According to a press release issued by the Uganda Democratic Federal Union (UDFU), the organization will host a summit on human rights on May 1, 2010. UDFU is led by Mr. Remigius Kintu, a long Washington DC Muganda resident. At least two times this year Mr. Kintu attended and spoke very prominently at the Boston Buganda emergency meetings hosted by Ggwanga Mujje Boston. For about  4 or 5 weeks Ekiba Kibe program on Free Buganda Radio has been advertising that Ggwanga Mujje Boston will host a Buganda liberation conference on May 1, 2010 (see “Ggwanga Mujje Boston To Hold Buganda Emergency Conference On May 1st”).

The decision by Mr. Kintu’s group to announce a competing conference on the same day as the Boston Baganda meeting, so late in the game, may not go well with the Boston group led by Mr. John Mayanja.

Mr. Remigius Kintu describes himself on the Linked In network as the owner of  Blue Nile Trading Corp. and International Trade and a development consultant. Among the other speakers at the UDFU summit is Dr. Sulayman S. Nyang  professor and chairman of the African Studies Department at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Nyang is a Gambian who previously worked as an advisor to the NRM government. Also among the speakers is Mr. Yoga Adhola, a UPC activist and former editor of Milton Obote’s The People newspaper. When he writes to Internet discussion groups, Mr. Adhola usually finishes with: “Mr. Adhola belongs to the UPC’s conservative wing of leftist purists and was editor of the party’s newspaper, The People, during Obote II”. Milton Obote is the former Uganda president who overthrew the Uganda constitution in 1966, exiled Ssekabaka Edward Muteesa II, and is blamed for poisoning the former Kabaka.

The UDFU press conference is reproduced in full below:

Columbia, MD, April 29, 2010 – Urgent Conference on Uganda: Saturday, May 1, Washington, DC

The Uganda Democratic Federal Union (UDFU), led by Remigius Kintu, will host a summit on human rights, “Urgent Conference on Uganda,” Saturday, May 1, in Washington, D.C. Presenters will address President Yoweri Museveni’s eradication of open elections, his massacre of all Ugandans who oppose him, and the conflict in U.S. policy which simultaneously denounces and supports his regime.

 “UDFU’s open forum will feature defenders of political freedom from all over the world,” said Kintu. “Speakers and attendees will develop strategies to expose and redirect the Obama administration’s support of Uganda’s oppressive government.” Saturday’s program will be held at the University Graduate School, 1325 D Street, S.E., Washington, D.C., from 1:00 to 7:00 pm.

 The UDFU believes Uganda can be democratically governed in the future once Museveni has been ousted. “We hope to establish a more democratic regime as early as 2011,” said speaker Deo Kawunde-Miti. “We will bring the best players together to devise ways of running upcoming campaigns, utilizing new social media in the villages to circumvent Museveni’s blockade of conventional news media, and contest every elected official from East to West.”

 The conference will also address the Obama Administration’s ongoing support of Museveni despite the dictator’s abysmal human rights record and authoritarian rule that stand in opposition to President Obama’s and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s stated foreign policy objectives.

 The opposition to Museveni contends the United State’s support of democracy in Africa is tempered by policy considerations that elevate U.S. strategic interests in the resource-rich African great lakes region over traditional American values. The United States State Department, Central Intelligence Agency, and other federal agencies use Uganda as a central stage for operations throughout the African great lakes region. Museveni has curried favor with US administrations by assisting in the war against terrorism and by contributing 3,000 Ugandan soldiers to the peacekeeping efforts in Somalia.

 Uganda is the latest example of United State’s support of dictatorial regimes in Africa, Asia, and Latin America – a policy that extends back to Guatemala in the 1950s, Chile under General Pinochet in the 1970s, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq in the 1980s and 1990s.

Museveni first seized power in Uganda in 1986.  He continued to rule in the 1990s through sham elections. In 2001, he had the term limit provision of the Ugandan constitution eliminated so that he could, in effect, be “President for life.”

