{UAH} Mbabazi shocked by NRM performance

Mbabazi shocked by NRM performance

Written by Sadab Kitatta Kaaya

Last Updated: 09 December 2015

After five days traversing villages for votes following his return from UK, former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi is facing the grim realities of life in rural Uganda.

On Friday, the independent presidential candidate began the second phase of his campaigns, taking his Go Forward team into villages from the regional rallies that he held in the first three weeks.

But the ride into the villages has not been an easy one as he has on several occasions had to change routes or seek the assistance of area locals to push his cars through the bad roads. Mbabazi's first encounter was along the Tirinyi-Paliisa road, which nearly got cut off because of broken culverts. It got worse as he drove further deep into the villages.

"This campaign is for those using helicopters [Museveni]," Mbabazi said, adding:  "It is not for those of us who are using the roads."

Confronted with more bad roads, including the Nawanyago-Busimbi-Kisozi road in Buzaya county, Kamuli district, Mbabazi put to scrutiny NRM's 30-year record in government.

"We would have done much better," he said.  "In Ethiopia, the government that took power after we [NRM] were in power here found 26,000km of tarmac roads. As we speak, they have increased that to 100,000km but in Uganda we only have 2,000km in 30 years; it is unbelievable!"

Mbabazi was confronted by poor state roads in Kamuli

Since the NRM came to power in 1986, Mbabazi has been a close ally of President Museveni who, until his sacking as prime minister last year, had held different senior ministerial portfolios.

But as he campaigned in the districts of Pallisa, Iganga, Luuka, Kamuli and Buikwe between last Friday and Tuesday, Mbabazi was critical of the various government interventions.

In Pallisa, for instance, he questioned government's failure to implement the restocking programme and other poverty alleviation initiatives under the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (Nusaf), a programme coordinated by the office of prime minister (OPM) before Mbabazi began his two and half year tenure as premier.

Mbabazi also wondered why until now, roads such as Tirinyi – Kumi and Pallisa – Mbale have not been tarmacked more than a decade since government pledged to tarmac them as well as upgrading the Budaka–Kumi road to a first-class murram road.

In some places, Mbabazi was asked to visit some social infrastructure like St Joseph's primary school, Kisozi in Kamuli district. Its wooden school structures were not as unsettling as the mud-and-wattle grass-thatched office structure.

Mbabazi murmured a few words as he was taken around the school and shook his head, apparently in bemusement. This formed part of his message as he campaigned in Buikwe and Kayunga districts on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

"It is unacceptable that in this day and age, 19 women continue to die every day during childbirth. The healthcare system must get better," Mbabazi told a rally at Kiyindi landing site in Buikwe.

Amama Mbabazi campaigns in Kiyindi

"My drive through these villages has exposed me to reality of the abject poverty that our people are living in. I have also seen that our children don't have the facilities for a conducive learning environment. All this must change, and that is what this election is about," Mbabazi said.

Today (Wednesday) Mbabazi takes his campaigns to Wakiso district, before heading to Kigezi sub-region on Thursday.

sadabkk@observer.ug

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H.OGWAPITI
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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that  we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic  and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
---Theodore Roosevelt

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