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Address To The Nation

New Vision (Kampala)
DOCUMENT
September 11, 2004
Posted to the web September 13, 2004
Kampala
Address to the Nation on the issue of Federo and Regional Councils by President
Museveni on 10 September 2004
Fellow Citizens,
1.0 As the country is aware, Government has published the road map to take us
to 2006. Cabinet will soon present to Parliament a White Paper and a
comprehensive Bill regarding the thinking of the Movement administration about
desirable changes in our 1995 Constitution.
1.1 As part of the process of constitution review Government has been
negotiating with the Kingdoms of Uganda. Consensus has been reached on most
points that were under discussion. The Mengo leaders, however, have made
further progress difficult. I find it necessary now to inform the country about
this development.
1.2 Government, in carrying out these negotiations, wanted to be fair to Mengo,
the districts of Buganda as well as to the rest of the country. The overriding
condition, however, was not to disadvantage the future stability and
development prospects of Uganda; nor could it be aimed at negating the
democratic process in any part of Uganda. The latter prospect is simply
inconceivable under the democratic order ushered in by the National Resistance
Movement.
1.3 The consultations that Government has been carrying out with the Kingdoms
have been comprehensive and will add value to the constitutional review
process. The understandings reached will be presented to the Parliament as part
of the White Paper and, subsequently, where indicated, to the district councils
and the population in a referendum.
2.0 Following these consultations, Government will be making recommendations on
matters discussed as spelt out below:
2.1 Regional Governments (Regional tier)
Although the constitution devolved power, mainly, to the districts, the
Government has never been totally against some services being shared by the
districts holding the responsibilities. Accordingly, districts of Uganda
wishing to cooperate will not be discouraged from doing so as already provided
for in the Constitution(Article 178). In the case of Buganda the districts will
be deemed to have agreed to form the regional tier as requested by Mengo and
agreed to by the Movement in 1995. Powers and functions to be exercised at the
regional level will in the new constitution be specified. Since those aspiring
for regional tier failed to use Article 178, all these years, since 1995, to
cooperate, the Movement has now decided to break this paralysis. The Movement
has decided to do so because we cannot accept the misrepresentations by,
mainly, Mengo on this issue. The possibility for a regional tier has been
available ever since 1995; yet Mengo keeps misinforming the public to the
contrary. In our new proposals the powers to be exercised include management of
the following:
· Secondary education
· Referral hospitals
· Cultural matters
· Inter district roads
· Water and sanitation
· Monitoring agriculture
· Receiving copies of accountability reports from the districts to the central
Government.
If you take one item among the foregoing, such as secondary education, money
needed to run devolved programmes at the moment, is Ug. Shs. 26 Billion, per
annum.
2.2 Power decentralized to the districts as spelt out in the 1995 Constitution,
in the main, remains and will not be taken to the regional governments. This is
because Omuggo oguli kumuliraano tegugoba ngo .
2.3 Government will transfer resources to the regional tier for running the
services that will be transferred to this level. However, the management of
these resources will be by elected officials and structures.
2.4 Cultural diversity at the regional level will be respected and
constitutionally guaranteed.
2.5 Equity in sharing of money and other resources passed to the region by the
Government will be constitutionally protected.
2.6 In the event that cultural diversity and equity in resource sharing are not
respected, there will be sanctions applied by court action or administrative
actions by the central Government.
2.7 Traditional leaders and institutions will be financially provided for:
In fact, Article 246 Clause 3(c) of the Constitution provides for this.
This provision states as follows: a traditional leader or cultural leader shall
enjoy such privileges and benefits as may be conferred by the Government and
local government or as that leader may be entitled to under culture, custom and
tradition.
In spite of my reminders, the implementation of this Article has never been
followed up. Yet agitation is as if it does not exist.