The urgency of this conference is underscored by Museveni’s escalating human rights violations. In April, Museveni’s security officers shot and killed in cold blood 20 Ugandan students engaged in a nonviolent demonstration against Museveni in Kampala.

“The 24 years of Museveni and his NRM* dictatorship; its effect on Uganda and the great Lakes region” by Mr. Yoga Adhola, political activist and former editor of The People Newspaper. (*Museveni’s National Resistance Movement)

 “Non-violence through Economic Boycott and Embargo” by Dr. John DiJoseph Ph. D., Professor of Non-Violence Studies, Loyola Graduate University, Columbia, MD.

 “The Discovery of abundant oil and gold in Uganda. Is it a blessing or a curse?” by Mr. E. Leopold Edwards, founding member of TransAfrica Forum; Chairman, National Coalition on Caribbean Affairs Inc., Silver Spring, MD.

 “Federal Governance in Uganda” by Mr. Remigius Kintu, Chairman, UDFU, and author, Africa, My Beloved: A Liberation Plan for a Free & Sovereign Continent, American Heritage Publishers.

“Uganda After Museveni and his NRM Regime” by Mr. Deo Kawunde-Miti, Educator; Graduate of Makerere University, political Activist with Uganda Young Democrats.

 Closing Remarks by Remigius Kintu will be followed by a question and answer period and discussions. There is a $20 tax-deducted donation suggested. Refreshments will be served.

The Buganda Liberation conference that Mr. Robert Kabuye has been announcing on his SMS based Ekiba Kibe program  for the last 4-6 weeks is all set for Saturday May 1, 2010. According to an email we received from a source in Boston who is close to the organizers, the Baganda conference will discuss two key topics. The first topic is the progress made so far on the work of liberating Buganda. The second topic is how to deal with the coming 2011 elections. The email from our source did not provide details about speakers.

It is not yet clear why a conference that is supposed to be about how to liberate Buganda from occupation by the Uganda army will spend half of its attention on the next Uganda elections, which are organized by the occupation NRM government. Similary, we do not yet have information on the speakers. In the past only Baganda politicians have attended Boston Baganda conferences – Abed Bwanika, Hussein Kyanjo and Betty Kamya.

The “Olukiiko Lw’Okununula O’Buganda” conference will be held at Our Lady Comforter of The Afflicted, 920 Trapello Road, Waltham, MA 02462.

For nearly 20 years, the World Bank and western countries that finance the NRM government have ignored the excesses of president Museveni and his cabal and funnelled billions of dollars into Uganda.  Baganda analysts tend to cite corruption and racism within the donor community as the primary reasons why president Museveni and his NRM have had such a successful run. Since 1992 Uganda’s NRM government has depended on foreign aid for 50-60% of its budget (donors usually understate it to avoid embarrassment).  During the same period, Uganda’s rulers and their families have taken advantage of the donor support to invade Congo, steal billions of dollars from the national treasury and murder citizens using illegal militia like Black Mambas.  Using traditional “Mbulira gwoyita naye” logic, many Baganda opinion leaders argue that the corruption in the NRM government is undisputable evidence that their benefactors, the donors, are also corrupt.

Many  Baganda intellectuals also believe that, Uganda’s western foreign donors  think that black Africans do not deserve the same human rights as others. For example, most  European countries do not tolerate use of selective laws to steal property and deny self-determination rights from a distinct European nation like Bosnians or Slovaks or Danes or Latvians.  However, in Uganda, countries like Norway and Denmark aggressively  fund projects like Decentralization and the 1998 Land Act, which are specifically designed to deny Baganda their human rights. This irrationality is leading many Baganda intellectuals to conclude that racism is a major factor in the Uganda donor community’s approach to Museveni.  The theory is also supported by the radically different reaction seen from the western countries when Robert Mugabe applies similarly inhuman policies to whites in Zimbabwe.

