Re: [Ugnet] ..and the maize ..corn weavil while it is deeply inbedded in the Maize corn..thinks it is save..only for maize to be cooked!!!

[Simon Nume]

“You cannot break the law and get away with it just because you are on the opposition side,” Mbabazi said.
Oh Yes You can if you are Opondo the underwear thief

NumeMatek Opoko [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:





‘Movt has 30 years’  

By Sam Amanyire

BUSHENYI - Defence Minister, Mr Amama Mbabazi, has said the Movement will be in power for 30 more years.“The Movement is here to stay, it’s not going anywhere. You can make plans of 30 years because it will still be around, “ Mbabazi said. 
He was speaking as chief the guest at Kabwohe playground at a fundraising function for Ankole Western University on Saturday.He said Ugandans should not doubt whether the Movement would stay much longer.
“The Movement wants to consolidate its achievements,” he said.He said the Movement wants to transform Uganda from a third world country.
He said they wanted to improve the Universal Primary Education programme first. He said Universal Secondary Education would soon be introduced to absorb UPE products.
Mbabazi criticised the people who sympathise with the recently arrested MPs Reagan Okumu (Aswa) and Michael Ocula (Kilak) who were arrested on Thursday on charges of murder.“You cannot break the law and get away with it just because you are on the opposition side,” Mbabazi said.
He said the strategy to lift the presidential term limits would succeed as long as people still want President Yoweri Museveni in power.
He delivered Museveni’s contribution of Shs5 million. Mbabazi contributed Shs2.6 million.The fundraising, which was organised by MPs Elioda Tumwesigye (Sheema South) and Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu (Sheema North), is a project of West Ankole Diocese and is affiliated to Uganda Christian University Mukono.
The Bishop of West Ankole Diocese, the Rt. Rev. William Magambo, said the university would admit students from all religions. 


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[Ugnet] what should be done - about Urban centers

[d b]

-   Who designs cities: Engineers, Biologist, Planners, Sociologist, 
Ecologist, or Politicians or stake holders? Make your take! 

-   Which town, city or municipality in Uganda is planned, designed 
environmentally, residentially, the infrastructure both communication and 
amenities – NONE!!

-   See what has happened with the former Commercial Bank Building – isn’t 
it terrible – I challenge KCC to produce a SITE MAP of UCB building location, 
APPROVED original architectural design UCB building, AND  the reasons why the 
building was built the way it was originally constructed. 

-   After a thorough investigation into urban planning issues in this 
country, I am more than convinced – the government, local governments, 
municipalities and town councils including Kampala City Council have no ability 
what so ever; to plan, design, model and organise this country’s; towns and 
cities.

-   Which town, city council or municipality in Uganda has for example a 
map making or road engineering design department in this country – NONE!! 

-   I challenge Kampala City Council (KCC) to produce Economic, 
Topographical and Thematic maps of Kampala, this challenge goes to Entebbe and 
Jinja Municipality too.

-   I challenge KCC, Jinja and Entebbe municipality to produce detailed 
local council road designs maps as per topographical studies, environmental 
studies, weathering and erosion principals. 

-   I challenge KCC , Jinja and Entebbe municipalities to produce micro 
climatic data and maps of all buildings that have been built in Kampala in the 
past recent 10 years and even those newly approved plans.

-   You are free to visit us at www.idrconslting.com for instant 
consultancy for urban planning and design in your region.

-   How do you plan without maps and how do you built roads without maps 
and engineering design or civil works studies?!!

-   In Uganda you ask in bewilderment who built a house on a hill side – 
poor people and their educated counterparts quickly without reflection answer a 
one MUGAGA(rich fellow)!

-   Mark you, there are no planned roads, water, sewerage or 
telecommunication facilities in place so the mugaga digs a huge sceptic tank by 
the side of his mansion on the hill, leading to contamination of water tables 
below: where the poor slum dwellers live 

-   My findings shows, Uganda’s media too, disturbingly and shockingly, 
both written and visual has boxed itself into a corner for being self 
subversive and telling excessive lies to gain political credence, in order to 
make money! 

-They therefore fear to write and or talk about urban issues afflicting 
even these media houses maybe more, than people who have nothing, for fear of 
closure and imprisonment!

-   Then there is a problem of hierarchal structures in administration 
combined with NRM tribal structures. 

-   The man or woman above can’t be advised or antagonised lest a lower 
officer looses his or her job- a stalemate warranted. Tribal sentiments are 
also rampant when an officer in the hierarchy is a western, trust me no one 
will ever mention any mistake in the organisation for fear of implications! 

-   Billions of Uganda Tax Payers Money, is wasted year in year out on 
foreign trips by City, Town, and local council workers in tickets and 
allowances, to educate them about urban planning issues. 

-   It’s a waste of time since there is no visible transfer of such 
experiences on ground or anywhere in this country’s town or city. 

-   Moreover it is nonsensical if not out right stupid to assume, a person 
uneducated specifically in urban planning will visit a city or municipality and 
draw any lessons thereof instead of fancying nothingness. They learn lessons 
about what?

-   On the outset, I will propose that any future Mayor/s, Town clerk/s, 
Town and City Planners, Engineers all must have shown and documented experience 
in planning besides academic documentation in urban planning.

-The above officials must be sworn and contracted government workers 
and not elected officials affiliated to any political organs per their 
professional duties, and only committed to their contractual work.

-KCC and/ or any other entity offering the same duties, will never 
develop any town, city as they are ravaged with; corruption, hedonism, 
incompetence, ignorance and lack of will to resolve this country’s urban issues.

-   For example the problems, Jinja , Kampala and other towns and 
municipalities are facing are primary; political, organisation and innovation. 

-   These problems have been acerbated by government officials and 
antagonistic political organs sometimes based on sheer malice and ignorance. 
These politicians at times have got no clue what so ever about urban planning, 
design and appended socio-economic, technological and environmental issues. 

-   Many of these officials 

RE: [Ugnet] MUTEESA DIED OF ALCOHOL POISON

[jonah kasangwawo]

Mulindwa,
as I suspected, you just read the first four words and that set off bells 
ringing in your little brain. If you had continued, you would have found 
that there's still controversy about this version of alcoholic poisoning. 
Otherwise why would the police not follow up a perfectly credible line of 
inquiry ? It really doesn't matter whether YOU think (1) is a fact 
(ascertained by who ? ) and (2) is an opinion.

Instead of stopping here (and saving yourself further embarassment), you 
continue with your usual irrelevant rumblings, full of baseless claims. It 
is surprising (or maybe not ?) how far you can go to make up all sorts of 
fabrications just to prove your point of view.

Look here, somebody makes an attempt to murder you but you somehow manage to 
escape. When you reach the safety of another country, the same person sends 
you money for your upkeep. Incredible !! How much was this 'statutory order' 
supposed to be ? I personally know an
individual who was taking that money to UK.. Lies, lies lies !!! These same 
people who, after King Freddie had escaped from his palace, thought that his 
bathtubs were for brewing malwa; the same people who looted his toilet 
basins and used them for crashing millet - these same people were supposed 
to have sent him money ? Give over !

Your interest in Buganda issues, as a non-Muganda, would have been 
applaudable if you didn't go around making up negative fairy tales. Baganda 
are the most organized Ugandan ethnic group, in or outside Uganda and are 
perfectly capable of maintaining their King if they were left in peace to 
make their own decisions. You talk about the Swedish trip but fail to 
mention the 1998 New York/New Jersey Buganda convention, the London Buganda 
2000 convention and numerous others that have been held very successfully.

Lastly, most of the taxes collected by the Uganda government are from 
Buganda and I therefore don't think its a donation if the Kabaka gets 
maintainance. In fact government should pay the Kabaka and his family 
compensation for Obote having taken over his palace and other institutions 
in 1966 and using them as army bases and for loss of his assets.

Kasangwawo
PS
Oh, who is now receiving the 'statutory order' since Kabaka Mutebi is no 
longer in London to receive it ?

From: Edward Mulindwa [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: ugandanet@kym.net
To: ugandanet@kym.net
CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Ugnet] MUTEESA DIED OF ALCOHOL POISON
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:16:35 -0400
Kasangwawo
Yes indeed I read the whole paragraph and still the point remains that 
Muteesa died of Alcohol poisoning. The rest of the paragraph is a personal 
view which every one is entitled to, I am here to state facts. But let us 
look critically to the thinking of the reporter.

Here are the two terms you have to look at (1) Mutesa died of alcohol 
poisoning in his London flat in 1969. and (2) ... the death has been viewed 
as a possible assassination by those claiming that Mutesa may have been 
forcibly administered large amounts of vodka by agents of the Obote regime.

One to die of alcohol poisoning, means he has drunk for a great length of 
time in life and alcohol has slowly and steadily destroyed his body parts 
starting from the Liver. A one day drink can never turn up as an alcohol 
poisoning. For at the time of death, Mutesa had a blood in his alcohol 
system. That takes a whole time of drinking, thus the term drunkard. And 
this happens to allot of Ugandans in exile up to today the most destructing 
factor we have abroad is alcohol. That is why Obote was very smart to stop 
drinking.  So I do not know why Buganda decides to make this a secret and 
hide into Obote poisoned Mutesa through a Muganda girl. It just baffles me.

But here is another factor again to support a fact that Obote would not 
poison Mutesa in UK. For now we need to make the records straight to those 
who were still kids in 1969 as kasangwawo.

