances and agreed to forward the matter to the party’s EC.
But Mr Kabaziguruka yesterday denied the charge and said everything was going on as per the party roadmap. “I have already resigned and I am going ahead with my campaign for the Nakawa MP seat,” Mr Kabaziguruka said. The members of FDC electoral committee include; Dan Mugarura (chairman) Dembe Catherine, Kabaziguruka and Soroti Municipality MP Charles Ekemu
In a petition to party president, Dr Kizza Besigye, a copy of which Saturday Monitor has seen, Ms Ann Mugisha accuses the party EC headed by Dan Mugarura of breaching the principles of impartiality and transparency. She said it cannot preside over a free and fair party primaries.
Case in point
Ms Mugisha advised Dr Besigye to move swiftly and address the internal electoral matters. Otherwise, she said, FDC will lose its credibility as a party modelled on the principles of good governance, social justice, transparency and integrity.
Ms Mugisha, in particular, pointed out the case of Nakawa FDC chairman Michael Kabaziguruka, whom she said, continued to hold his office as the party deputy electoral commission boss months after he declared his intentions to run against her for the Nakawa MP’s seat.
Ms Mugisha argued that the failure to remove Mr Kabaziguruka from the office of the electoral committee soon after he made known his intention to contest for the position constituted an incurable error on the part of the commission.
Ms Mugisha also protested the 75 parish stations that have been added in Nakawa, saying they are ghost stations created by Mr Kabaziguruka to rig elections.
Grievances discussed
“Note that if a contestant came up with an extra 75 parish chairpersons unknown to other contestants they would have 75 extra assured votes in a primary election,” Ms Mugisha said. Saturday Monitor understands that during Wednesday’s FDC National Executive Council meeting, members discussed Ms Mugisha’s grievances and agreed to forward the matter to the party’s EC.
But Mr Kabaziguruka yesterday denied the charge and said everything was going on as per the party roadmap. “I have already resigned and I am going ahead with my campaign for the Nakawa MP seat,” Mr Kabaziguruka said. The members of FDC electoral committee include; Dan Mugarura (chairman) Dembe Catherine, Kabaziguruka and Soroti Municipality MP Charles Ekemu
Crisis rocks IPC
An emergency meeting of the opposition Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) was last evening fighting to salvage the united front against President Museveni even as it emerged that prospects for a joint presidential candidate have been dashed.
Uganda Peoples Congress leader Olara Otunnu arrived at the IPC offices on Katonga Road in Kampala for the 2.30p.m. meeting with the suspicion that the Forum for Democratic Change has hijacked the process ringing in his mind.
Efforts by this newspaper to get a response from the FDC to this suspicion were impossible as almost the entire party top hierarchy was at Katonga
Mr Otunnu, however, told Daily Monitor on the sidelines of the closed meeting that his party has “serious policy and operational issues” regarding how the IPC is being run.
“We called for a special summit of IPC because UPC has serious issues which must be resolved before its candidate is nominated,” Mr Otunnu said, “Once these issues are resolved, UPC will examine its options, make a decision and inform the country.”
Mr Otunnu first attended a heated morning meeting at UPC’s Uganda House headquarters in Kampala before heading to Katonga Road where the coalition’s current chair, FDC leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, presided over proceedings.
Mr Joseph Bbosa, secretary general of the UPC, last evening told Daily Monitor that concerns about “method of work and complaints that the line between the IPC and the individual parties which [make up the IPC] was being erased” were again raised at the morning meeting.
Cart before horse?
“For instance, there are claims by individuals in Teso, West Nile and Acholi that they have been declared the IPC candidate and yet [this is not true] since there hasn’t been any such agreement ... Certain activities are also being undertaken without the knowledge of other parties but being presented in the name of the IPC. All this has been at the initiative of the FDC,” Mr Bbosa said.
Under the IPC protocol, partner parties can cooperate in some activities but under clearly defined structures, while at the same time retaining their individual independence.
Sources inside Uganda House said many senior officials noted that Dr Besigye’s party has acted in bad faith by organising its activities under the cover of the IPC, thereby selling its own interests to voters.
They also wondered where FDC was getting money to run IPC activities and questioned its commitment to financial transparency. Other UPC officials were reportedly not happy that FDC officials, who want to run against them in envisaged joint IPC primaries, were moving around the country calling themselves the official IPC flag bearers and yet the coalition has not yet endorsed anybody.
But these accusations against the FDC, which along with UPC, Justice Forum (Jeema) and the Social Democratic Party constitute the loose coalition, seem like an excuse to disentangle the UPC from the coalition without unduly hurting Mr Otunnu’s stature.
A member of the current UPC National Council last evening told Daily Monitor that “it is absolutely true that Otunnu is trying to get out”. The member said Mr Otunnu does not have the “mandate to hand over authority over the party [as far as the issue of] joint candidates is concerned to IPC”.
Mr Joseph Ochieno, who said most members of the party “are coming to the realisation that they had all along been taken for a ride by FDC”, also observed that Mr Otunnu would have to call a national delegates conference to get the necessary mandate to back the idea of joint candidates.
“This issue was rejected outright by the previous National Council when Mama Miria Obote was still party president, although they agreed to the idea of cooperation with other parties,” Mr Ochieno said.
According to Mr Ochieno, while it is theoretically possible for Mr Otunnu to call a delegates conference, the contentious matter of who is a properly constituted UPC delegate remains within Uganda House.
“Half the country has new [UPC] delegates while the other half are old delegates, so who would attend such a conference?” he asked.
Jeema backs FDC
Yesterday afternoon, Jeema president Asuman Basalirwa, moved to calm fears of FDC dominance when he repeated that all positions in the coalition are held on rotational basis.
