Mbabazi will help remove Museveni, says DP’s Mao

Democratic Party President Nobert Mao says he has faith in the abilities of Go Forward leader and Independent Presidential Candidate John Patrick Amama Mbabazi to bring to an end President Museveni’s long stay in power.

Speaking at the launch of Mr Mbabazi’s manifesto on Sunday, Mr Mao said Mr Mbabazi, who until last year was a key part of President Museveni’s government, was the most suitable candidate to bring about the desired change in Uganda.
“Many people only speak about change but there are those who bring change like Amama. Amama is an insider of the NRM with a reform agenda that can be embraced by the opposition,” he said.
Mr Mao added that Mr Mbabazi a co-founder of the ruling NRM party, “knows all the Musevenism” and was best poised to deal with it.

“Musevenism has three legs; the man, the machine and the mindset. The machine that spreads fear and the mindset of the Ugandans that he cannot be defeated. Amama has come to remove that fear and defeat Museveni. There are those asking why I decided to support Amama. I am not in politics to make money,” Mr Mao said.
Mr Mbabazi’s manifesto targets several groupings in society, especial the youth in which he says he will create 444,160 new public sector jobs at the Sub-county level and create another 3.5 million private sector jobs to address unemployment.
Mr Mbabazi also said another 700, 000 jobs would be created per year in over five years.

He also promised to reduce on the number ministers and restore the rule of law, which he said is no longer a concern for the current government which he served for over 30-years.
“We will not have more than 21 cabinet ministers and 21 state ministers. To implement measures to eliminate the cancer of corruption and ensure that there’s rule of law,” he said.
According to Mr Mbabazi, rule of law means nobody is above the law, “Whether you are the president or a vendor, you cannot just do what you want. As a president, I will expect all my officials to observe the law. For too long, the people of Uganda have suffered under the unprincipled leaders,” he said.

Before his speech at the unveiling of his manifesto, Mr Mbabazi vowed to bring justice to the family of Salongo Wasswa Mawejje, head of Goodshed Bodaboda Association, who was reportedly killed on Saturday on his way from Mr Mbabazi’s rally in Mbarara.

According to the former Prime Minister, the deceased was a key mobiliser for his campaign activities “whenever those who feared competition tried to block me.”
“We will leave no stone unturned and if there’s foul play we will fight to see that he gets justice,” Mr Mbabazi said.
Mr Mbabazi said civil servants in his government will be required to declare their assets and sources of their wealth.
“Corruption will be dealt with in courts of law and assets of those accused frozen. If found guilty, they will be liquidated immediately,” he added.
For each sub-county, Mbabazi envisions a community bank, a library, a community center with at least ten computers and free Wifi, at least one silo, farmers' cooperative, well equipped and stalked health insurance center and a police post, among others.

“When I become president in May next year, we are going to try and stablise prices of commodities to protect the farmers,” he noted further.
He further promised a significant pay raise and improved teachers’ welfare, safer child-birth and pre- and ante-natal care, among others.
“My government will also bring the Value added Taxes (VAT) down from 18 per cent to 16 per cent. The challenge we have good policies but the reason why we have not attracted investment on large scale is because of high taxes and electricity tariffs,” he said.