When Muteesa left Uganda for UK, Obote as a head of state made a statutory 
order instructing Bank Of Uganda to send funds to maintain Muteesa as long 
as he is out of the nation. Until today that instruction is still on Uganda 
books and the money is still being sent to the family. When Amin came to 
power, I personally know an individual who was taking that money to UK 
because Obote's order was on the books, Museveni is still sending that 
money to a UK account. What is interesting about Obote is that when he came 
back on Obote 2, as a president and as a minister of finance, he still 
refused to revoke that order from the bank of Uganda books. Obote left 
power the second time and the family remained taking the money from Uganda 
government. It is that same money, why people like Kabaka Mutebi managed to 
go to school in UK and become pipe fitters. And Mutebi has no student loan 
out standing in UK. Thanks to Obote. The problem Muteesa got in UK was a 
simple fact that he had allot of money at his disposal and we all know 

[Ugnet] Liberation from colonialism was my greatest contribution : From The Monitor NewsPaper Kampala: read so that you are Informed!

[Matek Opoko]

Liberation from colonialism was my greatest contribution 

By Andrew Mwenda 


In this part Obote tells Andrew Mwenda about Uganda’s economic performance under his second administration.
Upon arrival here in Lusaka, I immediately began plans to fight the government of the Okellos. Then Yoweri Museveni removed them and I transferred the efforts to another political struggle to liberate Uganda from Museveni’s dictatorship. 
I am now 79 years old and in virtual retirement. But I have got to continue for as long as I breathe to ensure that Uganda is once again a free nation. I do not, however, consider ever being president of Uganda again, no, never! I am old.





CLEAN: Obote says that he was never corrupt during his time as president of Uganda (Monitor photo).




CLOCKWISE: Milton Obote, Julius Nyerere, Robert Mugabe, Robert Ouko, Kenneth Kaunda and Peter Otai at an O.A.U summit. Obote is proud of the fact that he was a founder member of the Organisation of African Unity (File photo).
I am not like Ronald Reagan, former United States president who came for his second term in 1984 when he was eighty years old. Even if Museveni’s government fell, UPC is revived and they say we want you to be the presidential candidate, I would refuse.Let me take stock of my life history as prime minister, later president of Uganda twice, and as leader of that great political party, the Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC). What have the UPC and I achieved in our life history? 
My successesWhen I look back, I see the liberation of Uganda from colonial rule and later from Idi Amin’s tyranny as my greatest contribution to my country. The second pillar of my legacy is the economic development of Uganda. 
In both my first and second administration, Uganda’s economy grew impressively well: at an annual average of 5 percent in the 1960s and 6 percent in the early 1980s. These facts can be verified from the library of the Ministry of Finance in Entebbe. 
In the economic sphere, by the time Idi Amin staged the coup, Uganda was a net supplier of ready made textiles and garment to major departmental stores like HM, CA, Marks  Spencer etc. Museveni does not know that Uganda by 1970 had reached a stage of the manufacture and export of industrial products and was competing very well in European markets, and was about to enter the US market.As a result, throughout the 1960s, Uganda enjoyed an impressive trade surplus, as our export volumes and values increased considerably. The share of industry and services increased, while that of agriculture to total GDP reduced. There was also a rapid expansion of the monetary economy.
The third pillar of my work is investment in social infrastructure to improve the quality of life of our people. We wanted our people to live well. 
So we invested in housing estates for the upper and middle-income groups. Large-scale apartment blocks like Bugolobi, Bat Valley and Bukoto estates are a product of this effort. 
The UPC administration made significant investments in health by building 22 rural hospitals in every district (then) and over 500 dispensaries in every sub country in Uganda. 
Our investment in education in both my first and second administration was also significant and that is why UPC is popular all over Uganda. We expanded existing schools like Budo, Mwiri, Nyakasura, Ntare, and all other A-class secondary schools from 320 students to 760 by building more and better classrooms, dormitories and laboratories. We expanded Makerere University and other institutions of higher learning, in terms of student in-take, physical infrastructure, academic facilities and student welfare. 
Then we built roads, improved the rail system and expanded our air services. My government established state enterprises and ran them more efficiently, more profitably and more effectively than many, if not most private enterprises in Uganda.State owned banks, industries and other parastatal bodies attracted the most professionally talented Ugandans and increased the participation of Africans in their own economy. 
We also promoted the development of private enterprises owned by Ugandans who competed effectively, just like state enterprises, against both multi national companies and Asian owned business. It is Museveni and Amin who killed state enterprises and turned them into incompetent and loss making enterprises.
The fourth pillar of my achievements is in the field of international relations. I was a founder member of the Organisation of African Unity. During that conference, I played a major role in hammering out the compromise between the Monrovia Group and the Casablanca group, and personally suggested the creation of a body to drive Africa towards unity.
I am very proud of the role played by me personally and my government generally in the liberation of many African countries from the yoke of colonial rule. 
We contributed money, logistics and diplomatic support to the different liberation movements in Africa in both 

[Ugnet] Museveni is responsible for most of the killings in Luweero: Articles from The Monitor news paper Kampala

[Matek Opoko]

Museveni is responsible for most of the killings in Luweero

By Andrew Mwenda 

During the campaigns for the December 1980 elections, on candidate, Yoweri Museveni repeatedly said that if UPC won the elections, he would go to the bush. That was a lie. Museveni had been planning to go to the bush all the time. He had been training his own troops as Minister of Defence and placing them in units across the country. His brother Salim Saleh, for example, was in Moroto barracks. So, immediately we came into government, Museveni launched the war. Although he claims to have begun with only 27 people, he actually began with many more than that – even in excess of 2,000 rebels.However, our first priority as government was to deliver the promises in our election manifesto. Remember that it is only the UPC, which produced a manifesto in the 1980 campaign. The promises in the manifesto were reduced into a government programme, The Rehabilitation Programme. Later Museveni plagiarised 
 our
 program, renamed it the Recovery Programme in May 1987. First, we withdrew the army from the streets of Kampala and thereby reduced insecurity in the city. For security, we wanted to depend on the Ugandan Police; they were rather thin on the ground. But we depended on them to some extent and we reduced the scare of killings in Kampala. 





I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE: Obote says under his administration, all those who committed atrocities were arrested and punished (Monitor photo).The killings were at a time when we had the Uganda army and police and the Tanzanian army and Police were all in Kampala. Fortunately President Nyerere withdrew Tanzania Police and then later he withdrew the Tanzanian army. Muwanga wanted Tanzanian army to remain. I was not too sure. Muwanga travelled to Tanzania to plead with President Nyerere to leave the Tanzanian army, the president refused.When I travelled to North Korea, I asked Kim III Sung for assistance. He gave some arms, the Katushka, and some instructors to train our army. We now prepared to follow Museveni in the bush and defeat him there. By the time of the coup in 1985, Museveni had been so thoroughly defeated that he personally ran away to Sweden while what remained of his insurgents fl
 ed to
 Toro. I was contacted by the government of Zaire and told that some Ugandans had entered their territory. I was in the process of negotiating with President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire to hand them over to UNHCR when Bazilio Okello, Tito Okello and other senior Acholi officers in the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) begun colluding to overthrow the government.There is one accusation that has dominated all debate about my second administration, and that is the killings of innocent civilians in Luweero. Although a lot of propaganda has been written accusing my government of orchestrating these massacres, the truth is that it was Museveni who is responsible. Museveni is a killer. That is exactly what he has been doing in Gulu, in Kitgum, in Lira, in Pader, in Soroti, in Katakwi, Bundibugyo and Kichwamba for the last 19 years. Museveni would dress some of his insurgents in official army uniform and send them to attack villages, kill people so that
  the
 villagers would think it was the army. 





SUPPORTERS AT A UPC RALLY: Obote says that after the 1980 elections, the government had reduced on the insecurity in Kampala (File photo).
Then he would send another group of his insurgents wearing rags and would go to the ransacked village and say, “What has happened? It is the UNLA doing that. If you stay here they will kill all of you. Please come with us and we will protect you.”I have hundreds and hundreds of testimonies from many families in Luwero who came to visit us at our home in Kololo when I was still president. All of them told us these stories. I am very happy that Museveni’s own senior colleagues in the struggle have begun to boast about these killings. At the burial of Adonia Tiberondwa recently, Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, for example, revealed that the National Resistance Army (NRA) rebels used to wear UPC colours and then go into villages in Luweero and kill people in order to make the people think these were actions of the UPC government. Otafiire was boasting of the “tricks” NRA employed to win support in Luwero, but was also revealing the sinister side of Museveni and his
 insurgents.My wife, Mama Miria, is a Muganda. She has many relatives in Luweero. They would come to my home in Kololo to see their sister. Unlike Museveni, I never used to live in State House when I was president. I used to live in my small house in Kololo like all other ordinary Ugandans. We have testimonies of people from Luweero telling us how Museveni was recruiting child soldiers by first killing their parents. Museveni has committed crimes against humanity. I could never allow the army to go to Luweero and kill innocent people. Given that my wife is a Muganda, and my children therefore half Baganda, what type 

[Ugnet] Uganda, DRC, Rwanda agree on rebels

[Matek Opoko]