“When FDC officials assume leadership, they become active in organising rallies and demonstrations and that’s why they are always seen in the media. But other parties, including mine are not active
We must admit that FDC is the dominant opposition party in Uganda, it has the capacity to field a candidate on every position of leadership in Uganda. No other opposition party has that capacity. That is why we need to work with them,” he said.
Dr Besigye, Mr Hussein Kyanjo of Jeema, CP’s Prof. James Kigongo and Mr Michael Mabikke of SDP were last week nominated as potential IPC presidential election flag bearers.
Uganda Peoples Congress leader Olara Otunnu arrived at the IPC offices on Katonga Road in Kampala for the 2.30p.m. meeting with the suspicion that the Forum for Democratic Change has hijacked the process ringing in his mind.
Efforts by this newspaper to get a response from the FDC to this suspicion were impossible as almost the entire party top hierarchy was at Katonga
Mr Otunnu, however, told Daily Monitor on the sidelines of the closed meeting that his party has “serious policy and operational issues” regarding how the IPC is being run.
“We called for a special summit of IPC because UPC has serious issues which must be resolved before its candidate is nominated,” Mr Otunnu said, “Once these issues are resolved, UPC will examine its options, make a decision and inform the country.”
Mr Otunnu first attended a heated morning meeting at UPC’s Uganda House headquarters in Kampala before heading to Katonga Road where the coalition’s current chair, FDC leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, presided over proceedings.
Mr Joseph Bbosa, secretary general of the UPC, last evening told Daily Monitor that concerns about “method of work and complaints that the line between the IPC and the individual parties which [make up the IPC] was being erased” were again raised at the morning meeting.
Cart before horse?
“For instance, there are claims by individuals in Teso, West Nile and Acholi that they have been declared the IPC candidate and yet [this is not true] since there hasn’t been any such agreement ... Certain activities are also being undertaken without the knowledge of other parties but being presented in the name of the IPC. All this has been at the initiative of the FDC,” Mr Bbosa said.
Under the IPC protocol, partner parties can cooperate in some activities but under clearly defined structures, while at the same time retaining their individual independence.
Sources inside Uganda House said many senior officials noted that Dr Besigye’s party has acted in bad faith by organising its activities under the cover of the IPC, thereby selling its own interests to voters.
They also wondered where FDC was getting money to run IPC activities and questioned its commitment to financial transparency. Other UPC officials were reportedly not happy that FDC officials, who want to run against them in envisaged joint IPC primaries, were moving around the country calling themselves the official IPC flag bearers and yet the coalition has not yet endorsed anybody.
But these accusations against the FDC, which along with UPC, Justice Forum (Jeema) and the Social Democratic Party constitute the loose coalition, seem like an excuse to disentangle the UPC from the coalition without unduly hurting Mr Otunnu’s stature.
A member of the current UPC National Council last evening told Daily Monitor that “it is absolutely true that Otunnu is trying to get out”. The member said Mr Otunnu does not have the “mandate to hand over authority over the party [as far as the issue of] joint candidates is concerned to IPC”.
Mr Joseph Ochieno, who said most members of the party “are coming to the realisation that they had all along been taken for a ride by FDC”, also observed that Mr Otunnu would have to call a national delegates conference to get the necessary mandate to back the idea of joint candidates.
“This issue was rejected outright by the previous National Council when Mama Miria Obote was still party president, although they agreed to the idea of cooperation with other parties,” Mr Ochieno said.
According to Mr Ochieno, while it is theoretically possible for Mr Otunnu to call a delegates conference, the contentious matter of who is a properly constituted UPC delegate remains within Uganda House.
“Half the country has new [UPC] delegates while the other half are old delegates, so who would attend such a conference?” he asked.
Jeema backs FDC
Yesterday afternoon, Jeema president Asuman Basalirwa, moved to calm fears of FDC dominance when he repeated that all positions in the coalition are held on rotational basis.
“When FDC officials assume leadership, they become active in organising rallies and demonstrations and that’s why they are always seen in the media. But other parties, including mine are not active
We must admit that FDC is the dominant opposition party in Uganda, it has the capacity to field a candidate on every position of leadership in Uganda. No other opposition party has that capacity. That is why we need to work with them,” he said.
Dr Besigye, Mr Hussein Kyanjo of Jeema, CP’s Prof. James Kigongo and Mr Michael Mabikke of SDP were last week nominated as potential IPC presidential election flag bearers.
Besigye, Otunnu meet over poll boycott
Leading opposition coalition partners, Forum for Democratic Change and Uganda People’s Congress, are today expected to meet in the first attempt to paper over cracks that looked to have derailed their search for a joint presidential flag bearer for the 2011 presidential elections.
Functionaries from the two parties told Daily Monitor yesterday that the two teams, led by their respective party presidents, will meet to discuss, among others, the controversial proposal by UPC that the Inter Party Coalition should boycott the 2011 elections if President Museveni declines to overhaul the Electoral Commission leadership led by Eng. Badru Kiggundu.
The UPC Secretary General, Dr Joseph Bbosa, said yesterday that his party organised the impromptu meeting between UPC’s Olara Otunnu, FDC’s Kizza Besigye and other IPC leaders today at 2pm to discuss UPC’s grievances with the IPC.
It emerged yesterday that a disagreement on whether the opposition should boycott the 2011 general elections prompted UPC to restrict its involvement in the IPC.
Dr Besigye wants the opposition to take part in 2011 elections irrespective of whether the EC is disbanded or not. However, Mr Otunnu says if changes at EC are not effected, IPC should boycott the forthcoming elections.
Proposal rejected
Daily Monitor has learnt that Mr Otunnu’s proposal was also rejected by other IPC presidents, including Asuman Basalirwa (JEEMA), Prof. James Kigongo (CP) and Michael Mabikke (SDP).
