ARINAITWE RUGYENDO - BEHIND THE SCENES ON WHY PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT IS IN RETREAT

CORRUPTION: WHY UGANDAN LOOTERS’ WEALTH IS FUTILE

Published on July 6, 2011 by rugyendo ·  

Recently, I had a long argument about corruption in Uganda with Nina Mbabazi on her facebook wall. Nina is the high-spirited daughter to Premier John Patrick Amama Mbabazi.

That debate drew in lots of commentators. And as expected, the focus centered on the old stories of public servants who stash billions of shillings under their beds for fear of being detected if they banked it, a maid who stole half a billion shillings from a mountain of cash belonging their masters, the mysterious high rise buildings gracing the Kampala skyline, the infamous CHOGM scandal and of course Uganda’s continued abysmal score on the world’s corruption index.

But why am I concerned writing about this again? The reason is that I have since noticed that ill-gotten wealth is futile. Ask Sani Abacha. Ask Charles Taylor. Ask the Mobutu family. You can also ask Hosini Moubarak, Ben Ali, Saddam Hussein-the list is big. Neither they nor their offspring is sleeping nicely. Their ill-wealth haunts them.

But if you look at the Mandelas, the Nyereres, the Gandhis and others in their category, you will discover that their kin are sleeping soundly and have more iconic statuses. The last time I traveled to Mandela’s Family Museum in Soweto, a place frequented by paying tourists, you get the impression that for generations, every member of the Mandela family will be revered for generations.

In Uganda, those who are sleeping on piles of stolen money and ill wealth, those who are stealing our medicines and cutting corners at the workplace in order to get rich quick and those who sacrifice our children for riches, are all not sleeping soundly. This is called ‘The Futility of Wealth,’ a term coined by Pope Benedict XVI in April, 2010. While I watched him address a synod of Catholic Bishops at the Vatican, he decried the loss of human values in pursuit of ‘career and wealth,’ which he warned resulted in futility.

The good old Pope made me take a deep thinking about the evil that is eating the core of our society in Uganda and our hypocrisy in blaming others when we are not any better. So, I have been asking myself; what causes corruption? Who is corrupt? What is the remedy? Is it the old politicians in the government that are corrupt? Are we, the young generation, clean from corruption? Is it lack of institutions to fight corruption in our society? Where is the problem?

Nina’s wall had commentators condemning politicians
as a corrupt lot mostly in the government and that their remedy is to lock them up, after all, ‘the Fish rots from the head.’ I disagree. Instead, I found the Pope’s message ably resonating with our hopeless situation in Uganda, which is that personal integrity, a by-product of living a good life, is missing from our society. We value people too much with what is in their pockets and not what is in their hearts. That is why we don’t value professors, thinkers and clean Ugandans because they are ‘poor’ people. But that’s the message El Papa was relaying when he said that ”Those who think that the concrete things we can touch are the surest
reality, are deceiving themselves.”
Corruption is a product of greed and lust. In our society, these are not the monopoly of old politicians in the government. Whenever I turn
around in every corner, I see greed and lust, just that. That’s why a young man who has finished his college degree and gotten into
employment wants to be a billionaire overnight. He is always cutting corners at the workplace because he wants to drive the best car in the industry, wants to dress in the most expensive attire available, live in a posh apartment, all that in one year. And what happens? They will take to borrow from the banks and money lenders. And since the salary cannot repay the loan and maintain a roller-coaster lifestyle, they will have to dip their hands in the company’s coffers.

Our societal values also encourage us to be corrupt. However much
wisdom you will posses in your head, no one shall ever respect you if
you don’t have wealth. We are a society that worships wealth and wealthy people. That’s why the lowest common denominator for our women’s wants in their male partners is financial stability. The rest are secondary.

The richest men and women in our society will always sit on the highest
table, no matter how they got their wealth. We are a society that gives a
rousing welcome to people who come home after serving a jail term for
corruption in the US. We are a society that appoints them ministers and presidential advisers. A young man who dates the biggest number of beautiful women is envied by his peers and is the Hero of his Generation, yet this is the lowest ebb of his morals. A young lady will be envied by her peers if she manages to date the biggest number of rich men around, just for money. As Erich Fromm, a famous German-American Jewish philosopher once said; ‘Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts a person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.’

