They have been referring to this government as an illegitimate government calling their party principal and former presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu aka Bobi Wine as their president.
Surprisingly, the same NUP leaders who do not recognize the sitting government still send their MPs to swear in and debate policy that will be implemented by the same government they call illegitimate.
I am very sure that Kyagulanyi who claims to be the legitimate president will soon appoint the Leader of Opposition who will have a budget of more than Shs 1.5 billion annually, a lead car and guards while the shadow ministers will also be facilitated with shadow ministers’ allowance.
The dishonesty of NUP elected members of parliament proves that they are ready to go against their promises and will of the people who sent them into leadership.
A leader like Shamim Malende, the Woman member of parliament representing Kampala, strongly said that she will not be in Museveni’s government but, rather, in Kyagulanyi’s government. As an MP, she has swallowed her words.
Before the Parliament invited them for swearing in, we expected that all processes would be done in Kamwokya or Magere where their legitimate leader operates. The naked truth came up when all of them showed up to be part of the government they have been criticizing.
(EDITOR: Parliament is a separate and independent arm of government)
David Serumaga,
Kampala.
We need Bugoma forest, not sugarcane
Recently, the media reported about a High court decision in Kampala dismissing the Bugoma case, which was filed by environmentalists challenging the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA’s) approval of the environment social impact assessment certificate to Hoima Sugarcane Limited in Bugoma forest found in Kikuube district.
The court ruling said that complainants just wanted to attract the attention of the public and to justify their existence as bodies concerned with environment protection and awareness.
This is wrong because nobody in the country would like this part of the forest to go to such development, which does not contribute much to the county’s economy, environment and people’s livelihoods.
The role of non-governmental organizations is to fill gaps left by the government. Therefore, these NGOs were right to fight for this forest which has been massively destroyed since 2016.
It should be noted that for several years the Busoga region has been growing sugarcane, many people are still unemployed, suffering from shortage of food for their families and are among the poorest in Uganda.
Sugarcane growing shouldn’t take away our only central forest reserve. Recently, the government of Uganda was seeking a Shs 286 billion loan to restore forests and protect national parks. The government said that the funds were meant to improve the management of 1,157,073 hectares in 28 central forest reserves, seven national parks and four wildlife reserves in the Albertine and west Nile region.
This is a contradiction. The same government borrowing a lot of money to support tree planting campaigns across the country is the same government allowing investors to carry out developments in protected eco-sensitive areas.
Uganda should know that when our forests are turned into sugarcane growing, a lot of negative impacts are going to happen, such as flooding of the Bugoma host communities, human-animal conflicts, prolonged droughts and outbreak of new diseases resulting from the interactions of animals and people due to the destruction of the former’s habitats.
Paul Kato,
Katop.adyeeri@gmail.com
Stop overspending
The marking of the national budget month kick-started with a dialogue in which civil society organizations, government agencies and key private sector players examined whether the budget for FY 2021/22 will create jobs and increase the tax base.
I participated as an activist for good governance. I observed that representatives of government agencies at the center of policy planning and revenue mobilization and collection were skeptical on addressing the key question of how the ever-increasing government expenditure affects development.
When tasked whether a budget whose biggest portion is claimed by recurrent expenditure could stimulate sufficient growth to give Ugandans sustainable jobs, increase tax base and ensure efficient service delivery, the ministry of finance representative admitted that reducing recurrent expenditures largely driven by high cost of administration was overdue but that technocrats like him had no control over it. This, he meant, was a political issue.
Technocrats ought to know that unless such non-economic factors (huge political cost, governance problems and corruption) are resolved, their work will hardly realize the desired outcomes.
During the dialogue, the Uganda Revenue Authority representative emphasized the usual rhetoric of widening the tax base to the desired levels as if they are unaware that 69 per cent of Ugandans are in subsistence activities and already burdened by regressive indirect taxes.
This talk of widening the tax base seems to ignore the reality of the latest National Household Survey, which found that 23 per cent of the population fell into poverty before the Covid-19 pandemic.
URA ought to urge government to focus on creating new tax bases through investing in developmental projects instead of emphasizing widening the tax base. Yes, recurrent expenditures are necessary to address day-to-day government activities and short-term needs but they shouldn’t claim the biggest budget portion.
To have a pro-poor budget that will foster structural transformation and sustainable development, government should reduce its recurrent expenditures significantly and reallocate saved funds to finance development.
Andrew Bakoraho,
bakoraho@yahoo.co.uk
Citizens should help the police
How can citizens be part of keeping peace and order in their societies? There should be a well-defined collaborative security system between the military and the nationals.
This enables the military to get information about crime in any given location of the country in real time. This happens only when there are excellent relations between the two groups.
Uganda enjoys that privilege of good relations between the Uganda People’s Defense Forces and its citizens. However, that has not stopped crimes from happening in many of its regions. The power of collaborative strategy is the assumption that all walls have ears and they listen carefully.
Citizens are the first to know when there is an intention to stage a violent protest such as burning tyres, robbery, blocking roads, razing down buildings, attacking opponents and burning up cars.
There used to be a proverbial saying of Yamba Police, Ekuyambe meaning that help police to be helped. Before this phrase was changed to something else, it was the right approach to the collaborative security system.
Any right-thinking member of a society should report such acts before they occur because like the English say “Prevention is better than cure.” If the citizens had reported violent protestors who wanted to burn Kampala, the country would not have lost the lives of innocent Ugandans and property.
It is, therefore, very unpatriotic for one, either in forces or civilian, to hide any damaging information or participate in organizing activities that will destabilize the country and lead to ugly scenes in the country.
Arthur Tumwesigye,
Kampala.
letters@observer.ug