Mr Bbosa said yesterday that UPC does not want to take part in a process that it believes will not be free and fair. “It is not that we do not want to field a candidate in the general elections but we want to engage in a process that will be free and fair,” Mr Bbosa said.
“We cannot take part in an election organised by the current EC, which was appointed by President Museveni who is going to be a candidate in 2011. You remember during the vetting of these commissioners in Parliament, the opposition stormed out. It was the NRM MPs who approved them. So whose interests will they be serving in 2011?”
The opposition and several activists have carried out numerous protests against the electoral commissioners who were re-appointed last year despite widespread complaints about their alleged lack of impartiality and their method of appointment.
Mr Bbosa also refuted media claims that the UPC leadership has decided to pull out of the IPC. But said it is one of the options the party might take should IPC fail to agree on what to do about the 2011 polls.
FDC vice president Salaam Musumba said yesterday UPC should not try to impose its will on the co-operating members because each party in the coalition is treated as an independent entity.
“Not even Dr Besigye has powers to decide FDC’s 2011 elections boycott,” Ms Musumba said yesterday. “Some of UPC’s demands are almost impossible. Now all parties have flag bearer for 2011 elections, and to boycott elections would mean each party to re-convene its delegates’ conference so that delegates can decide.”
UPC officials believe that if all opposition parties boycott 2011 elections, it would create a political crisis in the country, as well as undermine President Museveni’s international credibility.
But senior FDC officials said yesterday that a boycott could turn out to be counter-productive for the opposition since the NRM is still cable of swaying other smaller parties to field candidates to run against its flag bearer
Functionaries from the two parties told Daily Monitor yesterday that the two teams, led by their respective party presidents, will meet to discuss, among others, the controversial proposal by UPC that the Inter Party Coalition should boycott the 2011 elections if President Museveni declines to overhaul the Electoral Commission leadership led by Eng. Badru Kiggundu.
The UPC Secretary General, Dr Joseph Bbosa, said yesterday that his party organised the impromptu meeting between UPC’s Olara Otunnu, FDC’s Kizza Besigye and other IPC leaders today at 2pm to discuss UPC’s grievances with the IPC.
It emerged yesterday that a disagreement on whether the opposition should boycott the 2011 general elections prompted UPC to restrict its involvement in the IPC.
Dr Besigye wants the opposition to take part in 2011 elections irrespective of whether the EC is disbanded or not. However, Mr Otunnu says if changes at EC are not effected, IPC should boycott the forthcoming elections.
Proposal rejected
Daily Monitor has learnt that Mr Otunnu’s proposal was also rejected by other IPC presidents, including Asuman Basalirwa (JEEMA), Prof. James Kigongo (CP) and Michael Mabikke (SDP).
Mr Bbosa said yesterday that UPC does not want to take part in a process that it believes will not be free and fair. “It is not that we do not want to field a candidate in the general elections but we want to engage in a process that will be free and fair,” Mr Bbosa said.
“We cannot take part in an election organised by the current EC, which was appointed by President Museveni who is going to be a candidate in 2011. You remember during the vetting of these commissioners in Parliament, the opposition stormed out. It was the NRM MPs who approved them. So whose interests will they be serving in 2011?”
The opposition and several activists have carried out numerous protests against the electoral commissioners who were re-appointed last year despite widespread complaints about their alleged lack of impartiality and their method of appointment.
Mr Bbosa also refuted media claims that the UPC leadership has decided to pull out of the IPC. But said it is one of the options the party might take should IPC fail to agree on what to do about the 2011 polls.
FDC vice president Salaam Musumba said yesterday UPC should not try to impose its will on the co-operating members because each party in the coalition is treated as an independent entity.
“Not even Dr Besigye has powers to decide FDC’s 2011 elections boycott,” Ms Musumba said yesterday. “Some of UPC’s demands are almost impossible. Now all parties have flag bearer for 2011 elections, and to boycott elections would mean each party to re-convene its delegates’ conference so that delegates can decide.”
UPC officials believe that if all opposition parties boycott 2011 elections, it would create a political crisis in the country, as well as undermine President Museveni’s international credibility.
But senior FDC officials said yesterday that a boycott could turn out to be counter-productive for the opposition since the NRM is still cable of swaying other smaller parties to field candidates to run against its flag bearer
Opposition’s call to arms
By Gerald Bareebe
Four candidates were this past week nominated to contest in the race that will determine who will carry the flag for the coalition of five opposition political parties in next year’s presidential elections. If symbolism is anything to go back what went and did go on at Kololo Airstip where the nominations took place, spoke volumes about the conditions prevalent within the ranks of Uganda’s political opposition with less than 200 days to the 2011 elections.
Forum for Democratic Change president, Dr Kizza Besigye, Justice Forum (Jeema) president, Hajj Hussein Kyanjo; Conservative Party’s Prof. James Kigongo and Social Democratic Party president, Michael Mabikke, were nominated amid some pomp and glamour albeit with fewer than would have been expected numbers of party enthusiasts.
Conspicuously absent was the Uganda Peoples Congress’s leader, Mr Olara Otunnu, after his party requested for time to deal with its internal grassroots elections. Mr Otunnu has been on a whistle stop tour of the United States and United Kingdom, addressing Ugandans in the Diaspora and launching what he has called Uganda’s ten-point radical renewal agenda.
IPC president Dr Besigye explained later that Mr Otunnu had been allowed time to sort out his current court battle in which he is hoping to overturn what he described as “trumped up charges” of sedition and sectarianism. He said Mr Otunnu would get nominated eventually.
But UPC’s last minute withdrawal from the nominations for a joint opposition presidential candidate has injected an atmosphere of distrust in the Inter-Party Cooperation. Although all IPC leaders tried to play down the Otunnu no show, his continued absence threatens to wreck the cooperation’s plans.
