MPs HAVE STARTED DRAINING THE TREASURY DRY

Uganda's Parliament is simply a drain on the economy, you imagine a 375 strong Parliament for a least developed country like Uganda is unfortunate. Yet, what the executive wants just sails through because the NRM has numbers. Yes, the vicious circle of poverty will continue.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

MPs WANT SHS 50M ADVANCE, TAX BREAK

PHOTO BY GEOFFREY SSERUYANGE
By Mercy Nalugo & Yasiin Mugerwa

Posted Friday, May 27 2011 at 00:00

A week after they were sworn-in, MPs yesterday demanded that government extends a Shs50 million advance to each of them among other proposals for an upward review in pay and a removal of taxes on cars which they will buy under the already generous motor vehicle loan scheme.
To have their way, the lawmakers chased away journalists and stopped coverage of a plenary debate where they reportedly agreed to push for a pay raise in a move, according to sources, which is intended to shield them from rising cost of living biting other Ugandans.

Okupa’s proposal
In an unprecedented move, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga agreed with a proposal by Kasilo MP Elijah Okupa backed by Nakaseke Woman MP Rose Namayanja that all journalists be kicked out of the plenary.
All closed circuit television cameras which beam plenary sessions to offices inside the Parliamentary Building were also switched off and parliamentary police officers were asked to make sure that the confines of the Chambers were out of bounds.
The demand for an increase in pay is likely to renew debate over the bloated size of Parliament and whether MPs should be allowed to determine their salaries and allowances. In March, President Museveni questioned the logic of the constitutional provision allowing MPs to determine their own remuneration, a privilege that he said could be abused.
While Ms Kadaga later told journalists that this closed session of the House mainly discussed proposals on how to protect new MPs from conmen and manipulative money lending institutions, sources who attended yesterday’s sitting said.

Avoiding banks
“When it came to the welfare of the members, majority were of the view that Parliament gives us at least Shs50 million each as advances to sort out our needs instead of borrowing from banks.”
Other MPs told Daily Monitor that their colleagues demanded brand new vehicles instead of buying second-hand cars. “Other members want government to increase the car facilitation scheme to enable members gets new vehicles,” a source said, adding: “There was also a proposal to increase on the mileage (fuel), monthly emoluments and other allowances.
But Speaker told us that all these matters will be handled by the Parliamentary Commission.” The source added: “Well, some MPs in principle agreed that the salaries and allowances be increased owing to the rising cost of living but others suggested that we close debate on the subject so that we can raise it in other fora outside Parliament.
“We closed out you people (journalists) because sober legislators wondered how the public would perceive the fact that the new Parliament is the one discussing salary increments.”
According to sources, Iganga Municipality MP Peter Mugema and Kajara MP Stephen Tashobya, among others, proposed that the pay for legislators be increased to take care of the double-digit inflation which has officially surpassed 14 per cent according Uganda Bureau of Statistics figures.
However, other sources told Daily Monitor that there was also another proposal to increase the consolidated pay for a MP from Shs15 million to about Shs19 million.
If the yet-to-be constituted Parliamentary Commission endorses the proposal, taxpayers would fork out more than Shs7.1b every month to pay the 375 MPs in the House and Shs85.5b annually to facilitate lawmakers.
The proposal came a day after MPs passed a resolution to increase the number of Cabinet ministers from 21 to 29 and state ministers from 41 to 47 whose salary and that of the MPs would be shouldered by the already over-burdened tax payer.
Before Speaker Kadaga asked journalists to leave the chambers, Mr Okupa said: “We are discussing matters of housekeeping. We don’t need cameras. Let them be switched off. The members of the fourth estate of government (journalists) should also leave.”
According to sources, former Parliamentary Commissioner, Ms Justine Lumumba (Bugiri MP), reportedly supported the idea of raising emoluments.

New cars
While sources told Daily Monitor that the idea of increasing MPs salaries mainly came from new MPs, sources named Obongi County MP Hassan Fungaroo Kaps as one of those who demanded “brand new and powerful cars” and insisted that lawmakers should not get second-hand vehicles.
Lawmakers in the 8th Parliament received Shs35m each as part of the contributory Shs60 million car deal. Referring to the action of throwing out media, parliamentary spokesperson Helen Kawesa said: “The rules provide for a closed session. There were some pertinent issues members wanted to discuss and that’s why journalists were asked to leave.”
Kyadondo East MP Ibrahim Ssemuju walked out of Parliament shortly after journalists were asked to leave—protesting the Speaker’s decision on a matter of national significance.
“The Speaker said we were going to discuss the MPs welfare but I protested because I came to represent my people.”

