Professional Documents
Culture Documents
One of his famous quotes on this issue goes like this: It is not from
the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we
expect our dinner but from their regard for their own interest. We
address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love. In
other words, the butcher, the brewer and the baker work so hard in
order to serve us, not out of their altruism and love for us, but out
of their self-love. If, on the other hand, the diagnosis is inaccurate
like in the case of the bullionists who held that wealth is measured
by the amount of precious metals owned, society will stagnate like
Portugal and Spain, who excelled in stealing gold and silver from
South America and killing the Red Indians, did.
3
of
the
sectors:
commercial
agriculture,
industries
municipal
council
governments
or
government
What, then, are the factors that can stimulate, sustain and cause
the thriving of the four sectors to guarantee the prosperity of our
families? There are three major factors. These are a critical mass of
the buyers and consumers of the goods and services produced by
our families and communities; infrastructure to support production
and exchange of those goods and services (electricity, roads, the
railways, ICT, etc., etc.) and security of person and property (in
other words, peace in the country). There are other subsidiary and
5
throughout the whole length and breadth of East and Central Africa
between Bunyoro and Buganda, between the interior and the
coast.
Banyoro,
for
instance,
used
to
specialise
in
hoes
It enabled us to
firmly and scientifically distil the first principle of NRM from the fog
of perceptions that were abundant in Uganda at that time. This is
the principle of patriotism or nationalism as it is sometimes
described. It, therefore, became the first ideological principle of the
NRM.
It is not
only patriotism that will guarantee our prosperity but also PanAfricanism.
four that offer us opportunities for how one can move from
peasantry to middle-class and skilled working class. The two means
of sustenance of the middle-class and the skilled working class are:
profit the difference between the input costs and the price of the
end product; and wages for labour offered by the employer to the
employee in any of the five sectors mentioned above. In the census
of 2002, only 32% of the homesteads had joined the money
economy. 68% of the households were still in subsistence economy.
This is where the problems of Uganda and Africa lie. It is the precapitalist nature of much of the sustenance means and activities of
the Uganda population, of the African population. The lack of the
total monetisation of the Ugandan economy, the lack of the total
eradication of the traditional, non-monetary modes of production
(e.g.
traditional
subsistence
cattle-keeping,
farming,
etc.)
are
traditional
the
crop
mainstay
of
husbandry,
the
under-
11
The recent census has not yet processed the updated figures on
these parameters.
machines the tractor, the motor-cycle, the pick-up truck for loads
12
socio-economic
transformation.
Therefore,
socio-
villages. The weakness that this Conference must cure is that these
13
village NRM Committees and also the Local Government LCIs must
be fully engaged and taken advantage of to improve the welfare of
everybody in our society. The NRM, therefore, did not only provide
the diagnosis and possible therapy for the problems of Uganda but
also created a massive structure that could help the leadership to
more easily explain and implement that vision. In the bush, these 4
principles were divided into 10 points (hence, the 10 points
programme) and, later, into the 15 points programme.
The economy has expanded from US$ 1.5 billion in 1986 to now
almost US$ 28 billion. The GDP per capita is now US$788. The
Ugandan exports of goods and services ever since 1962 are listed
here below in terms of value in US dollars:
Exports of goods and
(millions)
(millions)
1962
108.28
1988
492.90
1963
146.07
1989
419.71
1964
176.17
1990
311.67
1965
226.24
1991
247.95
1966
236.60
1992
250.34
1967
244.72
1993
227.44
1968
248.36
1994
348.78
1969
251.57
1995
678.73
1970
294.13
1996
723.00
1971
280.83
1997
837.55
1972
289.09
1998
634.71
1973
281.68
1999
734.92
15
1974
308.95
2000
659.67
1975
204.11
2001
672.71
1976
278.70
2002
702.85
1977
268.76
2003
834.01
1978
330.43
2004
1132.29
1979
415.00
2005
1542.02
1980
242.00
2006
1735.59
1981
215.00
2007
2439.03
1982
182.50
2008
3039.72
1983
194.00
2009
3353.75
1984
458.91
2010
3467.64
1985
483.55
2011
4297.50
1986
502.57
2012
4915.76
1987
517.05
2013
5176.46
16
Tororo-Mbale-Soroti;
Ishaka-Kagamba;
Jinja-Kamuli;
Moroto-Nakapiripirit;
Hoima-
Mpigi-Kanoni;
Mubende-Kakumiro-Kagadi-Ndaiga;Mbarara-
Tirinyi-Pallisa-Kumi,
Hoima-Kigoroobya-Biiso-Wanseko,
Using loans and grants from outside, we have already done, we are
doing or we shall also do the following roads in terms of tarmacking:
Arua-Oraba, Gulu-Atiak, Atiak-Bibia, Masaka-Mbarara, MbararaKabaale-Katuna, Fort Portal-Bundibugyo, Arua-Oraba, Gulu-AtiakBibia, Mbale-Magale-Bumbo-Lwakhakha with a branch to Manjiya,
Rukungiri-Kanungu-Ishasha-Nyakishenyi, Kapchorwa-Kween-BukwoSuam,
Kigumba-Masindi-Hoima-Kagadi-Kyenjojo,
Iganga-Kaliro
17
Soroti-Amuria-Acan
Pii-Abim,
Masaka-Bukakata,
etc., etc.
negotiated for Bujagaali did not even stick to our position negotiated
with AES where we had agreed on US$ 4.9 cents per unit.
