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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 |
