I don’t regret leaving Cabinet over term limits - Sarah Kiyingi

You have been out of the spotlight for many years now. What have you been up to?
I have been basically living my life; I have been farming, teaching people the Bible, counselling and praying with them. I am a Christian and I have realised that God has a lot for us and this can be realised when you read the Bible. Many people are troubled out there because they don’t know God.

At a time when the majority Cabinet members kept quiet about deleting presidential term limits from the Constitution, you were one of the few who spoke against it and got fired. Is that a decision you regret?
Regret what? Even before the presidential term limits were removed from the Constitution, I had seen it coming and I actually went to one of my church leaders and I told him that Mr Museveni wants another term. But I made it clear to him that if the matter was passed in Cabinet, I would oppose it and thereafter resign because it was unconstitutional.
I opposed it in Cabinet but they passed it and when it was brought to Parliament, I still told them not to pass it but they insisted.

You spoke out against term limits at great political risk, and your political career literally ended there. Don’t you regret that?
No, no, no. For me, I don’t really think that’s the reason my political career ended because I had a plan of serving two terms but also, I wanted to serve people because politics is just a service and I believed that what I hadn’t done, other people would accomplish it.

What were your reasons for opposing the lifting of the presidential term limits?
You see, people ought to be honest. For me, I really believe that [President] Museveni did a good job in the beginning. We went through difficult times during Idi Amin and Milton Obote’s regimes and we didn’t have structures. We needed somebody who would build structures and Museveni did this. A constitution was made, Judiciary formed and many others. Now after forming these structures, you need a leader who will abide by the law and honour institutions, but that’s not Museveni. He doesn’t believe in structures.

Did the President ever call you when you opposed the lifting of term limits in 2005?
No, he didn’t. I guess he knew that I wasn’t going to accept it because I had made up my mind. He never called me.
In 2005, former ministers Bidandi Ssali [Local Government], Eriya Kategaya [First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs] and Miria Matembe [Ethics and Intergrity] and you opposed the lifting of term limits. This time, no Cabinet member has spoken out against removing the age limit for the presidency yet. What do you think has changed?
The young ones who are now there are being given money. I don’t know their reasons and they can speak for themselves because those of us who opposed the lifting of term limits are no longer there.

How do you think his overstay in power has affected the country?
I am not an economist but that’s obvious. When you see doctors demanding for a higher pay, it means you are asking Museveni to print more money because he isn’t ready to surrender power soon. Anything that isn’t contributing to his agenda of remaining in power won’t get priority and it will just get superficial attention because the main issue is sustaining Museveni in power.

Some people say it would not matter if there were no age limits and term limits so long as elections are free and fair. What do you say to this?
May be. For instance if we happened to have free and fair elections in Uganda, Museveni wouldn’t be President. He would have even gone at the time they removed presidential term limits from the Constitution.
But as I told you, Museveni doesn’t respect institutions and he doesn’t respect people who head those institutions. Like in the Electoral Commission, he will make sure he puts people he wants there.

Have you had an opportunity to meet the President since you were fired from Cabinet?
I have never met him. I have been to meetings and events where he officiates but we have never met and talked ever since I left Cabinet 10 years ago.

What would you tell him if you met him?
I would tell him my mind but of course I won’t go looking for him because I really think it’s a wastage of time. I think he can’t change unless God touches him. He is now hard-hearted and he perhaps thinks that there is nothing else he can do if he retires from politics.

Profile
Career. Ms Sarah Kiyingi joined Parliament as Rakai Woman MP and served between 1996 and 2006. She was appointed Minister of State for Internal Affairs in 1998 but dropped in a 2003 Cabinet reshuffle, alongside ministers Jaberi Bidandi Ssali (Local Government), Miria Matembe (Ethics and Integrity) and Eriya Kategeya (First deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs) for opposing the lifting of presidential term limits, which saw President Museveni contest for a third term. Ms Kiyingi has since retired from politics.