{UAH} JEEMA WELCOMES BACK UPDF

JUSTICE FORUM (JEEMA)

OFFICE OF THE PUBLICITY SECRETARY

Party Headquarters, Mengo Kampala

(Embargoed until Thursday October 22, 2015, 11hrs East)

 

The Justice Forum (JEEMA) welcomes the return home of our servicemen and women from the Republic of South Sudan.

 

Whereas our intervention was valid, the procedure was questionable.

Indeed while meeting in Khartoum, Sudan with the leader of SPLA-in-Opposition, Dr Reik Machar on September 16, 2015, Mr Museveni apologized for 'misunderstanding' the South Sudan conflict, thus the way he responded to it.

 

He did not have to take sides. He had to be neutral—the same way a UN sponsored peacekeeping force to replace our troops are going to be.

 

But the unilateral actions of the Ugandan Commander-in-Chief, did not only offend sections of South Sudanese, it also upset thoughtful Ugandans. 

 

In the first place he by-passed our parliament to rush and deploy our national military in a foreign country and returned to it just later. Perhaps, before deployment he would be well advised. 

 

By taking sides, it exposed our national interests to several risks. Ugandan traders became more vulnerable to reprisals from a cross section of South Sudanese who perceived them as enemies. The multi-million shilling facility under construction in Juba for our traders stalled after a huge investment in it.

 

Unlike in Somalia and other foreign military expeditions like in Central African Republic where our military is present; the South Sudan mission was squarely financed by the Ugandan tax payer—leading to expansion of defense expenditure in Fiscal years 2014/15 and 2015/16. This places the defense vote in third position of priorities—after transport and energy in FY 2015/16.

 

From these and other consequences such as death causalities of our troops, it goes without saying that Mr Museveni must publicly apologize to the people of Uganda as he did to Dr Machar for his unilateral actions in South Sudan.        

 

JEEMA WISHES QUICK RECOVERY TO Ms NAMAYANJA

The NRM treasurer Ms Rose Namayanja and others survived a serious road accident on October 20.  JEEMA wishes all a quick recovery.

 

That a high profiled person is a victim of a road accident prompts a review of our roads safety.

 

The national roads agency, UNRA manages the nation's 20,000km of roads.  Of these only 3,500 are paved, which is 18% and the remaining 82% are still earth roads. (Uganda road sector support initiative, 2015.)

 

On a regular basis, road users in Uganda cry out about their safety on the roads. In a survey by Limelight Ltd of November 2012, 85.3% of road users cite potholes and narrow roads as the main reason for their dissatisfaction about their safety and satisfaction on the roads.

 

 The president has often hinted about the 'good' roads that afford him a nap while on a ride. It's understandable for him as for all the thirty years of his stay in State House he enjoys the right of way and has completely lost touch on the ground.

 

From the statistics, to the majority of citizens, a ride on our roads is next to a nightmare. It's never comfort until they reach their destinations.      

 

 

On the other hand, whereas Ms Namayanja passed by the biggest national referral hospital at Mulago—that ostensibly must have the best doctors, equipment and service in general, she could not chose it for her and her people's treatment. She opted for a private one at Nakasero.

  

 

Despite huge record investments in the health sector, our healthcare performance is ranked as one of the worst in the world by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Uganda is ranked five positions from the worst performing nation in the world. It is 186th out of 191 nations.  Our health and life expectancy is among the lowest across the globe.

 

One in every 200 live births ends the mother's life, and around 1 million of citizens are living with HIV.

These and other unpleasant figures beg for action. JEEMA, therefore, implores Ugandans to proactively demand for this necessary action.

 

It's the action to address these and other social ills, which have totally defeated the one-man visionary NRM administration in the last 30 years. He definitely cannot find a solution in just the next five years—because nothing has fundamentally changed from his known preferences of priority.

 

You the voters just have to enforce CHANGE—using the various legitimate tools, including the ballot.

We all must enforce a Uganda that works for all citizens—not just the privileged.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY

Swaib Kaggwa Nsereko

Party Spokesman, JEEMA    

 

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