In what some Banda observers believe might be a USA led shift in tolerance towards Mr. Museveni in 2010, however, the Western countries appear to be taking some steps to distance themselves from Museveni’s policies.  President Obama sent a strong signal when he refused to grant Mr. Museveni private meeting at the UN Annual Meeting late last year. Last month, the US Congress passed a resolution instructing the State Department to monitor and report  on Uganda 2011 election campaign. Recently, the USA Ambassador to Uganda officially recognized the Kingdom of Buganda when he trekked to Kabaka Mutebi’s Banda palace for an official visit (see “United States Ambassador Listens To Kabaka Mutebi”).

In the latest move by Museveni’s benefactors, a western diplomatic official has leaked a World Bank  statement that threatens the withdraw of funding. It was presented to the NRM government  in a closed door national budget workshop late last month.  The periodic national budget workshops are popularly known as the Uganda’s begging conferences in local circle.

The full text of the leaked World Bank statement is reproduced in full below:

DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS REMARKS
NATIONAL BUDGET WORKSHOP
25-26 February 2010
(As prepared for delivery)
Your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Uganda,
Right Honorable Prime Minister,
Honorable Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development,
Honorable Ministers,
Honorable Members of Parliament,
Representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector,
Members of the diplomatic community,
Distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the development partners, I wish to thank the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development for organizing this budget workshop.

We recognize that the 2010/11 budget is being developed in tandem with the National Development Plan. This provides an opportunity to focus the budget on Uganda’s development priorities.

Let me take this opportunity to commend the Government of Uganda on its continued macroeconomic achievements.

Sustained economic growth has translated into a significant decline in poverty levels. Moreover, the economy is weathering the impact of the global financial crisis better than anticipated and headline inflation has returned to single digits.

We also welcome the introduction, by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, of performance based budgeting, quarterly release of funds to spending agencies, and allocation of more resources to monitoring of results.

The Office of the Prime Minister has improved reporting on government performance. This will help to improve accountability. And we congratulate the Government for its efforts to bring peace to Northern Uganda and championing reconstruction of that region.

Your Excellency, past accomplishments by the government of Uganda have been remarkable. However, the real test of prudent and effective government lies in how you will address the challenges of the future.

The vision for Uganda laid out by your Excellency is inspiring and clear: Uganda has to become a middle income country over the next 15 years. Consequently, this statement by development partners has only one theme: what will it take for Uganda to achieve this goal?

There are three challenges that Uganda needs to tackle.
The first challenge: Uganda needs higher economic growth and lower population growth. For Uganda to attain middle income status over the next 15 years, per capita income growth needs to be 6% per year, meaning the economy has to grow at close to 10% per year.

Is this possible? Yes, it is: Thailand had the same GDP per capita as Uganda in 1963; it became a middle income country 18 years later. Indonesia had the same GDP per capita as Uganda in 1978; it became a middle income country 17 years later.

And, Malaysia grew 135% in per capita terms over 20 years from 1960.
These three countries have one common factor: during the period of dramatically rising per capita incomes, fertility rates fell between 40 to 50%.

This is no coincidence. These countries were basically “harvesting the demographic dividend” – the period where falling fertility rates leads to a falling dependency ratio: that means a larger proportion of the population is in their working age, compared to children and the elderly.

At 3.2% growth per year, Uganda has one of the fastest rates of population growth in the world. Uganda’s population is projected to reach 38 million by 2015 and close to 100 million by 2050. This has serious implications for livelihoods, food security, maternal and child mortality, and the environment.

Providing social services such as education and healthcare to a rapidly growing population will put enormous strains on both households and the public purse.

Despite economic growth over the last 20 years, profound inequality in incomes, living standards and life expectancy persist within and across regions. Making economic growth more inclusive should therefore be a priority.

The second challenge: Uganda can only attain middle income status with a healthy and educated labor force.

Uganda needs to accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals for health and education. The NDP states unequivocally that the health and education MDG indicators will only “marginally improve”.

Only slightly more than half of the children that enter primary one, reach primary five. This is well short of the goal that all children, boys and girls alike, should complete a full course of primary education.

