Opposition rap State-of-the-Nation address, Kadaga blocks retreats

With Leader of Opposition Winifred Kiiza away in the US for a conference, Opposition Chief Whip Ssemujju Nganda took up the baton to deliver a scathing response to President Museveni’s State-of-the-Nation address.

Mr Ssemujju, blow-by-blow, punched holes in the President’s address, saying it did not tackle the question of democracy, lacked sound remedies to cure the corruption scourge while largely ignoring the plight of the failing service delivery in the country.

The Opposition response was premised on five themes; the state of democracy, health of the economy, state of service delivery, state of national defence and security and Uganda’s standing in regional and global politics and diplomacy.

Mr Ssemujju told Parliament that democracy in Uganda “is either at a standstill or is simply in retreat” on account of “contested elections every five years”, the economy is in “jobless growth” while Uganda’s “public service delivery system has broken down”.

On defence and security, the Opposition responded that “sustainable peace is built on a foundation of justice, equality and equal opportunity” and that “the absence of war or insecurity should never be equated to sustainable peace and stability”.

On Uganda’s standing in regional and global politics and diplomacy, the Opposition lauded Mr Museveni because Uganda continues to “offer leadership regionally and internationally”.

“I am sure many of you and the majority citizens across this country know that, had it not been for the fraud that was committed prior to and on February 18, probably Dr Besigye would have been the one delivering the 2016 State-of-the-Nation address,” Mr Ssemujju summarised the question of democracy.

Praising Museveni
It was not all blows and hammers as Mr Ssemujju praised “Mr Museveni’s government for contributing to establishing peace and stability in the country”.

At some point, Mr Ssemujju rubbed Speaker Rebecca Kadaga the wrong way when he insinuated that the 9th Parliament had failed to pass electoral reforms in time for the 2016 elections, effectively allying with the regime to nip in the bud any chances for a free and fair vote.

Ms Kadaga said she was angered by that suggestion because she took the trouble to remind the Executive to bring electoral reforms on time, a call that Cabinet chose to ignore, saying it is unfair for the Opposition to blame Parliament.

Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal was also not amused with a claim that the 1980 elections were rigged by Uganda Peoples Congress, triggering the 1981-86 Bush War that ushered in Mr Museveni’s government.

Ban on retreats
On Wednesday, Ms Kadaga told MPs that they will not be allowed to travel for retreats when Parliament is sitting and can only retreat from Friday to Monday. Kadaga told MPs on the four accountability committees that had been scheduled for a retreat next week that they will not be allowed to travel.

This week, Ms Kadaga was clearly in the mood of stamping her feet, or Uganda’s feet in this case, as she ordered the Foreign Affairs ministry to issue a diplomatic note to Kenya over the mistreatment of Ugandans travelling to Kenya.

MPs Connie Galiwango (Mbale Woman) and Peter Ogwang (Usuk County) recounted tales of how Kenyan policemen demanded bribes from them for movement from Uganda to Kenya.

Mr Ogwang said he was even forced to abandon his journey to Kenya as he could not afford to dole out money to all the Kenyan policemen who were demanding for bribes.

Kasilo MP Elijah Okupa even suggested that Uganda could adopt an eye-for-an-eye tactic and give Kenyans a taste of their own medicine by putting stringent conditions on how they can travel into Uganda.

The ministry will inform Parliament on the response from the Kenyan government about this complaint from Ugandans.

MPs facing eviction
To protect some 76 MPs facing eviction after lawyer Andrew Tumusiime petitioned the Constitutional Court that the MPs represent constituencies that were not endorsed by Parliament as required by the Constitution, the House passed a retrospective motion approving the constituencies.

Speaker Kadaga rejected pleas that the issue is before court and Parliament clearly pre-empted Constitutional Court proceedings.

When President Museveni appointed First Lady Janet Education minister, he said she would sort out the mess in the education sector and she has wasted no time in getting up and running.

Making her debut appearance as Education minister on Tuesday, Ms Museveni ordered the closure of Bridge International Academies (BIA), a Kenya-based education organisation that has been running a school in Uganda.

Ms Museveni said the institution is not properly registered, has poor sanitation and lacks trained teachers. Once the academy meets the required standards, it will be allowed to re-open. Government will move the affected students to government owned schools, Ms Museveni promised.

She also conceded that inspection of schools is still wanting and promised to unpack the budget of the ministry and how it is distributed for MPs to get the nitty-gritty while also warning that schools using different curricula risk facing sanctions.

On the contentious issue of salaries in public universities, Ms Museveni promised to put in place plans to harmonise the salary scale in public universities.

UBC land
The mess at Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) simply cannot give way. When the public broadcaster tabled an asset registry and a list of corporations and individuals that have benefitted from its controversial land giveaways, MPs were shocked.

Some corporations and individuals never paid a penny for lucrative prime land, while, in some cases, land ownership changed hands at the speed of light. It also emerged that UBC is taking a year to have a surveyor mark titles on some of its contested land. At UBC, it’s a tale of mess after mess.