18
Whatever the
With
19
Ugandan
accountants
and
auditors,
work
on
The other two interventions to help create jobs are, on the one hand,
to create, improve or expand the marketing points e.g.
urban
markets, work sheds etc and, on the other hand, to implement and
proliferate our policy of industrial
such as Namanve, Kaweweta etc. You have seen the quality of the
markets we have commissioned in Wandegeya, Jinja, Mbale etc.
We
are going to roll out more and more of these as well as the industrial
estates and the export free zones.
Besides, the socio-economic interventions we have been carrying
out have not been in vain. While in 1986, we had only 1,209,640
pupils in primary schools, in 2014, we have 8,459,720 pupils in
government and private primary schools.
In
In 1986,
only 10% of the people were living in the urban areas. Today, about
22% of the people are living in the urban areas.
urbanisation
is
part
of
the
necessary
As you know,
social-economic
23
mechanics, mathematicians,
singers,
sportsmen,
etc.,
etc.
This
is
not
doctors,
to
forget
Low costs of
25
In
very projects that will generate more exports for us, create jobs for
our youth and give incomes to our homesteads by buying rawmaterials from the rural households. I am getting to the position of
zero-tolerance to this type of conduct by any actor official or
otherwise.
The second weakness or mistake has been the prolonged failure to
implement our plan of Prosperity for All (PFA), first launched in
1995 when, after the successful pilot projects in some parts of the
country and in order to rescue the homesteads that had already
fragmented the family lands on account of wrong inheritance
practices, we advised the rural homesteads to adopt a four acres
plan. This involved planting one acre of clonal coffee, one acre of
fruits, one acre of bananas or any other food crop and one acre of
pasture for the dairy cattle.
recommended poultry for meat or eggs and piggery for those who
are not Moslems.
farming. To cater for those families that had already fragmented the
27
We advised
All this
My
Let us
than the old coffee trees. By planting the 323 million new coffee
trees, Ugandas production in future will be 20 million, 60kgs bags.
It will cover 717,000 acres of land. All at a cost of just sh100b, less
than 50% of one years NAADS allocation!! How could we fail to help
our people with all these possibilities?
acres of land, fruits covered 14,553.9 acres and the tea seedlings
covered 549.8 acres of land. Most of the homesteads of the civilian
FRONASA and NRA veterans have now been covered, in just 3
seasons. The maize seeds and beans have generated bumper crops
in these areas.
these old tarmac and the murram roads. This is turning out not to
be true because there is the example of the Local Governments that
receive sh142 billion for the maintenance of their roads. Their roads
are better than the UNRA roads. Why? It is, mainly, on account of
two factors. One, the Local Governments have now decided to listen
to our advice of using their one grader per district and the few
tippers we gave them to work on the murram roads themselves
rather than relying on tenders with the private sector where they
use sometimes five times more money than when they do the works
themselves.
by
the
people,
unlike
the
unpatriotic,
remote,
I have also already instructed the new Prime Minister and the
Minister of the Presidency to scan the whole spectrum of
33
Why?
It was
as
NRA/UPDF).
committed
cadre-ship
(e.g.
officers
and
men
of
Chief
Administrative
Officers,
Town
Clerks
and
While
stopping extra judicial killings, requires a form four (4) leaver (S.4)
whom you have given an officer cadet course of 12 months (to
become a 2nd Lieutenant), with embezzlement and bribery, you do
not only need a university graduate (18 years of education); but to
36
Besides, even
assuming we had them, which we did not have, we could not have
dismissed the public servants we found in place without causing a
big political crisis. To fight corruption in the roads sector, you do not
only need engineers, but you need upright engineers of adequate
years of working experience.
but
also
upright
professionals,
whose
professional
warriors are not political appointees. The PS, the CAO, the Town
Clerk, the Gombolola chief, the magistrate, the judge, the auditor,
the accountant, the investigator, the prosecutor are all, without
exception, brought forward by professional bodies. These are: the
Public Service Commission, the District Service Commission, the
Education Service Commission, the Judicial Service Commission,
the Health Service Commission, etc. Even where the President is
involved, he signs the instruments (documents of appointment) that
are forwarded to him by these professional bodies.
In all the 28
years I have been President, I can only remember two or three times
when I refused to sign an appointment instrument forwarded to me
by these bodies. I would have been wrong to do so. I also cannot
38
what I did with the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), the
Health Services Monitoring Unit headed by Dr. Diana Atwine as well
as the Engineering Monitoring Unit in State House. This is not to
forget the Police where I had to bring in Generals Katumba Wamala
and Kale Kayihura.