Sole protestor
He added: “Our behaviour suggests that we are MPs for ourselves. Whatever issues come on the floor of Parliament must be discussed in the context of all Ugandans.”
But after Ms Kadaga moved out to allow her deputy, Mr Jacob Oulanyah, continue with the proceedings, she said: “We are not discussing increasing MPs salaries. I realised that a number of banks have been sending messages and offering loans to new MPs they must pay with interest.”
“We were cautioning members not to take such loans and watch out for conmen. They’re given the loans without security. Some MPs call me to get them out of prison and this time I am not ready to do this and that’s why we had to warn them.”

UGANDA GOVERNMENT TO EARN OUT OF THOSE WHO HOOTED

Government bound to make money out of the acts of the opposition. Now these fellows whose vehicles are registered as having hooted are not safe as they may be held by Police and to be free and or recover vehicles they will have to pay, not forgetting the embarrassment they may face in the course of being arrested or deciding to leave the cars parked home! People must be extra careful when wanting to participate in such.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

DID YOU HOOT ON MONDAY?

By Andrew Bagala
Posted Thursday, May 26 2011 at 00:00

Police are hunting for drivers or owners of 130 vehicles with the intention of arresting them for allegedly participating in the Action for Change hooting campaign on Monday.
Field force units will today mount roadblocks on routes to the city centre to impound the listed cars.

Kampala Metropolitan spokesman Ibin Ssenkumbi said the hunt of 67 cars and 72 motorcycles is ongoing. “We are looking for the drivers of these cars on several offences of noise pollution in the National Environment Regulations of 2003 and the Traffic Act,” Mr Ssenkumbi said yesterday.

The ride-drive-and-hoot campaign by blowing a vuvuzela or hitting any object was launched on Monday by Action for Change coordinator Mathias Mpuuga. The campaign is a supplementary effort to the walk-to-work protests, called by the pressure group to demand that the government responds to the high commodity prices.

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The campaign happens every day at 5pm and yesterday, military police were involved in running battles with Kisekka Market vendors, who joined the hoot campaign. Mr Ssenkumbi said some cars obstructed traffic while others hooted repeatedly contrary to the section 9 dealing with prohibition of generation of noise by place and time prescribed in the National Environment (Noise Standards and Control) regulations of 2003.

But Mr Mpuuga dismissed the police summons, saying they had no case to answer because the police must prove before a competent court that noise they made was beyond the standard one.

“Police should also provide to court evidence in digital manner of the noise each motorist emitted,” Mr Mpuuga said yesterday. The law indicates that anyone convicted of making noise beyond the approved levels is liable to a fine of not less than Shs180,000 and not more than Shs18m or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months, or both.

Police said the owners of the motor vehicles and cycles should report to the nearest police station to avoid arrest.

Some of the wanted vehicles

UAM 696Q
UAN 853Z
UAP 460F
UAE012V
UAG410G
UAL 942D
UAM 459P
UAN 96 1K
UAP 11 OF
UAP 11 OF
UAL 474H
UAL 554S
UAA 513E
UAH 699T
UAH 699T
UAJ 640E
UAL 789C
UAM 095D
UAM 324C
UAM 448V
UAH 38 1Y
UAE012V
UAK 528F
UAL 894S
UAL 894S
UAG 955E
UAH 055P
UAH 187D
UAJ 086U
UAJ 603R
UAJ 603R
UAJ 669S
UAK 301 L
UAK 301 L
UAK310A
UAK 428G
UAK 709L
UAK 975C
UAL 038Z
UAL 054H
UAL 054H
UAL 135F
UAL193F
UAL499L
UAL499L
UAL 604N
UAL849H
UAL 929H
UAM 001 U
UAM 409C
UAM 630Q
UAM 630Q
UAM 863F
UAM 935P

DID ALL THE OPPOSITION PARTIES JOIN IN ELECTING NANDALA?