Some political pundits have argued that there is nothing ideological that holds IPC together, apart from the fact that all the cooperating parties want to field a single candidate in the 2011 elections to run against incumbent President Museveni. Because of this lack of ideological synthesis, they say, the chances of the alliance breaking up before election are ever so real.
From the speeches made at Kololo, the cooperating parties appeared to be looking for the common ground. The idea of federalism as a preferred system of government as opposed to the current republican dispensation was emphasised by all candidates over alongside the joint candidate intentions.
They all talked ill of the government mishandling of the Buganda and Banyala issue; a thorny political matter which exploded in the September 2009 demonstrations which left about 27 people dead and 50 injured, most of them as result of being shot with live ammunition by men in police uniform. The opposition leaders contended that the demonstrations exposed the tensions between state control and Buganda’s desire for a federal government.
But whether federalism will be enough glue to hold the coalition together remains contentious considering that at the same function, the smaller parties reintroduced the fear that FDC being the largest opposition political party in Uganda, could overshadow them in the IPC.
A way around these fears appears to be on the agenda of the IPC leadership. The leaders have agreed to allow the smaller parties organise some of its activities.
For example, it was the Jeema that organised the IPC youth celebrations at Wankulukiuku Stadium while CP organised the Kololo nomination ceremony.
Such apparently mundane things though symbolic have a certain political significance.
But back to the UPC matter. In an interview with Inside Politics, UPC’s representative to the IPC Steering Committee, Patrick Mwondha, insisted the party cannot pullout because it has been at the centre of the cooperation.
Mr Mwondha, the only UPC official who turned up at Kololo, said; “We are very much into this cooperation and there is no way we can pullout.
We are sorting up some of our internal grassroots elections and we shall come and get no nominated.” Mr Mwondha added that UPC agrees with most of the issues the other parties cherish like federalism, and that it would work with parties to establish an effective corrupt-free government. For now, this is an optimistic reading of the signs despite the gathering clouds of the horizon.
It would interesting to know what Mr Mwondha has to say about Mr Robert Kanusu’s midweek claim that the IPC leadership is straying from the principle of transparency that was one of the central points to the formation of a coalition. Mr Kanusu is press secretary to Mr Otunnu and it would be fair enough to say that he speaks with his master’s voice on the subject.
When Prof. Kigongo, the first candidate to get nominated, spoke he promised to introduce a federal system of government, saying it is the best solution to dictatorship and the “failed” decentralisation programme.
“With such devolution of power and responsibility, we would strengthen our institutional capacity to fight the scourge of corruption and develop strong institutional capacity to ensure equitable distribution of natural resources.” Prof Kigongo said.
The professor who has until now been an unknown political quantity spoke words of such political significance but it is unlikely they did anything to break the presence that Dr Besigye, who was second on the nominations table.
Addressing his supporters after the process, Dr Besigye sought to cast himself as a candidate of hope, and a person with proven experience that can be trusted to navigate Uganda’s mucky political waters.
“I come with a message of hope,” he said, “I mean hope of a bright future for all Ugandans. Let us unite and move forward rather than be scattered in fear… The 2011 elections must be about the future of Uganda not about the past and my record shows that I am the best candidate to deliver the future that all Ugandans aspire for.
“I have the unwavering commitment to serve the people as I have shown in my participation in the struggle for peace and democracy in this country. I have a record of clean, responsible, democratic and team-playing in my party….. I have been tried, I have been tested and the people of Uganda know that I have not been found wanting.”
The FDC leader indicated that if elected, he would improve health care, create an economy based on sustainable and equitable development, work on the poor infrastructure and create an efficient and accountable government that would respect the basic human rights. All very well put.
Also casting his eyes into the tomorrow, Jeema’s candidate Hussein Kyanjo also pledged to grant a federal system of government to all regions of Uganda and set up mechanisms that would open economic opportunities for the women, the youth and the elderly.
“If you are a woman who is interested in a bright future, I am your candidate, and if you doubt me, go and ask my wife. If you are a businessman, I am a candidate of your choice, if you are that person who is tired of corruption, nepotism, and corruption with impunity, I am your candidate, but if you are that person who is worried and has no hope in the future of this country, I am sorry I will disappoint you.”
Mr Mabikke, the youngest candidate in the race, was immediately controversial, warning that his party (the SDP) would not make any concession to opposition leaders with no desire to “uproot President Museveni from power”.
Clearly, the removal of Mr Museveni remains at the heart of not just one of the opposition leadership
Four candidates were this past week nominated to contest in the race that will determine who will carry the flag for the coalition of five opposition political parties in next year’s presidential elections. If symbolism is anything to go back what went and did go on at Kololo Airstip where the nominations took place, spoke volumes about the conditions prevalent within the ranks of Uganda’s political opposition with less than 200 days to the 2011 elections.
Forum for Democratic Change president, Dr Kizza Besigye, Justice Forum (Jeema) president, Hajj Hussein Kyanjo; Conservative Party’s Prof. James Kigongo and Social Democratic Party president, Michael Mabikke, were nominated amid some pomp and glamour albeit with fewer than would have been expected numbers of party enthusiasts.
Conspicuously absent was the Uganda Peoples Congress’s leader, Mr Olara Otunnu, after his party requested for time to deal with its internal grassroots elections. Mr Otunnu has been on a whistle stop tour of the United States and United Kingdom, addressing Ugandans in the Diaspora and launching what he has called Uganda’s ten-point radical renewal agenda.
IPC president Dr Besigye explained later that Mr Otunnu had been allowed time to sort out his current court battle in which he is hoping to overturn what he described as “trumped up charges” of sedition and sectarianism. He said Mr Otunnu would get nominated eventually.
But UPC’s last minute withdrawal from the nominations for a joint opposition presidential candidate has injected an atmosphere of distrust in the Inter-Party Cooperation. Although all IPC leaders tried to play down the Otunnu no show, his continued absence threatens to wreck the cooperation’s plans.
