15 YEARS OF CBS RADIO WITH ONE DEAD YEAR

22nd June 2011 marks 15 years of Central Broadcasting Service (CBS) radio. The radio has grown from strength to strength over the years tempting the NRM administration to be tempted to see its strength and influence reduced, unfortunately, the cultural aspect has prevailed and the radio is strong and influential. Over the years, the presenters of the station have been an innovative lot and this innovation reached great heights in 2009 before the so – called Buganda riots which were induced by the Central Government miss advised move which saw the blocking of the Katikiiro of Buganda from going to Kayunga and eventually the refusal by the authorities that be that the King of Buganda does not travel to Kayunga.
Through the 15 years the going has not been easy. The people of Buganda were shocked to learn that the man who was behind the technical innovations which saw the radio on air (Peter Sematimba) shortly became a liability and it is no surprise that today he has his own station. This move was meant to see to the reduction of the radio strength, but God did not give the move the blessing. As if that was not enough, the same Sematimba came and stood for the Chairmanship of Lubaga Division, and given the division within the Democratic Party ranks, the unexpected happened. The man believed to have the backing from the powers the powers that have always wanted Mengo to be of less influence got into office and before Sematimba left to campaign for Lord Mayor ship he found it easy to tell the electorate how he had delivered for the people of Lubaga. The problem is not delivering or not, but the motive! Having a man who is a Muganda coming to see the people of Buganda turn attention from their King is unfortunate.
The management of CBS Radio is hailed for innovations made which generate money which money helps many other innovations to move including the sponsoring of students as well as a number of other social responsibilities. This is at a time when the central Government has deliberately sat on rent dues accruing from the Buganda Government assets ‘rented’ by the Central Government, a move which is difficult to understand, but which move the Buganda Government has had to bear though a number of people from Buganda vote for the NRM Government leadership. That a part, the Central Government leadership has refused to grant or bless the federal arrangement which is cherished by over 60% of the people of Uganda according to the findings of the Odoki Commission.
It makes sense to celebrate the 15 years less one dead year when the Central Government decided to close the station for a whole year. It is our hope that as the 16th year is started, the Central Government leadership will start seeing CBS Radio as a potential development partner and hence make positive support to the station instead of scheming to see it down.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

GOVERNMENT SETS 12 CONDITIONS FOR REOPENING CBS RADIO

CBS’ Kato Lubwama (L) and Abby Mukiibi during their morning show
PHOTO BY EDGAR BATTE

By Sheila Naturinda & Tabu Butagira
Posted Saturday, January 23 2010 at 00:00
IN SUMMARY
Saturday Monitor has learnt that a Cabinet meeting at State House Entebbe chaired by President Museveni on Thursday night agreed to temporarily allow the radio, taken off air 19 weeks ago, to resume broadcasting - subject to a dozen stiff provisos, among them an explicit apology to the government.

Kampala
The government has ordered the Central Broadcasting Station radio to immediately relocate from Bulange-Mengo, the seat of Buganda kingdom, and disassociate itself from the Kabaka if it wants to remain in business.
Saturday Monitor has learnt that a Cabinet meeting at State House Entebbe chaired by President Museveni on Thursday night agreed to temporarily allow the radio, taken off air 19 weeks ago, to resume broadcasting - subject to a dozen stiff provisos, among them an explicit apology to the government.
Sources that attended the 9-hour meeting but whom we cannot name because Cabinet discussions are confidential, told this newspaper that a consensus was reached to permanently withdraw the station’s licence if the mangers do not toe the line preferred by the central government.

Managers unaware
Among the 12 conditions, which CBS Managing Director Kaaya Kavuma yesterday said they are yet to formally receive from the government, is a requirement for the radio managers to sack all employees accused of inciting the September 10-12 riots in and around Kampala.
At least 27 people were allegedly shot dead by state security operatives as they violently quelled the civil unrest, ignited by a government refusal to allow the Kabaka hold a royal function in Kayunga District where a section of the minority Banyala are seeking a break away from Buganda.
President Museveni blamed the bloody events of the time that has heavily strained relations between Buganda kingdom and his ruling NRM government on tribalised incitement by CBS radio in which Mengo owns majority shares.
It has also emerged that Thursday’s State House meeting settled that disaffected CBS staff who sued the government over closure of the radio immediately abandon litigation or the government will freeze dialogue with the broadcaster and let the courts decide.
CBS was also asked to re-apply for a new broadcasting licence after the initial one was revoked during the station’s shutdown some four months ago. “[CBS management] must ensure that all those people consistently breaching the broadcasting standards should not appear on air again. The station’s management should be immediately changed; employees who incited riots be nowhere in the employment list,” a minister told this newspaper, reading from resolutions of the night meeting.
It is these set of conditions that the government says CBS has ignored – provisos the radio managers deny knowledge of – that President Museveni reportedly seized on at Thursday’s meeting to indict CBS on its current predicament.

Blame game
“CBS management is responsible for the delays in re-opening of the station,” Mr Museveni is quoted to have told his ministers. Yesterday, Mr Kaaya, the radio MD who is also a shareholder, said he was surprised to learn of the decision from the media because “we have never once before been informed of the conditions”. “Until we have got those conditions officially, I cannot comment and when we get them, I will sit with the Board [of Directors] and we decide on what to do accordingly,” he said.
Saturday Monitor has learnt that CBS management met with President Museveni on Friday last week and held follow up discussions with Information, Communication and Technology Minister Aggrey Awori shortly before Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, arguing a case for reinstatement of the station’s operations.

Forgiveness
Mr Awori, whose ministry oversees the communications sector, including broadcasters, heads an ad hoc Cabinet committee formed purposely to handle the CBS closure, a thorny issue for the government on an election eve.
Information Minister Kabakumba Masiko who sits on Awori’s committee, told Saturday Monitor yesterday that: “As a government, we are willing to forget and forgive if the CBS management is cooperative.” It has emerged that another team of ministers, only those with legal qualifications, has been tasked to re-package the expanded pre-conditions to keep CBS in check and Mr Awori, as the line minister, will chair this committee.


COURT DISMISSES GOVT. CASE AGAINST CLOSED CBS STATION
The High Court in Kampala has dismissed a counter suit filed by the Ugandan government against the Central Broadcasting Station (CBS), which was shut down in September 2009 on allegations of inciting violence.
On September 10 2009, the Broadcasting Council shut down and revoked the licence of CBS for allegedly using it to “mobilise and incite the public and sowing seeds of hatred among Ugandans” leading to the death of more than 27 people during the riots that followed a standoff between the central government and the seat of the Buganda kingdom. CBS is owned by the Buganda Kingdom.
Over 100 CBS employees later filed a lawsuit asking court to declare the revocation of radio station’s licence “unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful, null, and void”. The employees also sought about Shs 3 billion in compensation, arguing that the “unjustifiable” closure had rendered them jobless.

