African Leaders are saboteurs of development

By Lord Aikins Adusei

 

It is a waste of time to argue that there is anything remarkable or worth emulating about the brand of leadership that is seen in Africa. Throughout Africa not a single country has been able to deliver its people from poverty, malnutrition and diseases. Almost all countries in Africa South of the Sahara are facing deep poverty and that includes resource rich counties like Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Senegal, Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, and even South Africa.

 

Everywhere in the world whenever the word Africa is mentioned four words come to mind: poverty, hunger, wars and diseases. Apart from Botswana where the leaders have relatively been able to use their resources to advance the development of their people, the rest of Africa is nothing but misery. Misery in sense that the average African is hardly able to live one-third of the comfort that a citizen of the global north (US, Canada and Europe) is able to enjoy in his/her lifetime. Apart from the corrupt politicians, dictators and their cronies who live in luxury, the rest of the population have to survive the harsh realities of the African economy on less than two dollars a day.

Why is black Africa so different? Any time the question of poverty is raised black African leaders are quick to point to colonialism and slavery. But it is a fact that the era in which everything is blamed on colonialism and slavery is past and gone. India, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong were all colonised yet they have been able to shake themselves of what Dambisa Moyo terms the 'four apocalypse of hunger, disease, war and poverty'.

A visit to rural parts of Ghana shows that very little has changed economically since independence more than 50 years ago. In spite of the availability of tractors and other advanced farming technologies that can be employed to increase productivity, farmers in Ghana still cultivate and harvest their crops with cutlasses and hoes, tools their forefathers used before they were colonised. 

The situation in Niger, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Togo, Benin is not different from that of Ghana. The extreme poverty and deprivation in countries in the Horn of Africa region and Ethiopia in particular continue to baffle economists and development thinkers after so much aid money has been poured into that region to no avail as politicians divert aid money into their own private bank accounts.

Any major study about why Africa is so different from the rest of the world points to the kind of leadership that exists in Africa. The leaders in Africa love power and will do anything to get it: rigging elections, organizing thugs to cause mayhem and violence, refusing to step down when their term of office end. The likes are Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Mamadou Tandja of Niger and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who employed violence and intimidation against members of opposition parties after loosing elections.

The leaders love to be worshiped and served as kings even though they claim to be servants of the people. They love to live in fine palaces, drive in convoys, attend state functions, deliver long speeches yet do not raise a finger to fight poverty and deprivation that are so common in their countries. 

 

African politicians and traditional leaders and those in control of economic and political affairs are always interested in titles and the financial rewards that go with their office not the responsibilities attached to the office. Ghana's current President is a Law Professor but he seems to have no clue on how to move his country forward. He is surrounded by others with academic titles similar to his but the ministries, departments and the sectors they head have not changed since they took office earlier this year.

Malawi's president holds a doctorate degree but his country is no different from that of Togo, DRC or Gabon which are all being governed poorly by children of former dictators and thieves who took decades to mismanage their countries' economies and resources. Nigeria's current president has been titled "the first graduate president of Nigeria" but Nigeria with all its oil revenue and human resource is still deep in poverty, sometimes not even finding enough petrol to feed her economy despite being the biggest oil producer in Africa.

This contrasts the president of Brazil, Lula Da Silva who used to be a shoe shine boy and street vendor but is increasingly turning his country into an economic power house, thereby steering his country into economic independence and freedom . Where did Yar' Dua leave his thinking cap when he became president or what did he graduated from? I want to know because I still wonder why they are not applying what they learnt in school to free their countries from the international disgrace and weakness that have come to be associated with the continent. A poor Cuban seeking to leave her communist country said she "would be prepared to go anywhere except Africa". When asked why she said "how can I jump out of a frying pan into fire?". Meaning she cannot leave a bad situation in Cuba and get into a worse one in Africa.

In a conversation with a female Professor in Stockholm, Sweden about the poverty situation in Africa she asked angrily "well the leadership in Gabon claim to have used the huge oil revenue for infrastructure investment but is that the reality on the ground?" She continued, "Democratic Republic of Congo is a mess, Angola, Congo and Equatorial Guinea are an eyesore and as for Nigeria well I reserve my comment".