Some political pundits have argued that there is nothing ideological that holds IPC together, apart from the fact that all the cooperating parties want to field a single candidate in the 2011 elections to run against incumbent President Museveni. Because of this lack of ideological synthesis, they say, the chances of the alliance breaking up before election are ever so real.
From the speeches made at Kololo, the cooperating parties appeared to be looking for the common ground. The idea of federalism as a preferred system of government as opposed to the current republican dispensation was emphasised by all candidates over alongside the joint candidate intentions.
They all talked ill of the government mishandling of the Buganda and Banyala issue; a thorny political matter which exploded in the September 2009 demonstrations which left about 27 people dead and 50 injured, most of them as result of being shot with live ammunition by men in police uniform. The opposition leaders contended that the demonstrations exposed the tensions between state control and Buganda’s desire for a federal government.
But whether federalism will be enough glue to hold the coalition together remains contentious considering that at the same function, the smaller parties reintroduced the fear that FDC being the largest opposition political party in Uganda, could overshadow them in the IPC.
A way around these fears appears to be on the agenda of the IPC leadership. The leaders have agreed to allow the smaller parties organise some of its activities.
For example, it was the Jeema that organised the IPC youth celebrations at Wankulukiuku Stadium while CP organised the Kololo nomination ceremony.
Such apparently mundane things though symbolic have a certain political significance.
But back to the UPC matter. In an interview with Inside Politics, UPC’s representative to the IPC Steering Committee, Patrick Mwondha, insisted the party cannot pullout because it has been at the centre of the cooperation.
Mr Mwondha, the only UPC official who turned up at Kololo, said; “We are very much into this cooperation and there is no way we can pullout.
We are sorting up some of our internal grassroots elections and we shall come and get no nominated.” Mr Mwondha added that UPC agrees with most of the issues the other parties cherish like federalism, and that it would work with parties to establish an effective corrupt-free government. For now, this is an optimistic reading of the signs despite the gathering clouds of the horizon.
It would interesting to know what Mr Mwondha has to say about Mr Robert Kanusu’s midweek claim that the IPC leadership is straying from the principle of transparency that was one of the central points to the formation of a coalition. Mr Kanusu is press secretary to Mr Otunnu and it would be fair enough to say that he speaks with his master’s voice on the subject.
When Prof. Kigongo, the first candidate to get nominated, spoke he promised to introduce a federal system of government, saying it is the best solution to dictatorship and the “failed” decentralisation programme.
“With such devolution of power and responsibility, we would strengthen our institutional capacity to fight the scourge of corruption and develop strong institutional capacity to ensure equitable distribution of natural resources.” Prof Kigongo said.
The professor who has until now been an unknown political quantity spoke words of such political significance but it is unlikely they did anything to break the presence that Dr Besigye, who was second on the nominations table.
Addressing his supporters after the process, Dr Besigye sought to cast himself as a candidate of hope, and a person with proven experience that can be trusted to navigate Uganda’s mucky political waters.
“I come with a message of hope,” he said, “I mean hope of a bright future for all Ugandans. Let us unite and move forward rather than be scattered in fear… The 2011 elections must be about the future of Uganda not about the past and my record shows that I am the best candidate to deliver the future that all Ugandans aspire for.
“I have the unwavering commitment to serve the people as I have shown in my participation in the struggle for peace and democracy in this country. I have a record of clean, responsible, democratic and team-playing in my party….. I have been tried, I have been tested and the people of Uganda know that I have not been found wanting.”
The FDC leader indicated that if elected, he would improve health care, create an economy based on sustainable and equitable development, work on the poor infrastructure and create an efficient and accountable government that would respect the basic human rights. All very well put.
Also casting his eyes into the tomorrow, Jeema’s candidate Hussein Kyanjo also pledged to grant a federal system of government to all regions of Uganda and set up mechanisms that would open economic opportunities for the women, the youth and the elderly.
“If you are a woman who is interested in a bright future, I am your candidate, and if you doubt me, go and ask my wife. If you are a businessman, I am a candidate of your choice, if you are that person who is tired of corruption, nepotism, and corruption with impunity, I am your candidate, but if you are that person who is worried and has no hope in the future of this country, I am sorry I will disappoint you.”
Mr Mabikke, the youngest candidate in the race, was immediately controversial, warning that his party (the SDP) would not make any concession to opposition leaders with no desire to “uproot President Museveni from power”.
Clearly, the removal of Mr Museveni remains at the heart of not just one of the opposition leadership
Friday, August 6, 2010
Ministers face suspension over vote-rigging
The ruling National Resistance Movement party announced yesterday that it would suspend two senior cabinet ministers over their alleged involvement in vote rigging and voter manipulation in the just-concluded party district elections.
Addressing journalists in Kampala, Deputy Spokesperson Ofwono Opondo, said if the NRM still wants to be seen as a party that can deliver a clean vote in 2011, it should expel Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo and suspend Minister of State for Labour Emmanuel Otaala and Minister without Portfolio Dorothy Hyuha over their alleged misconduct during the elections.
Bukenya in spotlight
Mr Opondo also said the party’s elections tribunal will investigate allegations that Vice President Gilbert Bukenya was involved in vote buying in the race for Wakiso District chairman.
He said the party has received complaints that Prof. Bukenya hosted NRM voters at his home on the eve of the voting so as to influence them in his favour.
“If the Vice President and NRM [national vice] chairman did this, then suspension must be [effected],” Mr Opondo said. “But, we are waiting for a submission from Eng. Kyeyune before we proceed with investigations.”
Eng. Ian Kyeyune has been the incumbent Wakiso District chairperson. He, however, withdrew from the contest, saying the Vice President used money to influence voters.
