Posted on  December 16th, 2012

Government has learnt with shock about the sudden and untimely death of Hon. Nebanda Cerinah Arioru the Woman Member of Parliament Representing Butaleja District. The late Nebanda was a youthful and vibrant Member of Parliament with great vigour and potential for leadership.  Her demise is thus a great loss for the country.
Government would like to extend condolences to the family of the late Nebanda, the people of Butaleja and the entire country.
Because her death was sudden the exact cause is not yet established. The relevant arms of government, most notably the police have however responded immediately to commence investigations.
Police are following all the clues including the fact that the late was last seen in the company of her friends in Buziga a Kampala suburb in Makindye Division on Friday evening. She developed dizziness and became unconscious at around 8: 00pm. She was admitted to a clinic in Nsambya opposite the American embassy.
When her condition deteriorated and she eventually died.
Government would like to assure the public that everything possible will be done to get to the root cause of the late Nebanda’s death. If there was foul play in the circumstances leading to this tragedy we shall establish not just the cause but also the possible motives. And we shall inform the country accordingly.
May the soul of the late rest in eternal peace.

Friday 23rd November 2012

H.E President Museveni

I greet you and I welcome you to Uganda for this 16th COMESA Summit. The greatest disadvantage Africa faced at independence, ever since 1957, when Ghana got independence, was political balkanization of this continent. The North American Continent has got only three countries ― USA, Canada and Mexico. The South American continent has got 15 countries including the Central American Isthmus and the three dependencies of Falkland Islands, French Guiana, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

The Australian continent has got one country, Australia. The Indian sub-continent has got only six countries which are: Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. The huge Euro-Asian landmass, stretching from the border of Poland to the Pacific, until 1990, had only six countries which were: the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, China, Korea, Mongolia and Iran, if you excluded the Balkans and the Middle East.

This was a land area of about 12 million square miles, bigger than the whole of Africa. When the Soviet Union broke up, there are now more countries in that zone of the globe. When, however, it comes to Africa, there are now 54 countries. None of them is more than one million square miles or 200 million people. About 36 of them, even today, have got a population less than 15 million. At independence, some had as few people as less than one million.

This balkanization posed the following problems to the newly independent Africa: Small economies on account of, not only the purchasing power of the population because of under-development and small incomes, but also on account of the small numbers of consumers even in absolute terms. Without consumers and adequate purchasing power, enterprises (businesses) cannot thrive. Profitability of these enterprises is undermined. If the profitability is affected, then, few enterprises (e.g. Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) will be attracted to these economies and few new ones will emerge.

Without enough number of enterprises emerging or being attracted in an economy, jobs will not be created, goods and services will not be available (or will have to be imported), technology will not grow, the tax base will not expand and, therefore, funding social services (health, education, etc.) and infrastructure (roads, electricity, etc.) will be very difficult, etc. The best example is to compare China with East Africa. Since 1978 when China started its open-door policy, US$ 1.232 trillion have been attracted into that country from outside as FDI. Yet they are communists and do not have the fashion of multi-party democracy Africa has been engaged in ― they have a different system of governance which has served them well.

East Africa, on the other hand, has only been able to attract US$ 19.1 billion in the same period in FDI. Yet we have been running free markets, running multi-party democracy, etc. China now is the 2nd biggest economy in the whole world, having overtaken the small but highly developed economies of UK, France, Germany and Japan. What were the stimulus factors for this phenomenal growth and transformation of the Chinese economy and society? The stimulus factors were the size of the Chinese population (1.3 billion people), the size of their land area (3 million square miles) and, of course, the dynamism as well as a rich culture of their society.

In other words, it was the absence of political balkanization of the Chinese race ― both political and geographical. Of course, political balkanization has got implications for defence and strategic security or otherwise of the concerned peoples. China has now joined USA, Russia, and India as a space science country. This enhances her capacity of strategic security. Africa is totally lacking in that area. The war technology gap that was pioneered in 1337, when Edward III of England first used gun-powder against Scots, between Europe on the one hand and Africa, Asia, the Americans as well as Austro-Asia on the other hand, has been widening ever more and more, particularly for the Africans that have remained stagnant.