However in February 2010, the government also filed a counter suit seeking to compel CBS to pay aggravated damages for allegedly mobilising and inciting the public into violence and rebelling against lawful authority.
On August 20, High Court Judge Vincent Zehurikize dismissed the government’s suit with no costs to CBS. He said that authority to take disciplinary action against any media house lies with the Media Council and not the government.
The judge ruled, “The fact that the government received complaints from the general public and security agencies does not give it a right to sue on behalf of the citizens but it can institute criminal proceedings against those who breached the law as a way to protect the citizens.”
The ruling paves way for the continuation of the case in which the CBS employees want the government to reopen the radio station and also pay them Shs 3billion in compensation in lost earnings.
Mr Frederick Ssempebwa, the lawyer representing CBS employees, told the media outside court that “government has powers to license for example, but those powers don’t include bringing a case for compensation against CBS.”
Mr Ssempebwa added that the suit filed by the CBS employees will resume in October this year. “The employees still have their case for compensation; that one we shall argue,” he said.
CBS radio was one of the four stations that were shut down in September 2009 after the dramatic standoff between the central government and the Buganda Kingdom.
The other three stations, Suubi FM, Radio Sapienta, Radio Two (Akaboozi Kubiri), were later opened with stern warnings after they apologised for the misconduct of their employees. They were also forced to dismiss some presenters and journalists that the government complained against.
Critics and human rights defenders accused the Broadcasting Council of acting on the orders of a government that was besieged and condemned the decision to shut down the radio stations as a gross infringement on freedom of expression.
The closure of the four radio stations is reported to have had a chilling effect on journalists from other media houses, who were reported to be exercising undue self-censorship. Others claimed receiving orders from their managers or radio station owners not to focus on the Buganda kingdom and other controversial political stories.
In January a Cabinet sub-committee formed to address the CBS closure came up with 12 conditions for reopening the radio station. CBS management was required to apologise to the government “through the Broadcasting Council”, relocate its studio from the Kabaka’s palace (Bulange), withdraw the court case brought by employees against the government, dismiss journalists and presenters who allegedly participated in inciting the September riots, and follow the minimum broadcasting standards.

MENGO REJECTS GOVERNMENT TERMS ON CBS
Monday, 1st February, 2010

By Josephine Maseruka
Buganda’s attorney general Apolo Makubuya wants the Uganda Broadcasting Council to accord CBS radio a public hearing that will determine whether its owners should apologise or not. He also dismissed the Government’s other conditions for re-opening the radio station.
CBS was shut down last September following riots in parts of Buganda. President Yoweri Museveni, in a meeting with Buganda MPs at the time, accused CBS of inciting the public, promoting sectarianism, “at one time talking of people with long noses” and telling lies about the land bill.
The Cabinet last week recommended that CBS management should apologise, relocate its studios from Bulange, withdraw pending court cases against the Government and follow the broadcasting standards before it can re-open.
Museveni, while touring Mpigi district, repeated the Cabinet decision that the proprietors of CBS apologise for inciting violence that led to the death of over 20 people and left a lot of property destroyed.
But in a strongly worded statement yesterday, Makubuya said the Government’s demands were “premature and ironical.”
“In the case of CBS, several of whose personnel await trial and whose cases against the Government are pending, the demand for an immediate apology is premature and ironical.”
He wondered why army generals and the Cabinet were at the forefront of the CBS negotiations and not the broadcasting council.
“General Tinyefuza’s missive to Gen. Salim Saleh of January 12 and Gen. Museveni’s demands for the owners of CBS to apologise for the September 2009 riots as a precondition to reopen CBS radio must be puzzling and disturbing to many,” the attorney general stated.
“Why are army generals not so keen on the trial of the trigger-happy security personnel that killed 27 Ugandans during the riots?” he asked.
“Will an apology by CBS proprietors alone atone the victims and answer the accusations made against it? And why are the generals very keen for CBS to withdraw the court case against the Government as a precondition for its licence to be restored?”
He added that the Government itself owes the country several apologies, “including for the breach of the Constitution; the wanton loss of innocent lives; the wrongful arrest and detention of many innocent individuals and denying them a right to bail; the illegal closure of CBS and other radio stations and the clamp-down on critical voices in the media and elsewhere.”
He also alleged that the broadcasting council has not been allowed to independently deal with the matter due to external interference.
He was optimistic that if an independent and impartial inquiry is set up, CBS would be exonerated and some people would be required to apologise for undermining the Constitution and the rule of law.
“Since the Buganda kingdom respects the rule of law, abhors impunity and cherishes peace, if such inquiry found CBS or its agents responsible for any breaches, then the army generals and others will well be within their rights to demand an apology,” Makubuya said.
He said the conditionality to CBS is largely lifted from Gen. Tinyefuza’s ideas and demonstrates the Government’s “unfriendly intentions” towards Buganda.

CBS TOLD TO MOVE OUT OF BULANGE
Friday, 22nd January, 2010
By Felix Osike and Raymond Baguma
THE government has set tough conditions for the re-opening of Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) radio, including moving out of Bulange, the seat for the Mengo government.
The licence of the Buganda kingdomowned radio station was revoked for allegedly inciting violence.
After a heated meeting at State House, Entebbe that lasted from 8:00pm on Thursday to 3:30am on Friday, the Cabinet resolved that the radio management must apologise for inciting violence and civil unrest.
CBS was shut down by the Broadcasting Council, following violent riots in Buganda on September 11, in which over 27 people died, while scores were injured, with property destroyed.
This was after the Government blocked Buganda’s traditional leader, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, from visiting Kayunga for the Buganda youth day celebrations.
Sources said the meeting, chaired by President Yoweri Museveni, considered a report by a Cabinet committee, which looked into CBS affairs and adopted its recommendations.
An 11-member Cabinet sub-committee, headed by ICT minister Aggrey Awori, sought opinions within Buganda, on the closure and reopening of the station. Other committee members were ministers Namirembe Bitamazire, Rukia Chekamondo, Sulaiman Madada, Kabakumba Masiko and Khidu Makubuya.
Another condition is that CBS employees must drop all the pending court proceedings against the Government.
A group of the radio station’s workers have sued the Government over the closure.
Through their lawyers Katende, Ssempebwa & Co. Advocates, the workers say they were rendered jobless by closing the station. They also argue that since the closure, the station has recorded financial losses and is seeking compensation.
In addition, the Cabinet resolved that CBS must meet the minimum broadcasting standards set out in the Electronic Media Statute 1996.
According to the Broadcasting Council, CBS and other three radio stations (Akaboozi ku Bbiri, Radio Sapientia and Suubi FM) violated the minimum standards, which bar them from broadcasting programmes
that promote the culture of violence or ethnical prejudice among the public.
According to the statute, the programmes must also be free from distortion of facts, not create public insecurity or violence and must be balanced to ensure “They have to meet the conditions in the electronic media statute before they are licensed again,” said a source.
Besides, the Cabinet also resolved that CBS must move its studios away from Bulange. “They must de-link themselves from the kingdom if they want to operate smoothly,” added another source.
After the stormy meeting, a sub-committee, chaired by Awori was formed to work out the final cabinet position, which will be communicated to CBS management. Attorney General Khiddu Makubuya and local government minister Adolf Mwesige are other members of the sub-committee.
Sources added that a few ministers wanted CBS re-opened immediately, fearing that the continued closure would make the ruling party unpopular in Buganda. But the majority view, according to the sources, said they must meet the conditions first.

IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Ismail Musa Ladu and Sheila Naturinda
20 September 2009
Interview
One of the biggest victims of last week's riots in Buganda is free speech. The government ordered the closure of four radio stations and suspended at least five journalists and a presenter. Inside Politics' Ismail Musa Ladu and Sheila Naturinda face-off the chairman of the Uganda Broadcasting Council, Mr Godfrey Mutabazi and Dr Peter G. Mwesige a journalist and media scholar over the developments.

The government closed four radio stations- accusing them of inciting violence and spreading a hate campaign. What's your take?
Mutabazi: That was absolutely in order. The government took the decision to close because at that time two people were already dead. How many more should we have waited to die before coming in yet it was clear that what was coming from these radios were not helping matters.
Mwesige: The government's action - and here I guess the Broadcasting Council and government are one and the same - was excessive. We have laws, draconian ones I must add, that the government could have invoked to bring "offending" radio presenters to order. They did not have to close the radio stations. Kalundi Serumaga was arrested allegedly for utterances he made on WBS but the station was not closed. And here I am not condoning Kalundi's arrest, which was equally unwarranted, but pointing out the contradictions in the government's stance towards the media. I must add, however, that journalists and media owners should also recognise that there is a section of the public that supports the government's decision to close the radio stations because they felt they had overstepped their mandate and were in fact promoting ethnic hatred and inciting violence.
They should recognise the legitimate fears out there that if they don't exercise their power with responsibility, there is a real danger that they could indeed incite violence and ethnic hatred. We are often reminded about what happened in Rwanda where Radio Mille Collines used hate speech to add fire to the fuel of genocide. But we must also recognise that African governments, including ours, have exploited these fears to muzzle legitimate expression and press freedom. We should distinguish between hate speech, which should be condemned, and dissent and criticism, which are legitimate.

Was the closure of radio stations the answer to the violent demonstrations?
Mutabazi: Absolutely. They were. These radios were mobilising people against the authority. The police had issued clear instructions about the whole thing but these radios were opposing that - the authority of the police.
Mwesige: The riots provided the trigger for the closure of the radio stations, but this is something we had seen coming. The President had been warning radio stations and other media houses. In April 2007, I attended a meeting where the President accused radio station owners of "irresponsibility and irrationality" by allowing their media houses to be used by what he called saboteurs - his description of the political opposition. He blamed the media and saboteurs for the deaths in the Mabira demonstration and reminded the owners that their stations had been "licensed to inform, educate and entertain, not to "annoy, insult, misinform and sabotage". At the same meeting, the President revealed that he had instructed his security agencies to monitor programming on all radio stations and bring to his attention those that break the law. Now, I have always been a big advocate of quality in the media. The media indeed have the responsibility to be accurate and fair but the government is wrong to criminalise their failures in that direction.

Human rights organisations have condemned the closure of these radio stations, saying it's an abuse of freedom of expression. Is there a limit to freedom?
Mutabazi: Definitely there are limits to freedom of expression. What is more important than the right to live? So I don't agree that freedom of expression is more important than the right to live so we have a duty to protect that.
Mwesige: Article 29 of the Constitution provides that every person shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media. Article 43 of the Constitution provides for circumstances under which this freedom and other freedoms in our Bill of Rights could be limited. It says in the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms prescribed in our Bill of Rights, no person shall prejudice the fundamental or other human rights and freedoms of others or the public interest. But that same article also provides that the limitations on fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, must be acceptable and demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society. In my view, legislation against hate speech, for instance, would probably be a justifiable limitation in a free and democratic society, but laws that tantamount to saying you can't abuse or annoy the President would not pass the constitutional bar that our Supreme Court has set. That is why I am hoping that the Supreme Court will soon strike down the law of sedition, under which Serumaga was charged.
Serumaga accused the President of poor upbringing and blamed this for Uganda's current crisis. Now, it may be bad manners for Serumaga to use the language he used, but surely that is protected speech. Similarly, the President may have a point about radio stations being used to incite violence and ethnic hatred, but he loses my sympathy when he justifies their closure on the additional grounds that the stations were abusing him and the NRM. I think as Uganda's chief "abuser", the President should recognise that this comes with the territory. It is obviously distasteful when we allow our politics and public dialogue to be characterised by abuses and insults, but we face a greater danger when we criminalise expression simply on account of it being annoying or uncomfortable.
The government has accused some radio talk show presenters of deviating from the principles of journalism. Shall we see government coming up with strict regulations on the presenters?
Mutabazi: There are already laws regulating presenters. However, we don't believe in censorship but a good job.
Mwesige: You bet. As we approach the 2011 elections, we are going to see more moves by the government to rein in the media. I think talk show hosts and radio presenters as well as journalists have a responsibility to conduct research, to correct distortions on the airwaves, to be fair and all that. But I don't agree that they should be sent to jail for violating these standards which many of us hold dearly.
Is the rapid increase of FM radio stations to over 40 in the last 10 years a sign of development or disaster?
Mutabazi: It is a sign of development and our policy is to spread it across the country. The only problem is the misuse of this platform. Most of the producers and DJs or presenters are not qualified and this is something we want to sort out so that we have qualified and objective people.
Mwesige: As long as the spectrum is regulated and listeners can get clear signals from whatever station they choose to listen to, I don't see any disaster here. But I must add that the proliferation of radio stations has not necessarily improved the quality of information out there.