The monumental failures on the part of African leaders have given birth to the phrase 'Africa South of the Sahara' and the leaders seem to be happy with that phrase. Black African leaders have accepted the phrase with all the negative connotations it carries without reacting to challenge it. The phrase in its proper sense refers to a part of Africa which does not count in global politics; a toddler in everything important in the world, a backward part of the continent that continues to stand still while the rest of humanity is moving forward both technologically and scientifically. Africa whose people live in darkness despite 365 days of sunshine and availability of solar technology to convert the sunshine into solar energy.

It means Africa which is so poor in an economic, social and political sense  - despite being rich in natural resources and hard working people: an Africa which is so poorly governed, whose leaders are corrupt and lack the capacity to plan and to initiate any programme of development on their own without being told to do so or helped by outsiders.

Africa where infrastructure decay is a norm, where rural life is nothing but a condemnation to abject poverty, hopelessness, misery and frustration. 

Africa where ethnicity and tribalism are exploited by corrupt dictators and opportunists bringing a wave of negative tendencies of cronyism, nepotism, corruption and conflicts in its trail. 

Africa where politicians are happy to exploit the ignorance and illiteracy that have enslaved and prevented its people from taking their rightful place in the world community of continents.

Africa that has not learned anything from its colonial experience and whose leaders continue to dance to the tune of Western and Chinese rhythm to their own peril; Africa which can be and is being recolonised by China and its rival competitors in Europe and North America through their multinational corporations. (Have you heard of Africom)? 

Africa whose leaders can be bought by multinational corporations with some few thousand dollars and allow multinational corporations to plunder their resources without any accountability.

Africa which is both economically and politically fragmented, having no common foreign policy, and no economic, immigration and agricultural policies and whose leaders see no wisdom in unity and are without a mouth in world affairs.

 

Africa which is so militarily weak and technologically paralysed to defend itself against external forces, their ideologies, philosophies and cultural pollution.

Africa whose leadership are morally bankrupt to criticise one another. 

Africa whose leaders have great ideas about how to rig and win elections, kill journalists, stifle press freedom, freedom of speech and association but have not the slightest idea as to how to fight chronic poverty. 

Africa whose leaders prefer to steal from their countries and bank their loot in foreign countries instead of using the money to build roads, hospitals, railway tracks, irrigation facilities, schools, electricity, housing and other social and economic infrastructures for the development and benefit of their own people. 

Africa where natural resources are a curse rather than a blessing.

Africa where an illiterate soldier with a gun in hand can easily become a president of a country tomorrow. Examples are Yahyah Jammeh of Gambia, Moussa Camara of Guinea, Gaddafi of Libya, Joseph Kabila of DRC, Mamadou Tandja of Niger, Museveni of Uganda, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz of Mauritania, Al Bashir of Sudan,Francois Bozize of Central African Republic, Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, Valentine Strasser of Sierra Leone, Sergeant Doe of Liberia, and Kolingba and Jean-Bedel Bokasa of Central African Republic.

 

Egypt a purely desert country and a member of 'Africa north of the Sahara' recently sent food aid to Uganda, a country rich in minerals, soil, natural lakes, rivers but whose leaders see no wisdom in employing irrigation technology that could be used to increase food production to reduce hunger.

Africa which continues to beg for and depend on foreign aid despite sitting on huge natural wealth an act that defies any economic wisdom. Africa which continues to depend heavily on natural resource exploitation as the main economic activity without diversification despite the dangers of such economic approach to development.

Africa where women are treated as second class citizens, denied political representation and are coerced and used as sex objects and commodities by those in power. 

Africa where child bearing is a matter of life and death, where pregnant mothers die of preventable causes of deaths; where so many children die before they reach the age of five; where child labour and child poverty are the norm, and where both rural and urban children grow without proper education, healthcare, food, shelter, clothing and without future or hope.

Africa where economic hardship put people on death roll and cut short young bright lives. Africa where there is no mortgage, safety net for the poor and the aged and where owning a house or a car can be as daunting as climbing Everest. That is the true meaning of 'Africa South of the Sahara' which the leaders have accepted without a fight.

