Re: [Ugnet] [DPNet] MPS quit DP -- What is going on ?

[Simon Nume]

Mr Potosi

 

OR  they could have been discussing the land on which to put  big farms with GM foods financed by Monsato.

 

 

Nume 

Mitayo Potosi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Dear Comrade WB Kyijomanyi [EMAIL PROTECTED], Tumusiime-Mutebile is just implementing policies ordered by foreigners; which foreigners have really no interest in the wellfare of our people. Their main concern is to maintain a junta that enforces the "peace and order" of the oppressed. And with this facade of a cover they remmit their super-profits/loot out of Africa. We have to look beyond Mutebile and focus on the real enemy - neo-colonialism. I couldn't believe that Lynda Chalker now lives in South Africa!! Was Mark Thatcher alone in the "Zimbabwe/Equatorial Guinea mercenaries" saga?  Onyango-Obbo speculates that when Lynda Chalker and de Klerk visited museveni recently they came to press him to abandon his third term quest. But they could as well have been reviewing the progress of the take-over of the oil reserves in the southern part of Darfur.  ========================================= WB Kyijomanyi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To :  [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent :  September 1, 2004 12:10:45 AM To :  [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject :  [DPNet] MPS quit DP -- What is going on ?

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Members:     This is encouraging. I suggested some of the very things: how can DP hold a delegates conference outside Uganda?  I pick Kenya for obvious reasons. We need a vision, a bold one at that. Uganda has gone to the dogs and anything less than a revolutionizing vision will not do it.   We need a vision on governance that is, on the federal question. We need a vision on the military. On the economy. We need a vision to address Uganda's dilemma: why is it that the economy is growing, yet poverty and hopelessness are also rising? We must be credible on all fronts.   I realize how some on this list will ridicule the fact that Uganda's economy is growing, but that is an empirical fact. We need a vision on the democratic deficit too. Why is it that parties, the "gatekeepers" of democracy are themselves undemocratic? We need bold ideas on how to make MPs’ voices heard. How? We must embrace a presidential system where MPs can take free votes. Parliament under the parliamentary system is a rubber stamp, not just in Uganda but virtually anywhere in the world.    Today, a Nigerian friend of mine shocked me: the leading candidate to succeed Obasanjo is Ibrahim Babanginda! Apparently there is no one to beat him at the polls!   Without a vision we may as well forget and discard any pretense about our chances. It is time those dreaming of leading our party came out at least with their vague ideas on where they want to take our country. I find it strange that Uganda, a country where unemployment is the norm rather than the exception is so much obsessed with fighting inflation. DP has virtually said nothing about the economy.   We must come out strongly against Mutebile's suicidal policies. They are hindering the real expansion of our economy and keeping our people in poverty.   Ugandans must stop taking Mutebile as the semi-God. He is a disaster for Uganda. People do not eat inflation. People need jobs.   Without jobs, it is useless to dwell on inflation. For starters inflation is mostly a monetary phenomenon. When people talk about inflation, they are talking about wage inflation. Now, are wages rising in Uganda? Mark you; unemployment is the norm-what is the unemployment rate in Uganda? It is fair to say no one knows.  Who is in charge in Uganda: workers or employees? Why then has DP not taken on Mutebile's costly policies?   A case could be made that Mutebile's tight money policies are costing Uganda real not just nominal growth of 3 percent. One percent inflation (over) tightening costs the economy 3 percent growth. That is the famous Okun gap.   Why has DP given Mutebile a free pass on the economy? We need to reassure our people that we have a plan. That we are credible. Mutebile is tretaed like a semi-god when our educated manpower is unemployed and his policies are driving our educated people into kyeyo.  We need our people home working for our country.  It is about time DP came out swinging.   We need a credible rural policy. Why are our rural farmers languishing while MPs and mandarins sit in air conditioned offices planning on the basis of how much coffee, vanilla, fish, cotton, sim sim name it will be produced.   I find it curious that we now have a national planning authority.  Strange, but true. Guess who heads it.  Dr Frank Mabirizzi a SWASA guy!  I personally see no need for a national planning authority. It is a relic of the past.    We need a position on issues that matter to Ugandans. If our candidates remain ambivalent, game over. Let all those with something useful to say, say it.  Let DP become a party of ideas for ideas matter. But above all, let DP become the party of vision.   Let me pose a question I have posed over the years on Fedsnet and so far, nobody has dared to answer it: why is it that Dr Obote and Museveni the educated, are not different from Amin the semi-illiterate?  Examine their records as Commanders in Chief and you see virtually no difference.  Actually, Amin never engaged in Obote’s or Museveni’s scotched earth policies.   What is the moral of this question?  That it matters not whether DP finally gets to State House, under the current arrangement, DP will not do any better.  That is a question we must come to terms with now: it is not for nothing that federal aspirations are rising in Uganda.  It is a matter of when, not if anymore.     I predict if we have a coherent vision on federalism, the presidential system, the military/security and the economy, we have a good chance. The key is a believable vision.   FDC and NRMO are both counting on their military credibility as insiders. They have nothing to offer Ugandans on the economy, rural policy; governance-FDC wants to inherit the same powers Museveni enjoys. It has no credible position on federalism.   DP is afraid to speak out on one area it has some credibility with Ugandans now: the Judiciary. Why has the party shied away from the injustices in the judicial appointments? Why has the party not spoken out about Remmy Kasule's injustices? Why should he go to the High Court while Butera goes straight to the Supreme Court? Where is DP's voice on equity? I realize that some members on this list are shy because they have or want to continue to have relationships with some senior members on the bar.  But that is exactly the point. If I were Mr Kasule, I would quit and return to private practice. Why are we scared to point out the obvious?   There is a disaster unfolding in Acholi. Spare a thought for our people in IDP camps. Now, surrendering or returning NRA rebels are being absorbed into the army, yes UPDF. What is wrong with that story? The hunters are being given more power over the hunted. Mark you, reconciliation is being pushed under “Mato Oput”, which is okay. But it is a disgrace that rebels are now being given guns to guard IDP camps.   Spare a thought for the people living in those camps and are expected to forgive their hunters. Now Banya, yes that is the infamous Banya who used to throw bottles at moving cars in the early 80s and later went on to serve as Kony’s chief of logistics is being treated as a hero! The only MP who has spoken out against the double injustice of such a scheme is the youthful Otto Odonga.   Okay, one can understand why Banya is being given VIP status.  DP should not be afraid to say that surrendering LRA rebels, many of whom were kidnapped should face a lifetime ban: no military service for them ever.  The last thing the people of Acholi want to see is former LRA fighters with guns again.       I realize that the situation calls for sensitivity, but surely that sensitivity should be extended to the hunted now in IDP camps, and not the hunters.  I have trouble with reconciliation without justice, but I am told Mato Oput (traditional means of settling disputes) has been chosen to deal with the unique tragedy.   Museveni and his sidekicks in Acholi are victimizing the people twice by absorbing voluntarily or involuntarily surrendering LRA fighters.  DP should speak out on behalf of the suffering people in IDP camps.  DP has some credibility on the tragedy there and should side with the suffering people in IDP camps on this issue. If there is message that must be delivered to YKM is an equivocal no guns to surrendering LRA fighters.   But this list has underperformed too. We must take some blame. We are timid and indifferent to the fate of our party. That must come to an end if we hope to see a vibrant DP.   Kyijomanyi

We're in the Process of Losing Our Country !!

Mitayo Potosi

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