What should the government do to help the media in Uganda maintain ethical standards?
Mutabazi: Not all qualified journalists are angels. For example, the performance of WBS talk show host and the one of Mr Sserumaga was uncalled for.Mr Kibazo should have taken charge of the programme; this is not like the print media where somebody has a choice to buy the copy or not.
Mwesige: The government should support the creation of more credible and independent regulatory bodies that can conduct research on media performance and practice and use civic mechanisms to hold those who violate ethical standards accountable. It is disturbing that the Broadcasting Council is known for either denying licences to radio stations or closing them. It is not known for providing meaningful media monitoring information that civil society and the media could use to hold journalists accountable.
Instead of investing in such activities, the President is busy giving public resources to security organisations that are now charged with the extra responsibility of media monitoring. I hear the Uganda Police even has a media crimes desk!
The government should also ensure that all its departments facilitate fast citizen access to information. It should tear down the walls of secrecy and the culture of silence around many official operations.
Even the qualified journalists have fallen prey to the law. Is this an issue of qualifications or intimidation?
Mutabazi: We intend to interact more with the media and organize several workshops and seminars to sensitize the media. We also need to ensure and enforce the minimum qualification of people in the media.
Mwesige: It is very difficult to operate in an environment where one man decides what is acceptable speech and what is not. I mean I can understand, even as I disagree, the government's decision to charge journalists under our draconian laws. At least we know those laws and we should continue the struggle to have them repealed or amended. But what about recent moves by the government to arrogate itself the right to decide who can host a talk show on Radio One or WBS? Under what law are these people operating?

WE ARE LOSING ENOUGH PEOPLE ON ROADS, CAN GOVT. TAKE ON ITS DUTY?

The Government of Uganda has privatized virtually everything and its regulatory hand not performing as would be expected. We need expired/tired buses off the roads. Government should once again own buses and only get managers who are not just NRM politicians. You can imagine how many people keep dying simply because Government has divested itself of the roles it should be performing yet the bus owners are in a tight situation to recover borrowed monies.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
WEAK LAWS CAUSE OF ROAD CRASHES - POLICE TRAFFIC CHIEF
Bob Roberts Katende

6 January 2010
Kampala — In light of the increasing road carnage, The Independent's Bob Roberts Katende interviewed Police Commissioner for Traffic and Road Safety, Bazil Mugisha about the causes and the way forward.
What explains the increasing accidents?
Our situation has been bad for some time. I don't remember anytime when it was good. There are several factors which have led to road crashes because sometimes when we call them accidents is like we could not avoid them. These days the technical term is road crashes.
According to experts, 80 percent of road crashes are caused by human error- what a human being decides what to do or not to do. For example over-speeding; it's you who regulates the speed, it's you who decides to drive recklessly, it's you the driver who decides to drink, and it's you who decides to overtake recklessly and several other factors. All that is a result of other factors like training. How do we train our drivers, for how long, what do we train them in, do we have good schools, what is the curriculum, do we give them exams, who regulates the exams and after you have been given a permit who keeps monitoring how you drive? For example if you commit an offence many times what happens? Are measures punitive enough? Can we cancel a licence, are the fines enough to deter? For example if I earn Shs10m a month and I am fined not more than Shs200,000, do I feel a pinch? Some of these countries where you admire their driving it's not that they were naturally born good. It's the effects and consequences of bad driving. In some countries like Sweden, fines are calculated according to your income.
Why do accidents still happen at black spots yet the essence to mark them was to stop them?
These account for 10 % because of roads and engineering. These spots are prone to accidents like on Jinja Road, like at Mbalala, Kitega, Bulyantete. That's a result of road engineering. Everybody knows including the Ministry of Works that it's not good enough to have a smooth road. In fact we are increasingly getting more deaths on good roads. Of course what we are used to here are road signs but do our drivers follow those signs. Do they read or understand them?

Which goes back to you; aren't involved in their training?
We don't train drivers. Actually the curriculum and driving schools are under the Ministry of Works. It is supposed to establish, put regulations for driving schools, license and regulate them. Ours is enforcement.
Okay, your work is to implement. But you have also failed this because of corruption in form of kitu kidogo where offenders are let off the hook.
I can't rule that out. But it's not our policy. We are not failing because of giving us kitu kidogo. For example, we give out fines through EPS- Express Penalty System or take you to court. Every month we give over 10,000 tickets and that's not little money. It should be in the range of about 400m in fines collected. We are building a system, we acquired 14 computers and we have a computer lab, we are entering all the EPS information. We have computerised permits so our purpose is to make sure that when that information is entered in the computers we can be able to analyse how many offences you have committed. We shall request the Minister of Works to make a regulation so that if you accumulate a certain number of currency points automatically your licence is revoked. Of course we have a problem of equipment. Outside Kampala you may find I don't have more than ten motorcycles in the whole country. We also have few Breathalyzers.

What do you do to corrupt officers?
Last week we got three in Old Kampala. Almost a week doesn't pass, we got one in Fort Portal who was receiving a bribe, there's one in Gulu who was taken to court. There are many.

Despite those efforts the status quo has remained.
The problem of corruption is not for the police only. The moment you stop someone and tell them you are driving badly, they give you Shs5000 even before you say anything. Because they think it's cheaper if you are going to give them a ticket of Shs60,000. If you don't have a driving permit that is Shs100,000. He considers; "you give me a ticket and I am going to the bank to pay, that's extra time and it will be reflected on my driving permit." He says let me give this officer Shs30,000 whom I am told earns little even if he has not asked for anything. So people are actually enticing officers to receive bribes. To be sincere we are a corrupt community.
Cars in bad mechanical condition have also led to deaths
They could be contributing like five percent. First of all we work closely with the Ministry of Works and Transport. All the transport regulation measures are supposed to be made by the ministry.

How often do inspect these vehicles?
That's the work of Ministry of Works and Transport and I am not their spokesman. But I understand the contract has been given to a company to do pre-shipment verification in the countries of origin. We are in the process of enacting regulations for regular inspections. But for us as police we inspect vehicles that have been involved in accidents and also those we suspect are DMCs.

How often do you do that?
We have inspectors of vehicles and each region has one. We have eleven regions but Kampala could be having half a dozen. When we find a vehicle has problems, we tow it and deregister it. The Inspector of Vehicles lists down things you have to work on; it's not a matter of just doing repairs when you bring it back, he inspects it and see if the defects were put right and he clears you and you get back your number plate.

What measures are you taking to reduce accidents?
We shall increase visibility. We are getting our people on the road day and night and telling them that especially where there are broken down vehicles they should be removed. Every road going out of Kampala, we are putting at least three check points. We are emphasising on buses because they carry many passengers and they tend to move at night. We are checking them for speed and route charts because the route chart gives you the time you are supposed to be at certain point. We also make sure that if it's one way they don't make return trip. We expect to have more motorcycles, motor vehicles breathalyzers before the end of the year.