Most of these leaders make an annual pilgrimage to London, Washington, Tokyo, Berlin, Beijing and see the infrastructures and the living standards of the people in these countries yet nothing pricks them to help their countries to do the same. When they are sick they are quick to take the next available plane to America, Europe or north Africa for treatment but forget to build the same hospitals and other institutions and infrastructures for the good of their countries. After blaming their monumental failures on colonialism and slavery they have now found a new scape goat: climate change and with it they can continue with their decades of inaction without having to lose anything.

Yoweri Museveni seems to be okay living in his palace enjoying almost three decades of his loot of Ugandan resources with his family and cronies. Obiang Nguema and his circle of friends live in their mansions surrounded by bodyguards yet the only 600, 000 people in his oil rich country live in 18th century conditions and likewise Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville and Dos Santos of Angola.

The black African leader will accept bribes from companies and interest groups to stop implementing policies, programmes and projects that could help alleviate poverty in his country. The failure of Omar Bongo of Gabon to make his country the Switzerland of Africa can largely be linked to the hundreds of millions of dollars he received as bribes from Elf which allowed the company to loot Gabon's oil proceeds.

It is sad despite being the continent's biggest oil exporter Nigeria does not have a well developed petro-chemical industry and has to import most of her oil products abroad. How come Cameroon is so poor when the country exports oil every day? How come Equatorial Guinea is so poor when it is the third biggest oil exporting nation in Africa?

How come Angola is mired in deep poverty when oil revenues bring the country billions of dollars annually? How come Nigerians live in 18th century environment when oil proceeds flow into the country every day? The answer is the leaders. They are corrupt, power hungry, arrogant, ignorant, illiterate and visionless buffoons, who can neither think out of the box or understand what it means to be president, prime minister, senator, MP, councillor, Assemblyman, or a chief and who prey on the ignorance and powerlessness of their people to stay in power while amassing wealth at the expense of their countries. Chief among them is Yahyah Jammeh a murderer, blood sucker, sometimes a president, sometimes HIV/AIDS healer who makes a mockery of himself and the seat of the presidency in The Gambia and who like the rest of his colleagues in Guinea, Guinea Bissau, CAR, Ethiopia, Burkina Fasso, Niger, Mauritania and Ivory Coast cannot devise plans to steer their countries out of economic predicament.

They are what Ghanaians call 'Konongo kaya' which literally means saboteurs who will not raise a finger to do anything to help their countries and yet will not allow others to do it. Saboteurs whose continuous stay in power is the cause of Africa's woes and underdevelopment. If you happen to be in economic or business class and economic or development regions is discussed you will be surprised to know how Africa is bypassed several times even though it is strategically located at the centre of the globe. The discussion moves from North America to Europe to South East Asia then back to Latin America and to the Middle East without the mention of Africa. All these the leaders do not seem to worry about it. They are not bothered because they no know they are the cause, the saboteurs and enimies of Africa's development.

Black African leaders must put on their thinking caps. It is very disheartening to see women, and children die of starvation in many parts of Africa. At least we know these leaders don't care but at least they should give the people the chance they need to initiate their own development. I hope that some of the advice I have offered will be adhered to by the leaders so that Africa can also take her rightful position in the world community of nations.

Uganda: Yoweri Museveni's speech to Parliament on Buganda Riots

Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament

H.E. the Vice President

His Lordship, The Hon. The Chief Justice

Rt. Hon. Prime Minister

Hon. Ministers

Hon. Members of Parliament

Ladies and Gentlemen

I greet all of you.

I would like to use this occasion to extend my condolences to the Ugandan families who lost their loved ones on account of the riots fomented by reactionaries who have learnt nothing from our tragic history. I also extend my sympathies to those who were injured in these riots and those who lost their properties.

I ask all of you to stand up and observe a- minute-of-silence to remember our dear ones who lost their lives.