2.8 In order to ensure that the Kabaka and other traditional leaders are
protected from politics, it is being proposed that, at the regional tier, there
will be two councils: one political and exclusively composed of elected leaders
and the second one purely cultural. This recommendation is in line with
provisions of the 1995 Constitution. Article 246 Clause 3(e) states: A person
shall not while remaining a traditional leader join or participate in partisan
politics and clause 3 (f) states a traditional leader or cultural leader shall
not have or exercise any administrative, legislative or executive powers of
Government or local government. The Mengo delegation wants one council at the
regional tier which would combine both political and cultural functions. The
view of Government is that this will potentially cause conflict, particularly
in view of the fact that the country could adopt a multi- organizational or
multiparty system. The mixing of the two roles will mean that if a party won
majority votes or seats by election, this victory could be overturned by the
cultural representatives in the council either by voting against the views of
the ruling party at that level or speaking against these views even if they did
not vote. However, in my usual search for consensus I thought, after a lot of
consultation, of one scenario that could combine, somehow, these functions but
maintain political cohesion in the regional council. We proposed that the
Minimum position of the Movement Government on this issue should be as follows:
In case Uganda goes for multi-organization/multi-party system, the winning side
should produce a Katikiro. The Katikiro should, then, short-list 10 names from
which His Highness the Kabaka could nominate six to take care of the cultural
aspects. The advantage of this is because the original short list would have
come from the winning side; they would not paralyze the running of the Regional
Council. Mengo rejected this. They should tell you why they did so. They,
instead, want the Kabaka and clan leaders to nominate people to the Regional
Council without reference to the winning side. We cannot accept this because of
two reasons. One reason is to involve the cultural institutions in politics;
and, secondly, it has got the potential of causing the paralysis in the
Regional Councils. I am now absolutely convinced that the main drive of
present-day Mengo negotiators is to involve the Kabaka into politics again for
reasons best known to themselves. The Kabaka's involvement in politics caused,
in part, the crisis of 1953 with the British and the crisis of 1966. The
Movement Government cannot be a party to such a historical blunder. When we
worked for the restoration of the cultural institutions, we made it clear that
they should never involve themselves in partisan politics whatsoever.
2.9 The city of present-day Kampala is the capital of Uganda whose boundaries
will be demarcated. It will have a special status. Mengo Municipality will be
created out of the present Kampala to ensure that the main cultural sites of
the Kingdom of Buganda are outside the national capital city.
2.10 Regional constitutions
The Mengo delegation has demanded that each regional tier should have their own
Constitution. The view of the central Government is that the country will have
one Constitution. Laws relating to the regional tier will be spelt out in the
national Constitution and acts of Parliament.
3.0 Clearly it can be seen that Government has gone a long way in accommodating
the demands of Mengo and those that desire a regional tier; under these
proposals there will be regional governments with both political and financial
powers. Cultural institutions will not only be constitutionalized but will also
be provided for financially.
3.1 While the Government carried out negotiations with Mengo, some excitement
was being generated by the Mengo leadership. For example a rally, under the
cover of a seminar, was carried out at Lubiri. At this event the former
Katikiro of Buganda, Mr. Mayanja Nkangi, was literally beaten up. The
Chairperson of the district of Wakiso of Buganda was chased from the meeting. I
am aware that intimidation of people perceived to be Movement supporters are
being carried out with the encouragement of people expected to be responsible.
Some of the people being attacked are veterans of the struggle that brought
back democracy to Uganda and enabled the resurrection of the Kabakaship and
Mengo. This intimidation must stop forthwith. The Person of the President was
ridiculed and I was called a foreigner. Despite this and other provocations we
kept our cool and proceeded with the negotiations under my direct chairmanship.
The CBS Radio station is constantly used to abuse me and misinform the people
of Uganda. It calls me a liar and that I am undependable; I am not to be
trusted. I fought the dictatorships of Amin and Obote. In so doing, I was
supported by a large number of Ugandans through different struggles until we
achieved the victories in 1979 and 1986. It is those Ugandans who fought with
me that are in a position to judge whether I am dependable or not but not the
ladies and gentlemen at CBS! That is how Mengo and other cultural institutions
were resurrected. "Gw'owonya eggere y'alikusaambya"
3.2 In fact I carried the consultations to other leaders in Buganda.
On Wednesday the 18/8/2004 I held a meeting with the following leaders in
Buganda:
(a) District Chairpersons.
(b) District Movement Conference Chairpersons.
(c) Sub county Chairpersons.
(d) Sub county Movement conference Chairpersons.
These leaders were satisfied with the progress the talks with Buganda was
making.
3.3 In regard to the issue of whether there should be 2 separate councils at
the region or one council combining cultural and political matters, these
leaders voted 301 against 6 for the two separate councils.
I also held a consultative meeting with members of Parliament from Buganda
region and these leaders too felt good progress had been made in the talks
between Government and Mengo and they urged Government to proceed with the
talks. In fact one MP remarked,
"Mr. President you have given us the Federo we wanted". I am not bothered with
titles. What matters is the fair and rational sharing of power to ensure
development and democracy.
3.4 For avoidance of doubt let me state that there was unanimity among the LCs
and the Hon. MPs from Buganda on the issue of not involving the Kabaka in
politics.
3.5 The Kabaka will be the ceremonial head of this regional government. He
will, therefore, perform the functions of the ceremonial head- as are
understood in democratic countries.
