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

 

City tycoon Francis Byakunaga 's Family Wrangling Has Hit A New Wave With The Involvement Of A Updf Senior Officer.

        City Tycoon Byakunaga Family Wrangles Hit New Wave With The Involvement of UPDF Officer 

City Tycoon Francis Mr Byakunaga's family is deeply divided over a business empire that is reportedly run by his family members.

Mr Bbyakunaga , who is in his late 60s used to work with gaily and Roberts company before he formed a massive business empire that includes farms , hardware shops and a construction company.

Francis Ngabirano is one of the sons of Mr Byakunaga and a share holder

The siblings disagree on management of the estates putting the hole family on constant tenterhooks.

We have reliably been informed that the wrangling is mostly between Edward Byakunaga who works with the soon-to-be disbanded UNRA where he works as civil engineer ,, Doreen Kanyonyozi , Francis Ngabirano and a host of other family members.

The family members who have shares in the different business cartels of their father , are disagreeing on how to take the business empire forward.

While others want to sell their shares to outsiders, like Edward reportedly did, others still want the constant involvement of the family.

The said road engineer reportedly used to be a director of Mpanga construction company but is believed to have forfeited his shares which amounted to 30% leading to instant confusion in the company.

What baffles some family members is that Mr. Edward is still trying to dictate the company affairs even when he is no longer a shareholder, setting the situation into a tricky phase.

While on the other hand there is Doreen Kanyonyozi Mukasa who is also involved in the mix with different ideas altogether there is another shareholder called engineer Francis Ngabirano, whop feels  feels sidelined yet he also holds shares amounting to 30%

The friction is further exercibated by the involvement of distant relatives who are accused of swindling a lot of money from the family business.

According to a police file distant relatives in the names of Steven Ariho and Gerald Nuwagaba are beleived to have swindled a lot of money from the family empire prompting one of the family members to open up a police case at old Kampala police station.

The family has reportedly met on several occasions to clam down the situation to no avail.

At one time matters got to boiling point when a UPDF officer Lt Colonel Ben Tumushabe kidnapped Francis Ngabirano , and forcefully dumped him in Butabika hospital on grounds that he had run mad.

Ngabirano was reportedly sedated by the UPDF officer before he was handcuffed and dumped at the Butabika mental hosiptial.

Interestingly, engineer Ngabirano was working at CINNOC as an engineer in Hoima..

Interestingly, Lt Col Tumushabe is also an in-law of the engineer having married one of Byakunaga’s daughters..

It remains to be seen whether matters of this family will be resolved as the family wrangling continues to take center stage.

By the time of writing the story , we had not got in touch with mzee francis Ngabirano but we had got information that the family is about to have a big meeting to resolve the matter.

But we have reliably heard of a  complaint filed at the police station regarding the swindling of money by some of the family members.

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The Dynamics Of MM Tax; Is President Yoweri Museven Trying To Tax His Way Out Of Power Or Trying To Save The Collapsing Banking Sector From The Mobile Money Revolution

The Dynamics Of  MM Tax; Is President Yoweri Museven Trying To Tax His Way Out Of Power Or Trying To Save The Collapsing Banking Sector From The Mobile Money Revolution

 

IS President Museveni a good student of political science?

There is famous saying that history never repeats itself, but its clueless people who inadvertently repeat mistakes that collide with historical happenings of the past.

Over the years, one of the most contested issues in the world has been taxation.  And history shows us that governments that have instituted insensitive taxation have suffered the wrath of the people.  

Powerful monarchies and kingdoms have all collapsed as a result of the crude taxation policies.

In fact most sensitive politicians have been voted into power on account of their promise of a friendly taxation policy while others have collapsed as a result f their insensitivity about the issue.

In America for instance every election has mostly been contested basing on tax policies. Clever politicians have been sensitive enough to tax the rich to give the poor majority a sense of national belonging.

Arguments about whether to tax the rich is a counterproductive given the fact that it appears as though you appear to be taxing prosperity.

The argument has always been that it’s stupid to tax the rich because it amounts to punishing hardworking people and therefore encouraging the emergence of a lazy class. Therefore wise leaders have always tried to strike a balance between taxing the poor and the rich in more tolerable and largely acceptable proportions.

Too Much Taxation

Now for the case of Uganda today it’s unbelievable how it has senselessly decided to tax everything leaving no breathing space for the masses.

The idea of broadening the tax base is not bad at all but the methodology used by the NRM govt has made it look brutal.

In a space of just six months alone president Museveni’s government has instituted more than six different tax regimes.

Before Ugandan landlords could get to terms with the rent tax, we have seen the introduction of mobile money tax, social media tax and a host of others.

 A good government makes gradual introduction of new taxes. You cannot introduce three different taxes in every financial year and you survive the wrath of the people.  