Even Jesus Christ of Nazareth gave us an analogy of a stupid young man who pursued wealth but never got satisfaction. That’s why he came to Jesus and asked him what he could do in order to inherit the kingdom of God. This stupid young man lost out and buried his name when Jesus asked him to sell his property and follow him. Jesus had seen the hollow in this young man’s soul that Riches were not filling. Jesus wanted this man to strengthen his soul by stopping to worry about his wealth. The young man killed his name and up to now no one knows his name. Instead those whose names are remembered and written in golden letters are the likes of St. Peter and St. James who abandoned their fishing nets and followed Jesus.
The way I see it, it is too late to salvage our generation. We are all
entangled in a web of yarning corruption by our societal values, by our
education and by inclination. If we want to save our society, we have to start off with our children. Let us teach them that success is not about how much money you make. Success in life should be seen through the integrity we possess, the care and respect we give to others, the loving we apportion to our jobs, etc. If you rob a nation’s resources, drugs, money meant for infrastructure, you don’t have integrity because, you are a liar and you have a corrupted soul and heart. If you pursue men and women because they are rich, then you have tagged your soul on money and you are corrupt without any sense of self respect. And if you have no self respect, you can never respect your employer, your colleagues and even the whole society you live in. Wealth is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who madly pursues it, and enlivens the life of who earns it justly.

H.E THABO MBEKI ABOUT THE DEATH OF STUDENTS ACTIVISM

H.E THABO MBEKI ON STUDENTS AND ACTIVISM IN AFRICA

CCG - HOPE INITIATIVE (HI) CONVERSATIONS

13TH APRIL 2012

Its true that by the time we grew up, there was a very vibrant intelligentia which was very much engaged in activism issues. But these days, there is too much intervention of the African states against the Universities. Governments see Universities as centers of opposition.This African intelligencia in the process got intimidated and the Universities have not yet recovered including financially and this calls for a conscious intervention by the African intellectauls.

"The progressive voice that was trying to define where Africa should go died away in regard to universities because of the manner in which the ruling groups in Africa acted against universities"

Further research by the Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG) shows that even the course units that were originally instilling activism in the students have since been changed in the universities in Uganda through the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).

This in general has put Africa's progressive movement in retreat.

BISHOP ZAC NIRINGIYE - ON THE SPOT AT NTV

Bishop Zac Niringiye while appearing on the Spot at NTV

12th April 2012

While appearing on the spot at NTV, Bishop Zac Niringiye- Morris Mugisha: why are you calling for the restoration of term limits?

An on-going debate by the citizens of this country in their demand for the restoration of term limits. This demand is from a cross sections of people, of sections of our society.

The first example is the UJCC in 2004 opposed the lifting of term limits from the 1995 Constitution. The Roman Catholic Church, Church of Ugaanda, Othodox Church, and the Obersvers in 2005 presented to Parliament objections to the removal of Presidentail Term Limits. UJCC has not changed its position on term limits. Last year, UJCC repeated their call and stated that there was no national consensus for the removal of term limits. They called for their restoration.

Another group is the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) - the Country review recommends that the removal of term limits has no national consensus and should be restored. APRM - 2010 repeated the same demands for the restoration of term limits.

The third group is the Citizens manifesto - over 10,000 Ugandans consulted on how they wanted to be governed - they demaned that the removal should be reviewed and term limits restored.

The fourth group is the Inter Religious Council - during the elections monitoring campaign - the term limits issue shaped the campaign and people demanded that they should be reviewed.

Morris Mugisha: The question is: President went into the campaign for the 4th term and 68% of Ugandans voted him- who are you representing?

Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) represents 75% of the people. And there is also the moslem community - the Inter Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) is much broader. They spoke for the restoration of term limits.

These people went to the ballot and voted for H.E President, yes, but i dont want to disucss whether these elections were free and fair, these elections were not about the restoration of term limits. If people were asked their views about term limits in 2011, they would have supported the campaign.

The poll question of the night - Should religious leaders have the mandate to discuss politics?

The people are requesting the involvement of religious leaders on governance, but the media choses what they report on and politicians chose what they call politics. For example, religious leaders support infrastructure- isn't that a government programme? But nobody reports about that. When we talk about governance- you brand us opposition supporters. But religious leaders support social justice, equity/equality, common good and good governance- these are issues for which religious leaders will rightly speak for and support.

