President Museveni Needs To (1) Lower Power Tariffs ,(2) Release All Political Prisoners (3) Review Oppressive taxes, (4) , reduce on the cost of public administration, (4) to Resonate Again with Ugandans

President Museveni Needs To (1) Lower Power Tariffs ,(2) Release All Political Prisoners (3) Review Oppressive taxes, (4) , reduce on the cost of public administration, (4) to Resonate Again with Ugandans 

Its not too late for president Museveni to rehabilitate his tainted regime and regain his lost appeal with Ugandans

when Col Muamar Ghadafi was on the verge of losing power ,he made a speech almosty on a daily basis.
likewise his friend in arms , our very own Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has addressed the nation more often than he ever did in the entire three decade reign.

It’s also evident that some of his statements are not only incoherent but they also don’t rhyme very well with the reality on the ground.

 These days he uncharacteristically deviates into trivialities- like how his children will never search for jobs because he has managed to work for his them( as if its not obvious already), blah, blah.

Some of us, who have grown up watching rosy speeches of the Ugandan president are getting a raw deal. We were used to super speeches lazed with erudite analogies, statistics and figures about events.

Today we no longer see the scholarly Museveni we were used to. 

 All this must be traced to aftermath of the Arua debacle that led to the arrest, torture and unjustified trial of over a dozen members of parliament.

Consequently ,One of the tortured Mps, Bobiewine has  emerged as a presidential contender (by virtue of the mass following he commands) and has now featured on all the known international media outlets, sending president Museveni and his crew into unbelievable panic.

The European Union, the British parliament and the American congress has rose up to condemn the brutality of the Ugandan leader.

It’s clear that the president has become jittery and seems to have more sleepless nights than he ever had in his entire lifetime!.

Losing base with the international community seems to have hit him so hard.

In one of his speeches he lambasted his public relations team thus;

" I Yoweri Museveni son of Kaguta, General of the NRA requiring polishing? I can do it myself. Those PR agencies and sijui perceptions? For us we deal with reality" [emphasis added].

The jibe was reportedly intended to rubbish most of his aides who have failed to engage the Bobiwine wave of critics.

but one of the most trusted museveni strategists Andrew Mwenda reportedly hit back to the Ugandan president by asserting that , ‘’the Museveni brand is very difficult to market at the moment’’

 

Interestingly , the same Andrew Mwenda was one of the few spin doctors who had pledged uncompromising loyalty to the Ugandan president by clearly stating that ‘’he would rather hobnob with dictator Museveni than join Bobiwine’s Misratta brigade.’’ 

Mwenda and most of Museveni’s allies seem to smell the end of the regime which promised so much, delivered some success, but is now on backward trail.

But some of us who have been around long enough and prefer a peaceful country have not given up on Museveni.

 We believe that he can redeem himself and win back the lost glory if he embarks on the following;

1; Release All Political Prisoners

Since the advent of the Bobiwine riots, hundreds of youths were locked up and are languishing in Luzira maximum prison.

 I however think that the president can win some political mileage if he exercises his powers and orders the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

The perfect timing for this can be Independence Day which is just around the corner on 9^th October.

I know of counter arguments that the president can only exercise his right for prerogative of mercy only if someone has been convicted.

 I don’t think it’s a convincing argument at all. Just get on with it, forgive your fellow Ugandans and wait for the reaction from your countrymen.

It will also appear smart if the president disassociates rather than justify the brutality of the security agencies.

It was not good that he justified the torture and incarceration of the Arua Mps. It cost him the entire international community and gave the likes of Amsterdam the justification to campaign against the NRM leader. 

2; Revise The Oppressive Taxes 

Forget the politics; Ugandans have become more hostile to president Museveni because of the harsh economic environment.

If the president offers to, for instance, look at the taxes Ugandans are paying and makes a deliberate attempt to reduce them by some percentage then he will win back a lot of hearts that he had lost.

We have seen the new Liberian president George Weah scrap taxes on a wide range of products to save his poor countrymen from poverty.

President Museveni forgets that he has become a hate figure simply because he preaches anti-poverty slogans but imposes policies (taxes) which enhance poverty within the population.

If you, for instance, reduce taxes on fuel, it will have the trickledown effect of making everything cheap.

Consequently the ghosts of inflation will come down and the cost of making business will be reduced.

But Uganda has the highest cost of making business in the region because of of such hostile taxes. 

3; Reduce Power Tariffs 

One of the most frustrating issues in this country has been the high rate of power tariffs.

Interestingly, President Museveni has spent so much on power generation and boasts about having surplus power.

 But he fails to explain why the power tariffs are still very high.

Am actually told that Uganda exports most of its electricity to Kenya and Rwanda where the power tariffs are even cheaper! Can you imagine? Who is fooling who here?

4; Reduce On The Cost Of Public Expenditure

One of the issues that undermines the credibility and justified longevity of president Museveni’s regime is the high cost of public expenditure.

If the president can reduce on the size of his monstrous cabinet, over size parliament and other sectors of government, Ugandans will revise their hatred for his regime.

The recent exercise where some authorities were rejoined with ministries was a step in the right direction , but it was simply not enough.

If he puts his heart to it (reducing the COP) he can save the country a lot of money which is being wasted on a bloated government.

Some of us ( am from the Third Force by the way) believe a smaller government that is sensitive to service of the citizenry is far better than a bloated government that simply siphons state resources.

By the way, this is not rocket science, Sudanese president Omary El Bashir has just reduced on his cabinet to mitigate a worsening economy.

5; Regional Balancing In Job Allocation

one of the most less talked about but more apparent burning issues in this country has  been tribalism.

So if the president makes a honest remark and says ‘’enough is enough, it’s true that Ugandans from western Uganda are dominating all the top jobs. Let’s try to accommodate our brothers from other parts of the country”

He can then follow up on this honest admission by appointing more Easterners, Northerners in different high profile jobs.

Oh, I know he is not in position to do this. Am actually dreaming aloud!

But it can be one of the most appealing statements he has ever made to Ugandans in his entire period in power.

Anyone who says there is no tribalism, sectarianism and nepotism in this country is a hypocrite trying to sweep dead rats under the carpet. They will eventually smell my dear!.

But the president can alleviate it by becoming more deliberate and allowing practical competition for juicy positions in government.

 He can tentatively, for instance, appoint a vice president from northern Uganda and a prime minister from the east.

This move alone can simply kill off the opposition and cool down the social tension in the country.

Of course there is a lot more that needs to be done for president Museveni to redeem his regime. But these five can make a huge difference in rehabilitating the Museveni brand.

If President Museveni realizes that humility and sincere engagement with the citizenry is more critical than brutal force, he will make his 50 year dream in power a reality.

Anything other than that is simply leading him to a waterloo or cul de sac of some sort.  

The author, Fred Daka Kamwada is a Ugandan blogger, journalist and prospective book author. 

Chat with him on kamwadafred@gmail.com