Drivers carrying the body of their colleague Godfrey Mukiibi who was driving the Bakulu coach
By Steven Candia

PRELIMINARY findings of a joint investigation into last week’s accident in Southern Sudan involving two Ugandan buses which left 28 people dead and about 70 others injured blame the crash on human error.
Uganda traffic boss Basil Mugisha, who visited the scene of the crash together with a contingent of both Ugandan and Southern Sudan police officers said the accident was caused by overspeedind and careless driving.
He said the Uganda Police will jointly investigate the accident with the Southern Sudan police.
“We went to the scene with our inspector of vehicles together with police officers from Southern Sudan and interviewed eye witnesses, recorded statement and drew sketches. Actually we did everything that we would have done if the accident had occurred here,” he said.
He said though the Sudan police will take the leading role, the Uganda police will complement their efforts given that Southern Sudan is still in the process of building its police.
Mugisha said though both buses were speeding, the head-on-collision occurred after Baby Coach veered into the lane of Bakulu coach which was heading in the opposite direction. Baby coach was heading to Kampala from Juba while Bakulu coach travelling in the opposite direction.
Twenty eight people, 17 of them Ugandans died when the two buses, Bakulu and Baby coaches collided head-on near Pajili village in Nimule, 40km from the border on Friday.
Bodies of 17 victims were transported over night from Gulu to Kampala while many of the survivors with various injuries were either transferred by ambulance or airlifted from both Nimule and Gulu to Mulago National Referral Hospital on Saturday.
Mulago hospital working together with the Police yesterday began handing over the bodies of the victims to their relatives.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba yesterday said the bodies were handed over after being identified and a postmortem examination carried out by a team of police doctors.

TIME TO HAVE COST SHARING APPROVED BY GOVT. IN HEALTH FACILITIES

We have seen it all. time is ripe to have cost sharing back in Government health facilities. President Museveni makes one big mistake, for example in imagining that when he scraps cost sharing he is helping the people he simply gets it wrong. Time is now for him to live with the reality.If his Government cannot afford to increase the pay to the health service providers, it makes alot of sense for these people to pay shs 2,000 on average so that they boost the morale of the health service providers. Buganda government has given people free medical services and those who deliver the service are overwhelmed by the numbers. Poverty is the order ofthe day.If Government can provide the drugs and have health staff in place,given the prevailing conditions,for any body with some logic,it is sensible to pick a small bill and have drugs after the doctors have diagnosed the patients.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

HEALTH MINISTER VISITS MITYANA HOSPITAL
Sunday, 7th February, 2010
By Luke Kagiri
THE health minister, Stephen Malinga, last Friday visited Mityana Hospital following reports of negligence in the maternity wards.
Malinga said he had visited the hospital to establish the cause of death of Sylvia Nalubowa, who died in the labour ward, and Harriet Nabubenje, who died in the maternity ward last year.
On his arrival, the minister toured the hospital with the administrator, Francis Muzira and the district health officer, Fred Lwasampijja.
He later met the staff and other district leaders, whom he asked to explain the death of the two women.
As Lwasampijja explained that the women had first visited clinics in villages, he was interrupted by the minister, who insisted the women had died because of the negligence of doctors.
“How can a doctor give orders on phone? How long was the patient admitted before she could see a doctor? We should call a spade a spade if we are to improve,” Malinga said.
He asked the Police to arrest the owners of the clinic and investigate the case.

INSIDE MITYANA'S MAIN HOSPITAL
11 October 2009
Mityana Hospital, a 100-bed facility, now admits an average of 160 patients, against a staff ratio of eight midwives and nurses. Last week Sunday Monitor's Kikonyogo Ngatya gained unprecedented access inside the facility. Read on:
Two nurses and a doctor had been on duty that day for the last 24 hours working non-stop in the very busy maternity ward section.
They successfully delivered 57 women, carrying out 10 caesarean procedures along the way. It is now 4 p.m. into the second day and the trio is still on the job. One of the nurses returns to the delivery room from the operating theatre, 30 metres away, with a bundle of joy - a baby girl and shows the father of the child who had witnessed most what his wife went through.
Outside, a queue of about 30 more women ready to deliver wait to enter the same maternity ward. "I am collapsing. I think I am done," the nurse tells me as she runs back to the theatre to bring the mother back to the post surgery recovery room.
In this small room furnished with seven beds, 10 mothers are groaning in pain. Their attendants jam every other space in the room. Some women are on the ground with intravenous drip apparatuses superimposed on windows or are hand-held by attendants. There are no drip stands here. The nurse says they improvise. It is hard to imagine when this room, which in ideal circumstances ought to have been in pristine conditions, was last painted or swept.
The smell is oppressive and speaks volumes about the hygiene conditions.
In the meantime, three other women are ready to deliver. The doctor looks tired, but can still afford a smile, and calms their nervousness by saying they will be all right. Every delivering mother here comes with a razorblade, gloves and a polythene bag. It's not the hospital policy - they are simply not in stock, the doctor says. The doctor then rolls up his long-sleeved checkered shirt and duty continues. Just outside the theatre, is an overflowing manhole. Blood from the facility overflows down the compound into the thick overgrown grass. Two pigs drink from the sewer. They then roam about , stepping on bed sheets that had been washed by patients' attendants and left spread out on the ground to dry. There are no clotheslines in sight.
Roaming pigs, chicken and goats seem to be normal here. Many more move about up and down. Is this healthy, one wonders. Patients seem not to mind about hospital infections here- it simply looks normal as attendants go about preparing their meal near this filth. As the sun blazes away, a groan of pain rips through the air.
On investigation, we establish that it comes from the main operating theatre where I am later told a man who fell off a boda boda and fractured his leg is being attended. At about the same time, in what passes for a mini theatre (a very small room really), a woman who also fell off a boda boda is undergoing surgery on the knee. The nurse working here says she has been on theatre duty for more than 24 hours.
Block after block in this hospital one is confronted with the face of misery and dereliction. A signpost in the waiting rooms reads in Luganda: "Amadagala agasinga wegali era gabwerere", meaning 'Most of the essential drugs are in stock and are for free.' I pass more than five such signposts and head to the children's ward, before checking at the dispensing window last.
It was immunisation day and a confused chorus of young souls crying away tells the story of their pain. A single nurse applies the jab left and right. She uses disposable syringes. The slender nurse adjusts her white head gear and continues her jabbing routine as a long queue of mothers snakes its way from inside a tiny cubicle to the outside and into the blazing sun. The best post-injection counselling and advice she can afford is to demonstrate how to handle the injection area by massaging not rubbing. It's not easy for her to explain the reasons behind this as there are so many mothers with babies waiting to be attended to.
A mother who said her child was HIV positive was present that day. She begged to be allowed have a more private interaction with the nurse. The nurse stops the injecting routine to take her to another filthy cubicle, filled with files and dusty folders. She tells the nurse, some people are telling her to stop giving the kid antiretroviral syrups. But the nurse simply tells her to continue with the medication but without explaining enough why this is important - she cannot because there just isn't enough time. Within three minutes, the mother is out but doesn't seem contented.
The environment here and quick advice given point to the official figure of 25,000 babies born with HIV annually, and mothers who shun hospital because of the little privacy.
I sort of get used to the confused chorus in the paediatric ward. But you must need pain killers to calm your nerves. In the general men's ward, two nurses have been working here for five straight days. They sat down after doing routine check and administering injections and wound dressing to have a cup of coffee, pancakes and 'dry' tea. "This is now our home. The best we can do is to go back and shower, change clothes and come back," one of them tells me.
Here complaining, even with official communication channels, is not an option. One of them got a sacking letter from the Chief Administration Officer at the district for complaining. She was accused of inciting protests, and endangering the lives of nurses. Remember this is the same hospital where a mother and her newborn died because of the alleged negligence of the nursing g staff. That matter is in court. My next stop is the nurses and midwives quarters. Broken windows and doors. Overflowing toilets. It is not a reassuring sight.