Recently, you saw what I did with NAADS. We had given freedom of
action to the Ministry of Agriculture and NAADS for a total of 14
years since NAADS started and a total sum of
Trillions).
sh2,800b (2.8
sundry
that
the
residual
forms
of
criminality
i.e.
Extra-judicial killings,
Rape,
Defilement,
Poaching the animals in the National Parks,
Looting peoples property at road blocks,
Confiscating peoples property,
Destroying government resources (forests) by government
officials,
(viii) kidnappings and
(ix) Brutality of security forces with impunity, etc.
41
The
immediately
above
mentioned
crimes
are
some
of
the
One
problem is the neglect of the vast structure the NRM created for
itself and for the country these are the LCs and the NRM
branches in the 57,792 villages of Uganda. After these structures
are elected, they remain dormant until the next election time. This
is not correct. It is a misuse of this human and political resource.
It is wasted opportunity. NRM was the first political force to create
enough consensus among Ugandans to the extent of garnering 75%
support in the 1996 elections.
In 2011, it went back to 68%. This is a far cry from 1962 when
none of the Political Parties could boast of even 50%. UPC got 37
Parliamentary Seats which was 45% of the 82 total seats in
Parliament and DP got 24 seats, 29%. Kabaka Yekka, by
intimidation and stopping the Baganda from participating in direct
elections, got 21 seats which was 26% of the total.
according to the seats in Parliament.
by
the
gerrymandering
of
This is
constituencies
by
UPC.
Therefore, the people of Uganda have been lucky to have got the
NRM that finally put a huge chunk of them together. In the 2011
elections, they were even luckier when, for the first time, in the
history of Uganda, a political force won in all the four regions of
Uganda. It is, therefore, inexcusable for the NRM managers not to
fully use this opportunity.
43
I do not
The only
resources I had were JOI Kagumire, a typist that had escaped from
the Police force, a looted type-writer and cyclostyling machine.
We
This
problem must be cured by having full time workers of the party even
if they are just a handful. Haji Kigongo and a few of the political
workers supervised our committees from Kawanda to River Kafu
44
The other political mistake is the use of money in elections and the
distorting of the purpose of leadership. A political leader is not a
welfare officer, he is not an employee of the population, he is not a
service provider. He is from the people, by the people and for the
people.
church, the other mosque, this other school, etc., etc. What is the
result? Heavy indebtedness by the leader to the extent of having
their properties sold off. This is not only total failure of leadership
but endangers the security and independence of our country. We
cannot have financially beleaguered people deciding the destiny of a
country.
institutionalized solutions for our people in place that have not been
properly utilized. As pointed out above, the total money for NAADS
and other funds that could be used for wealth creation amount to
about sh500b per annum. These do not include Universal Primary
Education (UPE) money which is of the magnitude of sh950b per
annum. UPDF, on my orders, has started using some of the NAADS
money. You can see the impact already, just after three seasons.
Uganda, however, are scaring away these factories by, on the one
hand, mishandling the investors and, on the other hand, leading the
premature campaign of over pricing of Ugandas labour that will lead
to Uganda, again, missing out. This is not acceptable. We must go
back to the arrangement where wages are fixed by one authority.
Besides, the wages policy must fit in our overall strategy of economic
development. Let us also look at countries that have recently got out
of poverty. What was the wage structure in China between 1949
when the Communists came to power and now? How about India?
How about South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia? Why? I will cause
a paper to be written on this subject for future discussion. At a
personal level, however, you could look at my testimony. In the last
50 years of my contribution to Uganda, I either get no salary (e.g.
1971-79 minus the two years at the Moshi Cooperative College and
1981-86) or I get very low salaries. However, using whatever little
money that I earn or borrow, I, prudently, invest that money. The
consequence is that my low Government salaries notwithstanding, I
49
50
With the
All the efforts I have talked about above, did not include the
petroleum and gas we discovered in 2006. By 2017, we shall start
pumping the oil out for our refinery and the pipeline. We estimate a
production of 180,000 barrels on average per day. If we assume a
low price of US dollars 70 per barrel, that will give us an annual
extra income of US $4.6b. 70% of this money i.e. US $3.2b will be
Uganda Government money. This money will never be used for
salaries, imports, etc., etc.; it will only be used for hydro-power
dams and other forms of energy, the Standard Gauge
industrialization
(industrial-estates),
scientific
Railway,
innovation
and
53
In conclusion, the four principles of the NRM Patriotism, PanAfricanism, Socio-economic transformation and Democracy have
served us well. Distilled in the student study groups of the 1960s
and within the progressive wings of the old political parties, these
principles have helped us to successfully wage two resistance wars
(1971-79 and 1981-86), culminating in the capture of power, in
1986. Once we captured power, we were able to unite the people of
Uganda as never before. We have been able to reconstruct and
strengthen Uganda as never before.
However, we could have done better if it was not for the following
weaknesses: delaying investment projects, lack of cohesion in
budgeting,
corruption
in
UNRA
and
in
other
Government
country
until
UPDF
had
to
come
in
and
the
55
56