Uganda, DRC, Rwanda agree on rebels
LUBUMBASHI, Sunday – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda have agreed to put an end to the presence of armed groups in the DRC that pose a threat to all of them, the DRC government announced Friday. After a two-day meeting in Lubumbashi, the main city in the southeastern Katanga province of the DRC, “the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to put an end to the threat posed to the security of the three countries by the presence and activities of the negative forces in the east,” a statement said. In the framework of a 2004 tripartite agreement aimed at restoring peace in the Great Lakes are “they agreed to put into effect a US-sponsored mechanism for exchanging information, to establish confidence between the countries and deal with the problem of armed groups in the east of the DRC.” Although the statement referred to “negative forces “the only group to be mentioned by name in the statement were rebel Rwandan Hutus belonging 
 to the
 Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). After hiding in the jungles of the east of the DRC for the past 11 years, on March 31, the FDLR announced in Rome they were giving up their armed struggle and agreeing to go back to Rwanda. Their presence has soured relations between the DRC and Rwanda for a decade, with Kigali charging that the rebels took an acide of an estimated 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. The DRC argued that Rwanda had used the presence of the FDLR as an “excuse” for regular forays into its territory. Referring to the Rome statement, the parties, backed by the observers present (the African Union, Belgium, Britain, European Union and UN), “agreed to make use of the tripartite process to back the joint efforts of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) and the DRC to disarm, demobilise and repatriate FDLR members to Rwanda.” “The Rwandan government praised the efforts of the DRC and repeated its commitment to rece
 ive the
 members of the FDLR and their families,” the statement said. Rwanda’s deputy foreign minister Protais Mitali agreed that there was a commitment “to work in close collaboration. We’ve got a long way on our side. We have a scheme to welcome back the ex-Interhamwe (militia) who will soon retun to Rwanda.” The statement made no mention of the presence in the DRC of Ugandan rebels belonging to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), although Kampala has recently attacked their presence in eastern DRC. But MONUC said there was no recent proof of any such presence. DRC foreign minister Raymond Ramazani Baya said there was need for “structures for combined verification” of these “allegations.” Ends
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[Ugnet] Former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda take on Middle East Politics:Only Saddam can unite Iraq

[Matek Opoko]

Only Saddam can unite Iraq 

By Andrew Mwenda 

I hosted a commonwealth summit in September 1979 here in Lusaka. It was at the height of the struggle for the liberation of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was here to attend the summit. In fact she was my dancing partner at the state ball in honour of all heads of state and government who came to attend. Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania were here. Godfrey Binaisa was president of Uganda and also attended.So we used the Commonwealth conference to force Thatcher to call a conference on Rhodesia. After that we wanted to take this matter to the conference of Non Aligned states in order to form a broad front for the liberation of Zimbabwe. When the Commonwealth summit ended, we flew to Havana, Cuba where Comrade Fidel Castro was hosting the ninth Non Aligned summit. When the time came for my contribution to the Non Aligned
  summit
 leaders in Havana, I spoke directly to the leaders from the Middle East. I said, “You my brothers from the Middle East who have oil, what you are doing with that oil?” (It was the time of the oil boom.) “You are making a lot of money from oil. But instead of investing that money to develop your countries, to improve the living conditions of your people, you are banking it in Europe and North America. 





IRAQ NEEDS SADDAM: Kaunda believes that without Saddam in Iraq, the different groups that live in the country will never come together (Monitor photo).The consequence is that, you are enriching the shareholders in western banks, and also enriching corporations in the west who borrow your money cheaply from these banks. “If you can’t develop your own countries at least invest in Africa, we can promise you that you will reap some harvest from there.” I think the prime minister of one of the countries there replied and said I was mistaken and so forth but apparently [Former president of Iraq] Saddam Hussein liked what I said. After the discussions, he sent an invitation to me to go and have dinner with him at his villa. When we sat to dinner that evening, Saddam told me, “I liked what you said but I thought that is true only of other oil owning countries in the Middle East. In Iraq, we
  are
 doing a lot using that oil money. Please, I am inviting you to come and see for yourself what is happening.” I said, “Very good.” After the conference, I flew directly to Baghdad. When I got there, he was at the airport to meet me and I said thank you. We drove in a big car, Saddam in the driver’s seat and me in the co-driver’s seat. We were either only the two of us, or there were one or two security people with us in the car. But I cannot remember all the details now. We drove to the hotel where I stayed, and the next day and the day after, he took me round to various corners of the country. And what he said was true. I found colleges built, some for women, hospitals, some for women and some for children, agriculture developing, preservation of the old biblical sites and all that. I was very impressed.After that, I remained in touch with Saddam. We struck a cordial relationship. Then in 1990, I heard he was going to invade Kuwait. I
 cannot remember all the details because I would need to look at my records, although I think [former president Mr Frederick] Chiluba destroyed all of them. I was very worried and I had to go and see him. I arrived at the airport and he was there personally to receive me. He put me in his car and he drove. He asked me whether we could go to a cultural centre before we went home and I agreed.So we went to the cultural centre and while we were there, people gathered in thousands to come and cheer him. We got out and there was a big rock outside with steps dug into it and the top was flat. We got there, and he held my left hand with his right hand and lifted my arm and people cheered. They thundered and I knew my battle was lost. CNN was there; BBC was there, all of them were there. I knew it would make one impression; I was going to support the invasion of Kuwait.So the first night we met, we talked for three hours. It was a very frank discus
 sion.
 I told him, “You can’t do this.” And he said, “No, they stole this territory now called Kuwait. It is part of Iraq so we must get it back.” I said, “Look, not these days. You can’t invade countries in this time and day. Please don’t. Discuss it with Kuwait.” He said, “No.” So for three hours I failed to convince him to change his mind. On the second night we talked for two hours. I still failed to convince him to change his mind. The third night, we talked for twelve hours. I still failed. By this time I was really tired, and had lost hope of convincing him. So I said I must go back home. I am sure that before I spoke about it this year, the outside world just believed that I supported the war on Kuwait. No I didn’t. I am still opposed to it and I went and tried and to oppose it. I must add that before I 

[Ugnet] Zambian Politics: an Interview with KK My life after the presidency

[Matek Opoko]

My life after the presidency 

By Andrew Mwenda 


In the continuation of the series, Kenneth Kaunda talks to Andrew M. Mwenda about his successes and failures during his reign as president
I want to admit that as a human being, I must have made some mistakes. I know I am an ordinary human being subject to doing good and bad. There is no way I can stand on a rooftop like this one of yours and say, I did no wrong. That would not be correct at all. I made so many mistakes as a human being. 
I may not remember all of them. I am sure there are quite many but it’s human to error. However, I also know that Africa’s tragedy is not just a product of mistakes by Africa leaders alone. There is a lot of harm from the powerful countries and from institutions like the IMF and World Bank. They tend to contribute to the poverty and misery we see in Africa today. 
Some people think I stayed in power for so long. To be honest, I am not yet sure whether that was a mistake on my part or not. Some think I should have left power early enough so that I would not suffer electoral defeat, just like my friend and brother Julius Nyerere in Tanzania did. 





I DID MY PART: Kaunda says his biggest achievement was uniting Zambia (Monitor photo) 
I am not yet certain of my own feelings. I think it is not the time someone stays in office that should be the issue but what a leader does when he is in such a position of responsibility. It was a Friday when they announced that Movement for Multi Party Democracy led by Frederick Chiluba had won the elections. I had my doubts but it didn’t matter. I telephoned Mr Chiluba the president elect and said, “Congratulations. I am told you have won. I am waiting for you tomorrow to come and take over. He said thank you. 
The following day, Chiluba came with his whole cabinet, and the Vice President now President Levy Mwanawasa. They were three hours late. 
I said, “Young people, I am taking president elect Chiluba to my office to brief him on how I run the state machinery. Please wait here”. 
I took him to my office. I briefed him verbally and in writing. After that, I showed him a secret entrance to tunnels, security tunnels leading to an underground bunker. I told him that if he should ever get into trouble, there is a young man here who will come and declare avacadabra and the tunnels will open. 
“And get 29 people you trust and yourself make the thirtieth. There are 30 mattresses, blankets and everything ready. There is a powerful broadcasting machine, more powerful than the state radio, so you can broadcast to the people of Zambia. You can also call for support from somewhere outside. They will come and help you. I took him around and finally told him “I am a patriot, I am a Pan-Africanist. If at anytime you should need my assistance don’t hesitate to call, I will come and assist.” 
Chiluba’s response was a lesson to me about the role of individuals in the destiny of nations, especially so in Africa. Because later on, he called journalists and claimed that I had an underground station where I was locking up opposition leaders, torturing and killing people. 
The Post newspaper bought his lie. But some of the press said it looked like a palace and not a dungeon where they were killing people.
Tragedies like this cannot happen when you have got correct leadership. In Africa there must be clean thinking. We should not make politics a source of enmity. 
Politics must be a service to the people of God, God’s children. Leaders must look at politics as a service to the nations. If you look at politics as something you must benefit from and power as something you must hold at all costs, then the nation is dead. Later Chiluba would raid my house claiming I had stolen books from State House. And how many books did he recover? Only four. Kaunda, the father of the Zambian nation stealing four textbooks! My God!
I was never corrupt as a leader. Up to the day I left office, I did not even have a house in which to live in Lusaka. I had a house in my home village, which is far away from here. So when I left office, I had no house, or where to go. 
We had built rest houses here for the mines. I occupied the smallest house belonging to Lwasha mine with my wife. But within 10 days, President Chiluba asked me to vacate the house. The constitution provided that a retired president should have a house, a pension and some support staff. But they abolished all those.
Fortunately, a young man who was working with me had a spare house in Lusaka and he heard that I was being chased from the government house, because these mines were under government control. He said “Old man please, I have got a house here, you can stay there for two years without paying anything, you have done so much.” 
So he lent it to us for two years, my wife, and me and that’s how we survived otherwise we would have been completely destroyed. After two years, another young man who was a businessman came to see me and said he had a 