This is the third time these elements are causing riots, killing Ugandans and damaging property. In 2006, Dr. Besigye caused riots and destroyed property. Other riots were caused by Hon. Betty Anywar over the Lugazi Sugar project. That time, we lost some people. This time, these riots have been caused by the same opposition opportunistic elements, using the Mengo Kingdom. These have resulted into the deaths of 15 Ugandans, destruction of property, disruption of businesses and disturbing our peace. The Security forces always contain those criminal actions. I would like to appeal to the Judicial Arm of the State to give priority to the trial of the criminals that have been engaged in these actions. It is not correct to give bail to this type of people. Why does a political leader, like Besigye, or any other leader, promote riots? There are legal ways available in the Constitution to deal with any eventuality. If, for instance, Mengo Kingdom thought that our (NRM) stand on stopping the Kabaka or the Katikkiro from going to Kayunga was wrong, they should have gone to court to present their grievances instead of promoting criminality.

I visited Nateete area this morning and saw the damage that was caused by the rioters. I extend my sympathies, again, to those families who lost their dear ones and property. The Government will compensate those who lost their vehicles and other properties and will also assist those who lost their dear ones.

On the afternoon of Thursday, the 10^th of September 2009, when the riots started, the Police was slow in reaching the suburbs of Kampala. This was on account of insufficient vehicles. We are going to solve this in a decisive way; I would like to assure the country on this. The Police was quickly re-enforced by UPDF units from up-country and the rioting was stopped. Over 600 rioters have been arrested and are being produced in the courts of law.

I trust the courts will give them deterrent sentences. Meanwhile, those who have been using this blackmail of riots, should be informed that we have scrutinized the Police anti-riot procedures and the following will be the rules of engagement. The Security forces, when dealing with civilian demonstrations, are informed to use minimum, non-lethal force. However, be informed that any rioter found attacking other civilians will be shot. The ones who threaten the lives of the Security personnel will also be handled according to the Police procedures of anti-riot and the UN principles.

The Uganda Police Force, under our guidance, does not always use lethal force against illegal assemblies. However, when an illegal assembly is riotous, those who organize these assemblies or participate in them should know what, not only the law of Uganda, but also, international practices say. Provision 9 of the UN Principles on this issue says as follows (Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement officials):

“Law enforcement officials shall not use fire arms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly, unavoidable in order to protect life.”

The recent stand off between the Government and the opposition Political Parties, using Mengo, was not just about Kayunga or Buruuli tensions, because these are recent developments. The real issue is whether we should have political Kings – Kings wielding political power. This concept is totally rejected by the NRM because it is anti-democracy. The King is not elected. If he wields political power, how shall he be accountable for his mistakes? A political leader, since he/she is elected every 5 years, will be voted out if he/she makes mistakes. What do we do with a traditional leader who is not elected but has made mistakes? That is why we made it clear to those who were agitating for Kingdoms that those traditional leaders had to only be cultural – to deal with our languages and customs that are not well addressed by the modern institutions.

Working with some academicians, I am about to publish a Runyankore dictionary and a thesaurus. I am now editing the drafts. The traditional leaders have a lot of work to do in the area of traditional morals – e.g. not marrying our kith and kin contrary to the respective customs as one of the traditional chiefs from Busoga said recently, etc. This was the reason why I supported and spearheaded the return of the Kingdoms. Our support for the Kings was not intended to revive ancient undemocratic governance. It was aimed at finding a way of retaining elements of our culture and languages that are compatible with the modern way of life.

Some people, like General Otafiire, have blamed me for having been the one that “went on my knees” and begged for the return of the Kingdoms, when I addressed the Army Council in Gulu in 1992, to authorize the vacating of the Lubiri barracks. That is true, because many of the Army Council members did not support the idea. I, however, insisted on persuading them, because I wanted to cater for the interests of the Ugandans that cherish monarchies. They would have been very disappointed, if we had not catered for their interests. Although, in the bush, we had not promised the restoration of the monarchies, we felt that it was part of the human rights of those who wanted them, to be assisted to get them. If some people misuse them, that will be their problem not mine.