If the working as a group in opposition is to hold any meaning, irrespective of numbers by each opposition party in parliament, at least the choice of the opposition leaders in parliament should have all the opposition MPs present. If that was not the case, I think it would have been better that way.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

NANDALA IS LEADER OF OPPOSITION, WINNIE KIIZA CHIEF WHIP

Nandala Mafabi will lead opposition legislators in Parliament. INSET: Ms Kiiza is the Chief Whip. PHOTO BY STEPHEN WANDERA
Posted Thursday, May 26 2011 at 00:00

A day after a new Vice President and Prime Minister were named, the shadow opposition government also began taking shape with the Forum for Democratic Change yesterday appointing Mr Nandala Mafabi as Leader of the Opposition in the 9th Parliament.
He replaces Prof. Morris Ogenga Latigo who lost his Agago County seat in the February general election.

Honoured
The party, which has the largest number of opposition MPs in the House and as such gets the right to form the shadow cabinet, also appointed Ms Winifred Kiiza (Kasese Woman MP) to the office of Opposition Chief Whip.

Mr Mafabi, the former chair of the Public Accounts Committee, was not in the country when his appointment was announced but FDC spokesperson Wafula Oguttu (Bukhooli Central) said he “he accepted the appointment with honour”.

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The announcements were preceded by heated meetings of FDC’s top management body and National Executive Committee where powers were given to party president Dr Kizza Besigye to appoint the LoP.

Mr Oguttu told journalists that when Dr Besigye presented the names, the nominees were unanimously approved after a five-hour debate. Mr Mafabi’s appointment was unanticipated as the close race to the top job had been among Abdu Katuntu, Cecilia Ogwal, Alice Alaso, Kassiano Wadri and Patrick Amuriat.

Similarly, Ms Kiiza was not in the picture for chief whip. Sources said she was appointed after the women on the management committee demanded that the position goes to a woman.
Ms Kizza said the appointment came as a surprise.

“I didn’t expect it but maybe they thought that I am the most capable candidate,” she said. “Dr Besigye called me a few minutes to the meeting and I accepted because I am a servant of the party and by the time we went to the meeting, I was the only one who knew.”

The position of chief whip, according to sources, had reportedly been set aside for Mr Amuriat before the female members on the management committee pushed for gender balance.
Earlier speculation had been that Ms Ogwal (Dokolo Woman), formerly of the Uganda Peoples Congress, would be the LoP. Sources, however, said her nomination fell through “because the old (members) had been performing better for the party.”

Ms Ogwal told Daily Monitor that her name was on the list until the morning management meeting where it was scrapped off. Asked whether she had prior knowledge on the appointments, Ms Ogwal confirmed that Dr Besiege had earlier on Monday indicated he would pick her as the next Leader of Opposition and wanted to know whether she would accept the appointment.

Ogwal speaks on issue
“The president had contacted me on Monday on his lineup for the opposition leadership in Parliament and I told him I was willing to take the challenge,” she explained.

However, she welcomed the new development. “The decision of the party is supreme, however, I would have wished the presidents’ appointment to go have been vetted and approved by NEC and not by a management committee,” she said, arguing that in the management committee, persons who also had interests in the very posts were allowed sit be part of the vetting process.

In an earlier phone interview, Ms Ogwal said having participated in the formation of the Parliamentary Advocacy Forum which led to the formation of the Reform Agenda pressure group, and finally FDC, meant that she was not “new to the party.”

Other sources within the party, however, indicated that Dr Besigye preferred Serere Woman MP Alaso, but the management committee felt she was better suited for secretary general, a position she has discharged admirably.

Outgoing Chief Whip Wadri stormed out of the meeting, looking unhappy. He was heard telling a colleague that he cannot spend the whole day discussing the same issues. “Time is money,” he said before being driven off.

But according to Mr Oguttu, Dr Besigye was looking for someone who is loyal, a good mobiliser, competent, and who has sacrificed for the party.
Other factors considered included experience, tolerance, professionalism, and ability to deliver and galvanise the opposition in the House.

He said other positions have not been filled because the party president has not met with the people he intends to appoint. “We have to wait until he talks to them and then he sends the nominees to the national executive council to approve,” he said.

