{UAH} The Observer - Kyankwanzi campaign cost hits Shs 6bn mark

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Sunday, 20 April 2014 21:47

Written by Sadab Kitatta Kaaya

There is more money than answers on service delivery and President Museveni's pledges and promises

Ruling NRM MPs have gone into the campaign to popularise President Museveni's 2016 sole candidacy with millions of cash and less answers to explain away the government's unfulfilled promises.
And so far they are getting dismayed by the unexpected angry reception at sub-counties, yet the party is spending close to Shs 6bn on the one-and-a-half month campaign.

One test case was in Rakai on April 17, where Tourism Minister Maria Lubega Mutagamba, the Rakai Woman MP, and other officials came in for some tough questioning.

Mutagamba was accompanied by the district's NRM chairperson, Kakuuto MP Mathias Kasamba, his Kooki counterpart Amos Mandera, and the senior presidential advisor on Buganda, Vincent Ssemakula Ssettuba.

So far, near fights over the sharing of the Shs 4m allocated to each sub-county and the many unfulfilled Museveni pledges are dominating debate during the sub-county meetings, a fortnight into the campaign.

But because MPs were not coached to deal with the unexpected heat over the pledges in the answers manual they are religiously carrying to the meetings, many are looking vulnerable on the campaign trail.

To conduct the meetings, the MPs were given an information pack that includes: Museveni's message on service delivery, his key note addresses to the MPs during the 2013 and 2014 Kyankwanzi retreats, and the sole candidature resolution.

They also carried a guiding message on the resolution of leadership, unity and cohesion in the party plus a summary of the work done by the 9th Parliament. The meetings are mainly composed of the NRM leaders in sub-counties. The focus of the NRM leaders in this campaign was mainly on the recent promises that the party feels are likely to cost it in 2016.

"He has made promises to the youth and the elderly, the youth fund has failed just as the elderly keep asking us about the Shs 25,000 monthly allowance, the housing scheme and the free medical care," Hilary Lubega, a Rakai resident put the MPs on the spot at Kifamba sub-county headquarters, Rakai district.

"Why were they [elderly] registered in the first place if none of the promises made to them was to be fulfilled?"
This team had encountered similar challenges at Kibanda sub-county.

"We are tired of [Museveni's] empty promises; for example he promised us wealth at the household level, but if you begin to hunt for beneficiaries of his bonna bagaggawale, you can't find any," said Alex Karugaba, a youth leader in Kibanda sub-county.

The MPs also failed to explain the flopped Shs 4.7bn bicycles' project for LC I chairpersons.

"We just take note of them [concerns] and we shall report back. They are well-captured in the minutes, and our report should be able to highlight them," Isaac Ssejjoba (Bukoto Mid West) said on Friday.

The resolution

In explaining why they (NRM MPs) endorsed Museveni's sole bid to lead the party in the 2016 elections, the MPs are basing their defense on Museveni's speech at this year's retreat in which he likened some party leaders to weevils, eating up the party for their selfish interests.

"His address tickled us and it formed the basis for us to move and pass the resolution to have him as NRM's sole candidate," Mutagamba told meetings in Rakai.

"For anyone to size up against Museveni is like preparing this country for uncertain times ahead, removing Museveni may lead us to [unrest] like it is in Libya, Congo and Egypt," she warned.


Some of the NRM MPs pose with President Museveni in Kyannkwanzi

Kasamba, a member of the national coordinating team weighed in, telling the meetings that the party had started wasting away because of a malfunctional secretariat.

"With leaders at the secretariat sizing up against the president, everything was crippled, because of the weaknesses at the secretariat, other organs that have to sit and plan for the party were rendered redundant, and the best way for us to deal with the situation was to move this resolution," Kasamba said.

There were however voices that questioned why the party was not thinking beyond Museveni.

"We are putting a lot of effort on keeping Museveni around and thinking little about the future of the party… of what relevance is it for us to market Museveni yet other party candidates will lose?" wondered Fred Kagimu Bikande, an NRM leader in Rakai.

The cost

To convene the meetings, each constituency MP got Shs 4m per sub-county and another Shs 1.5m for fuel. The district woman MPs and other special interest group MPs were given a lump sum of Shs 10m plus a transport facilitation of Shs 2m.

There are about 1,000 sub-counties in the country which puts the total sum given to the constituency MPs at Shs 4bn for the meetings plus Shs 247.5m in fuel allowances. Another Shs 1.18bn was spent to facilitate the party's 99 special interest representatives putting the total sum to more than Shs 5.43bn.

If another Shs 500m, the president paid to NRM district leaders whom he met on April 8 at State House Entebbe is added, in the next one and half months, the party will have spent at least Shs 6bn on popularising Museveni's sole candidacy. That amount is enough to give a 25 per cent salary increment to at least 5,625 lowest paid government employees.

Kigulu South

Meanwhile, Kigulu South MP Milton Muwuma, survived a beating at the weekend over the Museveni cash. At one of his sub-county meetings at Nakalama sub-county headquarters in Iganga district, a group of people descended on him demanding for their equal share of the Shs 4m.

According to people at the meeting, trouble began when the MP refused to give money to latecomers. Earlier in Kigulu North, the area MP Edward Balidawa Kifufu had also survived a similar beating over Shs 4m.
sadabkk@observer.ug

Additional reporting by Trevor S Baleke

The Observer - Kyankwanzi campaign cost hits Shs 6bn mark
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31360:-kyankwanzi-campaign-cost-hits-shs-6bn-mark&catid=34:news&Itemid=114

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