How much of the ‘Ugandan State’ is still unsold?
By M. Suleman
24th January 2011
The intense nature of the NRM’s internal nominations demonstrated that no matter how good a leader might be, after some time, at some point, people will yearn for a change. In fact if Museveni had allowed the position of NRM presidential candidate to be openly contested, for sure he would have lost.
In short, Ugandans are yearning for change. And, unless something dramatic happens, Ugandans are going to vote for change in the coming election. The question however is: What country will Museveni leave behind? Does Uganda still exist or is it a carcass? Clearly, the new leadership has a gigantic task ahead.
The NRM’s rotten political culture started long before the NRA took power. The NRA broke into and looted establishments. Those criminal acts were never challenged by the people of Uganda and that allowed the NRA to continue looting and grabbing state assets. I believe it is the NRA’s looting that ushered in a new culture of looting and grabbing of state property with impunity.
Laws were expeditiously enacted to facilitate their evil intentions. The process was heightened as every NRM big wig sought to acquire as much wealth as possible. And it’s easy to see why. The NRA leadership was composed of people who were from poor backgrounds. The looting process intensified until it was later disguised as privatization.
From then on to date, it has been a continuous process of grabbing and selling state assets under any pretext. One wonders how much of Uganda is still unsold. Land, buildings, institutions, movable assets, Lakes, forests, you name it; all have been sold off by the leadership of the NRM. Basically what constitutes Uganda is now nonexistent.
Self aggrandizement has moved hand in hand with corruption. Many rules had to be either bent or broken to facilitate the NRM’s wealth acquisition. Where the leadership could not use its authority, it would bribe. So corruption started from top and it permeated into the civil service and into every aspect of Ugandan life. The NRM has fully institutionalized corruption.
Sadly, one of the institutions that have been greatly affected is Parliament. Museveni came to power with the determination to destroy political parties and radically change the political culture of the country. Political party activities were restricted and a one party system was imposed on the country. A Parliament was then designed to fit into this one party state and it would be controlled by one person.
Membership of Parliament was broadened from the directly elected members to a variety of other groups; many of which he was sure he could control. The regime then started a process to weed out all those who were not NRM cadres or were likely to resist the NRM philosophy. Slowly but steadily, patriotic politicians were eliminated from politics. They were replaced by self seekers whose main aim of coming into politics was to enrich themselves under the motto “For Museveni and My Stomach”. Today, all NRM Members of Parliament fall in that category.
And to ensure that the one party is sustained, Museveni dismantled the local government structures Uganda inherited from the British colonialists. The whole idea was to create a system which could be micro-managed by the President. The laws that were enacted were not meant to serve the national interest Museveni’s interest.
The 2005 amendment of the constitution to remove presidential term limits was a good example. To make sure the amendment doesn’t fail, Museveni gave MPs Shs5m each. And it’s not just the constitution. Many unnecessary laws have been legislated for the sake fulfilling Museveni’s interests.
The composition of parliament was designed to ensure that the NRM maintains a majority in parliament for as long as Museveni lives. These morally bankrupt politicians will remain scattered in our political space for a long time. So how will the new government start rebuilding such a political landscape?
The security organs will also be a challenge for the new government. After the overthrow of the Okello government, the NRA comprehensively dominated the army and other security institutions. Although it was renamed UPDF, the army has basically remained NRA whose primary allegiance is to President Museveni and not to the people of Uganda.
In addition to the legal forces, there are a number of other security outfits that have been established and armed. All these salute Museveni. Where will the new government start from when it finally inherits a personal armed forced that had been camouflaging as a national army? To make things worse, the NRM brought in a culture where success is determined by the gun.
That is why Museveni has been in the army uniform from the day he entered State House to date. Our people are reminded that if they didn’t fight, if they have no gun, then they are entitled to nothing. It is uniforms, guns and war talk that has dominated Musevenis reign.
The country has been on a war footing for 24 years. For those reasons, many Ugandans now believe Museveni will have to be forced out. Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
