{UAH} USA, European Union Not Invited For Museveni Swearing In Ceremony
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USA, European Union Not Invited For Museveni Swearing In Ceremony
United States of America (USA) and European Union (EU) have not been invited to president Museveni's swearing ceremony which will take place this Thursday, May 12 2016.
According to a statement issued by minister for presidency Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, USA and EU aren't listed among the expected guests.
"Government has invited and expects a number of Heads of State including those from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kingdom of Lesotho, South Sudan, Tanzania, Mali, Togo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Swaziland, China, Nigeria, and Russian Federation. Two former presidents Ali Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania and Mwai Kibaki of Kenya are also expected," the statement reads.
Adding; "Countries that will send representative are Rwanda, India, Japan, Germany and other guests from East African Community."
Museveni won February presidential polls with over 60 percent, but the election has received relentless criticism from the United States of America and European Union.
This comes at the heels of a meeting between President Museveni, head of European mission in Uganda Kristian Schmidt and US Ambassador Deborah Malac.
In its final report, the European Union observer mission criticized the manner in which elections were held saying the electoral commission lacked transparency and accused the police of using heavy-handed tactics in detaining an opposition candidate.
President Museveni won polls! But it should be noted that president Museveni is still waiting for a congratulatory message from both the United States of America and European Union.
Below is Tumwebaze's Full statement
Swearing In and Inauguration Ceremony of the President-Elect HE Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
Press Statement
Monday, May 9, 2016
The Swearing in ceremony of the President Elect HE Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will take place on Thursday May 12, 2016 at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds under the theme 'A firm foundation built for Uganda's steady progress.
Government has invited and expects a number of Heads of State including those from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kingdom of Lesotho, South Sudan, Tanzania, Mali, Togo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Swaziland, China, Nigeria, and Russian Federation. Two former presidents Ali Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania and Mwai Kibaki of Kenya are also expected. Countries that will send representative are Rwanda, India, Japan, Germany and other guests from East African Community.
The program will begin at 7:00am with the arrival of invited guests who include out-going and in-coming members of parliament, political party leaders, former presidential candidates, delegations from all the districts, members of the diplomatic corp., religious leaders, traditional and cultural leaders, members of the academia, and the business community among others.
The President Elect, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and First Lady and Minister for Karamoja Affairs Hon. Janet Kataha Museveni will arrive at 10:40am.
This swearing in ceremony is a statement and a confirmation of the people's will. Its the final destination of a journey that was launched on 3rd of November 2015, when the independent electoral commission of Uganda nominated different candidates vying for the office of President. All Ugandans therefore, are invited to Kololo Ceremonial Grounds to witness this momentous occasion in our democratic process.There will be performances from several cultural and entertainment groups to bring out the beauty of our rich national heritage.
This is the 5th presidential election held in Uganda through Universal adult suffrage. The other four were in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011. Before 2006, elections were held under the movement system namely the Movement system.
I take the pleasure on behalf of the entire Staff of the Presidency and on my own behalf to most Sincerely Congratulate our Principal, His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for having successfully led and executed the campaign of our party in the recently concluded general elections for having led us to victory as the NRM fraternity . It was a tough journey to walk, but he did so courageously and made us to triumph over our opponents .Striving to Win an election is always one thing and its what every contending individual/group works for. But having an able candidate of a "selling brand" to lead you to that much desired and coveted victory is is always another and a tall order for many political entities. And of all the factors that sell and have sold NRM over the years, "Brand Museveni" has always been our biggest trade. His Excellency Museveni's personal ability to communicate a message that resonates well with the citizens' day-to-day livelihoods, his virtues of patience and tolerance, his magnanimity especially towards his opponents and even enemies ,his physical ability and relentless efforts that enable him to carryout countless day and night long meetings, outreaches/rallies and not to mention his historical achievements of the liberation struggle, all combined contributed enormously to the victories we have been getting.
There is no doubt therefore , that Uganda under the stewardship of President Museveni has built a strong foundation for sustainable economic growth through establishment of peace and security, development of enabling physical and technological infrastructure , development of the energy sector and good economic management.