[Ugnet] I helped remove Amin – Kaunda Former Zambian President

[Matek Opoko]

I helped remove Amin – Kaunda 

By Andrew Mwenda 


Former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda talks to Andrew Mwenda about economics, African unity and HIV/Aids: -
In 1973 when the oil prices went up, the copper prices went down and I wrote to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, of course, saying we had not borrowed from them up until then. 
Now that the oil prices were up, and copper prices down, we were facing serious foreign exchange shortages. I asked these two institutions for their advice. They wrote back saying: Borrow, because we think copper prices will soon be going up and we think that oil prices will be controlled. 
That is when Zambia begun to borrow from abroad. By 1985-87, I found that the World Bank assistance was not helping to improve the situation. We were instead growing poorer, and more indebted; and the debt levels were unsustainable. The IMF and World Bank policies and programmes were not improving the situation. 
So I borrowed some idea from Latin America that you cannot just be paying others from loans you have taken and yet you are not investing in your own country. We accepted we were going to pay these debts, but we must be allowed to invest. We pay what we can, but retain some surplus for investment. In this way we grow up and be able to pay the rest a little later when we have developed.





Former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda 
Africa needs to learn and to understand what IMF and World Bank stand for. I am not blaming the people themselves. But these institutions are victims of the machinations of the powerful nations of this world. When you borrow money, you also have expenses – they call them overheads. A lot of the loans go to pay for overhead costs like costs of administrative staff sent to manage the loans, costs of consultants who come to tell you what you already know, costs of computers and four wheel drive vehicles that do not reduce poverty and so on and so forth. Before you know it, more than 70 or 80 percent of the loan money has gone back to the rich countries whose people are employed to do feasibility studies or work on the projects and the poor country has a high debt burden.
For Africa to overcome its current challenges, especially the squeeze from the powerful nations of the western world, we need to come together and work together. That is why the African Union, Nepad and other regional groupings are important. Whenever I call for African unity, some people ask me: You were President for 27 years, you sat through the OAU and other initiatives and failed to achieve unity. Why do you think your successors should achieve it? I appreciate that. But we should not forget that it is only now Europe is beginning to come together. 
Europe was responsible for two major world wars in which they involved Africa because of being colonial countries. They did that and now they are in the process of working out ways and means of coming together. 
On the African continent, slave trade drained us. Then we suffered a period of colonisation after which was the period of apartheid in South Africa. All these are evils imposed on us by other people. Now we are just getting out of that. It has taken European states hundreds of years to come together. In Africa now we have moved a stage further from the Organisation of African Unity to the African Union.
I see it as glaring success for Africa. The current leaders on the continent are young men who have taken on from us and are at least beginning to point out where we can do things together and develop and work for the continent to strengthen ourselves. The African Union is stronger than the OAU. It has a number of organs being built up, regional groups are becoming stronger and civil wars are becoming less of a menace. We should not expect people who were deliberately divided by colonial rule to unite by a simple declaration. 
When we became independent in Zambia, we started on the principle of "one Zambia, one nation". We are 73 ethnic groups brought together to say one Zambia, one nation. And when we left the nation to President Chiluba, the poor man removed that slogan. He didn't like it because it was a Kaunda initiative. He destroyed state enterprises because Kaunda started them. When you take over, you don't destroy what you found, you add onto it. We had built many industries here in Zambia, private and public and today they are not there.
The first achievement of the first generation of African leaders after independence was independence. We fought and brought independence. 
Secondly, in a good number of African countries, we stood united. In some cases, there was economic development until the IMF, World Bank – with the backing of powerful nations – began to undermine initiatives, which were not sanctioned by the big powers. These powers effectively used IMF and World Bank against us.
There is no doubt at all that some leaders were corrupt. Mobutu in Zaire or Idi Amin in Uganda cannot be a victim of 

[Ugnet] Zambian Politics: I have been falsely accused says Former President Fredrick Chiluba

[Matek Opoko]

I have been falsely accused 

By Andrew Mwenda 


In this part Frederick Chiluba tells Andrew Mwenda about his trials and tribulations in the Zambian court.
President Mwanawasa went to parliament and prayed that there had been plundering of national resources and this was attributed to me as former president of the country. Mwanawasa is my brother. He used the word “plunder.” It was attributed to my government and me. 
Because I was a plunderer, he asked parliament to lift my immunity from prosecution as a former head of state. Remember that our constitution gives immunity to a former head of state, but also adds that the immunity can be lifted if there is glaring evidence of gross abuse of office. 
Article 43 (2) of our constitution says nothing should ever happen to a president for the acts he commits or fails to commit during his tenure of office.
Mwanawasa set the grounds for lifting my immunity, essentially about seven of them. The first was that the purchase price or the money for the sale of the Luanshya mine, US$ 35million had gone untraced, and the US$ 12 million which was brought in as working capital had also disappeared, meaning that they were both misused or stolen. 
The second charge was that I had stolen 67 oil tankers whose values were not established. It could have been $100 million or something, but 67 oil tankers were lost and they remained unaccounted for.






IT IS RIDICULOUS: Frederick Chiluba and Andrew Mwenda during the interview. Chiluba says none of the witnesses brought to court to support the case said he was involved in the scams(Monitor photo).
The third charge was the alleged fraudulent purchase of military hardware from Mr. Katebekatoto, a Congolese businessman amounting to $20.5 million.
The fourth charge concerned the transfer and conversion of state assets, which were under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, for private use, meaning that I was stealing them from government for my personal use. 
This charge claimed that I had registered these assets into my names or something close to that. These assets were said to be in London and Dar-Es-salaam. 
I know what those assets were in England: they were the sale or the remains of the sale of ZTCM assets especially buildings. Now there were some buildings where the intelligence were operating and they had put some of those rooms up for rent and they were earning money which was going to government through the Ministry of Finance. 
And so they said this money had been stolen when the proceeds of these assets were going to the Ministry of Finance.The fifth charge was misuse of intelligence money. The president prayed parliament to enable him to prosecute me and he could only do that if parliament lifted my immunity. 
There were two other charges whose details I cannot recollect now, making a total of seven. On this basis, parliament lifted my immunity with the euphoria that they had caught a thief. 
Sadly, and disappointingly, the state did not have even the prima facie evidence on all these cases, and therefore none of them appeared on the indictment list when I first appeared in court to take my plea. My understanding is that even when we were going to court, they must have discovered that no such plundering ever took place.
Thus, in court, all these seven charges against me were withdrawn. It is important to remember that when the hullabaloo about my case started, the government through the media claimed that I had stolen US $2 billion from the treasury. 
This claim was ridiculous although some people bought it. Zambia’s annual budget is just above US$ 500 million. To steal US$ 2 billion in 10 years would mean not paying salaries or doing anything at all. 
Now in court, they withdrew the seven charges on which parliament relied to lift my immunity.If there was due process of the law, certainly my immunity would automatically have been reinstated since the seven grounds on which the parliament lifted it were all withdrawn by the government. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. 
Instead, the government brought forth fresh charges in which I was now accused of theft and abuse of office, causing a loss amounting to 19 billion Kwacha, which is the equivalent of US$ 4 million. They brought another charge of 168 counts, a second set of counts.The second set was brought in dollars accusing me of plundering both in Kwachas and dollars at separate intervals. That is what they said. 
You can’t help but laugh at the way they brought the second charge and then said US$ 40 million was missing. This latter charge arose from an intelligence account called Zamtrop. The total number of charges in this second set of charges was 204 counts. And we were carrying these charges together at some point, of course appearing on different dates for each one of the two sets of indictment.





HARRASSED: Frederick Chiluba says he is walking a tight rope because while some people believe him, others believe the State (Monitor 

[Ugnet] Upon meeting him, I found Museveni a consummate liar...THRE ORIGIN of .. VICOSI MWALUM

[Matek Opoko]

