{UAH} Fwd: {UPCPost} What’s the price for fighting in the Bush War? We now have an answer:- Daily Monitor.

fyi

We should raise a general invoice and those who fought should be paid their
token of appreciation, in cash, with full honour and pride, in the same way
they receive their medals of valour. We can do away with the indignity of
asking for receipts, but we can then move on to rebuilding our great
nation...

Political leaders from Luweero, Nakaseke and Nakasongola are reported to
have asked President Museveni to provide Shs3 billion to veterans of the
Bush War before the country goes to the polls next year.
The request was made last month to Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda when he
represented the President during the consecration of the new Bishop of
Luweero Diocese, Eridard Kironde Nsubuga.

According to a story in the New Vision of May 4, minister Without Portfolio
Abraham Byandala said the Shs3 billion would go to 6,000 veterans who
participated in the five-year war that brought the NRM to power, most of
which was fought in the Luweero Triangle.
"We are not saying that is enough, but each veteran would be paid at least
Shs5 million. Luweero doesn't have a district hospital and well-constructed
headquarters. Once that is done, the election will be easy for us," Mr
Byandala was quoted as having said.
We should thank the political leaders of Luweero, Nakaseke and Nakasongola
for finally solving this 30-year-old national puzzle: what monetary value
can we attach to the sacrifices made during the war.

Wait! Before you reach for the holster, hear me out. Many Ugandans fought
to liberate themselves from misrule and impunity. Thousands gave their
lives so that the rest of us do not have to live in fear of disappearing
without trace, being tortured in Nile Mansions, or being fed to the
crocodiles in the River Nile.
No amount of money, no gold-plated medal, can repay the debt of gratitude
we owe those who died or shed blood fighting for us. That is a truth we
hold to be self-evident.

However, over the years, some of those who participated in the War have
sought to lay personal and eternal claims on the peace and its dividends.
In defending their actions and the impunity with which some of them pursue
this claim, they have repeatedly referred to the sacrifice they made in
abandoning their careers and families to take up arms and fight the past
regimes.
Minister Byandala's statement reveals two things: one, that at least some
of them believe there should be some personal financial benefit, beyond the
shared prosperity, rule of law and fairer governance all citizens can
expect. Secondly, he finally puts a number to the expectation.

So let's do some back-of-the-envelop calculations. By the time the National
Resistance Army took power, estimates put it at between 15,000 and 20,000
men. At the Byandala rate of Shs5 million per man, woman and child-soldier,
we'd need only Shs100 billion to give a 'token of appreciation' to all
those who fought.
Of course, the senior commanders would have to get more, and we'd also have
to think of those who died while fighting, so let's throw in another Shs100
billion. By these assumptions, the invoice for "those who fought" would
come to a very reasonable Shs200 billion, which we should have no problem
paying.

In any case, we have been paying these veterans quietly; for instance,
Shs1.7 billion of the money siphoned out of the Office of the Prime
Minister before the Auditor General uncovered the scam, was channelled to
Centenary Bank as Kasiimo (token of appreciation) for Luweero veterans.
Why should people who risked life and limb for us have to be paid in the
cover of darkness? We should raise a general invoice and those who fought
should be paid their token of appreciation, in cash, with full honour and
pride, in the same way they receive their medals of valour.

We can do away with the indignity of asking for receipts, but we can then
move on to rebuilding our great nation, in the full and proud knowledge
that those who fought were paid in full and will enjoy our eternal
gratitude as we all march forward, civilian alongside colonel, working for
our suppers, respecting the rules and the law.

*Mr Kalinaki is a Ugandan journalist based in Nairobi.
dkalinaki@ke.nationmedia.com <dkalinaki@ke.nationmedia.com> &Twitter:
@Kalinaki*

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*

*Bwambuga wa Balongo*

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