Museveni tipped for big UN job
By Emma Mutaizibwa
Dec 12, 2003
|
KAMPALA - The US government and the United Nations want to offer President Museveni a job when he retires in 2006, a local MP has said. However, officials in the US embassy in Kampala and in State House said yesterday that they are not aware of the offer. Tororo County MP, Mr Geoffrey Ekanya, said the US State Department is talking to the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, to appoint Museveni as a UN Special adviser on Aids at the end of his last presidential term in 2006.
Ekanya told The Monitor that he picked the information in the US, where he has been attending a six-week leadership course at Marquette University in Milwaukee. "I talked to the Democratic Congressman Mr Donald Payne and he confirmed this to me," Ekanya told The Monitor. "I also visited the White House where I met officials who said the talks have taken off," the MP added. Ekanya says that in a carrot-and-stick political offer, Museveni would enjoy full diplomatic immunity from prosecution against past crimes if he accepts the offer. Ekanya said that during Museveni's last visit to the US in November, he was asked about his post-retirement plans at the Washington Press Club. "Museveni at the meeting said that the issue of extending the term limits is being handled by the Constitutional Review Commission. He said that Uganda would continue playing its international role in the fight against Aids," Ekanya added. Ekanya says the US government has an initiative of persuading African leaders to hand over power peacefully with a guarantee of immunity from past offences. "Efforts are being made to save former Kenyan President Moi from prosecution for the alleged role he played to steal from state coffers when he was in power," the MP said. 'No idea about it' However, Museveni's spokesperson, Ms Mary Okurut, told The Monitor by phone yesterday that she was not aware of the job offer. "I will try to establish whether it is true. But the truth is that the Westerners hold our President in high esteem," she said. The Public Affairs Officer at the US embassy, Mr Mark Schlachter told The Monitor yesterday that, "I don't have any information about that". Shortly before Bush's visit to Uganda the US President and his Secretary for State Mr Collin Powell advised Museveni to abandon the third term project. When Museveni visited Washington in June, he was advised by US President George Bush to leave office when his term expires in 2006. Museveni has not shown any indications of not honouring that expectation. He would, however, be eligible to stand for another term of office if a Cabinet proposal to lift the term limits on the presidency were to be accepted. |
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
BT Yahoo! Broadband - Save £80 when you order online today. Hurry! Offer ends 21st December 2003. The way the internet was meant to be.