Upon meeting him, I found Museveni a consummate liar

By Andrew Mwenda 

Fighting Idi Amin: 1971-79 
Having raised 900 volunteers to resist the military coup by Idi Amin, we took the recruits to Owiny Kibul in southern Sudan for training. We had been given permission by Gen. Jaffer Nimeiri, the president of Sudan, to use his country’s territory to train an army and launch an attack against Amin from Northern Uganda. We expanded Owiny Kibul with farms and modern housing. After significant progress in our plans for an invasion, President Nimeiri entered an agreement with the Anyanya rebels led by Joseph Lagu to stop hostilities. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia had mediated the talks.I must say that during my stay in Khartoum, President Nimeiri treated me very well. Whenever I wanted to see him, I would call state house or president’s office in Khartoum and if he was in the country, I would meet Gen. Nimeiri that same day or the next day. Whenever I went to see him, Nimeiri was always very kind, generous and understanding of our cause. I consider him t
 o be a
 true African nationalist. After the agreement, I was saddened when Nimeiri called me and told me that we could not stay in Owiny Kibul, because Anyanya wanted it to be their headquarters for implementation of the agreement. I reported this to President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. Then Nyerere sent a delegate to Nimeiri and it was decided that our recruits be transferred to Port Sudan to be taken by ship to Tanga in Tanzania. We moved the recruits by road to Khartoum en-route to Port Sudan. I met them at an army barracks outside Khartoum and addressed them. I left for Dar-es-Salaam by air and was received at the airport by President Nyerere. This time he did not take me to State House but to Musasani, a suburb in Dar-es-Salaam where Nyerere used to stay. He took me to a house only two blocks away from his, and that is where I found Mama Miria and the children. I had not seen my family since I left for Singapore and it was an ecstatic moment to see them
  again.
 I had no hand in getting Mama and the children out of Uganda. I had heard that they were arrested and Amin nearly killed the children. I had been living in Khartoum from March 1971 to July 1972. Back to our recruits, the men arrived in Tanga but they were very sick. The ship was contaminated with a disease called meningitis, many people died on the ship and they were buried at sea. When they arrived in Tanga, I went to see them, I found them very sick but Tanzanian medical service did a wonderful job. In three weeks people who were very sick were now healthy. I went again and asked them to do what they did in Owiny Kibul: start farming and build good houses, which they begun immediately. A few days later, I got a shocker from President Nyerere and his security people. Nyerere came with his intelligence staff and they told me that a one Yoweri Museveni, who has been a student at Dar-es-Salaam and had later worked in my office as a research assistan
 t had
 informed them that he had organised armies in Western Uganda, in Masaka and in Jinja and Mbale. This was not the first time I heard about Museveni. I had in fact heard about him before… even before I left for Khartoum in March 1971. Someone had told me that someone called Museveni had arrived and had gone to Morogoro where Tanzania had given us a camp for those Ugandans who wanted to be trained as guerrillas. I did not think much about him. Now it was 1972. When Nyerere told me about Museveni and his troops in Mbarara, Masaka, Jinja and Mbale, I said, “Can you give me time Mr. President to check?” he agreed and said, “Take your time.” I started working the telephones to people in Mbarara, Masaka, Kampala, Jinja and Mbale. I regret to say that I found no trace of recruitment and I reported this to Nyerere advising him that we should not trust that story. But Nyerere believed it because it was from his intelligence service. He trusted his intelligence very
 much.Within a short time, Nyerere asked me to make preparations for invasion of Uganda. Amin had dreamt to expel Asians on the 17th September. I had a meeting with Nyerere and we calculated that the invasion should coincide with the expulsion of the Asians. I felt that the expulsion of the Asians may be popular with a few people but not the majority of Ugandans. 
We started preparing for the attack. I went with Vice President Rashid Kawawa several times to the camp to prepare the recruits for the attack. But moving 700 men from Tanga to Mutukula became very difficult. Anyhow, when they arrived at Tabora, in the middle of Tanzania, there was another group of people who had been to Morogoro to be added onto the 700 recruits. The Morogoro people were not trained at all whereas the Tanga people had been thoroughly trained in Owiny Kibul. We moved them to Mutukula. There were two segments to the planning: one group was to fly from Arusha to Entebbe and was commanded by Oyite Ojok. This 

[Ugnet] Okumu, Ocula Back to Luzira

[Matek Opoko]

Okumu, Ocula Back to Luzira














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New Vision (Kampala)
April 23, 2005 Posted to the web April 25, 2005 
Hillary KiiryaKampala 
AS the two MPs charged with murder were yesterday sent back to Luzira Prison, defence lawyers demanded a speedy trial.
The three-man team led by Sylvester Donge Opar, Sam Njuba and Yusuf Nsibambi argued that this was an old case whose investigations ought to have been completed long ago. Prosecution said MPs Reagan Okumu (Aswa) and Michael Ocula Nyeko (Kilak) and three others on February 12, 2002 in Gulu district murdered Pabbo LC3 chairman Alfred Bongomin.








The MPs and their co-accused, David Ochieng, 33, Laryan Ochan, 40 and Steven Olanya Otim, 35, on handcuffs were immediately taken back to Luzira Prison. Okumu was clad in a blue suit and Ocula in a grey suit.
Donge was responding to State Attorney Jane Kajuga's request for an adjournment to allow for more investigations into the matter.
"Keeping the two MPs and the two local councillors in prison is a denial of representation of their constituents," Donge told the parked court.
"This is a 2002 case and it is a criminal case. The internal affairs minister told Parliament that inquiries were complete and that is why the MPs were hurriedly arrested. We therefore pray that prosecution speeds up the trial process," said Donge.
Buganda Road Court Magistrate Francis Kagwa could not rule on the matter, saying, "This is a matter beyond my jurisdiction and in any case such cases are mentioned even for two years. The matter is adjourned to May 6, and you are remanded until then."
The accused were driven back in a bus after the mention of their case, accompanied by a Police truck. Security operatives and armed policemen had been deployed at the court premises as early as 7:00am.
MPs Salaamu Musumba and Geoffrey Ekanya had a glimpse at the accused persons but Abdu Katuntu, Norbert Mao and Ogenga Latigo arrived after the bus had left.











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Diplomats from the Netherlands Embassy were among the few people who were allowed to greet the accused.
Mao said, "This is circus, the killers are known and we are going home to cause havoc."__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___
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[Ugnet] Ex-FAR Recruiting Civilians - Musoni

[Matek Opoko]

Ex-FAR Recruiting Civilians - Musoni














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The New Times (Kigali)
April 25, 2005 Posted to the web April 25, 2005 
James Munyaneza And Emmy KaremeraKigali 
A group of the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC-based ex-FAR fighters recently sneaked into the country and influenced the fleeing of a number of Hutu civilians into rebel ranks, Local Government Minister Protais Musoni has said.
"We have got information that a number of Ex-FAR officers have unleashed a wave of fear among the Hutu population that the government was planning to kill them all. This resulted into dozens of people fleeing to be recruited into the militias," Musoni told The New Times on telephone on Saturday.
He said the government had already obtained names of some of the involved rebel agents but declined to divulge their identities. "We have been given the names of some Ex-FAR members by some of these civilians who have so far returned," he said. He was, however, not sure whether there was any other group involved in the move.
The minister said the rebel mobilisers had infiltrated the provinces of Byumba, Umutara, Kibungo, Kigali Ngali and Butare.
Ex-FAR are the remaining members of the former Rwanda Armed Forces, who jointly with Interahamwe militias are now, called Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). A few weeks ago, the group, estimated at over 10,000 announced it was laying down arms.
For the last two months an estimated 5,000 Rwandans, presumably genocide suspects, have escaped to Burundi and Uganda, for fear of prosecution under the recently launched Gacaca trials, which seek to unearth the reality behind the 1994 Genocide, in which close to one million ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates perished.
It is reported that the insurgents have taken advantage of the scared genocide suspects to launch a major recruitment exercise, to beef up their ability to wage war against the government.
In a related development, the Butare provincial Governor Hope Tumukunde Gasatura, while featuring on a VOA programme on Saturday morning said that by Friday, up to 394 refugees had returned from Burundi.
"There has been a smear campaign that the government plans to kill Hutus and this forced many Genocide suspects to flee. We however, talked to them and they accepted to return and have been taken back to their respective homes," she added.
The return came a day after Prime Minister Bernard Makuza asked Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye to help repatriate the refugees. The Premier made the call during a regional Heads of State and Government meeting on Burundi peace held in Kampala, Uganda.
"Following the Prime Minister's discussions over the issue with Burundian President, we hope that even the remaining ones will soon return," said Musoni. Recently, a Rwanda delegation led by Tumukunde was in Burundi in attempt to have the fleeing refugees repatriated.
However, reports indicate that Bujumbura has already relocated 2,000 refugees from provinces near the common border with Rwanda, further inland. Sources say they are being sheltered at Mushiha refugee transit centre, near the Tanzanian border in the east.
The same sources say thousands of Gacaca suspects were still holed up in villages in Burundi, and may never come to light anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Musoni said the government was considering repatriating those who have fled to Uganda within the existing framework of Joint Refugee Repatriation Commission between Kigali and Kampala.











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Central Africa Rwanda Arms and Military Affairs Congo-Kinshasa Post-Conflict Challenges Civil War and Communal Conflict 
Reports indicate that at least 10 families cross to Uganda daily and that the number was growing close to 2,000. They are encamped at Nyakivara Transit Centre.
The Joint Refugee Repatriation Commission is primarily responsible for repatriating between 15,000 and 20,000 Rwandan refugees in Uganda, a majority of whom fled after the 1994 Genocide__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___
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[Ugnet] President Blasts U.S. Bullying

[Matek Opoko]

President Blasts U.S. Bullying














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The Herald (Harare)
April 23, 2005 Posted to the web April 25, 2005 
Innocent GoreJakarta 
AFRICAN and Asian leaders meeting here should be concerned that the United Nations has been rammed into submission by unilateralism that looms large over international affairs today and is as dangerous as the threat of war, President Mugabe said yesterday.
Addressing more than 50 leaders, including UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan, attending the Asia-Africa Summit in the Indonesian capital city, the President said it was worrying that this unilateralism had manifested itself as fascist international dictatorship and was undermining the democratic process in different regions through brazen interference in the domestic and internal affairs of Asian and African countries.