In addition, the targets for child and infant mortality and maternal health are also unlikely to be reached and Uganda still has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world.

Building an effective and accountable state is the third crucial challenge Uganda is faced with. The fast growing countries of Asia mentioned earlier are not free of corruption.

But corruption in these countries has not affected the effectiveness of the state to the extent that it affects the Ugandan state. Development partners are particularly concerned about Government failure to take effective action against high level corruption.

A recent example is CHOGM, where there has been minimal follow-up on recommendations in the audit reports, which have been known since 2008.

The PAC hearings have publicized the issues surrounding the leakage and abuse of CHOGM funds. Yet, government administrative action to sanction offenders or recover funds has so far been inadequate.

Your Excellency, corruption in Uganda is endemic and we have seen no signs of improvement. The costs of corruption, stealing and leakages are staggering: $1.6 million lost in the global fund to fight aids, tuberculosis and malaria; $4.6 million lost in the GAVI immunization scam; at least $27 million lost in connection with CHOGM; billions of Shillings lost in the NAADS scam and the NSSF Temangalo scandal; and the loss in procurement corruption is estimated by the PPDA to be more than $100m per year.

However, government effectiveness is not only undermined by corruption. There remain fundamental gaps in public financial and public sector management. Basic rules are not adhered to. Lines of accountability are confused, mandates of central and local governments are not clear.

This has created a fundamental lack of accountability in Government. How else to explain high levels of absenteeism of teachers and health workers estimated at causing losses of up to $70 million per year?

Last but surely not least, only effective and accountable states are able to turn oil into a blessing for a country. Without an effective and accountable government, Uganda could easily become the next African country where oil has become a curse.

Your Excellency, let me now address the concrete steps that can be taken to ensure Uganda becomes a middle income country.

First: government needs to remove the binding constraints to growth and curb population growth. The dual challenge of increased economic growth and rapid job creation requires that the binding constraints on growth, such as poor transport infrastructure and insufficient supply of electricity are tackled.

The increased investments in the transport sector are therefore commendable. However, increased investments should be matched by an equal effort to improve governance and capacity of the sector to ensure that money is well spent.

We would like to urge the government to stick to the time-tested policy of trusting the private sector for implementing major works.

Only a vibrant private sector construction industry will provide Uganda with the roads that are so badly needed. The re-introduction of district force account operations was and still is a bad idea.

The current low level of absorption capacity in the private sector is a result of lack of investments in the past. The private sector will meet the challenges of road construction and maintenance only if investments by the Government are predictable.

Despite the huge increase in spending on road construction and maintenance, the government has yet to put in place a system for monitoring road conditions.

This leaves the sector open to fraud and undermines efforts to achieve value for money in the road sector. A big proportion of future oil revenues will surely be spent on the transport sector.

This makes it even more urgent to improve the governance framework for road construction and maintenance.
The NDP has identified a reduction in fertility as a major strategy.

According to surveys, Ugandan women would like to have fewer children than they currently have. However, 41% of demands for family planning services are currently unmet.

Without a rapid expansion of family planning programs, Uganda will not be able to replicate the impressive growth rates in the Asian countries mentioned earlier.

What is needed, therefore, is a commitment on the part of government to increase its share in procurement of contraceptives, which is currently less than 10% of national requirements.

Equally important is increased focus on girls’ education and improvement in reproductive health, to address the shortfalls against the MDG indicators mentioned earlier.

Lastly, Mr. President, as demonstrated over the last 23 years, a stable political environment is the single most important factor for a good business climate.

Political upheaval is very bad for investment and doing business, as we have recently witnessed in Kenya. In turn, respect for the rule of law and human rights is essential to guarantee political stability.

Second: government needs to prioritize public spending while ensuring that Uganda’s labor force is healthy and educated.

Addressing the challenge of providing quality services to the growing Ugandan population necessitates prudent and efficient use of Uganda’s limited financial resources. Achieving value for money is therefore essential.

