UPC should apologize over feredo - Lukyamuzi-The Monitor 8702/2003
By John Ken-Lukyamuzi
I have browsed through nearly all remarks on the conception of a federation as stressed by Buganda recently. I could not ignore Ochur Apan Ben, Abu Mayanja, Ofwono Opondo, F.D.R. Gureme, The New Vision Editorial of February 31,2003 and more so The Red Pepper.The quest for federo by the Buganda Region is not new. It has been surfacing every time there has been chance for Buganda to express itself freely on matters of public concern.
Frank Tumwebaze of The Red Pepper February 7-13, 2003 has this to say: �The question of federalism is not mentioned anywhere as being pertinent or a priority condition for peace and development in Uganda�.
There you are - The person talking like that is a journalist and an educated person as well. If the likes of Tumwebaze can make such remarks, then what would you expect the ordinary person to say?
The Odoki Constitutional Review Commission report revealed that as many as 97 percent of the people of Buganda demanded for a federal system of government and at national level, the federal system commanded as much as 65 percent support.
That peace prevails in Buganda does not mean that the rest of the country is stable. As many as 800,000 people are today misplaced or live in camps. The state of war in the northern part of the country is felt by all Ugandans of good will including the Baganda.
So, if our brothers and sisters in the North are stable, we in Buganda are equally stable in the minds.
As a student of federalism, I cannot say that every situation on earth must go federal. No. There are situations that may not call for a federal approach depending on the circumstances prevailing.
In the case of Uganda, since the quasi-federal arrangement was last scrapped in 1966, the country has never regained that flare of joy and unity with which the system was associated.
There was development; there was progress, there was economic growth and unity prevailed in diversity at the time. Above all, people were open and sincere to! one ano ther.
Recall the spectacular road, medical and school infrastructure, which existed nowhere else in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to maximise the use of existing institutions, Uganda would require the Hybrid federo system model comprising kingdom and non-kingdom states, as is the case in Malaysia today.
Ofwono Opondo of the Movement Secretariat is so cynical that he goes on to ask what the kingdom has done since it last re-surfaced in1993.
He has no eyes to see the successful kingdom scholarship scheme voluntarily supporting over 5,000 students in schools. Some of them are not Baganda, mark-you. The worst thing the Movement proponents have done is to confuse the absence of federo with decentralisation.
Federalism is the science of inter-government relations where state executive powers are constitutionally shared between the regions and the centre. Federo will cause compromise in areas where compromise may have been a nightmare and it will groom leadership, let alone create tax-viable bases and markets. It is capable of fighting corruption and indecision.
The above endeavors cannot be enforceable in non-viable units, call them districts. If we go federo tomorrow, the present district order will remain intact save that the ambition to get them split in search of better services will die away.
Why? The state created under federalism requires a power devolution trend to communicate with the grass roots. So, all the lower government frame-works including the village at LCI, are prerequisites.
It is not correct for one to say that it is Buganda which overthrew federo in 1966 when it made a declaration to evict the Obote Government from Kampala.
If I were UPC, I would not cry for spilt milk. I would just apologise for the memorable mistake I committed. Buganda is the most accommodative area you can ever come across in Uganda.
The Kagwa motion was passed after the unilateral overthrow of the peoples' Constitution of 1962. Instead of holding machets, pangas and spears to fight a trait! or and o mnipotent dictator, we moved a motion of words. Assuming Buganda�s demands are not realised, do the Baganda hang? They don�t have to. They will wait till a new redeemer comes to their rescue.
There are however, challenges in the federo footpath. The devolution of powers to the regions calls for a very serious power separation scheme and competition. Hence, the need for democracy is a mighty requirement.
The writer is the MP for Rubaga South
February 08, 2003 11:00:22
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