The NRM government has managed over the years, to steadily maintain a positive rate of sustainable economic growth in terms of real GDP. Since 1992/93, fiscal policy in Uganda has entailed very strict budgetary discipline. Government has kept firm control over its own expenditures to ensure that it does not have to borrow from the domestic sources to finance budget deficits. Fiscal discipline has been absolutely essential for the control of inflation. In turn, low inflation is a prerequisite for the higher levels of private investment that have sustained rapid economic growth in Uganda. For all this long, the main macroeconomic objectives of Government that have been steadily pursued without any policy reversals or deviations have been: to ensure rapid real GDP growth, to keep consumer price inflation to five percent or below, to maintain a prudent level of foreign reserves, and to ensure that the real exchange rate is compatible with a competitive external sector. Maintaining low inflation is an especially crucial objective of economic policy because high inflation has a number of harmful effects on the economy. In particular it increases uncertainty about future economic variables and thus discourages investment. Low and stable inflation is a prerequisite for private investment in long term productive assets. It is very difficult to make long term forecasts about the commercial viability of an investment project in conditions of high inflation, because the future prices on which the viability of the project will depend are very difficult to predict when inflation is high. Hence inflation makes long term investment much more risky. High inflation also erodes the real value of money and thus discourages savings. It often leads to shrinking of the financial system, as happened in Uganda in the 1980s.
For these and more reasons, the control of inflation has been and still is a central objective of macroeconomic policy, and an objective which the NRM government has succeeded in achieving since 1992/93 to date because of being able to maintain strong budget discipline at the aggregate fiscal level.
Another indicator of a well managed economy is the way how a government manages its borrowing in order to finance its fiscal deficit especially for a developing country like Uganda that was characterized by long periods of civil strife and general economic collapse. If the Government runs a fiscal deficit which is too large to be financed from donor funds, it must borrow from the domestic banking system, which generally entails borrowing from the Central Bank. When the Central Bank lends money to Government it creates credit – which means that it prints money. When Government borrows from the Central Bank there is an injection of high powered money into the economy, which money is not backed by production. Domestic borrowing by government also squeezes out the private sector players from the domestic credit market.
Our government has been sensitive to these effects of excessive borrowing and has tried as much as possible to mitigate them. Just a few days ago the IMF confirmed that our external debt is sustainable.
In the last five years alone and despite the inevitable external challenges mainly,like destabilization of some of the regional export markets like juba, the economy has been growing at various rates of 3.4%, 6.0%, 4.7%, 5.3% and 5.8% in financial years 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 respectively and is projected to grow at 6.5% for the next five years. Inflation has been kept at 2.7% from a record high double digit of 30% in 2011/2012. Total tax collections are projected at Shs. 13.884 trillion 2016/2017 up from Shs. 11.333 trillion in 2015/2016. Our tax to GDP ratio is expected to grow from 13.7% to 14.9%
I have dwelt sightly much more on economic management because it's a variable highly dependant on the nature of the country's Political leadership and it can therefore be a good measure in assessing governance credentials of any government. No wonder the first alarming signs that come with effects of instability or bad governance in any country are inflation levels. This should be the yard stick in my opinion to evaluate President Museveni and his long service, biases notwithstanding.
Procedure of swearing-in
The swearing in ceremony will begin by the Chairman Electoral Commission, Dr. Eng. Badru Kigguundu inviting and introducing to the public the President Elect through reading a proclamation. He will then invite the Chief Justice, His Lordship Bart Magunda Katureebe to administer the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of President to the President Elect.
President Elect will be guided into taking and signing the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of President by the Chief Registrar. Thereafter, the Chief Justice will present to the President the instruments of power which include; the Constitution, the National Flag, the Presidential Standard flag, the National Anthem, the National Court of Arms and the Seal.
Thereafter the President will take the Presidential Salute, inspect a Guard of honor before introducing the visiting Heads of State and addressing the public. Thereafter HE the President will host the visiting delegations for State luncheon at the Commonwealth Speak Resort, Munyonyo.
Members of the Public and all invited guests will be served drinks and lunch.
Frank K. Tumwebaze, MP
Minister in Charge of the Presidency and KCCA
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