In addition to curbing waste and inefficiencies the government should prioritize public spending. Development partners share the concern of Uganda’s civil society and media about the high and increasing levels of spending on government’s administrative structures.

These are resources that could otherwise be invested in infrastructure and on providing basic education, health care and clean drinking water to the poor.

The sharp increase in the number of districts in recent years (and continued plans for new ones), diverts both human and financial resources from existing districts and undermines the capacity of local governments to effectively deliver services.

Starting at 36 districts, 80 districts last year, and now 91 districts: who can make a serious case that this expansion of the number of districts is good for service delivery?

I now turn to concrete suggestions to strengthen the capacity of the Ugandan state.

An effective and accountable state is needed to guarantee value for money in service delivery by tackling corruption, waste and inefficiencies. Oil will provide much of the resources needed to increase public and private investment in future years.

However, if these investments are to yield lasting results, the management of public finances has to improve.

While we recognize the Government of Uganda’s commitment to the value for money agenda, much more needs to be done. The NDP identifies public sector management and administration as the number one binding constraint to achieving Uganda’s development objectives.

The remaining gaps in some of the fundamental aspects of public financial management need urgent attention in order to improve spending capacity and efficiency.

For example, zero tolerance towards non-adherence to the Commitment Control Systems, or the circumvention of IFMIS, is required to address the long standing abuse of Public Financial Management (PFM) systems.

Making sure basic PFM systems work requires in the first place fundamental behavioral change. This change can only be brought about by the Government and each one of you sitting here.

Weak public sector management and administration is one of the main causes of absenteeism of teachers and health workers. This waste of public resources should not be allowed to continue.

Action should be taken to address absenteeism. This should include not only positive incentives, but also strong disciplinary measures.
Lastly, Mr. President, the Government of Uganda has to start fighting corruption seriously.

The undeniable lack of government action to follow up on cases of grand corruption is a key area of development partner concern. Policies, laws and institutions are in place, but enforcement is limited, creating a culture of impunity.

Offenders should be sanctioned, money should be recovered and criminal investigations taken forward on key cases. We commend MoFPED on the recent initiative to develop an Action Plan for follow-up on CHOGM, which we hope will lead to concrete action being taken in the near future.

The Government’s failure to act on high level corruption will have implications, and donors under the Joint Budget Support Framework are currently considering a range of actions.

This may include withholding disbursements, reductions in aid, or re-programming away from direct budget support etc. These were all options discussed and agreed to with the Government in the 2007/08 budget appraisal.

In conclusion, Your Excellency, we would like to assure the government of Uganda that Development Cooperation will increasingly be a results-oriented partnership, where development partners can demonstrate to their own taxpayers that money is well spent.

We are committed to improving the predictability of aid and to working with Government to address the serious challenges Uganda faces to consolidate past gains and achieve lasting results for the people of Uganda.

Thank you for your attention.

Kundhavi Kadiresan
World Bank Country Manager
Chair, Local Development Partners’ Group
Co-Chair, Joint Budget Support Framework Policy Committee

According  to the January 22, 2010 Ekiba Kibe program, broadcast on the SMS based Freed Buganda Radio, Betty Kamya, the popular Muganda politician will attend today’s Buganda liberation conference in Boston, USA.  Mr. Kabuye told his listeners that Betty Kamya,  Lubaga North MP in a Museveni’s parliament and founder of the Uganda Federal Alliance,would be the keynote speaker at the Buganda independence conference. The conference is organized by Ggwanga Mujje Boston and has attracted delegates from Canada, California, New York, Washington DC, Washington State,  Uganda, Europe and other places.

In a related development, during the above broadcast, Mr. Kabuye and his studio guest, one Mr. Lennard Muwonge Mukasa of New Jersey, told the listeners that  Brother Panas Bugembe and the  NRM’s Ruhakana Rugunda had quickly organized a “free food and drinks” party to pull away youths from Baganda meetings that are taking place in Boston and New York ( Buganda Post has seen an email indicating that the Ggwangamujje NY/NJ association general  meeting is also taking place this Saturday in the New York area).  In effect, Bugembe and Rugunda are using  Uganda taxpayer money to bribe youths with beer and food so that they stay away from Baganda events.  Buganda Post will inform our readers about the Baganda who are accepting the Bugembe/bribes bribes and attending the NRM function.