UGANDA GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON UPE IS PEANUTS

many times I cannot believe when I hear President Museveni praising UPE. One only needs to have figures to understand that UPE is much more of hot air. With the constantly depreciating Uganda shilling,it is shocking news to learn that Government pays shs 450 per child per month.In a term of three months,this is a mere shs 1,350 per child. A kilo of sugar is at shs 2,600,so what the government proudly sings about is just enough to buy half a kilogramme of Sugar in a whole three months. a visit to many of these schools apart from those where parents have been able to get sense of the real situation on ground,the situation is pathetic.When I last visited my former primary school- Namutamba Dem school I nearly cried tears. i would not pick a staff house that is worth staying in by a teacher. Why should President Museveni waste tax payer money on increasing expenditure on politicians (administrative budget) as the sectors which really matter decay on? It is these among other reasons that some of us say Uganda is unfortunate, because it has people who can get the country on course but President Museveni is determined to take it his way.By the time he gets out of leadership, it is only prayers that the damage done will be repairable.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

GOVT FACES GROWING FISCAL DEFICIT UP TO 2013
Bernard Busuulwa
5 June 2011
Nairobi — Uganda is expecting a fiscal deficit of about 6.8 per cent in the coming financial year, up from 6.2 per cent last year, courtesy of higher expenditure on projects in the energy and transport sectors, as well as rising costs of public administration.
According to Treasury's latest Medium Term Expenditure Framework paper (2011/12- 2015/16), this could force the government to borrow more and thin out its diminishing revenue flows. The fiscal deficit is forecast to hit 7.9 per cent in 2012/13 before slowing down in subsequent years.
Fiscal deficit refers to the excess margin of total government expenditure compared with its overall incomes.
Sharp increases in fiscal deficit levels usually raise government's borrowing costs, diverting resources from vital social services like health and affect a country's standards of living.
Experts said the surging deficit could push up lending rates, reducing private sector's access to credit. Pressure for Kampala to embrace fiscal discipline have gained urgency as inflation rose to double digit figures in the past months on the back of high food and fuel prices.
"The projected increase in the fiscal deficit will necessitate higher government borrowing from the banking system and recent gains in treasury yields will certainly entice many banks into considerable government lending," said Bill Page, Partner at Deloitte and Touche Uganda.

Critical projects
"But expenditures supported by government borrowing are best utilised if they are spent on major infrastructure projects such as power generation, that are critical in stimulating economic growth. The long term growth in tax revenues generated from such sectors could offer a good trade-off for the 'crowding out effect' against private sector borrowers," he added.
Uganda's budget is projected to hit Ush9.2 trillion ($3.8 billion), up from last year's Ush7.3 trillion ($3.1 trillion). External budget support is projected at 24.5 per cent while domestic financing is equivalent to 9.2 per cent, coming from savings from the energy fund and tax proceeds from recent capital gains liabilities derived from the oil and gas sector.
More so, government's intentions to utilise treasury bonds for borrowing operations alongside liquidity management will help deepen monetary policy actions under the new inflation targeting regime.
Dr Fred Muhumuza, Economic Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development said in a statement: "Projected growth in the fiscal deficit is linked to rising expenditure needs in our development priorities but we intend to redirect resources towards the most deserving areas.
Though revenue collections have struggled in the past financial year, we are counting on the projected growth in total gross domestic product from Ush34 trillion ($14.2 billion) to Ush38 trillion ($15.9 billion) in the next financial year to mitigate the stagnant tax to GDP ratio of 12.5 per cent which will in turn increase the overall revenue base. "

PRESIDENT MUSEVENI SHOULD AVOID THE TEMPTATION OF RUNNING MINISTRY OF FINANCE

We were told the Primary Teachers' Colleges (PTC's) were closing due to lack of funds from government. This means that those concerned with Treasury matters could not readily have funds to release to see these Colleges run. If the President comes up and instructs the Ministry of Finance to pay the fear is that the officers may do because of his instruction but when the money is not there, the final position will be continued depreciation of the Uganda shilling. Leaders of Museveni type who have military background and at the same time don't want to leave office more often than not find themselves in situations where they misuse the power at their disposal and that which they assume and the final position is to lead their countries into worst financial situations.
MUTEBILE QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE
Sunday, 19th June, 2011

By David Mugabe
CENTRAL Bank governor prof. Tumusiime Mutebile has questioned the logic of continued public expenditure which does not focus on reducing poverty, saying it will not have an impact on livelihoods.
Mutebile said there is need for deeper debate on the country’s sound macro-economic stability and its failure to impact on reducing poverty in the country.
“It is not public expenditure that reduces poverty per se. It is sensible public expenditure designed to reduce poverty,” said Mutebile.
He made the remarks during a public dialogue at the Serena Hotel in Kampala where he was a panelist alongside former German president Prof. Horst Kohler.
Discussing the dialogue’s theme: “The role of the state and market for sustainable development in Africa”, Mutebile said the Government should intervene when the public sector fails.
Kohler cited Germany’s economic model called social market economy which encourages freedom, individualism and order resulting in strong institutions and reducing social tensions.
He said the model helped Germany reconstruct its economy after the Second World War. However, he added that Uganda must find a model appropriate for her.
“Every nation has a right to find out what is good for it. We don’t have a blue print or a lecture of what is good for Uganda,” said Kohler.
A book entitled: Economic Policies in Uganda and the principles of social market economy written by United Nations Development Programme economics adviser Evarist Twimukye was launched at the event.
Twimukye agreed with Mutebile on the weaknesses of public expenditure. “Spending badly is worse than not spending at all because if you spend sh800b (allocation to Karuma dam) badly, you can hurt everything, including your currency,” he said.
International Monetary Fund senior resident representative to Uganda Thomas Richardson recently shared the same view about how the Karuma dam project would be a real test for the Government.
He said it would serve as a yard stick for attracting future funds.
Other panelists who included entrepreneur Gordon Wavamunno, Uganda Investment Authority chief Maggie Kigozi and state minister for economic monitoring Henry Banyenzaki commented on the wastefulness and unnecessary spending in civil service.
Questions were also raised about the paradox of Uganda recording high economic growth yet unemployment is rising.
Kohler said the most important mechanism to social safety is jobs and decent incomes.


