By M. Suleman

7^th May 2012: President Binaisa was overthrown partly because it was alleged that he was signing procurement vouchers from State House, a practice which compromises the office of the President.

Today countless vouchers have been signed in the same office. Today, State House doubles as the Estate Agent’s office responsible for mortgaging of Uganda. It will therefore not be a shock if it’s later discovered that most of the land or properties in and around Kampala, and in the country, are in fact owned by the State House ‘family’.

There is no doubt that most of the richest people in Uganda today are from the State House ‘family’. If Uganda was to have independent institutions, Museveni would have been impeached or overthrown a long time ago.

Apart from the financial impropriety linked to State House, I believe the gravest abuse of the constitution, and of people of Uganda, has been by the government.  Any civilized country requires a competent cabinet, judiciary and legislature.

Sadly in Uganda, those institutions only exist in name, and are literally fading into oblivion.  Instead, it is Museveni and a few people performing their functions.

Take the cabinet

Apart from the fact that appoints to it are based on favouritism, the Ministers no longer have any authority or knowledge of their Ministries.  Their budgets can be diverted without their consent.  They can be ordered to implement any decision without their prior consent.

They literally know little about decisions taken in their Ministries – so much that these days, it is pointless to ask Ministers on any issue. They fidget in front of Parliament and they are evasive before Journalists and the public.

For any matter concerning any Ministry, one has to consult the President or the Prime Minister.  Failing that, it may have to be the Inspector General of Police, or the Minister for Karamoja, who also happens to be Museveni’s wife. Recent evidence has proved that the public often has to wait for a decision from State House on issues like demonstrations, land, oil, religion, security, tourism, nodding disease, etc – not Ministers.

Impotent Legislature

The legislature is equally impotent. Consider the following:  It extended the tenure of the first NRA transitional government beyond five years.  It failed to introduce multi-party straight away in the 1995 constitution.  It failed to prevent Museveni from running for office in 1996 (since he had already served 10 years) which was the spirit of the 1995 constitution.

We all remember how, with a tiny bribe of 5million shillings each, parliamentarians wasted no time in scrapping presidential term limits.  They approved Janet Museveni to serve in cabinet.  They approved corrupt individuals to serve in cabinet.  They passed politically biased laws – it simply has no credibility left.

Apart from the actions of a few opposition MPs, we have not seen brilliance from Parliament since Museveni came to power. It has now become a routine for Parliament to pass laws dictated by Museveni.  Parliamentarians earn far above the majority of Ugandans – so they are not bothered about the status quo. Museveni, Mbabazi, Kaihura and Minister for Karamoja are the Parliament.

Judiciary compromised

The judiciary is equally compromised. Whereas their job is to interpret the law, they no longer have the independence to do so. They are no longer consulted before people are arrested or arraigned. They no longer decide on bails or remands.  They are no longer expected to listen to the merits of the cases, but rather to the political correctness of the cases.

Our Judges and our Attorney General are no longer the experts in law!  The experts are Gen. Museveni, Gen. Kayihura, Mbabazi, and the Minister for Karamoja.  Their interpretation of our laws is tailored for political expedience.  While a few judges have publicly expressed their frustration, the majority have succumbed for the sake of survival.

The country is thus owned and run as a private estate by Museveni, Kaihura, Mbabazi and Janet.  Ugandans have become squatters in their own land.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.