NTV Video clip - where Archbishop Lwanga and Pastor Serwada made bold statements about the restoration of term limits and the debate on succession. They further called for change after 31 years of President M7's rule. They both ackowledged and quoted the President and recommended him as a Leader who has done well. They affirmed that its precisely the acknowledgement of work well done that President M7 should not end badly. Thats why thet are asking the president to leave in 2016. And yes, this is not the usual church message - its a message of peace.

Bishop Zac "Iam not constrained by faith to love the President but we need to appreciate the work put in by the President right from the bush to-date and promote his dignified retirement- this is peace".

This country in its history has never had any peaceful hand over of power. Beacuse we love our President, let him be the first to finish well. The restoration of term limits is central to a peaceful transition. This is a positive thing; restore term limits and then succession becomes orderly. We need a peaceful change of power.

"For people who think that for religious leaders to speak politics, governance, they are lost, this is a good place to be lost. I wish the whole country was lost in that direction!"

About the economy, walk to work protests and calling for change when oil money is coming in - and to think that The President wants to address the pending challenges with oil money, Bishop Zac thinks that this is a very good time for the President to leave when the economy is very strong. Because, He has done very well and he should leave the country with a gitf of oil resources.

"Its for the future of this country - for our children and oil is a wonderful thing to hand on the button to another. What a wonderful way to say that I have done well, please take it on from there!". Bishop Zac further asserted that after 30 years in leadership, its a good time to leave power.

Uganda is celebrating 50 years of Independence - the country has made some achievements but we have had a long history of turbulence and it would be good as we celebrate the 50 years, to declare that the country must have a predictable sussession calender- by restoring term limits. 2012 is a good year to be able to finish this work, restore term limits, pass on the button, we become positive, we need to get away from the contest on the streets- its confrontational - lets have dialogue!.

About the use of Article 1 of the Constitution in the message; power belongs to the people  - if government responds, it will show that its the government of the people, if Parliament says yes, they are responding to the peoples' demands and the people are speaking - this is the demand of the people.

Let President Museveni come up and say that "I want to be the first one to end well, yes I have finished".

85% of the respondents to the poll question say yes, religious leaders have the mandate to discuss politics.  We need to make a distinction between partisan politics and talk about issues that affect the lives of the people. and this is real politics and not partisan politics.

CHIMPS REPORTS LIKE THE LATE MAYOMBO!

Mayombo’s Brother, Matembe Hit Streets To Block M7 5th Term Bid

By Simon Muukama

Niringiye says Museveni must go

Former Ethics Minister Miria Matembe and Maj. Okwir Rabwoni have Thursday taken the fight against President Yoweri Museveni’s fifth term bid to Kampala streets.

Rabwoni is little brother to departed UPDF senior army officer Brig. Noble Mayombo.

According to information obtained, the new team of influential activists in Uganda working round the clock to block Museveni’s quest for another term in office after 2016, have boarded buses to preach the message of restoration of term limits in Kampala.

Scheduled routes are Bweyogerere, Kiwatule, Kajjansi, Gayaza and Bugolobi.

Matembe is expected to preach the anti-Museveni gospel along Luzira-Bugolobi road while Justice Mayambala will pitch camp in Kajjansi along Entebbe Road.

Rabwoni will take the word to residents along Ggaba road.

This initiative, led by retired Kampala Archdiocese Bishop Za Niringiye, seeks to embolden Ugandans to cause regime change under guidance of Article 1 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda which states that "All power belongs to the people who shall exercise their sovereignty in accordance with this Constitution."

The new army of activists has in the recent past stormed Makerere University, Uganda Christian University (UCU) among other institutions, calling upon students to join a new movement aimed at frustrating Museveni’s plans seeking re-election.

Under their umbrella organisation Centre for Constitutional Governance (CGV), the brave activists also insist that Presidential term limits must be restored not later than September 30 to avoid political chaos in future and life presidency.

Niringiye recently told Chimpreports.com as Ugandans celebrate 50 years of independence this year, time is ripe for the reclamation of the solemn declaration that "Power belongs to the People."

Niringiye said now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transformation embedded in that January 1986 statement.