This reality of having rent tax, mobile money tax and social media tax in a space of less than two months has put President Museveni’s credentials as a revolutionary leader in balance.

Both the poor and rich are totally in disgust with the tax regime imposed by the NRM government.

In Uganda everything you buy is taxed especially through the value added tax. As I write now the prices of fuel have gone up due to the rigid taxes imposed on it.

That’s why there has been a lot of outrage when government imposed the tax on social media and mobile money. Of course you can argue that the social media tax targets the affluent intellectuals who are not so much involved in production.

But what about mobile money tax which obviously hurts business development.

Conspiracy Theory

I was of the view that maybe the decision to tax mobile money transactions was done to make sure that the banks resurrect from their downfall that had been orchestrated by the mobile money revolution.

Because it appears that the MM tax will make it cheaper to the bank than the phone for transacting money.

I once wrote on this blog that the MM revolution was the major reason why banks were collapsing at an alarming rate.

Is government tactical enough to be trying to save the banks from being swallowed by the mobile money revolution?

I highly doubt because this government lacks the wisdom to do that (save the banks by taxing MM).

 Am of the view that they are just trying to siphon money from the gullible Ugandans by taxing everything they can land on.

The Dynamics Of The MM Tax

And in any case when you keenly look at the dynamics of the MM tax it clearly shows that the users are going to suffer double taxation whereby the sender of the money and the recipient will be taxed.

For instance if you send one million shillings to someone in Mbale you will first deposit it on your phone at a cost of !% exercise tax which amounts to 10,000 shillings remaining with a balance of 990,000.

Once the money is sent the recipient will have to incur the telecom company charge of 2,000 shillings.

Then the recipient will need to incur the withdraw charge of 12,650- shillings, meaning that the person will receive 955,815 shillings.

Now the transport to Mbale is around 10,000 to 12,000 shillings making it around 24,000 if you are travel to and from Mbale yourself.

This means that it’s logical to take the money by yourself since you spend almost 45,000 shillings to use mobile money, while transport is just half of that.

So this makes the MM tax totally illogical.  Clever people will abandon the mobile money and use buses to deliver the money. Yes it may be tedious, time consuming but worth it since it has the extra dividend of physical contact between the donor and the recipient.

We know that the mobility of money is an indicator of economic progress. Why would you tax it beyond reasonable proportions?

The Social Media Tax

President Museveni bragged that he will impose taxes on social media to curb the rumor mongering.

Granted, it’s good to tax the rumor mongers. But how sure are you that all the users of social media are rumor mongers?

So it’s obvious that the social media tax was not imposed for generating revenue but with malicious intentions.

This makes it untenable for government to defend its claim that it’s broadening the tax base. You cannot broaden the tax through malicious maneuvers.

In any case there are students who use social media as a tool for their course works.

They converge on the social media platforms for constructive intellectual discourse not rumor mongering as president Museveni thinks.

  With all this you would imagine that perhaps president Museveni is taxing his way out of power because the people will surely rise up in disgust like it has happened in many parts of the world.

The Historical Dimension

For instance it was the tea tax that caused the American Revolution. the Britons had imposed it in 1773 but two years later the American people  ganged up and fiercely fought for their independence in 1776.

As a student of president Museveni is aware that it was the unfair tax regime that caused the French revolution.

King Louis 16^th tried to raise taxes and taxed the third estate so heavily that it became a matter of time before he was deposed in 1789.

So it’s really inconceivable, actually untenable for NRM to expect any future electoral victory if it continues to enforce such a harsh and brutal tax regime.

What is surprising is that the local council elections are just around the corner. It’s highly unlikely that the citizens will vote without the issue of these brutal taxes on mind.

Is president Museveni trying to make history repeat itself like it did in America in 1776 and France in 1789 where brutal tax regimes caused revolutions in those particular countries?

The author Fred Daka Kamwada is a Ugandan blogger; he is on kamwadafred@gmail.com

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Fatou Bensouda Messed Up The ICC, Julia Sebutinde Bungled The Police Probe, while Catherine Bamugemerire's Land Probe Is Getting Hot; Do Women Crack Under The weight of Big Assignments?

Fatou Bensouda Messed Up The ICC, Julia Sebutinde Bungled The  Police Probe, while Catherine Bamugemerire's Land Probe Is Getting Hot; Do Women Crack Under The weight of Big Assignments?

Lady Justice Catherine Bamugemerire

Does Anyone of you remember president Yaya Jammeh of The Gambia?

Am talking about the one who claimed to have discovered the cure for aids?

The Gambian president might have been very unpopular with many African democrats but his legacy produced (at least) one good thing; the current chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda who had worked in Yaya Jammeh’s judicial system.

Bensouda replaced Moren Ocampo who had made the ICC a more feared institution.