 
Unilateralism refers to the dominance of world affairs by one superpower, in this case the United States.
Cde Mugabe said the profile of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) should be raised as its mandate included the right to actively oppose the unilateralism and hegemony that threatened efforts to create a world of peace, stability and development.
NAM was born after the first conference of Asian and African leaders in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955 as a moderating voice in the Cold War that raged between the East and West at a time the world feared a Third World War.
"My country, Zimbabwe, has been the victim of naked interference in its domestic affairs through several measures, including declared and undeclared sanctions, purely because we dared challenge white privilege by embarking upon a process of equitable distribution of our land.
"Now, where once upon a time a mere 4 000 white farmers held sway over estates of our arable and productive land, our land revolution has opened up the land to many more indigenous people, finally giving them a real sense of belonging to their country.
"The land reform was carried out in accordance with our laws and this after Britain had refused to honour undertakings she had made at the 1979 Lancaster House Conference. Yet through the same weapon of mass deception, Britain and her kith and kin have viciously portrayed Zimbabwe as lawless, disorderly and undemocratic.
"Obviously, the British and their allies have conveniently forgotten that until our people's victory in the liberation struggle, no democracy had existed in our country. How soon they forget. For it was our people's struggle which brought democracy," said Cde Mugabe.
The British government of Mr Tony Blair had since 1999 sponsored the opposition MDC, whose sole mandate is to do all that pleases the British, including travelling all over Europe when campaigning for elections back home was in full swing.
Referring to the March 31 parliamentary elections, he said: "Well, our people have recently spoken again and have, through an overwhelming vote, consigned the contrived opposition to the dustbins of history.
"Our stand remains unshakeable; for only the people of Zimbabwe can guide their own country's destiny. The Charter of the United Nations recognises this right to self-determination for every sovereign independent country."
Cde Mugabe said using sophistry and blatant lies, the US and Britain went to war against Iraq, making the yet-to-be-proved claim that Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
But far from resolving the Iraq crisis, ordinary civilians in that country were bearing the brunt of a well-designed strategy undertaken to simply exhibit bloated military might over an innocent small country.
"Using confidence tricks or what became known as 'sexed-up' presentations, Iraq was portrayed as a clear and urgent danger needing annihilation. It is instructive that the aggressors, yes, the invaders, have not yet found the dreaded weapons of mass destruction and are, instead, engaged in other forms of demonising defenceless Iraqis, indeed demonising various other weak communities all over the world," he said.
President Mugabe said the intolerance and unbridled interference in local affairs also continued to manifest itself in Palestine where there was a spirited fight against a viable Palestinian state seeking to exist side by side with Israel.
He took a swipe at the "clearly perceptible and unacceptable hypocrisy" that has been exhibited by the big powers on the Palestine question, with "kid gloves for Israel, while more rigorous benchmarks are set for Palestine and its downtrodden people".
Cde Mugabe said the 10 founding principles of the 1955 Bandung conference are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.
The theme of this year's summit, "Re-invigorating the Bandung Spirit: Working Towards a New Asian-Africa Strategic Partnership", should clearly challenge the leaders to seriously confront the threat of unilateralism by realising that such dominance and domineering constituted a grave threat to world peace, 

[Ugnet] Lokeris Decries Low Funding for Disarmament Exercise

[Matek Opoko]

Lokeris Decries Low Funding for Disarmament Exercise














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The Monitor (Kampala)
April 23, 2005 Posted to the web April 22, 2005 
Agness NandutuParliament 
The State Minister in charge of Karamoja Affairs, Mr Peter Lokeris, has complained that the disarmament exercise in the area is defective.
Lokeris was on Wednesday part of the team headed by the Minister for General Duties in the Prime Minister's Office, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera, who were presenting the policy statement on the budget for the disarmament before the Parliament committee on Presidential and Foreign Affairs.











 
He said of the Shs9 billion he asked for to oversee voluntary disarmament in Karamoja, only Shs92 million was approved.
"This is peanuts. It cannot even cover my movements in the area. Since the disarmament exercise is one of the priorities to be funded, I feel this money should be provided to us to get guns out of Karamoja," he said.
Lokeris told the committee that during a meeting of MPs from Karamoja with President Yoweri Museveni, it was resolved that he draws a budget to enable him be resident in the area to efficiently oversee the disarmament exercise.











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East Africa Uganda Civil War and Communal Conflict Arms and Military Affairs Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution 
"It is important for me to be based in Karamoja to give assurance on the people's security when they hand in their guns," Lokeris said.
Mr Sammy Loote, the MP for Moroto Municipality, insisted that money should be allocated to allow Lokeris to camp in Karamoja.__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___
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[Ugnet] PRA Suspects Trial Set for May 10

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PRA Suspects Trial Set for May 10














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The Monitor (Kampala)
April 23, 2005 Posted to the web April 22, 2005 
Lydia MukisaCourt 
The trial of two Teso politicians arrested for alleged links with the People's Redemption Army (PRA) rebels has been set for May 10.
Mr Francis Ogwang Olebe, 54, and Mr Charles Willy Ekemu, 42, charged with treason, will be tried by High Court Judge, Justice Moses Mukiibi.












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The prosecution says in January 2003, the government received information from the director general of Internal Security Organisation that Olebe and Ekemu were engaged in the recruiting people from different parts of the country into PRA rebel ranks.











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They are alleged to have committed the offence between 2001 and 2003.
Prosecution alleges that Lt. Col. Anthony Kyakabale, Col. Samson Mande, and former presidential candidate, Col. Kizza Besigye head the rebels.
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[Ugnet] President Blasts U.S. Bullying

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President Blasts U.S. Bullying














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The Herald (Harare)
April 23, 2005 Posted to the web April 25, 2005 
Innocent GoreJakarta 
AFRICAN and Asian leaders meeting here should be concerned that the United Nations has been rammed into submission by unilateralism that looms large over international affairs today and is as dangerous as the threat of war, President Mugabe said yesterday.
Addressing more than 50 leaders, including UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan, attending the Asia-Africa Summit in the Indonesian capital city, the President said it was worrying that this unilateralism had manifested itself as fascist international dictatorship and was undermining the democratic process in different regions through brazen interference in the domestic and internal affairs of Asian and African countries.











 
Unilateralism refers to the dominance of world affairs by one superpower, in this case the United States.
Cde Mugabe said the profile of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) should be raised as its mandate included the right to actively oppose the unilateralism and hegemony that threatened efforts to create a world of peace, stability and development.
NAM was born after the first conference of Asian and African leaders in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955 as a moderating voice in the Cold War that raged between the East and West at a time the world feared a Third World War.
"My country, Zimbabwe, has been the victim of naked interference in its domestic affairs through several measures, including declared and undeclared sanctions, purely because we dared challenge white privilege by embarking upon a process of equitable distribution of our land.
"Now, where once upon a time a mere 4 000 white farmers held sway over estates of our arable and productive land, our land revolution has opened up the land to many more indigenous people, finally giving them a real sense of belonging to their country.
"The land reform was carried out in accordance with our laws and this after Britain had refused to honour undertakings she had made at the 1979 Lancaster House Conference. Yet through the same weapon of mass deception, Britain and her kith and kin have viciously portrayed Zimbabwe as lawless, disorderly and undemocratic.
"Obviously, the British and their allies have conveniently forgotten that until our people's victory in the liberation struggle, no democracy had existed in our country. How soon they forget. For it was our people's struggle which brought democracy," said Cde Mugabe.
The British government of Mr Tony Blair had since 1999 sponsored the opposition MDC, whose sole mandate is to do all that pleases the British, including travelling all over Europe when campaigning for elections back home was in full swing.
Referring to the March 31 parliamentary elections, he said: "Well, our people have recently spoken again and have, through an overwhelming vote, consigned the contrived opposition to the dustbins of history.
"Our stand remains unshakeable; for only the people of Zimbabwe can guide their own country's destiny. The Charter of the United Nations recognises this right to self-determination for every sovereign independent country."
Cde Mugabe said using sophistry and blatant lies, the US and Britain went to war against Iraq, making the yet-to-be-proved claim that Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
But far from resolving the Iraq crisis, ordinary civilians in that country were bearing the brunt of a well-designed strategy undertaken to simply exhibit bloated military might over an innocent small country.
"Using confidence tricks or what became known as 'sexed-up' presentations, Iraq was portrayed as a clear and urgent danger needing annihilation. It is instructive that the aggressors, yes, the invaders, have not yet found the dreaded weapons of mass destruction and are, instead, engaged in other forms of demonising defenceless Iraqis, indeed demonising various other weak communities all over the world," he said.
President Mugabe said the intolerance and unbridled interference in local affairs also continued to manifest itself in Palestine where there was a spirited fight against a viable Palestinian state seeking to exist side by side with Israel.
He took a swipe at the "clearly perceptible and unacceptable hypocrisy" that has been exhibited by the big powers on the Palestine question, with "kid gloves for Israel, while more rigorous benchmarks are set for Palestine and its downtrodden people".
Cde Mugabe said the 10 founding principles of the 1955 Bandung conference are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.
The theme of this year's summit, "Re-invigorating the Bandung Spirit: Working Towards a New Asian-Africa Strategic Partnership", should clearly challenge the leaders to seriously confront the threat of unilateralism by realising that such dominance and domineering constituted a grave threat to world peace, 

[Ugnet] U.S. Prison Population Exceeds 2 Million (A Big Percentage of Them African-American)

[Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga]

   Nation's Inmate Population Increased 2.3 Percent Last Year
*By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
(published in today's ny times)
*
WASHINGTON, April 24 (AP) - The nation's prisons and jails held 2.1 
million people in mid-2004, 2.3 percent more than the year before, the 
government reported on Sunday.