“After 50 years of independence,now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of social injustice to the solid rock of human dignity. When Museveni stood on the precincts of Parliament in January 1986 and declared "…the problem of Africa and Uganda in particular is leaders who overstay in power," Ugandans cheered what they thought was a genuine fundamental change,” said Niringiye.

“So, when the men and women of the Constituent Assembly installed term limits to the presidency in Article 105(2) of the Constitution they knew that they were building a legacy of peaceful transfer of presidential power and authority. It was thus one of the darkest days in our history when the 7th Parliament removed presidential term limits on September 30th, 2005. At a single stroke of the pen, we returned to the politics of survival that has seen the suffering and death of millions of Ugandans,” he roared.

The activists, supported by lawyer Sarah Bireete, have as well launched the constitutional literacy campaign. The programme is aimed at promoting constitutional governance in Uganda and the region through continuous civic education and sensitization on constitutional literacy; its relevance to good governance and in its role in East Africa’s political integration.

Proposed activities under this programme include: simplifying and translating the constitution into eight major local languages and disseminating it; constitutional literacy campaign; mobilization and sensitization on constitutional rights and obligations and advocating for harmonization of policies on governance within the region, public dialogue for interface between government agencies and the citizens and training of trainers (TOT) for massive sensitization on constitutional rights and obligations.

By sensitizing the public, the activists are optimistic Museveni will face stiff resistance in his bid to contest for Presidency in 2016.

Rabwoni and colleagues also hope the campaign will enable citizens acquire more knowledgeable about their constitutional rights and responsibilities and empower them to seek respect and restoration of cardinal constitutional principles.

The activists intend to empower citizens with means and avenues for expressing their needs and concerns and for holding political leaders accountable.

“We hope that this programme will enable Ugandans to hold their leaders accountable guided by the constitution and most importantly will stand up and defend the constitution against any kind of abuse,” said Niringiye.

BISHOP JOHN BAPTIST KAGGWA'S EASTER MESSAGE

Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa

8th April 2012

Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa of Masaka Catholic diocese used his Easter sermon to send a bold message to President Museveni: drop the guns, the teargas and seriously consider dialogue with your opponents. 

 In a no-holds-barred Easter homily at Kitovu cathedral that lasted about 45 minutes, Bishop Kaggwa warned that Uganda may be plunged into chaos if leaders at various levels do not stop acting with...

out reason. He said recent events in the country are a testimony that some leaders have “empty heads”, a development the bishop described as Uganda’s biggest challenge.

 “The actions we see today are because some of our leaders are not learned. This part (pointing at his forehead) is empty,” Bishop Kaggwa said.
He cited last month’s clashes in Kampala between the Police and opposition politicians, one of which left a police officer, John Michael Ariong, dead and several people battered and rounded up by the police.

 “The violence that led to the police officer’s death and the manner in which the Police handled the situation all point to the fact that some of our heads are empty,” Bishop Kaggwa added.

 “We saw the Police rounding up people indiscriminately. Some were severely tortured and had to be flown out of the country for specialised treatment. Others had flimsy charges preferred against them. Doesn’t this show that some of us act without reason?”

The prelate then turned his guns on junior officers of the security agencies, whom he castigated for obeying all orders without question or reason.
“Even if it’s an order [from your superior], before you obey, you should ask yourself whether it is reasonable to open fire or tear gas at a crowd,” the bishop said.

 Using a Luganda adage and in reference to the recent banning of the Activists for Change (A4C) pressure group, the bishop said the use of force to stifle divergent political views would only compound the problem.  “Instead of making statements banning certain political groups, the government should find means of holding talks with the opposition. The correct line for this country is dialogue, not any other means,” he said.

 He added that the ban on A4C and the now common Police violence against journalists were in violation of the constitution. “We’ve seen journalists being attacked and beaten by security personnel, and their gadgets confiscated and at times destroyed. Sometimes, it’s the media houses that are attacked. This is a direct abuse of the provisions in our constitution on freedom of speech and access to information,” he said.

 Bishop Kaggwa urged leaders to begin thinking about ways of putting Uganda back on track as the country approaches her 50th independence anniversary.  “Looking at what is happening in our country, I feel it is better for us to roll it back to the pre-independence times, because that’s when we had leaders that cared for the general welfare of the population,” he said.