The other day, I made a national broadcast to the people of Uganda and I do not want to repeat what I said then, about the sad history of monarchs trying to meddle in politics in Uganda. This was the problem in 1953, when the British colonialists were still here; it was also the problem in 1966, although Obote also had his own mistakes of not following the Constitution as it, then, was in resolving that problem. We are totally against the Kings being involved in politics. The Kings failed to defend the sovereignty of Africa. That is why we were colonized. The colonization of Africa was a vote-of-no-confidence in tribalism and the pre-colonial Kings. Africa failed to defend herself because of tribalism and tribal political organization. Modern Africa must transcend and discard tribal organization. Yes, we were the first to recognize the cultural rights of the peoples; but those should never translate into tribal organization and tribal mentality. All our modern organization should be constructed around legitimate interests of the respective peoples.

As I mentioned at the Peace Conference of the Religious Leaders recently, those legitimate interests are: peace; security; health; education; employment; access to the local market, the regional market, the African market and the market of the rest of the world so that we can sell the products of our sweat; the freedom of voting and other political rights; the freedom of worship; the security of property; etc. Intimidations and manipulations are not part of those legitimate rights. These are pollutants.

Some have wondered why I agreed to talk to the monarchs, who are not in politics, about issues that are political in nature such as the status of Kampala, the Land Bill, federo, etc. Why did I not deal only with the elected leaders of Buganda? This is a good point in the main. It is correct to work with the hundreds of elected leaders of Buganda: Members of Parliament (MPs), LCV-chairpersons, LCIII-chairpersons, etc. That is exactly what we did when we promulgated the 1995 Constitution and the amendments of 2005 that brought in Article 178. We caucused on all these issues and, then, went to the districts to get council resolutions since the requirements of some of the Articles entailed two thirds majorities in a certain number of districts. However, it was true that we always consulted the Kings or their emissaries. Was I wrong to do so? Was I involving the Kings in politics by doing so? This reminds me of the example of modern Ugandan marriages. Marriage in Uganda, legally, is a union between a man and his wife. These are the legal partners. I do not think that we have a law in Uganda which says that a girl or boy must consult their parents before they get married; however, they do. I was looking at the issue of the Kings in a somewhat similar manner. It is not the duty of Kings to decide on the land law, federo, foreign affairs, etc. It is the duty of the Executive, Parliament, the district councils, etc. However, I thought there was no harm in informing the Kings.

Some of the Kings have been, contrary to our original agreement, giving an incomplete view of our history. I am, myself, what they call sewava in Buganda, a son of a princess because my mother and even my grandmother were from the Royal clans. Besides my clan, the Basiita, were very active in the histories of Bunyoro, Tooro, Ankole, Mpororo, Karagwe (in Tanzania), etc. I am, therefore, quite familiar with the history of Uganda and the surrounding regions.

Before the emergence of the present dynasties (the Kabakas, the Babiitos, etc), Uganda had become one Kingdom when Ruyonga and Ishaza formed an alliance, through the marriage of the former’s daughter, Nyamate, to the latter. Ishaza and Nyamate produced Isimbwa (Simbwa among the Baganda). Isimbwa succeeded Ruyonga and his capital was in Bigo-Bya-Mugyenyi in the present day Sembabule. Isimbwa, eventually went to Bunyoro and produced a boy child with Nyinamwiru, Bukuku’s daughter. The boy was the famous Ndahura (Ndawula in Luganda). Isimbwa went to Bukiri (Lango, Acholi). He, later, abdicated to his son Ndahura. By this time, Ankole, Buganda, Bunyoro, Bukiri were one Kingdom, under Ndahura. One of the Bachwezi Kyomya had children with a Mukiri woman, Nyatwooro, daughter of Rabongo. The children were: Nyarwa, Isingoma, Mpuga Rukidi, Kato Kimera Kintu and Kiiza. These legends may not be exact in terms of details. They, however, give a general outline of the linkages of our peoples. The shared Bachwezi names say it all: Isimbwa, Ndahura (Ndawula), Kagoro, Mukasa (Mugasha), Kyomya, Wamara, Mugyenyi, etc. Archaeology confirms this history. The excavations at Bigo and Ntutsi confirm that there were huge settlements on those sites by 1350 AD and 900 AD, respectively. There were huge cities there (Endembo). Who were the Kings there? Certainly they are not the present dynasties of Buganda, Bunyoro or Ankole. Who, then, were they? When we restored the Kings, it was our expectation that the cultural institutions would delve into these obvious linkages among our peoples instead of promoting chauvinism. In the national objectives in the Constitution of Uganda it says:

“All organs of state and people of Uganda shall work towards the promotion of national unity, peace and stability.” It further says: “Every effort shall be made to integrate all the peoples of Uganda while at the same time recognizing the existence of their ethnic, religious, ideological, political and cultural diversity.”