The inmate population increased by slightly more than 48,000 from 
mid-2003 to mid-2004, a growth of about 900 inmates each week, according 
to the latest figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The total inmate population has hovered around two million for the last 
few years: It was 2.1 million on June 30, 2002, and just below that mark 
a year later.

While the crime rate has fallen over the last decade, the number of 
people going to prison and jail is outpacing the number of inmates 
released, said an author of the report, Paige M. Harrison.

Ms. Harrison said the increase could be largely attributed to get-tough 
policies enacted in the 1980's and 1990's. Among them are mandatory 
sentences for drug crimes, three strikes and you're out laws for 
repeat offenders and truth in sentencing laws that restrict early 
releases.

As a whole, most of these policies remain in place, Ms. Harrison said. 
These policies were a reaction to the rise in crime in the 80's and 
early 90's.

Malcolm Young, executive director of the Sentencing Project, which 
promotes alternatives to prison, said, We're working under the burden 
of laws and practices that have developed over 30 years that have 
focused on punishment and prison as our primary response to crime.

Mr. Young said many of those incarcerated were not serious or violent 
offenders, but low-level drug offenders. He said ways to help lower that 
number included introducing drug treatment programs that offer effective 
ways of changing behavior and providing appropriate assistance for the 
mentally ill.

The Justice Policy Institute, which advocates a more lenient system of 
punishment than incarceration, said the United States had the highest 
rate of incarceration in the world, followed by Britain, China, France, 
Japan and Nigeria.

According to the government's report, there were 726 inmates for every 
100,000 United States residents on June 30, 2004, compared with 716 a 
year earlier. Put another way, in 2004, one in every 138 residents was 
in prison or jail; the previous year it was one in every 140.

In 2004, nearly 60 percent of prison and jail inmates were racial or 
ethnic minorities, the report said. An estimated 12.6 percent of all 
black men age 25 to 29 were in jails or prisons, compared with 3.6 
percent of Hispanic men and 1.7 percent of white men in that age group, 
the report said.

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[Ugnet] He Sues Lover After Sex Change Hitch

[musamize]

He Sues Lover After Sex Change Hitch




Mon Apr 25, 8:29 AM ET







NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian who became a man to marry a female relative was dumped after the surgery, a newspaper reported Monday. 






Twenty-nine-year-old rubber tapper Kuttiyamma, born with both male and female genitals, had been in love with the relative, Laura, 25, for 15 years before having surgery to become a man and change her name to Binu, the Hindustan Times reported. 

But Laura became engaged to another man and Binu is suing her for breach of trust after spending 50,000 rupees ($1,150) on the sex change in southern Kerala state. 

"She had agreed to marry me after the surgery," the paper quoted Binu saying in the petition. "I took loans to pay the hospital bills." 

Laura's fiance has since backed out of the wedding after hearing of Binu. The paper did not say how Laura and Kuttiyamma/Binu are related. __Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___
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[Ugnet] BUDONIAN REUNION

[musamize]

BUDONIAN REUNION
CEREBRATING 100 YEARS
MAY 28, 2005 
MEADOWLAND SHERATON HOTEL
NEW JERSEY
www.budoreunion.com






Time is running out! Make your hotel reservations before April 30th, to get the $119 rate for a standard room. The rate may be $149 and above after that date.

Remember no on site registration, register on line at www.budoreunion.com or download the registration form and send it by mail.

All registrations must be received by May 21!

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[Ugnet] Mind-reading machine knows what you see

[musamize]

Mind-reading machine knows what you see

15:26 25 April 2005 
NewScientist.com news service 

It is possible to read someone’s mind by remotely measuring their brain activity, researchers have shown. The technique can even extract information from subjects that they are not aware of themselves.
So far, it has only been used to identify visual patterns a subject can see or has chosen to focus on. But the researchers speculate the approach might be extended to probe a person’s awareness, focus of attention, memory and movement intention. In the meantime, it could help doctors work out if patients apparently in a coma are actually conscious.
Scientists have already trained monkeys to move a robotic arm with the power of thought and to recreate scenes moving in front of cats by recording information directly from the feline’s neurons (New Scientist print edition, 2 October 1999). But these processes involve implanting electrodes into their brains to hook them up to a computer.
Now Yukiyasu Kamitani, at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, and Frank Tong at Princeton University in New Jersey, US, have achieved similar “mind reading” feats remotely using functional MRI scanning. 
Between the lines
The pair showed patterns of parallel lines in 1 of 8 orientations to four volunteers. By focussing on brain regions involved in visual perception they were able to recognise which orientation the subjects were observing. 
Each line orientation corresponded to a different pattern of brain activity, although the patterns were different in each person. What is more, when two sets of lines were superimposed and the subjects were asked to focus on one set, the researchers could work out which one they were thinking of from the brain images.
In a separate study, also published in Nature Neuroscience, John-Dylan Haynes and Geraint Rees at University College London, UK, showed two patterns in quick succession to 6 volunteers. The first appeared for just 15 milliseconds - too quick to be consciously perceived by the viewer. 
But by viewing fMRI images of the brain, the researchers were able to say which image had been flashed in front of the subjects. The information was perceived in the brain even if the volunteers were not consciously aware of it.
The study probed the part of the visual cortex that detects a visual stimulus, but does not perceive it. “It encodes what we don’t see,” Haynes says. He thinks that, further along the visual pathway, brain regions consciously take note that there has been a stimulus. But this does not happen for the “invisible” stimulus.
Consciousness kicks in
By understanding the perception pathway and working out the point at which consciousness kicks in, patient consciousness could be diagnosed. This would mean the setup could be used as a “consciousness-meter,” says Haynes; “a device that allows us to assess whether a patient is consciously perceiving his or her outside environment.” 
Yang Dan, a neurobiologist at the University of California in Berkeley, agrees this would be possible. But she cautions that there is little agreement over what consciousness actually is.
More subtle forms of mind-reading such as working out intentions or beliefs are much more speculative, she argues. Even if such subtle information could be gleaned from brain scans both studies suggest the patterns are unique to individuals. 
And using the technique as an alternative to the polygraph would be very risky, says Dan. “The relationship between brain patterns and lies may be very loose.” 
Journal reference: Nature Neuroscience (DOI: 10.1038/nn1445 and 10.1038/nn1444)

Related Articles

Behind the mask 
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18324585.500 
31 July 2004 
No-brainer 
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18324580.100 
31 July 2004 
Monkey's brain signals control 'third arm' 
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4262 
13 October 2003 

Weblinks

ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories 
http://www.cns.atr.jp/dcn/ 
Psychology, Princeton University 
http://webscript.princeton.edu/~psych/psychology/home/index.php 
Psychology, University College London 
http://www.psychol.ucl.ac.uk/home.html 
Yang Dan, University of California in Berkeley 
http://impulse.berkeley.edu/ 
Nature Neuroscience 
http://www.nature.com/neuro/index.html __Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___
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Re: [Ugnet] Kabaka Mutebi a Pipe fitter!..Now that I did NOT KNOW!

[jonah kasangwawo]

I see that you intentionally fail to mention that Kabaka Mutebi studied law 
at Cambridge and that he wrote for reknowned publications such as 'The 
economist' !

You don't sound like you've seen the inside of a lecture room, so you might 
not know this. But students do all sorts of jobs during their holidays. For 
example Prince William of England has worked on construction in S. America 
and so has his brother Harry in S. Africa. I don't see you calling them 
builders.

Ssabasajja did not go to UK to become a pipe fitter. I'm challenging you to 
produce the evidence that he did. So many times you have failed to provide 
proof after making such wild allegations.

Kasangwawo
From: Edward Mulindwa [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: ugandanet@kym.net
To: ugandanet@kym.net
CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Ugnet] Kabaka Mutebi a Pipe fitter!..Now that I did NOT KNOW!
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 20:47:27 -0400
MO
Ssabasajja is a well qualified pipe fitter, he did the course in UK.
Buganda's politics is so silly that it runs under the blanket of secrecy 
that many of these facts are not mentioned any where, and the Kasangwawo's 
only preach Obote is bad, and who ever does not agree with Buganda stand as 
a Rwandese, but facts always remain facts. Mutebi is a pipe fitter and I 
challenge any one to tell other wise, and I will post where he qualified.

If I post it I know it is true and verifiable.
Em
Toronto
 The Mulindwas Communication Group
With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie
  - Original Message -
  From: Matek Opoko
  To: ugandanet@kym.net
  Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 8:19 PM
  Subject: [Ugnet] Kabaka Mutebi a Pipe fitter!..Now that I did NOT KNOW!

  revoke that order from the bank of Uganda books. Obote left power the
  second
  time and the family remained taking the money from Uganda government.
  It is
  that same money, why people like Kabaka Mutebi managed to go to school
  in UK
  and become pipe fitters.
  __
  Do You Yahoo!?
  Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
  http://mail.yahoo.com

--
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_
FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar - get it now! 
http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/

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Re: [Ugnet] Kabaka Mutebi a Pipe fitter!..Now that I did NOT KNOW!