Prof. Mutebile
By Fredrick M. Masiga

Posted Sunday, June 19 2011 at 00:00
What a week it has been! On the scale of survivability, one man stood out, even though Mr Daniel Kalinaki said in his weekly column that it was a “case of better late than never”, Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Mutebile, outweighed the crowd by condemning government interference of what should be an independent institution.
Mutebile chose to speak to the Financial Times – a global leader in business and financial reporting. He outlined his frustrations and fears which underscore the otherwise wider belief among technocrats that the executive has overstepped its mandate as far as the operation of Bank of Uganda is concerned.
Mutebile’s better-late-than-never stance returned on Saturday during a public meeting with former President of the Germany and former head of International Monetary Fund Horst Kohler attended by other dignitaries. He described the current rampant poverty, widespread unemployment and lack of skills among graduates as a factor of the death of vocational schools and the emergence of “useless universities”.
Mutebile’s tenure ends in 2016, so is President Museveni’s – ‘when’ he decides not to seek a ‘fifth’ elective term that could effectively take him to 35 years in power ‘when’ he wins the election.
Professional direction
By saying what he is saying publicly, Mutebile is doing what all autonomous government organs ought to do – telling the Executive where to stop and providing professional direction to them.
Mutebile’s current outbursts can be likened to the actions of a certain saint in church history – Saint Maximilian Kolbe. He was a Franciscan monk who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi-controlled concentration camp of Auschwitz. When Nazi guards came on a routine roll call calling on who would be the tenth person on the queue to die on the day he offered himself for a younger man whom the guards had picked on.
For now, he may not be a saint, but Mutebile is not known to say his thoughts openly even though he is quite candid when he chooses to speak his mind. He is aware that if left by itself, the Executive is capable of scampering all the economic gains made in the last years, but in choosing to speak to the FT, he was speaking to those who aid Uganda’s development.
The question though is why Mutebile’s is a lone voice amid miffed outcries of institutional suffocation by the Executive.
Over the years, the Executive has succeeded to stem off any protests from institutions making them mere rubberstamp organs of government. These institutions, including the judiciary, have been infiltrated by intelligence agents, who covertly collect personal information on technocrats, especially those who don’t seem to speak in government ululations.
Indeed to answer Kalinaki’s dilemma on our collective problem of not having enough people who are willing to “sacrifice their personal comfort by saying unpopular but correct things”, we have to go back and examine the extent of “Executive infiltration” of institutions which is by and large the evil force gagging these voices.
In the early days of the NRM/A, Mr Museveni promised to build institutions that would live beyond the stay of the head of State.
Until recently, it looked like he had succeeded to do just that, even though he is still in power after 25 years, with bodies like the Uganda Revenue Authority, Bank of Uganda, National Forest Authority, and others showing that they can deliver on their mandate without referring to the appointing authority.
The future gets cloudier for these institutions learning from Mutebile that he “is still fighting with him [Museveni]” over the independence of the institution that he heads.
Any head of a public institution will have to be as stone-faced and ‘arrogant’ as Mutebile to speak to the President about the excesses of the President’s Office. It is a sacrifice that politicians and technocrats need to live up to, especially in times like this when we are tethering our democratic ropes.
fmasiga@ug.nationmedia.ug

CAN THE GOVT. OF UGANDA SIT ON SHS 50BN FOR HIV/AIDS WHEN THERE ARE NO DRUGS?

300,000 lack ARVs as Shs50b is idle
By Yasiin Mugerwa

Posted Saturday, June 18 2011 at 00:00
The government is sitting on Shs50.4 billion in unused donor funds for people living with HIV/Aids even as more than 300,000 people who require treatment continue to lack access to the life-saving antiretroviral drugs.
This disclosure is contained in the Global Fund May 11 audit report, in which the Auditor General, Mr John Muwanga, faulted Ministry of Health officials for failure to utilise more than 85 per cent of the funds yet there are patients who need drugs but unable to access them.
During the year under review (2010), Ministry of Health received $24.1 million (about Shs51.8 billion) from the Global Fund to procure ARVs medicines.
Records show this money was received in two disbursements of $4.2 million (about Shs7.9 bilion) in November 2009 and $19.9 million (about Shs43.8 billion) in June 2010.
“Out of this amount (Shs51.7 billion), only Shs7.9 billion was spent on procurement of ARVs and programme coordinator’s salary, leaving unutilised balance of Shs43.8 billion,” Mr Muwanga said in his report forwarded to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on June 8.
“This reflects low absorption capacity of the project funds which makes the attainment of the intended objectives within the stated time impossible.”
Another Shs6.6 billion under the support for national prevention, care, treatment, laboratory services, strategic information and policies, for HIV/Aids, sexually transmitted diseases and Tuberculosis under the USA’s PEPFAR project also remains unused due to unexplained circumstances.
While Dr Asuman Lukwago, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, noted the concern, he told the Auditor General that the government had appointed National Medical Stores as the procurement agent for pharmaceuticals and health supplies for the public sector.
He said the move was designed to improve funds absorption “most of which are pharmaceuticals and health supplies which have experienced delays and therefore contributed significantly to slow absorption (of the Global Fund money)”.
However, sources in the ministry, who requested not to be named because they are not supposed to talk to the press, told Saturday Monitor on Thursday that the delay in signing the contract and disbursing Global Fund money was due to a range of issues related to internal government and health ministry approvals and other “bureaucratic” problems.
As Aids money remains in the bank, in some clinics and hospitals, all new HIV/Aids patients go on a waiting list.
A slot opens when a patient dies, highlighting an emerging crisis. Uganda is the first country where clinics and hospitals sometimes turn patients away. There are currently about 500,000 patients, who need treatment, but only 200,000 are getting it, but each year, an additional 110,000 are infected.
According to the Uganda AIDS Commission, the lifetime cost for treating a person with AIDS, including drugs, tests and medical salaries, is about Shs23 million. This means, the Shs43.8 billion in unused Global Fund money would treat more than 1,907 people living with the HIV/Aids.
The Americans have been generous to Ugandans, paying for more than 80 per cent of its drugs as officials in the Ministry of Health sit on millions of dollars meant for Global Fund project seeking to reduce the incidence rate of HIV/Aids by 40 per cent by next year.
The project was intended to mitigate the health effects of HIV/Aids and improve the quality of life of persons infected with the virus.
The money was also intended to strengthen the national capacity to coordinate and manage the multi-sectoral response to HIV/Aids.
Asked to explain the fate of unused Aids money, Mr Muwanga on Thursday advised Ministry of Health officials to use the money on intended activities and address inconsistencies to ensure that donors don’t cut aid for HIV/Aids.
The Ministry of Education returned over Shs10 billion in unutilised funds to the Consolidated Fund and roads body also failed to utilize more than Shs200 billion last year meant for improving on the roads in the country.