 Turning to corruption, Kaggwa lamented that the national treasury has been depleted by a few well-connected individuals who have strangely been forgiven by the President.  “This has only encouraged others to also grab whatever they can from the treasury — and they will also be forgiven, without having to return anything to the treasury,” he said.
The judicial system, the bishop said, has been abused, with many innocent Ugandans languishing in prisons across the country without trial.  “For some people, it takes just a few months for their cases to be disposed of, but if the issue for which you were jailed relates to the Kabaka, it has to take three years for formal charges to be brought up against you,” Bishop Kaggwa said. This was in reference to the youth who have been remanded at Luzira prison since the September 2009 ‘Buganda riot’ sparked off by the government’s refusal to let Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II visit his subjects in Kayunga district. As the bishop rapped the government, A4C national coordinator and Masaka municipality MP Matthias Mpuuga seemed to enjoy every bit of the sermon. And when he was asked to speak, the outspoken legislator started where the bishop had stopped.

 He advised the President not to tempt Ugandans into drafting prayers for his miserable demise, as was the case with Malawi’s Bingu wa Mutharika who died suddenly last week. Turning to the Bible, a charged Mpuuga cited chapter 4 in the book of Daniel, which narrates how God humbled King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, forcing him to live in the wild like an animal for seven years. Although he welcomed the bishop’s plea for dialogue between the government and opposition, Mpuuga said religious leaders must first prevail over President Museveni to stop using force against those opposed to him

NO RESOLUTIONS TO GROWING TENSIONS IN UGANDA - ICG

Uganda: No Resolution to Growing Tensions

Crisis Group Africa Report N°187, 5 April 2012

Museveni’s governance trajectory resembles those of Obote and Amin – without the blatant brutality – beginning with policies of tolerance and inclusion that gradually change to exclusion and repression. All three have relied on personal rule, rather than constitutional and institutional restraints, and turned increasingly to patronage and coercion to govern.

Museveni is more skilful than his predecessors and had greater political opportunity to overcome the cleavage between Buganda and the central government, but he has not found a workable solution. Nor has he been willing to tolerate any opposition that might threaten his rule. To work with either Buganda kingdom officials or political parties, he needs to accept restraints, but the prospect of large oil revenues makes this less likely, since they offer potential to sustain, even extend, his patronage system. Furthermore, Museveni has adroitly deflected Western criticism of his growing authoritarianism and of government corruption, while preserving substantial development aid and security assistance.

However, tensions are building, and patronage and repression may be insufficient to keep Uganda stable much longer.

Nairobi/Brussels, 5 April

KYAMBOGO STUDENTS' VIEWS ABOUT NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION

Reactions/ Comments/Observations by Kyambogo University Students

To Hon (Rtd) Okwiri Rabwoni Presentation

4th April 2012

1. If humanity is to progress, we should forget our neighborhood and recognize that humanity belongs to the human family. Therefore, if you want to change humanity, first be the change you want to see. We must define leadership in our own terms.

2. As Uganda gets to 50 years of Independence, countries like India have advanced and Uganda has completely lost track of issues. Now, for more than half of the 50 years of Independence, we are taking of one leader who does not want to leave power and the other half was characterized by violence. Should we again use violence to change leadership? President M7 in 1988 made a powerful speech at AU about Africa's problem being leaders who do not want to leave power. Now He has perfected the art of over staying in power and expanded that problem that he was talking about then in 1988. The slogan now is PAKALAST. What choice does he leave for Ugandans other than violence?

3. We need to put away the fear as young people if we are to achieve the change that Uganda needs now. We need to engage, engage and engage.

4. In Uganda, Workers MPs subscribe to a Political Party and the political party position syndrome has caught up with them to the extent of compromising their own constituency - the Trade Unions. It’s now up to us as young people to take this country forward.

5. What are the obligations of the youths in as far as wealth creation is concerned?

6. Is there a difference between terrorism and liberation?

7. There is need for the youth to operate as live wires and not insulators. We need to completely do away with fear in order to achieve economic justice and human dignity.

8. "When you see a thief kissing you, try to check whether you have all your teeth" That’s the NRM regime.

9. The young people need to do away with the stereo types and access useful information that will help as we engage critical issues.