Shameful
Mr Opondo said Ms Hyuha connived with her brother, Butaleja District chairman Richard Waya, to hide voters in a hotel, thereby denying area MP Emmanuel Dombo, who was vying for the same district position, access to the electorate.
“It was a shameful act,” Mr Opondo said, “They hid voters in a hotel and bought them booze and snacks and denied their opponent access to them. That is what happened in Butaleja.”
Mr Opondo said Dr Otaala should “feel ashamed” for hijacking the entire electoral process in Tororo District. He accused the minister of locking out ethnic Iteso voters from Tororo County from the voting process.
“He tried to connive with Jo’padhola voters to ensure that the Iteso side does not send representatives to elect the district chairman,” Mr Opondo said, adding, “He later emerged from the meeting with voters from his tribe and declared himself winner. This was very improper.”
Although Mr Opondo said voting in most parts of the country had gone on well, he observed that the shooting in Sembabule has left the public unsure about his party’s commitment to organising peaceful elections in next year.
Lingering doubts
He said, “If NRM, a party that is leading the country uses violence against one of its own, how then can it convince the world that it will preside over peaceful elections against our opponents?”
Mr Opondo said the Sembabule shooting, in which two people were injured and a police officer was manhandled, has exposed how anger has taken the better of area MP Ssekikubo, who was granted bail last evening.
“Some of us are of the view that he should be expelled from the party immediately,” Mr Opondo said, “Let him go and contest as an independent or join the opposition. Similar measures must be taken against Minister Otaala and Ms Hyuha.”
Yesterday, NRM legal advisor and Minister for Local Government, Adolf Mwesige, told Daily Monitor that even if the party tribunal decided to suspend the ministers, they could still keep their jobs.
“The ministers are appointed by the President and suspension from the party cannot affect their position in Cabinet,” Mr Mwesige said. “They are appointed to serve the State not a party. Of course, it would be morally bad for a minister to be suspended by the party, but after suspension, it would be up to the President to either relieve them of their duties in cabinet or keep them.”
Addressing journalists in Kampala, Deputy Spokesperson Ofwono Opondo, said if the NRM still wants to be seen as a party that can deliver a clean vote in 2011, it should expel Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo and suspend Minister of State for Labour Emmanuel Otaala and Minister without Portfolio Dorothy Hyuha over their alleged misconduct during the elections.
Bukenya in spotlight
Mr Opondo also said the party’s elections tribunal will investigate allegations that Vice President Gilbert Bukenya was involved in vote buying in the race for Wakiso District chairman.
He said the party has received complaints that Prof. Bukenya hosted NRM voters at his home on the eve of the voting so as to influence them in his favour.
“If the Vice President and NRM [national vice] chairman did this, then suspension must be [effected],” Mr Opondo said. “But, we are waiting for a submission from Eng. Kyeyune before we proceed with investigations.”
Eng. Ian Kyeyune has been the incumbent Wakiso District chairperson. He, however, withdrew from the contest, saying the Vice President used money to influence voters.
Shameful
Mr Opondo said Ms Hyuha connived with her brother, Butaleja District chairman Richard Waya, to hide voters in a hotel, thereby denying area MP Emmanuel Dombo, who was vying for the same district position, access to the electorate.
“It was a shameful act,” Mr Opondo said, “They hid voters in a hotel and bought them booze and snacks and denied their opponent access to them. That is what happened in Butaleja.”
Mr Opondo said Dr Otaala should “feel ashamed” for hijacking the entire electoral process in Tororo District. He accused the minister of locking out ethnic Iteso voters from Tororo County from the voting process.
“He tried to connive with Jo’padhola voters to ensure that the Iteso side does not send representatives to elect the district chairman,” Mr Opondo said, adding, “He later emerged from the meeting with voters from his tribe and declared himself winner. This was very improper.”
Although Mr Opondo said voting in most parts of the country had gone on well, he observed that the shooting in Sembabule has left the public unsure about his party’s commitment to organising peaceful elections in next year.
Lingering doubts
He said, “If NRM, a party that is leading the country uses violence against one of its own, how then can it convince the world that it will preside over peaceful elections against our opponents?”
Mr Opondo said the Sembabule shooting, in which two people were injured and a police officer was manhandled, has exposed how anger has taken the better of area MP Ssekikubo, who was granted bail last evening.
“Some of us are of the view that he should be expelled from the party immediately,” Mr Opondo said, “Let him go and contest as an independent or join the opposition. Similar measures must be taken against Minister Otaala and Ms Hyuha.”
Yesterday, NRM legal advisor and Minister for Local Government, Adolf Mwesige, told Daily Monitor that even if the party tribunal decided to suspend the ministers, they could still keep their jobs.
“The ministers are appointed by the President and suspension from the party cannot affect their position in Cabinet,” Mr Mwesige said. “They are appointed to serve the State not a party. Of course, it would be morally bad for a minister to be suspended by the party, but after suspension, it would be up to the President to either relieve them of their duties in cabinet or keep them.”
Besigye promises peoples’ protests
The opposition yesterday announced plans to stage what they called a nation-wide protracted peoples’ protests against the Electoral Commission despite an existing police order against holding demonstrations. Along the way, the opposition hopes to raise more than one million signatures from voters. The signatures will accompany a petition to be presented to the Speaker of Parliament, Mr James Ssekandi.
Addressing journalists in Kampala yesterday, Dr Kizza Besigye, the leader of the Inter-Party Leaders’ summit, the highest organ of the Inter-Party Cooperation, said the protests are intended to emphasise their demand for a free and fair election in 2011. He, however, did not say when the protests will start.
Dr Besigye said electoral reforms can be pushed through if there is political will to change. He dismissed the view that there is no time to implement reforms. “What is lacking is the will not the time,” Dr Besigye said. “The Constitution was amended in two days to remove [presidential] term limits and that’s because there was will by those concerned because it would benefit them.”
