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On The Mark
With Alan Tacca |
Referendum and 100,000 children dead
Jan 25 - 31, 2004
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In my article "Is it a Nyabushozi Vision?" a number of omissions were committed because the editor 'chopped off' some information which put it a little out of context. The word "descending" for example was used in place of "descended". But the rest of our people do not only lose out because the distribution of state and donor-sourced resources may have been tilted in favour of Nyabushozi's people. In the pursuit of unlimited power and the desire to justify phoney ideologies, there are positions that the NRM government takes, which so dramatically reflect an indifference to the order of priorities that you would think the country was bewitched. For instance, the assumed drive to secure for President Museveni an extension of his rule has already got one outrage on the regime's agenda: a referendum on political systems and the lifting of term limits for the president. The idea of this particular referendum is so ridiculous that I genuinely salute those who find the composure to debate the subject at length without insulting anyone. The Movement (the "correct line" wing) has already registered itself as a party. All the other political organisations have been advocating a return to pluralism. And, as recent opinion polls show, the electorate is looking forward to that move. Why then would the regime want a referendum on the subject, except as a process through which to distort the rules of play and to delay the engagement of opposition politicians with the masses? That leaves the issue of the "third term". Lawyers who have been reading the constitution are still arguing whether the matter even falls in the ambit of a referendum. However, the NRM-O's parrots do not want to hear any logic beyond the clich� that "Power belongs to the people; let the people decide." Former Local Government minister, Bidandi Ssali - a wily politician who probably knows a lot about manipulation - has said that "the easiest thing a politician can do is to manipulate a population through a referendum".(The Monitor, January 16). Significantly, he adds, what matters are the repercussions after the referendum. The exercise is projected to cost around Shs 29 billion (US$15 million). If we include the whole range of indirect expenditure by the president's entourage and other government officials on the 3rd term project, the cost could soar by some more billions. In almost any direction we look, there are glaring sores on which a poor country could spend this money. Let us look at malaria. A couple of weeks ago, the respected British medical journal, the Lancet, was reported to have attacked the World Heath Organisation (WHO) for recommending drugs that were no longer effective in the treatment of malaria. Chloroquine, which cures only about 20% of the patients who use it, was one of those drugs. In effect, WHO was being accused of bending under the powerful drug manufacturers that reaped profits, and the Western "donor" political establishments that saved money, through this immorality. There are effective alternatives in the artemisinin-class combination therapy (ACT) group, but these drugs were said to cost ten times as much as chloroquine. Rather, because Zambia - another poor country - has been able to incorporate these new drugs in its public medical care system, free of charge. I cite this case for another reason. One of the most bubbly advocates of the third term, Vice President Gilbert Bukenya - and who indeed at one time offered to take the muck for starting the hullabaloo - is a medic and former don; while another over-the-top enthusiast, Mike Mukula, is the minister of State for Health. Perhaps being a Scout and now an Arrow Boy militiaman as well, Mukula is enjoying delusions of saving Museveni from military coups. (See "Nobody can Topple Museveni," The Monitor, January 15). But Mukula can be assured that no sensible Ugandan wants military coups. And by the same token, no sensible Ugandan wants Museveni to hang on until toppling him becomes the only option. If it wasn't for the obsession with his new role and combat clothes, the Health minister could sit down with the vice president and look at the following picture: At a rough estimate of Shs. 20,000 (US $ 10) per doze of ACT drugs, 29 billion shillings could be used to successfully treat 1.5 million Ugandan children afflicted with chloroquine-resistant malaria. Just like in Zambia. Between now and the 2005 referendum, over 100,000 of those children will be dead. ng peddlers of Museveni's "vision" look like witchdoctors. |
� 2004 The Monitor Publications
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