4.0 Let me at this stage remind Ugandans of our recent history.
4.1 Uganda in its 42 years of independence has for the first time in the last
18 years experienced stability in most parts of the country and has witnessed
unprecedented socio-economic progress. In order to pursue our strategic
objectives of developing and transforming our country, we have chosen the path
of an economy that is mainly driven by the private sector with the Government
leveling the ground and providing the required policies and basic
infrastructure. Our goal is to create a Ugandan middle class as the engine of
sustainable growth and transformation.
4.2 The strategic challenges we face now on our way to transforming the country
can be summarized as follows:
a) Accessing large markets through market integration in Africa and accessing
the international markets.
b) Attracting more investments, both local and foreign, so that more factories
are set up, thus creating more employment opportunities and more goods.
c) Expanding our tax base (especially expanding the private sector through
attracting more investments and modernising agriculture).
d) Developing the human resource base through education and health care
programs
e) Building the state (mainly the army, police, parliament, the judiciary and
the executive) as the most sustainable way to ensure stability and the rule of
law.
4.3 The historical role of the Movement is, therefore, to seek for the way
forward fully cognisant of all these goals. I want to re-assure the country
that the leadership of the country will not be diverted from these goals that
our people not only deserve but are ready to work for.
5.0 The country needs no reminding of the difficult history we went through.
The Movement made very heavy sacrifices to secure the basis for the stability
and development we have experienced over the past 18 years. The people of
Uganda shed blood for these gains.
5.1 In the last 2 decades, we have registered some very impressive gains, which
vindicate our sacrifices:
· The GDP of Uganda has almost doubled in the last 17 years, from US $ 3.6
billion to US $7 billion;
· We have built a strong macro-economic environment. Uganda is now a top
Foreign Direct Investment destination in sub-Saharan Africa. By June 2003, we
had licensed 2,576 projects worth US $ 6.1 billion to create 208,121 new jobs.
· About 800 kilometers of tarmac roads have been constructed and about 1,700
kilometers have been reconstructed;
· About 600,000 new mobile telephone lines have been installed and we now have
69,590 fixed lines compared to only about 30,000 lines in 1986.
· 320 megawatts of electricity have been added to the miserable 60mw which we
found in the country in 1986;
· Rural safe water coverage is currently 60% instead of 10% (1986) while urban
safe water is now 70%, up from 17%;
· Now over 84 % of our children are fully immunized.
· we have reduced HIV/AIDS prevalence from 30% (1986) to 6% (2003)
· Out of 214 constituencies, 135 now have a health centre equipped with an
operating theater and at least one resident doctor. The rest of the
constituencies have either a Government hospital or one belonging to the NGOs
or the private sector.
· We have moved the primary school enrollment to 7.5 million pupils, up from
2.5 million by 1996.
· Our women have been liberated by the Movement. The youth now participate in
decision making right from Parliament to the villages. The people with
disabilities have also been liberated and are fully participating in decision
making.
· We have achieved sovereignty of the people and participatory mass democracy:
· Land now belongs to the people and not Government. District land boards have
been set up all over the country to manage land matters.
· We have achieved both political and financial decentralization. We have local
governments at the sub county level with resources and power to budget and
carry out implementation of programmes.
· Appropriation by parliament is to the districts. Every district gets its
share irrespective of its support or opposition to the Movement. The UPC
punished areas that did not vote for the party by denying them services e.g.
development of health facilities depended on the voting pattern.
5.2Why did we opt for decentralization? The following were the reasons:
(a)Giving the districts some basic capacity and responsibility: The Baganda
have got a proverb that says "Omuggo oguli kumuliraano tegugoba ngo". The stick
that is in the neighboring home does not chase away the leopard if it attacks
your home. This means that one should have certain capacity in order to survive
and prosper. Certain aspects you can get from the neighbours. Other aspects
must be within the house. In the olden days, before the matchboxes, you would
get fire from your neighbours (okukuwa omuliro). Peasants could even borrow
garments from the neighbours (okweyazika). However, the stick had to be in the
house. The Banyankore have got the same message in different words. It says
"Egabo yakyeeri togiheera mwaana mubazi". You cannot give a child a laxative or
drug when you do not have a rehydration solution (omufunguro) in the house in
the hope that you will borrow some from your neighbour when the child (or
patient) needs to restore the fluids he is losing as a consequence of the
medication. The patient will die because your neighbours may not have the
solution (the rehydration) when you need one.