The retired army Colonel, who is also the president of the Forum for Democratic Change, said a free and fair election is a non-negotiable facility that the people of Uganda, like other nationalities, must enjoy.
Dr Besigye promised a much more robust campaign. “We are changing it from a campaign led by ourselves to a people-led campaign,” Dr Besigye said. “We are re-stating our rejection of the President Museveni-imposed Electoral Commission. It has been very instrumental in rigging on behalf of the regime and that is why we insist on a new and independent Commission.”
It was the first joint press conference by IPC leaders after nationwide demonstrations organised by the National Alliance for Free and Fair Elections two weeks ago resulted in about 80 opposition supporters getting arrested.
Flanked by Justice Forum (JEEMA) President Asuman Basalirwa, Uganda Peoples Congress Secretary General, Joseph Bossa and Conservative Party boss, John Ken Lukyamuzi, Dr Besigye affirmed that the opposition will be taking part in the 2011 elections. Until yesterday, the opposition has pushed the line that they would not participate in an election organised by the EC as presently constituted.
“We insist that elections in Uganda must be subjected and judged by the same internationally accepted standards of electoral probity applied everywhere in the world. “We therefore condemn the exceptionalism which has been accorded to the Museveni regime in the past.”
The Supreme Court found widespread irregularities in both 2001 and 2006 presidential elections which they said were not conducted in accordance with electoral law but ruled that the non-compliance was not substantial enough to change the outcome. Before the start of the mass protests, Dr Besigye said, the opposition will seek a meeting with the police, the judiciary and civil society and other senior citizens interested in violence-free polls
Addressing journalists in Kampala yesterday, Dr Kizza Besigye, the leader of the Inter-Party Leaders’ summit, the highest organ of the Inter-Party Cooperation, said the protests are intended to emphasise their demand for a free and fair election in 2011. He, however, did not say when the protests will start.
Dr Besigye said electoral reforms can be pushed through if there is political will to change. He dismissed the view that there is no time to implement reforms. “What is lacking is the will not the time,” Dr Besigye said. “The Constitution was amended in two days to remove [presidential] term limits and that’s because there was will by those concerned because it would benefit them.”
The retired army Colonel, who is also the president of the Forum for Democratic Change, said a free and fair election is a non-negotiable facility that the people of Uganda, like other nationalities, must enjoy.
Dr Besigye promised a much more robust campaign. “We are changing it from a campaign led by ourselves to a people-led campaign,” Dr Besigye said. “We are re-stating our rejection of the President Museveni-imposed Electoral Commission. It has been very instrumental in rigging on behalf of the regime and that is why we insist on a new and independent Commission.”
It was the first joint press conference by IPC leaders after nationwide demonstrations organised by the National Alliance for Free and Fair Elections two weeks ago resulted in about 80 opposition supporters getting arrested.
Flanked by Justice Forum (JEEMA) President Asuman Basalirwa, Uganda Peoples Congress Secretary General, Joseph Bossa and Conservative Party boss, John Ken Lukyamuzi, Dr Besigye affirmed that the opposition will be taking part in the 2011 elections. Until yesterday, the opposition has pushed the line that they would not participate in an election organised by the EC as presently constituted.
“We insist that elections in Uganda must be subjected and judged by the same internationally accepted standards of electoral probity applied everywhere in the world. “We therefore condemn the exceptionalism which has been accorded to the Museveni regime in the past.”
The Supreme Court found widespread irregularities in both 2001 and 2006 presidential elections which they said were not conducted in accordance with electoral law but ruled that the non-compliance was not substantial enough to change the outcome. Before the start of the mass protests, Dr Besigye said, the opposition will seek a meeting with the police, the judiciary and civil society and other senior citizens interested in violence-free polls
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
MP arrested over poll shooting
Lwemiyaga County Member of Parliament Theodore Ssekikubo yesterday handed himself over to the Police Criminal Investigations Directorate in Kampala where he was arrested and questioned for several hours.
The Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, told Daily Monitor the MP was seized in connection with Monday’s shooting in Sembabule District during the chaotic National Resistance Movement party district elections in which two people were injured and a police officer manhandled.
Others questioned
Daily Monitor understands that following a preliminary inquiry by a regional CID team led by Christopher Rugumayo and other senior officers, other ruling party members are also on the police radar. Southern Regional Police spokesperson Norah Sserujongi said “five NRM chairmen, who were present during the scuffle, have recorded statements with CID”. Mr Ssekikubo drove to CID headquarters at Kibuli in a navy blue Toyota Land Cruiser at around 3 pm.
Journalists were told he answered questions from Deputy Director CID Moses Sakira until 6:40 pm. “Mr Ssekikubo is officially under arrest and he is going to be transported to Masaka District this evening (Tuesday) where he committed the crime,” the police spokesperson, Ms Judith Nabakooba, later told Daily Monitor. She said Mr Ssekikubo would record a statement at Masaka Police after which, charges would be preferred against him.
Ms Nabakooba said the Force has also suspended Sembabule District Police Commander Stephen Okwir. “He has been suspended for failing to control Monday’s situation. He had a whole unit of anti-riot police but he did not use it, ” Ms Nabakooba said. Mr Ssekikubo blamed Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kuteesa for the latest outbreak of political tensions in Sembabule barely six months to next year’s general elections due between February and March 2011.
But Minister Kuteesa last evening said “no leader can behave in such a manner”. The minister also criticised the police saying; “If they cannot protect the public in small elections of the ruling NRM party, then we fear what might happen in future. How could they fail to disarm Ssekikubo and his bodyguard?” Lt. Habib Nsamba was shot in the stomach as he reportedly tried to disarm Mr Ssekikubo’s bodyguard, while another person is said to have sustained gunshot wounds in the lower limbs.