Nandala Mafabi

Born in 1966 in Sironko District, the Budadiri West MP is known for his crusade against corruption while chairing the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Mafabi heads the Bugisu Cooperative Union and is married with five children.
He studied Bachelors of Law and has a Master of Arts in Economic Policy and Planning. He has won the Integrity Award, Who is Who in the World Award, and the ACCA award for best performance.
Mr Mafabi lost the race for the Speaker of Parliament to Ms Rebecca Kadaga.

Winfred Kiiza

The 37-year-old is serving her second term as Woman MP for Kasese District.
Before joining Parliament, Ms Kiiza was a district councillor from 1998-2005.
She also served as a member of the district executive, secretary for defence and also secretary for education in Kasese. Before FDC, she was a member of Reform Agenda where she served as secretary for gender.
In Parliament, she served as a shadow minister of local government and by the end of the Eighth Parliament, she was serving as chairperson of the government assurances committee.

IT IS NOT EASY BEING IN UGANDA AND NOT CORRUPT

Corruption is the way of life in Uganda hence not being corrupt is out of the norm. A few days ago, someone said that when the Uganda Police need some operation money and they have no cash on hand, the last resort is to get from the collections made by Traffic Officers on the road. My informer said that this instruction was given in his presence while he was at the Police Station when a Policeman was told to go and get shs 100,000 from those on the road! When talk is made about a country gone to the dogs, it is simply Uganda. The traffic officers have a duty to see that Government gets money from the express penalties issued to vehicle drivers, but that in the execution of this job, not all offenders are issued with receipts, a number pay cash and this cash is what helps so many execute official and non official duties in addition to bridging the not worth talking about salaries these people get given the cost of living in Uganda.
When the presidential campaigns were on, we told Ugandan that enough was enough with Museveni’s overstay in Government in that enough damage had been done and time was ripe to see the anomalies rectified, little did we know that NRM uses the poverty of the masses as one means to see its continued governance of the country. Some people are surprised the high cost of virtually everything in the country, but what would be expected when the NRM realized that dishing out shs 30,000 to all who wanted it could earn them new tenure in office. So, who ever thinks that the Museveni Government is seriously interested in fighting mass poverty simply deceives himself.
In such circumstances; one finds it a hard struggle to sacrifice to preach and practice no corruption when his or her efforts are not funded. If for instance one has to run an organization to preach no corruption and such an organization is not Government or donor funded you imagine the way he can be able to have an influential mission. Everything is virtually expensive; one has to take children to school where even in the Government aided schools it simply does not make a difference because across the board a parent/benefactor has to raise substantial amounts of money to see the child in school.
While the Makerere University Council has all along wanted to increase tuition fees to what they deem is in line with other Universities in the region, it is true that they have succeeded to raise additional fees through non – fees charges as is illustrated below (in the ever depreciating Uganda Shilling):
1) A form filled by a Private Student applying to the University has to be paid for shs 52,000. What is absurd and unfortunate in the corruption ridden Uganda is the way everybody is unbothered about the shs 2,000 additional fees charged under the guise of Ledger fee, this as far as I am concerned is robbery which the NRM should see stopped. It is not clear whether it is State House where this money is remitted, if it is not so, the Government of Uganda should make sure that this stupid tax is stopped.
2) Makerere University talks about what they call functional fees (payable to the University) as below:
i. Registration fee per year – 100,000
ii. Examination fee per year – 100,000
iii. Library fees per year – 20,000
iv. Development fee per year – 123,500
v. Contribution towards research fund per year – 20,000
vi. Technology fee per year – 50,000
vii. Internship/Field attachment fee per Semester 100,000
viii. University identity card – 15,000
ix. Rules and caution – 2,000
x. Academic Gown – 16,000

3) Other Fees (payable to the University)
a. Application fee (payable at the time of application) – 20,000
b. Late Registration (Surcharge) fee – 50,000
c. Accommodation – Fee per semester – 220,000
d. Certification fee per copy – 3,000
e. Re-examination fee per course – 20,000
f. Graduation fee on Graduation – 30,000
g. Convocation fee on Graduation – 10,000
h. Certificate fee on Graduation – 20,000
i. Transcript fee on Graduation – 20,000

REGARDING FEES PAYMENT
i. All fees are payable in full at the beginning of the Academic year or in two installments at the beginning of each semester.
ii. Every privately sponsored student is obliged to pay all the Functional fees and the Tuition fees before he/she can be registered and allowed to attend classes as well as being issued with the University Identity Card. Payment of all Tuition fees must be completed within three weeks of a semester or else your place will be forfeited to another candidate.
iii. The University Council reserves the right to vary fees chargeable any time with or without prior notice.

