This is vintage Museveni. Just as everything is going so well, whoops. He yanks out the rug from underneath the peace initiative.
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Too much foreign aid not good, says President Museveni
By Emma Mutaizibwa, Jude Lugya & Solomon Muyita
Jan 2, 2005
KAMPALA � Politicians yesterday exppressed varied feelings about President Museveni's New Year address to the nation, with most faulting him on his hard stance toward the peace effort in northern Uganda and failure to rein in poverty.
In his Friday night speech, Museveni ordered the Lord's Resistance Army rebels to quit the bush or face a full-scale attack by the army.
"The operations will not cease ever again until the Kony group irreversibly commit themselves to coming out of the bush," Museveni said.
The President's statement came as efforts to sign a ceasefire agreement between the rebels and the government failed, with the rebels saying they needed more time to consult.
Museveni's speech also painted a glittering picture of the economy, his pet subject. He said Uganda had received about $990 million in export earnings in the last year, and the Gross Domestic Product had grown by 6 percent.
While Forum for Democratic Change Co-chairman Sam Njuba commended both government and the LRA on the peace effort, he said "it is a pity that [the rebels] did not turn up" to sign the ceasefire agreement.
On the economy, Njuba said the statistics the President trotted out were not reflective of what is on the ground.
"People are getting poorer," he said. "If Mukwano and Madhvani are doing well, not every citizen is doing well. The money is in the hands of the few."
Agago MP Ogenga Latigo said that the transfer of the National Social Security Fund from the ministry of labour to the ministry of finance was not a remedy to corruption.
Museveni transferred the NSSF to the ministry of finance last year after top officials in NSSF were accused of corruption.
In his address, Museveni said NSSF will stay in finance, because that ministry has experts at managing money.
The chairman of the UPC Presidential Policy Commission, Dr James Rwanyarare, said Museveni's order to resume war is disastrous.
''I don't think the President is realistic to dictate the contents of the peace agreement without allowing the other party to scrutinise it however weak it could be," Rwanyarare said, making a case that rebels should have been allowed more time to consult.
He said the President should not rush back into fighting because the few days or months of further negotiations are not a big price to pay.
But presidential political assistant Moses Byaruhanga does not see it that way. ''For how long should the government extend the ceasefire period?" he said. "We have played our part but it's unfortunate that the rebels are not committed to the peace process because they don't even make their terms clear to us.''
The President also warned against reliance on donor aid. He said too many dollars from the donors could stifle economic growth.
"We shall accept very limited money for our budget support. We shall even limit dollar inflows to NGO's," he said.
He said he has never liked aid, anyway. "Aid also means excessive interference in our internal matters. It shall not be tolerated."
Added Museveni: "People should not tell us to run the country this way or that way because we don't run other people's countries."
NB: I hope you will find time to read and sign a petition to stop the Northern Uganda carnage at: http://www.petitiononline.com/savacoli/petition.html
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