Therefore, the foresight by the Lagos Action Plan, which pointed out the need to be organized in the building blocs for trade for different zones of Africa in order to tackle this balkanization, was correct. Integration is one of the major therapies for Africa which has been in decline since 1785 BC when the Hyksos first invaded and conquered Egypt, the African cradle of human civilization. Integration should have two dimensions – economic and, where possible, also political integration. In East Africa, we are aiming at both – political and economic integration. The people of East Africa have, for decades, been yearning for an East African Federation that would deal with both political and economic integration.

This is the ultimate goal of EAC. There are those who ask the question: “Why EAC and COMESA? This is the answer. EAC intends to travel further because the peoples are either similar or very compatible and are aiming at also the political integration, leading to the Federation of EA. COMESA, on the other hand, right from the beginning, aimed at economic integration because political integration at the continental level is quite unrealistic. Trade, however, is not only realistic, but necessary.

This is why Uganda never joined SADC when it was formed by our fellow freedom fighters that had been active in the anti-colonial struggle. We only saw those two dimensions – the political and the economic. Since SADC did not make the political integration dimension explicit, we did not see the need to duplicate the trading arrangement mechanism. I am glad that now COMESA, EAC and SADC are engaged with one another under the tripartite efforts. COMESA has done well and will even do better. As you heard, the trade volumes among COMESA members are of the magnitude of US$ 18.8 billion. This will grow if we could deal with infrastructure – the roads and the railways.

I want to see a rail link with South Sudan, a rail link with Kisangani in Congo, a rail link with Gisenyi in Rwanda and the up-grading of the East African Railway system to a standard gauge. We need railway links with Ethiopia and Somalia from Kenya. In the end, we need to conclude the agreement on the African Common market. In 2077, the population of Africa will be three billion. We should create that unified trading space for our grand children and great-grand children.

A big market is not only good for giving our producers greater markets for their products (goods and services). It is also good to enable us to negotiate with others (USA, EU, China, Russia, India, South America, Japan, ASEAN, etc) for access to their markets. The Ugandans (Banyankore) say: “Ija turye kumwe biri aine eki akurebireho” ― the one who invites you for a meal does so because he/she knows that you have got capacity to reciprocate.

Indeed, from the Bible, in the Gospel of St. Luke 8:18, it says: “…For whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him…” The one who has something will get more benefits. In this case, the stronger you are, the more you get. We are, therefore, on the right road.

I thank you very much. 23rd November 2012 – Munyonyo Speke Resort.

Monday 19th November 2012

Greetings to all of you, Excellencies.

You cannot talk, seriously or credibly about the fight against criminality and corruption in Uganda in the last 50 years and the period before without talking about the vanguard role of the NRM in that fight. Until 26 years ago, stealing Government funds was the least of Uganda’s problems. The main problems were: extra-judicial killings (that resulted into the death of 800,000 Ugandans between 1966 and 1986); looting of property of the population by the soldiers; raping of women; brutalizing of the population through beatings by the soldiers; uprooting of whole communities by the soldiers, like Idi Amin did with the Indian community, or like the colonial system did with the Banyoro, Baruuli, Banyala and others; the poaching of animals by Government soldiers in the National Parks; the grabbing of private and communal lands by those in power; and, of course, the stealing of Government funds.

The NRM, which started as a student Movement in the 1960s, was the vanguard and pioneer of the fight against all this criminality and corruption since, at least, 1965 todate.

We started by defending the land of the peasants between 1966 and 1970 ― at least, in some parts of the country. Who were the agents of criminality, corruption and extortion? It was the State ― both the Colonial and the post-Colonial State. During the colonial times, for instance, the system of mailo was created where 8,000 square miles was taken away from the indigenous owners and was given to 1,000 collaborator chiefs, each one getting 8 sq. miles.

When this grand theft almost caused an uprising in 1924, the Governor, Mitchell, appointed a Commission of Enquiry, which resulted in some reforms of 1928. However, the problem was not fully eliminated. We are still grappling with it. We shall definitely solve it. Apart from the grabbing of land, extra-judicial killings were massively used, especially between 1966 and 1986, as already pointed out. There are 37 mass graves in the Luwero Triangle, preserved to capture this criminality.

