US to take part in Ugandan politics By Badru D. Mulumba May 7, 2004 KAMPALA - American ambassador Jimmy Kolker has said that his country would directly participate in Uganda's politics.
"We are not afraid of participating in politics here," Mr Kolker said yesterday while launching a US venture to promote party politics and encourage opposition parties to talk and clean up their image. "We feel that politics is [an area] where we can be involved directly." The scheme, launched at the home of the USAid chief in Makindye, comes barely a month after government accused donors of funding political parties. But Kolker said that the US programme would help non-governmental organisations, the Movement and the political parties. Kolker said that it is very important for people to debate and consult. Said the ambassador: "The US government has been involved in democracy and civil society activities and is certainly looking with keen interest on the political evolution and developing democracy in Uganda." Some $1 million (Shs 2 billion) is earmarked for the whole programme - and some of it has been spent on the Electoral Commission to strengthen it, Mr John Anderson, the team leader for Democracy, Governance, and Conflict Programs at USAid told The Monitor. Leaders of various political parties and groups attended. They included Mr Augustine Ruzindana (Parliamentary Advocacy Forum), Dr James Rwanyarare (Uganda Peoples Congress), Dr Paul Ssemogerere (Democratic Party), Ms Beti Kamya (Reform Agenda), Mr Ken Lukyamuzi (Conservative Party) and Mr Cranimer Kalinda for the Movement. The USAid country director, Ms Vicki Moore, said: "The position of the United States government is pretty clear. We feel it is very important to have vibrant political parties capable of participating in a way that is very effective - in elections and the political process in general." Moore also said that the programme was amongst her original goals when she was posted here more than a year ago. "My ambassador told me that it was important that the US supported political party strengthening in Uganda," she said. The International Republican Institute, a Washington-based group with links to the Republican Party, will administer the project. Under the programme, the leaders of the parties will be meeting on May 13 for a pre-training session ahead of May 19 training programme that will kick off a series of meetings amongst the parties. Said Ruzindana: "It will assist pluralism in general and in a sense make the environment conducive for liberal politics." Ssemogerere said: "Probably, you can say that this would augment our efforts. They are helping us develop a working relationship." � 2004 The Monitor Publications \\\\\\\"Always be a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of someone else.\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Njoki Paul University of Pretoria -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