When the Gambian lady took over at the ICC, we all jubilated because our African woman had eaten big!

But our jubilation soon dried up as the ICC started losing its relevance as she bungled one case after another through her miscalculated decisions.

According to an Associated Press report on 6 November 2015, Bensouda was advised that war crimes may have been committed on a ship in 2010, where eight unarmed Turks were killed and several other activists wounded by Israeli commandos, but she ruled the case was not serious enough to merit an International Criminal Court probe!.

Letting Israel off the hook was one fatal mistake that only served to make the ICC a toothless institution.

She then made another unwarranted mistake of seeking charges for human rights abuses committed during the war in Afghanistan such as alleged rapes and tortures by the American troops.

Even lay man like me knows that America is not a signatory of the Rome statute and can therefore the US troops cannot be held accountable for war crimes in any part of the world.

In fact Bensouda’s reckless charges were hastily rebutted by ambassador john Bolton who reminded her that the ICC Court had no jurisdiction over the USA, which did not ratify the Rome treaty.

She was so naïve to not to have realized that the United States of America being on UN permanent security council would veto any UN sanction if it was brought before the UN as a result of any ICC action.

Fatou Bensouda

 The United States of America has an established and functioning judicial branch to handle war crimes complaints against its Military personnel.

After these miscalculations, Fatou Bensouda was soon faced with another uprising from a section of African leaders who questioned the integrity, intentions and deliberate selective justice by the ICC.
The African leaders alleged that the ICC was onLy targeting African leaders and not war criminals allover the world

As a result of the protestations led mostly by our own president Museveni, Fatou Bensouda failed to prosecute the case of post election violence allegedly orchestrated by Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy Ruto.

Instead she consequently dropped the charges against the Kenyan president! Phew!

The ICC also failed to sanction the arrest and eventual prosecution of Sudan president Omar El Bashir who continued to defy the travel ban that had been imposed on him.

With all this at play, the ICC has since degenerated into nothing more than a barking dog.

In Comes Lady Justice Julia Sebutinde

This brings us to another case of lady justice Julia Sebutinde who was given the powers to probe into the criminal activities within the Uganda police.

 Sebutinde was praised by a large section of Ugandans including president Museveni who poured lavish praises on her because of the way she unearthed some strange happenings in the police force.

we all admired her for being a brave woman. In fact at one time i thought she deserved to be the next chief justice of Uganda. 

But despite of her shining star, some legal minds intimated that her committee was more of a torture chamber for whoever was summoned to face her.

 She was largely accused of orchestrating judicial hooliganism (she used to shout at the victims) and using a lot of emotions in execution of her duties.

She later wrote a report about the police, basing on her findings, but it’s safe to say that the report was never implemented, --given the fact that the Uganda police force even got worse than ever.

There are rumors that government failed to implement the Sebutinde report because of the way she had conducted herself but not necessarily because it lacked merit.

.

But that aside, the point am trying to make here is that there could be something wrong with the way ladies handle big offices. 

 A lot of hullaballoo and dust has been raised whenever ladies are given bigger assignements.
Jennifer Musisi, Hon parcis Namuganza, Hon  Aida Nantaba, Hon Rebecca Kadaga are some of the case studies which I will not dwell on , but are indicative of the fact that something is not right with our ladies when appointed to handle big assignments.

Lady Justice Catherine Bamugemerire

Take the case of lady justice Catherine Bamugerire who was given the odious task of probing the irregularities taking place in the lands sector.

She has been grilling her victims the same way one would squeeze juice from a sugar cane!

Her recent attitude towards Hon Betty Amongi, has generated a lot of dust in the intellectual circles accusing her of being very agressive.

Although some of us think it’s the best way to deal with the criminality taking place in the lands sector, others think that she has instead abused the rules of judicial procedure.

Others have accused her of exuding judicial hooliganism- the same accusations leveled at Julia.  

They claim that in any trial, the accused needs to be given the benefit of doubt in conformity with the principals of a fair trial.

if its true that she has indeed violated some principals of a fair trial, can we attribute this anomaly to her gender? would a man conduct himself differently?

Alternatively am also tempted to believe that , maybe , just maybe, these ladies also get excited and use emotions that discredit their good intentions while executing their mandate?

Otherwise, why should the ICC face integrity challenges during the tenure of a lady Fatou Bensouda and not at the time of Moreno Ocampo?
oh,the feminists are going to accuse me of being a male chauvinist.
But the truth is that a huge percentage of women seem to crack under th weight of pressure when given big undertakings. 
We hope Catherine Bamugemerire will overcome this syndrome and execute her mandate as expected.

  

Ends

The Author Fred Daka Kamwada Is A Journalist And A Ugandan Blogger. Talk to him at ; Kamwadafred@gmail.com