You can imagine the above! That is the structure in a Museveni led Government which claims is concerned about the welfare of the people of Uganda. I don’t know how many people are employed by the Government and have a take home pay of shs 500,000 or more. Does such a fee structure make sense when there is a Government concerned about the welfare of the people it leads? It is absurd that the same insensitive Government is sponsoring the so-called excelling students. These are majority from the well to do who are majority beneficiary of corruption that is the order of the day, the politicians who don’t mind exploiting the people as long as they can live lavish lives.
What I can say is the NRM leadership is the most unfortunate thing that has happened to Uganda, and whether this is a punishment the people of Uganda deserve, for once God should have a second thought about it.

SSEKANDI AND BUKENYA BOTH OLD BOYS OF SMACK

Ssekandi and Bukenya are all old Boys of St. Mary's College Kisubi. SSekandi has been 'rewarded' for his role in the 8th Parliament, more so how Parliament was able to pass the bad bill on Traditional leaders. There are also other bills that he has handled which were having opposition from the opposition. However, the Vice President in reality has less powers compared to the Prime Minister who is in charge of Government business. Some of the would be roles of the VP are done by the Minister for Presidency. So, though VP, but on ground he ends up as one who can be assigned any role by the president. Govt. is yet to officially accommodate him! A William Kituuka Kiwanuka

WHO IS SSEKANDI?
By Mercy Nalugo
Posted Wednesday, May 25 2011 at 00:00
Uganda’s new number two citizen, certain to win approval of a Parliament he presided over for a record two terms, Mr Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi will be certain to celebrate a rise from a near fall from political grace.
He bowed out of the race to retain his post of Speaker only after it emerged that his former charges disapproved of his continued stay after 10 years on the job. Though re-elected MP for Bukoto Central in Masaka District, Mr Ssekandi is still battling an election petition filed by his main opponent, Mr Jude Mbabali, who says he cheated his way back to Parliament.
As he replaces Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, who held the office for eight years, Ssekandi affirms what has come to be standard expectation for the position, a Catholic Muganda as the number two citizen. The appointment also breaks the tradition of a medical doctor being Vice President. Mr Ssekandi is a lawyer. Ssekandi becomes the fourth VP in Mr Museveni’s 25 years in power after Dr. Samson Kisseka, Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe and Dr. Gilbert Balibaseka Bukenya.
While Kisseka was defined by his sometimes braggart personality as a man who loathed poverty and Kazibwe was marked more by her often explicit dry jokes on love and sensuality but also her credentials as a women emancipation trail blazer, Prof. Bukenya spent his years as Vice President championing promotion of agriculture, especially Upland rice but was also dogged by explicit tales about his private life.
What stood out for all, is that they worked at the bidding of the President and did little to cut clear space for themselves. It is not clear how Ssekandi will cut his own poise. Journalists who have covered Ssekandi in Parliament and MPs he has worked with describe him as calm and composed, reflective but too willing to do the bidding of his party. Whether he will stand up to mark himself out of the shadow of his boss, the President, remains to be seen.
A member of the Rotary fraternity, Mr Ssekandi was born on January 19, 1943, in Bulegeya village Kamuzinda in Masaka District. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree of the University of East Africa and is a practicing advocate. Ssekandi was Deputy Speaker between 1998 until 2001 when he ascended to full Speaker, a position he held until last week.
He was also a delegate during the Constituent Assembly from 1994 to 1995 and was Lead Counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Human Rights between 1986 and 1993. Before that, Ssekandi was Director at the Law Development Centre between 1978 and 1979 and lectured at the centre before.
Ssekandi boasts deep and good contacts and respect in two key institutions to the political balance—the Catholic Church and Mengo, the seat of the Buganda kingdom.

