What is in Muntu’s ‘second’ liberation plan for Luweero?

Between 1981 and 1986, Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu and Gen Yoweri Museveni were key figures of a rebel outfit that launched a guerrilla war against the then Milton Obote government. The epicentre of the war, the Luweero triangle, would become the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Mecca, according to President Museveni.

Thirty four years later, the two generals now stand on opposite sides, both battling for the soul of the area, with the former asking the people of Greater Luweero to liberate themselves from the latter. 
According to Gen Muntu, the 1986 liberation has long crumbled, and it is time for a new one. 

The former army commander now turned politician is the presidential flag bearer for the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party and while canvassing for votes in the Greater Luweero on Tuesday, he said regardless of the developments realised in the area, the NRM has suppressed justice and free and fair elections. From his point of view, these are the canons of the liberation they fought for. 
In an interview with Daily Monitor yesterday, Gen Muntu castigated the NRM government for taking advantage of the emotional attachment of the people of Luweero while offering them nothing. 

“The focus of the current regime is to focus people’s attention on building of roads, the powerlines, the schools and completely ignoring the issues that took us to the bush; justice, equal opportunities and zero tolerance to corruption. The bread and butter issues are important and we intend to do the things that will bring development to families and communities but we have to ensure they both happen. It is not either or, it is both. It does not make sense to tell people that you have got a road, and yet they cannot access justice when their land is taken,” Gen Muntu said.  When asked if the NRM has failed the people of Luweero, Gen Muntu said: “I know many districts which are far better than Luweero, even in terms of infrastructure development and these are very far away from where the war was fought. The thing of Luweero is simply a trap by the regime because they are sentimentally attached to the regime but in development terms, they are really behind. I hope they open their eyes and look at their real interests…if Mecca looks like that, you wonder what other areas are like.”

ANT Plans 
In keeping with the liberation, Gen Muntu promised the people of Luweero that he would not stick to power, like his former boss. 
Gen Muntu pledged to improve the welfare of the people of Luweero by offering low interest loans for farmers to revive agriculture in the area. He also said his government would set up a national health insurance scheme to facilitate access to better healthcare, even for the poor.  
But President Museveni has maintained that the place of Luweero remains intact in the history of the NRM and the country. He officially launched his campaigns on November 9, in Kawumu, Luweero.

Ten years earlier, he also commenced his push for a fourth term in the area. Here, he discredited those who had dropped off the team. 
“Those who were with us abandoned the struggle before we completed it. Why did [former Forum for Democratic Change party president Dr Kizza] Besigye resign from the army, had the struggle ended?” 

Mr Museveni has made numerous pledges to the place that ushered him to power, and according to the party, service delivery, infrastructure and livelihoods in the area have greatly improved. 
According to the NRM website, there has been consistent improvement in improving the livelihoods of the people of Greater Luweero through promotion of education, health and infrastructure.  

Government, according to the party, constructed and renovated 41 health centres, including two hospitals, two health centre IVs and 26 health centre IIIs. In Luweero District, the party says they have increased the number of primary schools to 391 and secondary schools to 56.  
“Greater Luweero boasts of skills training institutes, including Bowa Community Polytechnic, Bamunanika Technical Institute and Bukalasa Agricultural College, [which is currently] being upgraded to serve as the centre of excellence,” the website states.

“On Jobs and wealth creation, NRM has created the Youth Livelihood Programmes (YLP) and Women Fund. In the past four years, 205 YLPs have been created with about Shs1.5b distributed, and 1,314 males and 1,061 females benefiting from the programme. About 99 Women Fund projects have also been created, with more than Shs620b billion distributed. About 1,216 women groups have benefited from the fund. This has eradicated poverty in the district,” the website further states. 

More NRM pledges
During his campaign launch, Mr Museveni said the party planned to pay off landlords so that it protects bibanja owners [squatters] and end the menace of land evictions. He also pledged that the Semuto-Matugga-Kapeeka road would be re-tarmacked and added that Kapeeka-Kitumwa-Butabangwa road has been earmarked for tarmacking. 
For the feeder roads, the President said government plans to fuel the machinery already procured for districts to ensure the roads are maintained. 

But Mr Museveni’s support in the area in the last two general elections has been declining. 
In 2016, he garnered 55.79 per cent of the vote in Luweero District, compared to 67.63 per cent in 2011.
Unfulfilled pledges by the government, like the compensation of some war veterans, has affected the NRM support, according to Mr Erasto Kibirango, a former Luweero District chairperson, who is in the race for the same seat on the National Unity Platform (NUP) party ticket. 
Some leaders, however, are still confident that the party will deliver on such promises. 

“The NRM government fell short in fulfilling one of the greatest pledges of establishing the district headquarters building as pledged by President Museveni more than 20 years ago. This is a big challenge that will always haunt the NRM leaders until it is fulfilled... We cannot throw away some of the good projects, including the elevation of Luweero Health Centre IV to a hospital status recently. We only pray that the people of Luweero give President Museveni one more chance to have the unfulfilled pledges realised,” Mr Ronald Ndaula, the Luweero District chairperson, who is currently vying for the Katikamu North MP seat as an Independent, said. 

Background
Voter’s voice
Mr Joseph Ssentongo, 36, and son of one of the combatants in the Liberation War in Luweero, claims his father, who passed on in 2017, died a bitter man after failing to access the promised war compensation after waiting for many years.

“My father, the late John Bosco Ssentongo, died a bitter man after waiting for his compensation package promised by the NRM government that was never fulfilled. He is among the civilian combatants of the Kabalega guerilla camp that greatly contributed to the success of the NRA Liberation War in the Luweero jungles. But he never lived to access the promised compensation. Given my father’s example, it is really hard to support NRM leaders who are currently campaigning for the different leadership positions,” he says.