Soldier disowned
Army Spokesperson Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye yesterday said the injured lieutenant is not a known member of the UPDF, which under Uganda’s electoral laws must not engage in partisan political activity. “Maybe he belongs to ISO (Internal Security Organisation) or any other security group but I cannot pass judgement on him because we don’t know who he is,” Lt. Col. Kulayigye said. Meanwhile, the NRM Chief Whip, Mr Daudi Migereko, said the leadership will take measures to avoid a recurrence of such acts. “We do not support violence on matters which can clearly be decided by the ballot box,” he said
The Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, told Daily Monitor the MP was seized in connection with Monday’s shooting in Sembabule District during the chaotic National Resistance Movement party district elections in which two people were injured and a police officer manhandled.
Others questioned
Daily Monitor understands that following a preliminary inquiry by a regional CID team led by Christopher Rugumayo and other senior officers, other ruling party members are also on the police radar. Southern Regional Police spokesperson Norah Sserujongi said “five NRM chairmen, who were present during the scuffle, have recorded statements with CID”. Mr Ssekikubo drove to CID headquarters at Kibuli in a navy blue Toyota Land Cruiser at around 3 pm.
Journalists were told he answered questions from Deputy Director CID Moses Sakira until 6:40 pm. “Mr Ssekikubo is officially under arrest and he is going to be transported to Masaka District this evening (Tuesday) where he committed the crime,” the police spokesperson, Ms Judith Nabakooba, later told Daily Monitor. She said Mr Ssekikubo would record a statement at Masaka Police after which, charges would be preferred against him.
Ms Nabakooba said the Force has also suspended Sembabule District Police Commander Stephen Okwir. “He has been suspended for failing to control Monday’s situation. He had a whole unit of anti-riot police but he did not use it, ” Ms Nabakooba said. Mr Ssekikubo blamed Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kuteesa for the latest outbreak of political tensions in Sembabule barely six months to next year’s general elections due between February and March 2011.
But Minister Kuteesa last evening said “no leader can behave in such a manner”. The minister also criticised the police saying; “If they cannot protect the public in small elections of the ruling NRM party, then we fear what might happen in future. How could they fail to disarm Ssekikubo and his bodyguard?” Lt. Habib Nsamba was shot in the stomach as he reportedly tried to disarm Mr Ssekikubo’s bodyguard, while another person is said to have sustained gunshot wounds in the lower limbs.
Soldier disowned
Army Spokesperson Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye yesterday said the injured lieutenant is not a known member of the UPDF, which under Uganda’s electoral laws must not engage in partisan political activity. “Maybe he belongs to ISO (Internal Security Organisation) or any other security group but I cannot pass judgement on him because we don’t know who he is,” Lt. Col. Kulayigye said. Meanwhile, the NRM Chief Whip, Mr Daudi Migereko, said the leadership will take measures to avoid a recurrence of such acts. “We do not support violence on matters which can clearly be decided by the ballot box,” he said
Monday, August 2, 2010
Gunshots, chaos mar NRM polls
Violence overshadowed some of yesterday’s National Resistance Movement district elections as party heavy weights tussled. Two people were shot and injured in Ssembabule District where Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo stormed the venue of the polls protesting anomalies in the exercise. His rival, Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa, retained the seat. In Wakiso District, Vice President Gilbert Bukenya was elected NRM chairman unopposed after his main rival Ian Kyeyune pulled out.
In Butaleja and Tororo districts, the polls were postponed after rival camps clashed. The election’s biggest causalities were Public Service Minister Sseezi Mbaguta, who lost to Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi in Rukungiri District, while former Minister Edward Francis Babu lost in Kampala Central. Men armed with stones, sticks and iron bars besieged a polling station at Butaleja District headquarters and disrupted the National Resistance Movement party elections.
The group mostly comprised middle-aged men. They attacked the district chairman, Mr Richard Waya, and pelted him with stones. They accused him of conniving with one of the contestants, Mr Imran Muruga to hide about 340 delegates in Tororo for five days.
Mr Waya sustained a deep cut on his head and was only rescued by the police after shooting in the air. The group allegedly comprised supporters of area MP Emmanuel Dombo, who was also contesting for district leadership. The returning officer, Mr Joshua Nekole called off the polls and left the scene.
In Pallisa District, although Health Minister Stephen Mallinga beat Mr Sulaiman Bujumbi, for the top seat in the district, the polls delayed after it emerged that the minister allegedly ferried delegates to an unknown place and brought them at midday to vote in his favour.
In Kapchorwa District, the polls were marred by confusion during nominations of candidates for the post of the district party chairman. Mr Herbert Sabila, the Tingey MP and Dr Steven Chebrot, a former member of the Health Service Commission were in the race.
Confusion
Confusion raged after supporters of Mr Sabila demanded that Dr Chebrot be disqualified over his failure to get an acceptance letter from President Museveni after resigning from the Health Service Commission.
During the confusion, Dr Chebrot’s supporters also demanded that Mr Sabila be disqualified because he was convicted of corruption by the Anti-Corruption Court early this year. They argued that Mr Sabila was not fit to represent district at the NRM Delegates Conference.
Mr Sabila was early this year convicted of corruption after he reportedly attempted to bribe officers from the Inspector General of Government. The situation worsened fter the NRM Administrative Secretary in Kapchorwa District, Mr Athens Somikwo declared Mr Sabila the district chairperson yet both candidates had agreed to resolve the conflict in line with party regulations. Police rescued Mr Somikwo from a mob that wanted to lynch him.
In Tororo District, polls failed to take place after the two counties of Budama (for Japadhola) and Tororo County [for Iteso] failed to agree on the candidate after it emerged that the people of Tororo County demanded for their own district so that they could have a separate chairman. The other districts like Mbale, Moroto, Abim, Napak, the polls were called off due to problems that ranged from late arrival of voting materials, and complaints irregularities
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)