It is, therefore, clear that all national assets should be used to promote unity instead of promoting chauvinism. The cultural institutions should teach the holistic history of pre-colonial Uganda instead of teaching just parts.

What is the way forward? The way forward is that we need to do the following:

1. Strictly enforce the principle of separating cultural institutions from politics. In order to do that, we are going to expeditiously bring a law that will operationalize Article 246 in greater detail so that the demarcation of roles is clear.

2. In order to guard our sovereignty, so that Kings and traditional institutions are not used as foreign agents or agents of local business groups, we need to provide, in that law, that any gifts exceeding a certain magnitude should be declared to the relevant government institutions e.g. the Inspectorate of Government. Failure to do so should attract penalties.

3. In order to stop the Kabaka and the Buganda Kingdom officials from meddling in politics, there should be a meeting of all the political leaders in Buganda, the religious leaders, the clan leaders and the royal clan members, to give their contribution to the way forward. This meeting could be called tabamiluka.

4. The NRM Government will implement the idea of the Regional Governments next Financial Year, without fail. We have waited for too long on this issue and we shall wait no longer. In order not to incur extra costs of electing Regional chairmen, we could have a transitional arrangement where the present councillors in the respective Regions could elect the Regional chairmen for the next one and a half years until the time of the general elections when they will be elected by universal adult suffrage.

5. The Mengo Radio, CBS, was closed because it was meddling in politics, fomenting sectarianism, promoting lawlessness and violence with impunity. Another reason why CBS was closed was because of the intimidation campaign it was carrying out. The Mengo officials have been trying to intimidate the political class in Buganda not to think freely. Anybody who gives frank and realistic opinions is branded “anti-Buganda,” “anti-Kabaka,” etc. Then this group proclaims that Kabaka tebamuddamu (you cannot answer back to the Kabaka) or that Kabaka tasobya (Kabaka never makes mistakes). Then, this makes the Kabaka to take certain positions that are wrong or anti-people, like his public position against our position on the land bill amendment. Then, any Muganda political leader who does not agree with such wrong positions, is branded “anti-Buganda,” “anti-Kabaka.”

I was amazed recently, during this standoff that the clan-leaders are not members of the Lukiiko. Yet these were our partners in restoring the monarchy and, of course, are the most legitimate in terms of culture; certainly more legitimate than those aspiring for political positions using Mengo. NRM is too experienced to be fooled by such transparent schemes. We mean what we say and say what we mean. It is advisable that everybody checks himself and sticks to the Constitution. That is what was agreed upon; that is how Uganda will be run.

Since Saturday, the 12^th of September 2009, at 2000 hours, I have been trying to ring His Highness the Kabaka without success. The ‘key’ for some of these issues are with him. On our side, we are determined this time to ensure that the Constitution is observed by all – Kings inclusive.

6. If the problems persist, there are a number of other steps and measures the Government will take to resolve this matter once and for all time.

We have got more important challenges affecting our country. We cannot be here talking about Kings only. There are serious issues affecting the majority of the people. On this occasion, I will mention only three:

· unemployed youths;

· the Land Act and;

· corruption.

The youths are yearning for employment and the NRM is now in a position to address this problem. The NRM, long ago, told you of its Point No. 5 of the 10-Points Programme – building an independent, integrated, self-sustaining national economy.