To listen to Mr. Kabuye and Mr. Muwonge in their the  January 22, 2010 Ekiba Kibe broadcast, click on Ekiba_Kibe22Jan10A. Apparently, at the time of the broadcast Mr. Kabuye and Mr. Muwonge were returning from Buganda independence demonstrations in Washington DC. Mr. Muwonge indicated that the Washington demonstrations has received strong media coverage, including from Voice of America. Another Buganda liberation demonstration will take place on January 26, 2010, the commemorate the armed occupation of Buganda by Balaalo led Ugandans. It will be at the UN headquarters in New York.

Last weekend, during the burial ceremony for former Bishop of Masaka, Adrian Ddungu, two Buganda ministers squirmed like children and begged Uganda dictator, Yoweri Museveni, to reopen CBS radio. The two were Jolly Lutaaya (with VP Bukenya and Katikkiro Walusimibi in photo), minister of Local Government, and Charles Peter Mayiga who holds the Information portfolio.  The funeral was in Masaka, Buddu.

Lutaaya appeared to have lost control of himself when he told Museveni: “Mr. President, our people say to you that they have learnt a lesson, and are begging you to switch their radio, CBS, back on.” Owek. Lutaaya went on to promise the Ugandan warlord that, if the people were cheering in response to his (Lutaaya’s) mention of CBS, then they would certainly be forever grateful after Museveni reopened the CBS FM radio.

Unsure if he had impressed the now smiling Museveni, Lutaaya, who appeared fully sober, went on to equate the Buganda nation and her Kabaka to children with the Uganda dictator as their father. To the dismay of many Baganda, Owek Lutaaya told Museveni: “Since you are the father of our nation, we beg you to treat us the way a father treats a child who has erred. Please punish but do not kill.” Museveni is the 9th president of Uganda and took power in 1986, a good 24 years after Uganda was declared and independent nation by the British.

Supporting Mr. Lutaaya, Owek. Peter Mayiga, who represented Katikkiro Walusimbi, pleaded with the then belligerent-looking Museveni to kindly listen to people’s requests. Museveni, who has in the past called Mayiga and other Mmengo officials “dishonest hyenas”, took advantage of the situation to further humiliate the two Mmengo officials. He told the crowd: “I have worked with the Kabaka from 1981, in London and through the liberation war. Then people like this Mayiga come to deceive you.” Museveni repeated his familiar claims that Buganda issues can only be solve through direct negotiations between him and Kabaka Mutebi.

The head of the NRM occupation government went on to call himself Buganda’s best friend and whine that, in its 10 years on the air, CBS FM never broadcast anything good about him. Amusingly, when he asked the crowd, “Has CBS ever broadcast anything good about me?”, the people shouted back in unison, “Yes!”

Jolly Lutaaya is one of the longest serving ministers in Buganda government. He is a wealthy real estate owner, trader and contractor. He, reportedly, became suddenly wealthy in the 1980’s, after getting fired by a major international company amid accusations of embezzlement. Like Katikkiro Walusimbi, Owek. Lutaaya’s Marvel Road Contractors heavily relies on government construction contracts. During the preparations for Kabaka Mutebi’s wedding Mr. Lutaaya was removed from the organizing committee and the Buganda cabinet after his was caught by palace guards (abambowa) driving away with building materials that Baganda donated to the Kabaka. He bounced back as minister by offering major funding to Mmengo and with support from then Katikkiro Joseph Mulwaanyamuli. Owek. Jolly Lutaaya is a member of the “Rich People’s Association” (Bagagga Bagalana), which is dominated by former convicts, money launderers, smugglers, and loan shacks. Sudhir Ruparelia, Godfrey Kirumira and Karim Hirji are some of the other well known members.