WHAT IS THE LOGIC IN 4 PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS AT HSC?

I have failed to understand why students keep doing 4 principal subjects at HSC. The example below is a case in point. Two students got 15 points as below:
Case 1
HIS - B; ECO - D; ENT - D; CRE - D and GEP - 4

Case 2
HIS - B; ECO - D; ENT - O; CRE - B and GEP - 1
Given the administration/weighting procedure; 3 principal subjects are what really counts. In that case, the candidate of case 2 stands far better chances of getting a good course compared to case 1 yet they all have 15 points. The question, what logic in doing 4 principal subjects?
Children are made to do 4 principal subjects and no worthy time spent on career guidance and you just find them at a loss as they struggle to choose subjects and courses.
Can the Ministry of Education use its mandate to abolish 4 principal subjects such that the students concentrate on 3 subjects and where need be do a subject at subsidiary level, and hence have time to better internalize what they read as well as better guided career guidance which guidance can be put on DVD and schools are able to buy them for the benefit of students more so where the schools may not be able to get professionals to attend to the students over the career issues.

PUJAB ADMISSIONS RESURRECT DEBATE ON 4TH PRINCIPLE

By Patience Ahimbisibwe

Posted Monday, May 30 2011 at 00:00

Kampala

As the debate on the relevance and implications of keeping the fourth subject at “A” Level continues, an analysis of recent admissions to university by Education Guide indicates that the Public Universities Joint Admissions Board (PUJAB) still heavily relied on the fourth principle in weighting students for admission to the various courses.
Teachers have recently questioned how the fourth principle became an integral part of the examination system. Education experts say the extra subject is burden on students. According to Mr Alfred Namoah, Makerere University academic registrar, university cut off points can only be reduced after Ministry of Education has commissioned it.
However, neither universities nor schools seem to specify the origin of the fourth subject principle, which requires a student to score a maximum of 25 points contrary to the 19 points in three subjects in addition to general paper. “It is not us who created the 25 points. This is for the ministry and Uganda National Examinations Board to regulate. Ours is to ensure a student with the highest points is admitted as set by Uneb,” Mr Namoah said. But teachers blame universities for increasing university entry points contrary to the ministry’s requirement.
As a result, they reason that schools were forced to abandon three principle subjects for four exerting pressure on schools to hire more teachers in addition to increasing the load that students have to bear. “University cut-*off points are based on a total of 25 points to decide the merit system contrary to the requirement spelt out. This led schools to abandon students offering three principle subjects and general paper, which disadvantages them when it comes to joining university,” reads part of an annual report released on May 5 by National Association of Secondary Schools head teachers.
This means that a student who has a combination subject of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics (PCB/M) stands a better chance to join institutions of higher learning than one with three subjects.
For instance, Charles Okurut, a student, scored ABB1 (17 points) in PCB last year while his colleague Herbert Twiine had ABCC in PCB/M (20 points), leaving the latter with more chances for admission.

Skewed policy
Meanwhile, a total of 100 students have been admitted on Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery across the public universities with only 28 being female. On Bachelor of Pharmacy, Makerere and Mbarara have 25 students of which three are female. For Bachelor of Law, the female took the largest number of 75 compared to their counterparts who will enjoy only 15 slots. But according to sources on the PUJAB committee but who preferred anonymity to speak freely, most boys are left out on government scholarship not because they have not acquired the marks but because the girls have been added the 1.5 under the affirmative action. “The boys performed well and we don’t know what to do because their score is high. However because of 1.5 added to girls, they are forced out. I hope something will be done not to disadvantage others while trying to solve university female admission,” the source said.
Ms Catherine Kanabahita, Director Directorate of Gender mainstreaming earlier said they are working to ensure imbalances are eliminated but cautioned stakeholders. “We are working hard to see that in cases where girls’ admission has improved, it is revised. However, as you will realise, if 1.5 is removed from girls, they would have limited access to universities,” Ms Kanabahita explained.

POOR BUKENYA SANG PRAISES FOR NRM AND MUSEVENI, NOW HE IS IN A BIN!

