A COUP IS POSSIBLE, BUT WOULD BE VERY STUPID AN ACT

COUP NOT POSIBLE, SAYS BRIG. GGWANGA Brig. Ggwanga. Brig. Ggwanga. By JOHN TUGUME Posted Tuesday, January 29 2013 at 02:00 In Summary Forget it. President’s adviser on security says coup won’t happen but the military will target the corrupt. Ggwanga has joined a growing list of senior officers who have denounced talk about a possible army take-over, saying problems of the 21st century need brains and not guns and bullets. Brig. Ggwanga, President Museveni’s adviser on security in Buganda, said people should not be worried about comments made by the Head of State that the army could take over if what he called “confusion” continues in Parliament. “We are in the 21st century. You just don’t talk about military rule. If you want to tangle with (US president Barack) Obama, talk about military,” Brig. Ggwanga told this newspaper during an exclusive interview he requested on Sunday. The President reportedly alluded, two weeks ago, at a ruling party retreat in Kyankwanzi about the UPDF taking charge of government. Brig. Ggwanga said: “We, the military taking over? No way. May be what the President did not tell you is that we [the military] will go after his people … may be the President was quoted out of context.” The senior soldier added: “We did our work, fought the war, and handed the government to civilians. But these civilians are betraying us through corruption. This is where we shall step in to lock up all those accused of misusing the taxpayers’ money.” Asked what he meant by Museveni’s people, Brig. Ggwanga said: “Look at those ministers siphoning money to private use. You think we are not watching? We have decided that whichever corrupt official gets bail, we shall take them to the military prison. They are let free to go and tamper with evidence and the next thing you hear is they are innocent.” Last evening, Presidential Adviser on the Media John Nagenda also ruled out the possibility of a coup. The army spokesman yesterday dismissed the take-over talk as “something manufactured by the Monitor boardroom”. “No one has talked about a coup,” Col. Felix Kulayigye said, before he hang up the phone. Brig. Ggwanga said like-thinking colleagues were anxiously waiting for the Ssimbwa Bill for them “to jump into action”. Makindye East MP John Ssimbwa has proposed in a private member’s Bill that whoever is found guilty of corruption should have their property or that of their immediate relatives confiscated to recover the abused funds. The Bill is yet to be discussed. Brig. Ggwanga said the NRM MPs are to blame for the poverty in the country. “Look at the NRM manifesto. Agriculture should be prioritised and more jobs created for our youth. The MPs have gone astray...” he said. “I hear them taking about punishing rebel MPs. That’s crap. Ugandans need food on the table, they don’t understand politics,” he added.