(b) Taking services closer to the people:
The old provinces of the colonial period were quite big. It was, therefore,
quite an inconvenience for peasants to chase services even at a provincial
level. Why should we decentralize land management from Kampala Central to
Mengo? As far as the peasant from Kasambya in Mubende is concerned, it would
cause him the same inconvenience. This is, especially, the problem when you put
it together with the illiteracy of the peasants. They were always exploited by
those who were more empowered financially and knowledge-wise utilizing the
additional factor of remote Government. Therefore, it is better for the peasant
in Kasambya to have the management of land matters at Mubende town. It is
nearer to him. With elected councilors, the Mubende local government is more
answerable to the peasant in Kasambya. When he is unhappy with the management
of the land matters, he can cause credible pressure to bear on that Local
Government. Even if the regional tier at Mengo was democratic, more people from
diversified interests are involved. The interest of our friend from Kasambya
can, therefore, suffer because it becomes a drop in the ocean; there are too
many issues to deal with at a Provincial level just like at the national level.
(c) Removal of marginalization of some sections of society by others:
The Colonial provinces (East, West, Buganda and North) were all quite diverse
in terms of ethnicity, religion, etc. Given the bankrupt sectarianism of those
times, certain areas of those
Provinces were permanently marginalized. In the case of Buganda I can quote,
with un-impeachable authority, that the following areas were greatly
marginalized: Buruuli, Kiboga (Lukoora), Ssembabule, certain parts of Bugerere,
Buwekula,
Ssesse, Kooki in Rakai, etc. It so happened that many of these areas also
happened to be the ones inhabited by non-Baganda that were put in the Province
by the 1900 Colonial Agreement. In effect, there was sub-colonialism within
Colonialism. This cannot be accepted in modern Uganda. Even the 18 Colonial
districts were also quite oppressive because they contained diverse peoples -
some of whom faced the same marginalization. This, in some cases, even caused
conflicts: Bakonjo and Bamba in the old Tooro district versus Batooro. The
Sebei vs Bagisu in the old Bugisu district. Even where there was no violence,
there was constant grief: Bafumbira (Kisoro) in Kabale District or Kigezi
before; Ssesse under Masaka; Ssembabule under Masaka; Kayunga under Mukono or
East Mengo before; Kaberamaido (Kumam) under Teso, Nakasongola under Luwero
before and others. This is the reason there has been a lot of pressure for more
districts. Districts are now 56. This has put up the cost of Administration.
Nevertheless, there is demand for a few more. These districts are actually
instruments of liberation from sub-colonialism. Especially the new districts
have shown tremendous enthusiasm for growth. Even where the people in the
district were homogenous ethnically, remoteness of administration always, meant
marginalization even when there was one ethnic group. Ntungamo is the best
example. It is now judged the best district in the whole of Uganda in terms of
development. This was a consequence of the Banyankore-Bahororo of Ntungamo
being detached from their brothers and sisters in Mbarara and Bushenyi. In
fact, right now, there is strong pressure to even divide Mbarara district into
three districts on account of this remoteness of Administration because of the
size of the district. During the circus of the Lost Counties of the 1960s, the
Banyoro of present day Kibaale (Buyaga and Bugangaizi), in search of ethnic
solidarity, voted to rejoin Bunyoro instead of either having their own district
or remaining with Buganda. By the 1980s, they were demanding a separate
district from their brothers in the rest of Bunyoro. Ethnic solidarity does not
necessarily coincide with the development aspirations of all the components of
even homogenous units. The Banyankore have a proverb: Rwamukuru waawe tekuta
hamugoongo . The fact that your brother is rich does not mean that you are also
rich. The Baganda have a similar saying: Obugagga tebwenkanankana newankubadde
tuli baluganda .
(d) Ending Cultural Colonialism:
Cultural colonialism was another bad consequence of the old system. Some of the
communities could not use their mother tongue!! Can you imagine!! Yet some of
the perpetrators of this ethnocide, culturecide, are among those who parade
around with protestation of loving our heritage so much. How can you kill the
heritage of somebody else and you love your heritage so much? Is that not
cultural chauvinism or cultural arrogance? In my opinion the whole of the East
African Countries should have a three languages policy: the mother tongue, the
regional language (Swahili) and an international language (English). In this
way you will preserve ennono of all Africans of this area, develop a lingua
franca for East Africa and communicate internationally.
6.0 The Movement right from the very outset believed in power sharing and
empowering the people. That is why we introduced decentralization even long
before the making of the 1995 constitution was embarked on.
6.1 However, this sharing of power must be rational and strategic. Rational to
ensure that the peasants are not inconvenienced nor is development compromised.