[musamize]

Mr. Kasangwawo,

You are wasting your breath on these malcontents. In so many ways, the lights are on but nobody is home.jonah kasangwawo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I see that you intentionally fail to mention that Kabaka Mutebi studied law at Cambridge and that he wrote for reknowned publications such as 'The economist' !You don't sound like you've seen the inside of a lecture room, so you might not know this. But students do all sorts of jobs during their holidays. For example Prince William of England has worked on construction in S. America and so has his brother Harry in S. Africa. I don't see you calling them builders.Ssabasajja did not go to UK to become a pipe fitter. I'm challenging you to produce the evidence that he did. So many times you have failed to provide proof after making such wild allegations.KasangwawoFrom: "Edward Mulindwa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Reply-To: ugandanet@kym.netTo: CC:
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: Re: [Ugnet] Kabaka Mutebi a Pipe fitter!..Now that I did NOT KNOW!Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 20:47:27 -0400MOSsabasajja is a well qualified pipe fitter, he did the course in UK.Buganda's politics is so silly that it runs under the blanket of secrecy that many of these facts are not mentioned any where, and the Kasangwawo's only preach Obote is bad, and who ever does not agree with Buganda stand as a Rwandese, but facts always remain facts. Mutebi is a pipe fitter and I challenge any one to tell other wise, and I will post where he qualified.If I post it I know it is true and verifiable.EmToronto The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
  -
 Original Message - From: Matek Opoko To: ugandanet@kym.net Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 8:19 PM Subject: [Ugnet] Kabaka Mutebi a Pipe fitter!..Now that I did NOT KNOW! revoke that order from the bank of Uganda books. Obote left power the second time and the family remained taking the money from Uganda government. It is that same money, why people like Kabaka Mutebi managed to go to school in UK and become pipe fitters. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com-- ___ Ugandanet mailing list Ugandanet@kym.net
 http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/___Ugandanet mailing listUgandanet@kym.nethttp://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet% UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/_FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar - get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/___Ugandanet mailing listUgandanet@kym.nethttp://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet% UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___
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[Ugnet] Intense Competition for Top Students Is Threatening Financial Aid Based on Need

[musamize]

 


April 14, 2005ECONOMIC SCENE 
Intense Competition for Top Students Is Threatening Financial Aid Based on NeedBy ROBERT H. FRANK 




ONSIDER the awkward decision confronting the admissions director of a highly selective university that is trying to move forward in the academic pecking order (one of, say, 50 institutions that would have landed in the top 10 this year, except for various flaws in the rankings formula).
On the director's desk sit the folders for two applicants. They have almost the same credentials, but one is just a little better than the other. She has a 4.2 grade point average, the other just a 4.0. She attained a combined score of 1580 on her SAT's, the other only 1440. Her family has an annual income of $500,000, the other's only $30,000. 
Now, as in the past, both students would be admitted. Years ago, the financial aid packages for these students would have been tailored in a way that would strike most people as just: the low-income student would have received a large aid package and the high-income student no aid at all. And both would probably have enrolled. 
No longer. Now, the slightly better-qualified student is likely to be lured elsewhere unless the director can match the substantial merit scholarships she has been offered by other institutions. 
But coming up with extra money for her means having to offer a much smaller aid package to the slightly less well-qualified applicant, notwithstanding her family's economic need. In brief, universities' traditional commitment to need-based financial aid is under siege.
Why this change? In large part, it is a result of the sharp growth in the economic rewards of having a degree from an elite institution. 
The steep rise in overall earnings inequality over the last three decades has occurred in virtually every industry and occupation.
Even among entry-level jobs, a handful of elite positions now pay several times as much as the average job in each category. Competition for these jobs is fierce. For every starting analyst's position posted by J. P. Morgan, for example, the firm receives mail sacks full of applications. Employers in this situation seldom find time to interview applicants who did not graduate from an elite university. 
Ambitious high school students have responded by applying in record numbers to the nation's most selective universities. But there is no greater number of slots in these institutions than before. 
And as the many thousands of highly qualified applicants whose rejection letters arrived two weeks ago can attest, the admissions hurdle at top universities has become all but insurmountable. Some now reject 10 or more applicants for each one they accept. 
If so many highly qualified students are clamoring for admission to the best universities, why do these institutions feel such pressure to offer merit aid? 
The answer is that they need top students every bit as much as top students need them. Indeed, several popular national rankings formulas are based in part on the average SAT score of a university's entering freshmen. So, to lay credible claim to elite status, a university must attract not only a renowned faculty, but also the top-scoring freshmen each year. 
To lure such students, other top students are often the most effective bait. Thus, according to one study, applicants typically seek an institution whose average combined SAT score is roughly 100 points higher than their own.
The ideal university, it seems, has much in common with Garrison Keillor's mythical Lake Wobegon, where "all the children are above average." 
With median SAT scores in the nation's elite institutions rising steadily over time, bidding for superstar applicants has intensified accordingly. 
In short, top-scoring students are an asset whose value has been appreciating more rapidly than Manhattan real estate.
If success in attracting these students tends to be self-reinforcing, so does failure. Losing even a few of them to a rival university can set off a downward spiral, making a university less attractive not only to other top students, but also to distinguished faculty who prefer working with such students.
Institutions aspiring to elite status thus have little choice but to bid aggressively for top-scoring students. And hence the growing tendency for merit-based financial aid to displace need-based financial aid.
Many elite institutions were once party to an agreement in which they pledged to direct their limited financial aid money toward students with the greatest financial needs.
The Justice Department, animated by its belief that unbridled competition always and everywhere leads to the best outcome, took a dim view of this agreement. In 1991, it charged an alliance of 23 elite universities with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by agreeing not to compete with merit-based financial aid packages for students admitted to more than one member institution.
In response, 22 institutions pledged to end their cooperation on 

[Ugnet] Brother, Can You Spare $195 Billion?

[musamize]

 


April 24, 2005
'The End of Poverty': Brother, Can You Spare $195 Billion?By DANIEL W. DREZNER 



THE END OF POVERTY Economic Possibilities for Our Time.By Jeffrey D. Sachs.Illustrated. 396 pp. Penguin Press. $27.95. 
EFFREY D. SACHS makes a bold declaration in ''The End of Poverty.'' He argues that if the wealthy countries of the world were to increase their combined foreign aid budgets to between $135 billion and $195 billion for the next decade, and properly allocate that money, extreme global poverty -- defined by the World Bank as an income of less than a dollar a day -- could be eliminated by 2025. Readers should fervently hope that Sachs is correct, and persuasive; the political, economic and ethical returns to improving the plight of 1.1 billion people would be enormous. 
Sachs brings a unique background to this issue. He is macroeconomist to the stars -- in the foreword the U2 frontman, Bono, characterizes Sachs as ''my professor.'' A tenured economist at Harvard in the mid-1980's, he stumbled into the developing world by brashly claiming that he could tame Bolivia's hyperinflation. His success at that task led to consulting gigs in Poland and Russia. The experience in Russia did not turn out so well, but for this kind of work a 67 percent success rate borders on the miraculous. Sachs is now the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and a special adviser on global poverty to the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan. 
''The End of Poverty'' is really two books. One consists of Sachs's recollections of his experiences as an adviser to distressed and developing nations. This memoirish part is not terribly gripping. One of the most dramatic passages consists of a Sachs colleague calling him from Warsaw a week after radical reforms were implemented in Poland to say, ''Jeff, there are goods in the stores!'' 
The heart of the book is Sachs's forceful analysis of the causes of extreme global poverty, his proposed solutions and his peroration on why his plan should be carried out. Boiled down to its essentials, the argument is simple. Too much of the globe is ensnared in a ''poverty trap.'' A combination of poor geography, poor infrastructure and poor health care renders some societies incapable of generating any economic surplus for the future. These places cannot afford investments that would boost their economies over the long term when bare subsistence is the short-term goal. 
For about 20 years now, the West's standard refrain has been that market-friendly policies stimulate greater economic growth and in turn reduce poverty. Sachs does not disagree with this view so much as declare it incomplete: ''Market forces, as powerful as they are, have identifiable limitations, including those posed by adverse geography.'' Intuitively, this makes sense; a Kenyan village struggling with AIDS, malaria, inadequate drinking water and a lack of electricity cannot grow out of poverty unless its health care system and physical infrastructure improve. 
Sachs says the first step should be to increase foreign aid in a way that would provide a greater return to private investment. Once these investments are made, private entrepreneurs will be earning a greater rate of return on their businesses, triggering market-led economic growth. He details a multidimensional plan for international intervention that goes beyond simple market economics -- involving human capital, business capital, natural capital, public institutional capital, knowledge capital and infrastructure. In these pages Sachs's technocratic enthusiasm bubbles over. At one point he writes that all of the challenges of extreme poverty ''can be met, with known, proven, reliable and appropriate technologies and interventions.'' He makes a powerful case: the kinds of technologies he calls for include fertilizers, cellphones, antiretroviral AIDS drugs and antimalarial bed nets. 
For cynics who doubt whether the international community has the will to accomplish such a monumental task, Sachs points out that global efforts on this scale have succeeded in the past: the eradication of smallpox and the Green Revolution in Asia are examples. He also notes that his proposed annual budget is still less than the pledge made by the developed world at the 2002 Monterey Summit to devote 0.7 percent of its gross domestic product to development aid. 
Sachs's missionary zeal is infectious, but the flaws in ''The End of Poverty'' should sound important notes of caution. There is, for one thing, the matter of Sachs's ego. Anyone who can write that ''as a young faculty member, I lectured widely to high acclaim, published broadly and was on a rapid academic climb to tenure, which I received in 1983 when I was 28'' clearly lacks the gift of understatement. This faith in his own abilities is what allowed him, as a relative newcomer to development economics, to declare that he had found the answer to extreme global poverty where others who had devoted