[allAfrica.com]  [Africa_2005]


Museveni Blasts Monuc Over Otti

New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
December 5, 2005
Posted to the web December 5, 2005

By Frank Mugabi
Kampala
President Yoweri Museveni has again criticised the UN mission in Congo (MONUC)
for failing to apprehend rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) holed up in
the Garamba National Game Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Speaking at a public rally at Teremunga primary school playground in Koboko
town on Saturday, Museveni said the MONUC troops had reacted reluctantly to
calls to apprehend the rebels who are believed to be under the command of
Joseph Kony's deputy, Vincent Otti.
He vowed that the army would crush Otti and his forces if they tried to attack
West Nile.
"We are working very closely with SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) and if
it was not for the UN group in Congo who are just there, the LRA in Congo would
be history by now," Museveni said.
He applauded the SPLA and the Khartoum government headed by President Omar al
Bashir for granting the UPDF a protocol that allows them to hunt down Kony and
his allies inside Sudan.
He said the joint SPLA-UPDF force had on Saturday engaged LRA rebels north of
the Juba-Torit road in Sudan.
The Koboko rally was attended by a delegation of 10 SPLA officers who were led
by Lt. Gen. Peter Wal. They all shook hands with the President.
Museveni said the Government needed about sh50b to pay off the ex-servicemen in
the West Nile region alone.
He said he would discuss with the Ministry of Defence how to settle the debt in
phases. He said in the meantime, the former servicemen could be allocated a
revolving fund.
In Arua, Museveni said he was disappointed by the low votes the Movement got
there in the 1996 and 2001 polls. He said the people in Arua ought to have
voted highly because the Movement facilitated their return from exile in DR
Congo and Sudan.
He lashed out at the opposition and other critics demanding that he should
leave power.
"There are other groups talking about small things like how to be in power and
asking me to get off the chair because they also want to sit. You want to sit
on the chair to do what?" Museveni asked.
He said he was ready to leave the seat if aspiring presidents outlined credible
programmes for Uganda.
"First tell me what you are going to do. I can even leave the seat for you if I
see that you are the right person," he said.
He added that he has to make sure that his successor does not plunge Ugandans
back into the political and economic mess before 1986 when the Movement took
power.
He said the Movement had scored tangible achievements in health, democracy and
education, which has made Uganda look like a garden liberated from couch grass.
"I have already cleaned my garden, things are going on well, children are going
to school, there is no polio and you want to bring back couch grass! I cannot
allow that," he said.
He said he would leave the garden after being sure that no couch grass would
ever grow in it again.
He said his next target was to increase household incomes to at least sh20m per
month. He said the Government would provide loans with low interest rates,
which credit and savings cooperatives could lend to their members.

   

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