Strategic because we must look at the wider East African political integration,
leading to an East African Federation. Small political units like Uganda cannot
guarantee the future of the Black man. In fact they can lead to the future
enslavement or extinction of the Black man as happened to the great
civilizations of the Aztec in Mexico and the Red Indians in the USA. Africa is
already marginalized because of this. This cannot be allowed to continue.
Sharing power must take account of five levels:
· East African Federation level;
· National;
· Regional;
· district and even the LC III levels (sub-county levels) however, had also
their own mistakes. Take, for example, the position of the Mengo of 1966 vis a
vis the so called Lost Counties - Buyaga and Bugangaizi. When you only think of
the importance of your own identity and you do not think of the identity of
others, you become a dangerous chauvinist. It was, therefore, erroneous and
ideologically confused for Mengo to make so much fuss, to the extent of
precipitating a crisis, about this issue of one part of Uganda belonging to
another region of Uganda; after all it is within one Country - Uganda. It was a
Banyoro area that had been put in Buganda by Colonialists. What would be so
disastrous for that area to go back to Bunyoro since Bunyoro is part of Uganda?
6.3 I have had some lies that we promised Federo and the restoration of the
Kings when we were in the bush. We never did such a thing. All our documents
are available for anybody to read: The 10 points programme, etc. What we
promised was democracy, national unity (anti-sectarianism), security of person
and property, modernizing our society etc. This is what we have delivered.
6.4 Regarding the issue of traditional institutions vis a vis modern ones we
had 3 positions:
(a) It was undemocratic for Obote to use unconstitutional methods to resolve
that issue,
(b) The traditional forces should not obstruct the broader and more beneficial
Pan-Africanist aspirations;
(c) The issue would be democratically discussed once democracy was re-
established.
6.5 Although we had never addressed the substance of either the kingship or
what is called Federo in our resistance days, when sections of the population
started raising it after the victory in 1986, we also analyzed the two issues
(Kingship and Federo). I summoned all my powers of persuasion to convince, at
different stages, the NRM system to support the restoration of traditional
rulers where the people so wished and also to permit the creation of a regional
tier where, again, there was reasonable consensus about the issue.
6.6 I caused Article 246 to be inserted in the 1995 constitution after my talks
with His Highness the Kabaka in Masaka. This was to provide for both the Local
Government and the Central Government to fund the cultural institutions.
Unfortunately, most of the stakeholders have shown no interest in utilizing
this Article in spite of my instructions and repeated guidance. Instead, the
agitation is for traditional leaders to become politicians and for grabbing
power from the districts that have just been emancipated from the sub-
colonialism of the remote and, sometimes, sectarian local administration.
6.7 We made it clear that the traditional leaders must never meddle in
politics. This was, of course, one of the mistakes of the 1960s the involvement
in politics by traditional leaders. You can only involve yourself in modern
politics, if you are ready to face the vote. In this way you are accountable
for your political actions. What do we do with a hereditary leader whose
involvement in politics creates problems since he cannot be removed by the
vote? Hereditary leaders must stay out of politics completely.
6.8 In order to avoid future troubles, the traditional leaders and churches
must, by constitutional provisions, keep out of politics except, probably, for
extreme cases of human rights violations such as genocide or extra-judicial
killings. These behaviours are, in any case, unconstitutional.
6.9 As regards to the issue of land administration, the 9000 Sq miles is land
which was formerly public land on which customary tenants have settled and
live. This land is not in the possession of the Central Government. It is
vested in the 12 Districts of Buganda and Kibale. This land under customary
tenure, is allocated by the District Land Boards of Buganda, to lawful
applicants. Under Article 237, the rights of the customary tenants are
protected. Therefore, for Mengo to demand that the 9000 Square miles be given
to them, will require a Constitutional amendment to dispossess the customary
tenants.
Conclusion
In concluding I want the country to know that we have strategic challenges to
deal with. We have to fight poverty, transform the society and work for East
African Political unity and for the economic integration for the African
Continent.
The last 18 years have given us some stability which we have used to cause
beneficial and strategic changes in the country. The price we paid for
liberating our country was, therefore, worthwhile. We have in our wide
consultations accommodated Mengo and Buganda interests without jeopardizing
wider national interests. We nevertheless still face serious challenges in the
path to develop and transform our societies.
The Movement has a clear vision as to how we shall tackle these challenges. No
one will be allowed to disrupt our progress and return the country to
instability and chaos.
Therefore, on account of repeated bad faith on the part of Mengo, I have now
directed the Minister for Constitutional Affairs to publish the White Paper,
with
Thank you very much.
10 September, 2004
State House/Nakasero

   

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