Your Excellencies could go there and visit some of them. Therefore, the main task of the revolutionaries was to destroy the rump of the colonial State ― the colonial Army, headed by the likes of Idi Amin and to build a people’s Army.

It is this intervention that made Uganda to resurrect and chart a new course. Many people have been praising the conduct of the UPDF in Somalia. That is a consequence of that Revolution ― destroying the colonial Army and replacing it with a people’s Army as part of reforming the colonial State. Incidentally, this was not unique to Uganda. Throughout the whole of Africa, this was the problem. The terrible civil war in Nigeria, Mobutu in Congo, Siad Barre in Somalia, Bokassa in Central Africa, Eyadema in Togo, the recent problems of Ivory Coast, the genocides in Rwanda and Burundi can all, in one way or another, be traced to the colonial State and its Armies.

Some go a bit further to link up with the African feudal systems of the pre-colonial times as exploited by colonialism. Therefore, our revolution was both anti-colonial and anti-feudal. The most dangerous element of the Colonial State was the Colonial Army and its post-colonial mutants ― Uganda Army (UA), Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), etc. This Army was sectarian, illiterate, unpatriotic, etc. Our Revolution, on the other hand, was based on four principles: Patriotism; Pan-Africanism; Socio-economic transformation; and Democracy

By destroying the colonial Army and replacing it with the Revolutionary Army, we, immediately, cured the following criminalities:

1. Extra-judicial killings;
2. Raping of women;
3. Looting of people’s property;
4. Brutalizing of people and rudeness to them;
5. Poaching of animals from the National Parks; and
6. Grabbing people’s land; etc.

That is how Uganda resurrected and started the recovery process, which has been witnessed in recent years (the last 26 years). The colonial Army, however, was not the only element in the colonial State. There were other elements: The civil service; The Police; The Judiciary; The Professional services (medical, veterinary, teaching), etc. It was actually a bit easier to reform the Army. What that needed was a correct ideological-philosophical outlook.

As already said, our outlook is: patriotism, pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation (modernization) and democracy. To these, or even as a consequence of patriotism, if you add heroism and courage, given the comparatively Uganda’s good educational standards even during the colonial times, it was easy to build a good pro-people Army. All this was also assisted by the solid martial culture of the people of Uganda the decadent feudal system that tended to smoother the qualities of our people notwithstanding. Why? A recruit course takes six months to nine months, an officer – cadet’s course takes twelve months and a Non Commissioned Officer’s (NCO) course takes four months.

This is based on assumption that you have people of the right educational level, age-bracket and health. The ideological aspects can be imparted by the leadership through teaching and by example. This can quickly get you people to lead platoons and with accelerated training, you will get people to lead companies, etc. Anybody with a University degree in general studies or A-level education can be turned into a good soldier, NCO or officer. Specialists for Air-force, engineering and other specialties need science education. Fortunately, these are needed in smaller numbers. However, with Administration (Accounting officers), professional services (doctors, lawyers, veterinary), Judiciary, etc., you need longer periods of preparation.

Some of these courses need science education or mathematics, which are subjects that are not as popular as the humanities. Many of them (the people involved), besides, had a careerist attitude, different from us the revolutionaries whose approach was a revolutionary one ― working, selflessly, without caring about remuneration, never claiming overtime allowances, staying in grass thatched huts instead of clamouring for good housing (just as we did in the bush), etc. Then, there was also the politics. We could not have massively disbanded the civil service as we did with the Army without alienating the public. At that time, the civil service was not as unpopular as the army.

The army’s criminality was much clearer to the masses and our destroying it has given us political capital whose account is not yet overdrawn ― 26 years after. In any case, we did not have others to replace them at that time. We, therefore, decided to tackle the problem piece-meal, quite early on. In addition to the army, we decided to reform Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) ― the former East African Customs Department plus other tax departments. These departments were very corrupt.

In 1986, these corrupt tax bodies, were only collecting 4.23% of GDP as tax for the Government. The rest, they were collecting for themselves. We abolished these departments, created URA, which was manned by the people we got through integrity hunting before professional training. What did this mean? Take Allen Kagina, for instance, the present Commissioner-General (CG) of URA. She was a lecturer in Psychology at Makerere University. In fact, Allen Kagina protested that she did not know anything about tax collection. I told her that somebody would teach her because tax collection was not space science. What was lacking in those tax bodies was integrity and uprightness.