Poo Prof. Bukenya has struggled to please the establishment, he tried to mend fences between the President and Kabaka Mutebi, he went to encourage the growing of Upland rice for poverty alleviation, even at a time when Buganda was on fire, Bukenya kept his allegiance to Museveni and the stablishment, now Bukenya like Kazibwe is thrown out! How hard to please Museveni. However, for the Uganda politicians the lesson is that politics should not be a life time job. Come serve and go, once you don't go naturally, you face the disappointment.
William Kituuka

MUSEVENI SACKS BUKENYA AS VP
SOURCE:http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1168300/-/c1fc2pz/-/index.html
By Richard Wanambwa
Posted Tuesday, May 24 2011 at 00:00

Kampala
President Museveni yesterday asked Vice President Gilbert Bukenya to resign from Cabinet, exactly eight years after he was first appointed to the job. Prof. Bukenya confirmed the development in a telephone interview with this newspaper last night. “This is a relief,” the out-going Vice President said. “Now I can live my private life and make decisions that I would want to make. I will continue openly to fight and remove poverty in the country.”

Confirmation today
Prof. Bukenya’s resignation is expected to be confirmed today when President Museveni meets the NRM Parliamentary Caucus to discuss his new Cabinet. A renown academic and scholar, Prof. Bukenya had a meteoric rise to the top of the political tree but his stint as the longest-serving VP under Museveni has been marred by allegations of corruption – which he denies – and colourful revelations about his private life.
Prof. Bukenya, whose re-election as MP for Busiro North is being contested in court, said he would remain a faithful member of the ruling NRM party. “I will remain strong in NRM and I will continue supporting government’s strong and positive programmes but I will not hesitate to criticise wrong programmes,” he told Daily Monitor last night. “I thank those Ugandans who have been supporting me and look forward to more advancement of Uganda.”
Prof. Bukenya’s sacking comes after Parliament yesterday ordered ministers who were recently re-appointed by President Museveni without parliamentary approval to vacate offices as MPs voiced concern over the delay to constitute a new government.

While State House did not have an explanation on the delays to appoint a new government, sources told Daily Monitor last evening that the President had summoned the NRM Caucus for an impromptu meeting today at 7:30am, among others, to approve key Cabinet appointments.
Although the 8th Parliament on May 11, a day before President’s swearing-in, had rejected Mr Museveni’s request to re-appoint ministers to their positions in acting capacity, it emerged yesterday that the “Acting” Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi, writing on behalf of the President on May 16, asked the ministers to stay in office.
Kasilo MP Elijah Okupa and Bugweri MP Abdu Katuntu raised the concerns in Parliament-describing ministers as ‘masqueraders’ and accused the President of disrespecting Parliament. “We have illegal people in public offices masquerading as ministers,” Mr Okupa said. “Parliament has not approved any minister to serve in the new government yet these people continue to serve illegally. They must leave public offices immediately.”
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga told the House that the President wrote to her in the last week of the 8th Parliament, re-appointing ministers, a move MPs insisted was illegal. “I have a letter from the President, he communicated to me. If you want the letter I can bring it.” But when she brought the letter at 3pm, she only waved it and promised to share the details with the members after the session. She later adjourned the House at about 6:40pm without showing them the alleged letter from the President.

New yet old letter
A copy Daily Monitor obtained shows that the same letter Prof. Nsibambi referred to in the House on May 11 when Parliament rejected President’s request was the same letter Ms Kadaga brought. However, the date on the “new” letter was changed to read May 16 instead of April 8.
MPs were concerned that in a letter tagged as “Most Urgent” from the Prime Minister communicating President Museveni’s decision, a specific Article of the Constitution empowering the President to re-appoint ministers in acting capacity in a new government and without the parliamentary approval was not indicated.
Mr Ladislaus Rwakafuzi, a city lawyer, said: “The law is clear; this is a new government with fresh mandate from the people. All ministers must be vetted afresh by Parliament because their term of office expired on May 11 before midnight. It’s unconstitutional, it’s illegal and they need fresh mandate to serve as acting ministers.”
The deputy Principal Private Secretary to the President, Mr Kintu Nyago said: “It’s within his (President Museveni’s) right. He is the one with the mandate to appoint ministers. Those people (complaining) can sue him. He received advice from the minister for Constitutional Affairs.” Meanwhile FDC Leader Dr. Kizza Besigye will today name the leader of opposition in parliament.