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By Alfred Wasike
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said he is willing to discuss with the Buganda Kingdom officials at Mengo on how much powers they should hold on.
�I am ready to discuss with my Mengo friends to determine how much authority they want to hold. I have no problem with discussion but the power must be shared rationally,� Museveni said while commissioning the first phase of a sh2.7b office complex at the Wakiso district headquarters yesterday.
Vice-President Prof Gilbert Bukenya and Minister for the Presidency, Alhaj Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, were among the guests.
�But I strongly object to all power being usurped from the people at the villages, sub-counties and districts and going to regional tiers. Why should I, a mwanainchi walk from Buwekula to Mengo or Parliament in Kampala to have my problems solved? I have a son called Muhoozi. I can�t usurp the authority of running his house. I can only advise him,� he said as
his supporters yelled, �
Museveni
for 3rd term�, �No change� while displaying combined three-finger and thumbs-up signs.
Museveni (right), said decentralisation had empowered Ugandans to determine development in their areas. He attacked exiled UPC leader Apolo Milton Obote for tricking the DP and other political actors of the 1960s and concentrating power at the centre and plunging the country into turbulence by abrogating the constitution in 1967.
�He was so greedy that he was even appointing gombolola chiefs. But when we went to the bush, we changed all that by restoring power to the people. But some people were against decentralisation,� Museveni said, triggering massive cheers.
He said the actual determinants of Uganda�s destiny were ordinary people.
�It is wananchi who are the judges of Uganda�s present and future. Those judges like Kanyeihamba can only judge cases of theft of goats. They can�t manage the cases of politics. it is the voters who are supreme. It is not
Kanyeihamba, or the MPs. It is the people who are the best judges because they have the power.
�So when I hear certain people saying wanainchi don�t have the power, I really wonder what is wrong with them. Those who want to dilute the people�s power should just shut up. Leaders are servants. They can�t have the same status as their bosses, the people they lead. That is why we went into combat,� he stressed.
He said as a result of the Movement�s electoral success in the 1996 and 2001 polls, �We have used that power entrusted to us to bring development from the centre to the people.
In 1986, we used to collect sh5b in taxes. Now we collect sh1,600b and soon we shall collect sh1,800b. There are Government efforts, private sector-led by investors and encouragement of household incomes to eradicate poverty,� Museveni said.
Published on: Wednesday, 21st April, 2004 |