By recruiting a new cadreship into the tax bodies, collection rose from 4% of GDP to the present 12.65% of GPD. It has stagnated at that level because of the subsistence nature of the economy but, possibly, also, the lack of a correct personal identification system which will be cured by the electronic identity card. Then, we turned to the Police, which has been slowly overhauled. This is how the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is now able to play an active role in the present anti-fraud campaign. I had to bring in two Generals from the Revolutionary Army ― Katumba Wamala and Kale Kaihura ─ to shake up this centre of criminality that was ironically supposed to fight criminality.

Recently, we deployed Jennifer Musisi in the rotten Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). She is busy sweeping Aegean stables of Kampala ─ corruption, land grabbing, lack of planning, garbage, pot-holes, mud, dust, flooding, flies, etc. In the short time she has been in that office, you can see what impact she has created in spite of the opposition by the corrupt political class and bureaucrats. Recently, there have been quite a few politically motivated red-herrings, trying to give the impression that the problem of corruption in Uganda is because of lack of “political will” to fight that corruption. Who? Me, Yoweri Museveni, lacking “political will” to fight corruption and criminality when I am stronger now than I was in 1971, when, together with my colleagues, we took the regime of Idi Amin head on, or when in 1981, with 27 guns, we attacked Kabamba? Those who peddle those falsehoods should be treated with the contempt they deserve.

As soon as we had the opportunity, we put all the necessary laws in place ― leadership code, the anti-corruption laws, etc. We also put new institutions in place such as the Inspector General of Government (IGG), etc., in addition to the old ones such as CID, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), etc. The problem has been the manning of these institutions. As all wars go, the enemy tries to infiltrate our ranks depending on the leadership that may be in place in a given institution. The IGG office, for instance, seems to have been infiltrated by questionable characters. The new IGG seems to be of the right temperament and integrity. She will mop up the infiltrators.

Those who have been pushing the red-herring of lack of “political will” have been ignoring Article 174 of the Constitution, the Public Service Act of 2008 and section 188 of Local Government Act, all of which give power over money, contracts and personnel to the civil servants, not to politicians. In fact, there is no area of Government where the politicians can misuse money, make wrong procurement contracts, etc., without the permission of the civil servants (the Accounting officer).

Where it happens, it is easy to detect. Therefore, as I have pointed out before, the warriors in the anti-corruption war are: the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the ministry, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in a district, the Town Clerk in a City or Municipality and the Gombolola chief in a sub-county. All the others are mere accessories to the crime. They are the ones to supervise the procurement officers, the accountants, etc., below them. Recently, we had a break through in this war. The whistle blowers in the ministry of Public Service exposed the huge theft of the pension funds. The CID moved in and they are doing a commendable job. Then, the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister became a whistle-blower in the case of the accountant Kazinda. This is what involved money from Development Partners. We are going to methodically unearth all those involved.

I suspended the Permanent Secretary of the ministry of Public Service and I will suspend anybody else once I am satisfied that they are involved. The suspected thieves are very cunning. One of their techniques seems to be blackmail whereby they intimidate whistle-blowers with framing them up or trying to get political patronage. I can assure you none of those will work. I am the elected leader of Uganda for four consecutive terms apart from being the historical leader of the Ugandan Revolution.

Anybody who associates himself or herself with these suspected thieves and tries to shield them will come to ruin as did all the enemies of our people. Our points-men in this war are the auditors, officers from CID officers and other security services. I, sometimes, directly supervise them.

We shall not be diverted by any smoke-screen. Each issue will be dealt with according to the facts. As for the Development Partners, kindly inform your home constituencies that you are dealing with capable people who fought the dictatorship of Idi Amin; fought the dictatorship of UPC; defended Uganda from Sudanese – sponsored terrorism; destroyed the colonial Army that was killing Ugandans; stopped the multiple crimes of that Army against the people of Uganda; enabled the Ugandan economy to recover; contributed to regional peace, etc. The recent revelations have been made by people sympathetic to the Revolution. They are the whistle-blowers.

