Museveni must account for empty pledges - Besigye

BUTALEJA.

The FDC presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye, has urged Ugandans to ask President Museveni to account for the unfulfilled promises he has made to Ugandans in the last 30 years the National Resistance Movement has been in power.

He said when Mr Museveni came to power in 1986, he made many promises which included a fundamental change, transforming agriculture from subsistence to commercial production, construction of roads and improving salaries for civil servants, among other pledges.

He said Museveni has since repeated the same promises at every election campaign in 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and he is still doing the same in the 2016 campaigns.

“The NRM has no concept whatsoever about accountability, truth and heart for country. They continue making the same promises. When President Museveni comes here, put him to task to explain why he has not delivered for the last 30 years and why he wants to come back?” Mr Besigye told crowds at various rallies in Butaleja and Pallisa districts on Thursday.

He said the NRM government has lost the Bush War revolutionary spirit of transparency, probity and accountability and it now makes promises to just dupe people to support it to stay in power. He added that the NRM does not fulfil promises it makes to the people during elections.

Dr Besigye said President Museveni presides over a rich country but the citizens are very poor.

“Poverty levels have remained high for the last 30 years and poverty has eaten into the people and the farmers who are employed in agriculture as the backbone of the country are so poor and have been made to clap for President Museveni whenever he makes another promise,” Dr Besigye said.

He challenged the voters to ask Mr Museveni about his unfulfilled promises when he visits their area for campaigns.
“How do Ugandans still continue drinking dirty water in 30 years of service, how do we continue applauding government for constructing shoddy narrow roads that are death traps to Ugandans? Do you know that more Ugandans have died in accidents than in all the wars in the country?” Dr Besigye asked the voters.

He reiterated his promise to revive cooperative unions and the cooperative bank to help farmers get better prices for their produce and improve household incomes if he is elected president.

Speaking at a rally in Nabiganda Trading Centre in Butaleja District on Thursday, Dr Besigye said local farmers would also be organised into groups at parish and sub-county level to access soft loans from government to improve agriculture.

Dr Besigye was accompanied by the FDC president, retired Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, and party secretary general Nandala Mafabi. He said once he is voted into power, he will make all institutions accountable to the people.
He said the ‘New Uganda’ under his reign would focus on improving welfare of all Ugandans.

Dr Besigye started traversing the villages and trading centres in Butaleja at about 2pm after Pallisa District. He held rallies at Butaleja Town Council, Nabiganda, Nampologoma, Doho trading centres before crowning the day’s campaign trail with another big rally at Busolwe Town Council where at least 43 people defected from the ruling NRM to FDC and handed over their cards to him.

taxation

Dr Kizza Besigye said government collects a lot of unexplained taxes from Ugandans which has partly made them poor, yet the utilisation of the proceeds is suspect. He said under his government, taxes will be explained to the people and the proceeds will be re-invested in the communities to benefit the local people.