THOUGH MUSEVENI'S CONTINUED LEADERSHIP OF UGANDA IS A LIABILITY, IT WILL WORSEN IF HE GOES BEYOND 2016

Yes, President Museveni has had his contribution, however, it is clear that the more he remains in power now, the more his policies become a liability. He has wanted to have politics prevails over economic sense, and it is no surprise when many areas of Government are poorly performing. There is no morale in the Public service and hence the more corruption is given chance to grow. He has always had priority over defense expenditure and this increases whenever a leader becomes a liability himself to the people. The police state is what we have today. There are stories for example of monies alleged to have been dished out by Amama Mbabazi to induce the electorate to vote him Secretary General of NRM, this if right is not corruption? The story is just long because everything has gone wrong and the best is to leave office and have some new blood come 2016.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
SALEH ADVISES MUSEVENI TO HAND OVER POWER IN 2016

Gen. Saleh has ruled out the possibility of him calling the President to advise him to step aside. FILE PHOTO
By Gerald Bareebe

Posted Saturday, June 18 2011 at 00:00
General Caleb Akandwanaho a.k.a Salim Saleh has said he personally feels that President Museveni should prepare to hand over power in 2016 to another person.
But he insists the big decision on the matter must be taken by the NRM party and not the President or his family.
He indicated that he would be ready to take up the mantle but only if “necessary”. He, however, did not explain the circumstances that would warrant necessity.
Appearing on the Kfm Hot Seat show on Thursday evening, Gen Saleh, who was speaking out for the first time to a national audience in more than seven months, a period that has seen wide speculation about an alleged fallout between him and the President, said he was not interested in the job of President of Uganda
The general, who was announced dead on a social media platform, talked about a wide range of issues affecting the country, including his conspicuous silence and absence from public life, the walk-to-work demonstrations, corruption and the recent purchase of Sukoi fighter jets.
Saleh attacked the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, whom he insisted had a hidden motive beyond concerns on the cost of living.
But when he was challenged on his defence of security agencies in crushing the demonstrators, Saleh warned that the situation could have been worse had he been in command.
Asked if he believes that it would be convenient in 2016 for President Museveni to step aside and allow someone else to assume the leadership of the country, Saleh said: “Personally, I would think so, but really it is up to the party (NRM).”
Saleh is the younger brother of Mr Museveni and played a big role in the 1986 bush war which brought President Museveni and the NRM into power.
During the show hosted by Charles Mwanguhya, Saleh explained that it might not be in the interest of the President to stay in power for a long time but that he could be acting under the influence of party interests.
“It’s not up to him, it’s up to the party,” Gen. Saleh said, adding, “As a family member---I think---we are permanently overridden by national and party interest, both myself and others in the family. I don’t think we would wish to be where we are. But sometimes we have to subordinate our personal interests to those of the country.”
Saleh, however, ruled out the possibility of him calling the President to advise him to step aside.
“No no. no. He is still my boss. He is a commander in-chief and I am a junior. I follow his orders really. I don’t have the privilege of challenging him. He is ideologically more competent than me, so he knows what he is doing.”
The former NRA bush war hero, revealed that he is not interested in replacing his brother as the President of Uganda unless if he is pushed by unavoidable circumstances.
“I operate better under command,” he said. “I have no ambition unless it is necessary. I am really not interested in that job.”
Asked whether Uganda should have spent $740 million to buy fighter jets, Saleh, a former army commander and military advisor to the President, refused to discuss the matter, claiming that it was the role of the Minister of Defence to defend the controversial purchase.
“I know you want our heads to clash but please reserve that question for the Minister of Defence, Dr (Cryspus) Kiyongo,” he said.
The Governor Central Bank, Mr Tumusiime Mutebile, said this week that Mr Museveni’s erratic policies and the government’s fiscal indiscipline have led to higher inflation and declining foreign reserves.
Mr Mutebile told Financial Times, a UK-based newspaper, that he had disagreed with Mr Museveni over the decision to spend $740 million on jet fighters, which has pushed reserves down from six to four months of import cover.
The ministry of Defence, under President Museveni’s directive, withdrew a reported $400 million (Shs960 billion) from the Central Bank to pay for the fighter jets without parliamentary approval.
But Saleh told KFM, a sister station of the Saturday Monitor, that as a security consultant, Uganda needs more aircrafts - three times the level of what has been purchased but that he is not sure whether this should have been the right time to carry out the contentious purchase.
Gen. Saleh also said he was disappointed with his friend and bush war colleague Dr Besigye who, he said, instead of proposing alternative solutions to the current fuel and food crisis, has resorted to inspiring insurrections against a legitimate government.
Dr Besigye spearheaded the recent protest whose callous handling by security operatives drew attention of the international community about Uganda’s flimsy political situation and attracted foreign condemnation of the President.
He defended the heavy force used by the Ugandan military and police in quelling the protests and warned that it would have been worse had he been in command because he cannot withstand the level of provocation from the opposition.

Big disappointment
Although Saleh admitted that the issues being raised by the opposition are valid and should be handled, he said he was disappointed with Dr Besigye’s approach.
“He tried to play a film on TV but that will not help him. His arrest in Wandegeya (by Arinitwe Bwana) was a pity. It was a pity for Dr Besigye to reach that extent of being manhandled like that. They should have used better means,” he said.
“He is a very eloquent person, much eloquent than me and that’s why he was National Political Commissar before I dreamed of becoming one. I don’t know why he has resorted to these means that ridicule him and Uganda.
This time I have to entirely blame him because he has capacity to save the situation. I will call him if you give me his number. ….The last time I called him was in August last year but he didn’t pick my call. I will call him again if you give me his number because it seems I lost it.”he added.