We have the capacity to defeat these thieves as we defeated all the other enemies of Uganda. These accountants have for long been rumoured to be the core of corruption in the Public Service. Fortunately, given the large number of educated people Uganda now has, it will not be a big problem to get rid of this crop of parasites. Their activities even impact negatively on the operations of the foreign exchange. By getting this free money of the Government, they are able to buy large amount of dollars for externalization, thereby, causing the artificial depreciation of the Uganda shilling. The fight against these thieves is going on well. Give me your support and, please, remember the Banyankore proverb: “Watooza n’ababwibire”. The rich African dialects are very precise and not easy to interpret. It refers to people stealing one’s millet in the night from a granary. The following morning, having discovered the theft, you make the alarm.

Among those who come to help track the stolen millet are the very thieves that stole the millet at night. They will do everything possible to divert you from the track that the thieves took so that you do not find the millet and the thieves. All that is said in two words as shown above. I thank you.

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA

SPEECH BY H.E. YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA, AT THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION STONE FOR THE AGA KHAN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE (DELIVERED BY VICE PRESIDENT PROFESSOR GILBERT BUKENYA ON BEHALF OF PRESIDENT MUSEVENI) (KAMPALA, UGANDA)

22 August 2007

I would like to welcome His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan to Uganda. Please receive our hearty congratulations to your Highness upon the Golden Jubilee as spiritual leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims.

His Highness the Aga Khan has made significant contribution towards the social and economic development of this country. Uganda is proud to be associated with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), of whose initiatives we are great beneficiaries. Institutions like the Aga Khan Schools, Diamond Trust and Jubilee Insurance Company have not only offered services to Ugandans but also availed employment. Together with some other recent projects, these institutions have brought a difference in the lives of our communities.

The Aga Khan Development Network’s longstanding partnership with the government of Uganda, particularly in the areas of education, rural support and economic development must, therefore, be applauded.

The laying of the foundation stone for the Aga Khan Academy of Excellence is a very significant milestone in yet one of your very important contributions to the development of the human resource. I am glad to note that the celebration of this Golden Jubilee in Uganda is not mere jamboree, but is instead lined with significant development projects – the Aga Khan Academy and the Bujagali Hydro-power Project

Allow me to register our profound appreciation for the confidence you have placed in Uganda, making massive investments and boosting our economy. The establishment of a Diplomatic Mission in Uganda for the Aga Khan is a demonstration of, and has further consolidated the confidence the Uganda Government has in the engagements of the Aga Khan Development Network in Uganda. This relationship has a very bright future indeed.

I would like to hail His Highness the Aga Khan for choosing Kampala as the site for this Academy. This brings to our locality a wealth of education experience that will offer the best contemporary services. Uganda will certainly benefit from your long-standing partnerships with universities such as Harvard, Oxford and Toronto, as well as renowned college preparatory schools. The student-centred approach to learning and internationally recognized curriculum this Academy has to offer are an important tool in the orientation of our region towards globalization.

It is important that as we educate our children, we impart to them practical skills that shall be beneficial to their wellbeing for life. Gone are the days when one had to wait for a white collar office job as the sole means of earning an income. We must train job creators, not job seekers. The NRM Government places great emphasis on career guidance for our young people in order for them to acquire marketable skills, but also to be able to be functional in this fast-developing and ever-changing world. The Aga Khan Academy of Excellence is surely geared towards this end; and I salute you.

While primary and secondary school enrollment shows that gender disparity continues to exist in most regions of the world, Uganda acknowledges the need to offer equal education opportunities to boys and girls. Government, therefore, uses affirmative action in order to increase the chances of education for our young women at University, while offering Universal Primary and Secondary education.

The commitment of the Aga Khan Academies to the professional development of teachers, whose programmes shall be available to faculties of other public and private schools, is an enormously valuable resource for Uganda’s education. The linkage between the academy and other educational institutions shall definitely have a multiplier effect not only nationally, but regionally.

Within the East African region, as we move towards a Political federation this Academy comes in at a very opportune time. Uganda has always been the hub of excellence in education.

We pride in this Academy not just as Uganda, but as East Africa, as we shall network with the sister Academies in the region.

Government shall give you full support and cooperation as we work together in the noble cause of human resource development through Education.

Once again, Your Highness, allow me to express our gratitude for this kind gesture of making this noble investment in Uganda.

Thank you.