Some of the actors have not been active on this. Yet it holds the future for modernization. We have Prosperity for All (PFA). However, some of the youths cannot be absorbed in PFA because they have no land. The answer to their problem is, therefore, artisanship, cottage industries and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Work, for sometime, has been done on some of these: Wine-making, cheese-making, juice-extraction, rice-hurling, milk-processing, silk-rearing and weaving, handloom-weaving, bread-baking, flour-milling, fruit-drying, wood-work, welding, poultry, tailoring, spice-processing, pottery, etc. Recently, chalk-making and curving articles out of horns have been added. These unemployed, landless youths are a blessing (in disguise). They are the beginning of a proletariat and lower middle-class groups. We should ensure that each trading-centre in Uganda has some of these activities and the respective youth groups benefit from these efforts. Money for this is not a problem. The money we are spending on National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) this year is 134.2 billion Uganda shillings. Has it been well used? This is not to mention the other monies – Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP), etc. Can we fail to get 30 billion Uganda shillings from all these monies to support these cottage industries of the youths? I do not think so. This is the beginning of the industrialization. I have already directed the Minister of Industries to ensure that everything that is produced in the agricultural sector that is not eaten fresh, should be processed. The youths can be very active in this sector. However, we should not continue to think about this effort in disjointed ways. Some of the cottage industries only rely on manual labour. However, others need electricity; hence, the importance of electrifying the whole country so that we have cheap electricity. Otherwise, all SMEs that need electricity will fail.

What happened to the 22 industrial Estates which we agreed on? How far have they gone? Ideologically, the youths need to know that their enemies are those who delay the industrial projects – e.g. Lugazi and Amuru sugar projects, the milk project from Thailand, Karuma power project, etc. The youths need to fight those forces politically.

Parliament needs to pass the land amendment Act so that the friction between the bibanja-owners and the landlords is stopped. Of recent, the bibanja-owners have started taking the law in their hands by killing landlords. This is, in part, caused by those including CBS, that caused the delay of passing the land bill. I condemn that violence of the bibanja-owners taking the law in their hands. However, the bibanja-owners have been emboldened by our mobilization and the formation of the bibanja-owners associations. I am appealing to Parliament to complete the law as soon as possible. I am also looking at even better long term option. In recent times, I have been in touch with some landlords, who, rather than being in permanent tension with the bibanja-owners, would like to sell the mailo-titles to the Government and the Government, then, gives the land-titles (obwananyini) to the legal bibanja-owners. I have already used this system in Ankole, in the Ishaka area, to solve the problem decisively in a win-win way. The landlord gets very good money and the bibanja-owners get titles. If there is still vacant land, not occupied by bibanja-owners, then the mailo-owner can use the money to develop it. If there are any mailo-owners who are interested in this solution, they should contact the Minister of Lands. It is better for the mailo-owners to sell to Government than to sell to private developers who try to evict people. However, these better long term solutions need the stability that will be put in place by the proposed amendment.

On the issue of corruption, I am glad to tell you that the NRM was able to repair the economy of Uganda, attract new investments, repair the old ones and, therefore, started collecting more taxes. Therefore, we send a lot of money to districts. Unfortunately, quite a lot of this money is stolen by the corrupt officials. Fortunately, I have now identified some of these thieves – those who steal money, fuel, drugs, over-price contracts, etc. Very soon you will hear of causalities.

I have appointed a Judicial Commission of Enquiry into the alleged corruption in the Education sector and also created a drug-theft inspection unit in my Office. Very soon you will hear of causalities in many of these areas. I will also create a road inspection unit soon.

In order to mobilize our people, all over the country, to understand this confusing situation, I am directing the Minister in-charge of the Presidency, through Government channels, to buy bicycles for all the LCI-chairpersons. We have already equipped the LCIIIs and Gombolola-chiefs. Where there are disputes over which LCI-chairperson to equip, new or old, it maybe better to give both. The Ministry of Information should also intensify sensitizations.

In conclusion, this time, we shall involve the elected leaders of Buganda in resolving quickly any contentious political matter and be the vanguard of dealing with any unclear issues. We shall encourage the involvement of the Religious leaders as well as the clan leaders. I also await a response from Kabaka Mutebi. Security is assured now; enough units have arrived in Kampala to ensure that security is guaranteed. Nobody should fear. The numbers of the Police force and, if necessary, the Army will be re-enforced. Inform them of any trouble-maker or inform the political leaders you trust. They will take it up.

I thank you so much for listening to me.