Owek. Charles Peter Mayiga has also been a Buganda official for at least 10 years. He, John Katende and Apollo Makubuya assisted former Katikkiro Mulwaanyamuli to develop the infamous Regional Tier agreement with Museveni in the late 1990s. In July 2004, members of Museveni’s sate house leaked evidence to the press that Mr. Mayiga, a lawyer with Buwuule and Mayiga Advocates, was involved in a Shs 800m bribe that Museveni paid to Mmengo to kill a Federo demo. In 2008 Owek. Mayiga was kidnapped by Uganda police, along with Betty Nambooze and Lubega Sseggona right after the First Buganda Conference. Curiously, Mr. Mayiga later admitted, he was well treated by the police and was never charged. On the other hand, Nambooze and Lubega were held under inhuman conditions and later charged with sedition and annoying Museveni.

SSAABASAJJA KABAKA’S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

We thank God for having led us successfully through the year 2009 which has not been an easy one for almost very one of us.

We extend our sincere sympathies to all those people who witnessed various challenges during the course of the year.

We however congratulate all Christians around the world for having reached this day of Christmas.

At the same time, we wish all our people a peaceful ending of the year 2009 and entering the New Year with great courage and strength.

The experiences in the past year should act as a symbol to our people that we still have a long way in building a strong Buganda and Uganda as a whole.

Our leaders, right from the village levels still have a very huge task in fighting evil acts that are slowly infiltrating through our people at a very high speed which include among others corruption, murder, hatred towards working, to much interest for outings, isolating one another and being selfish.

At the moment, almost 95% of the youths in this country are unemployed. We should stop blaming them and instead task our leaders to draw a lasting solution to this level of unemployment. There should be ways of how these youths can be assisted to either obtain jobs or helped to use their brains to become beneficial to this country.

We have closed this year with Buganda Conference which was held last week under the theme “Federalism for Uganda”. We hope that the resolutions of this conference will form a strong basis for the negotiations and consultations to come later as we look forward to a democratic leadership for our country

Good bless

Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II
Kabaka of Buganda.

According to the cell phone radio Ekiba Kibe Program of Saturday December 18, 2009, one of the leaders in newly formed Ugandan Diaspora and American Development Association (UADA), is in a USA immigration jail after being reported by UNAA officials. In the Luganda program, Mr. Robert Kabuye e Boston, explains that one David Aligaweesa  was arrested after Mr. Moses Wilson, UNAA president, and his supporters reported him to the USA immigration services.   Aligaweesa’s immigration papers are not in good order. According to sources in Boston, UADA plans to hold a convention in Boston in September, to compete directly with the 2010 event, which will be in Washington DC.

UADA is one of at least three breakaway organizations that have been formed in the wake of the controversial 2009 UNAA elections in Chicago. One was formed by Flex Kabuye, who was reportedly sponsored by the NRM to be a spoiler in Chicago. The second one, Ugandans in The Diaspora, was formed by one James Kabonge but details about it are still sketchy. And the third is UADA, where David Aligaweesa is one of the principals. All these are run by Baganda and are in direct competition with Museveni funded UNAA where the key players are Moses Wilson (President), Ssenoga, Gaburungi, Fred and Brenda Kalema Musoke, Moses Kalemba, Rosette Serwanga and Alex Zabasajja.

The December 18, 2009 Ekiba Kibe also exposes the visit to the USA by Kahinda Otafiire, to bring bribe money for Ugandan spies in America. It also reports on the Buganda Conference and explains the evils of the NRM’s new land bill.

Ekiba Kibe program is broadcast to people’s cell phones as multi-media messages (MMS) that you can you can play on your cell phone, if it has the MMS feature. This writer knows of some people in Uganda who receive the Ekiba Kibe program on their cell phones.

***To listen to the Ekiba Kibe SMS Radio program click here.***

A Muganda lady lawyer who attended the December 17, 2009 Buganda Conference in Kampala sent me an email expressing her family’s disappointment with how far the organizers went to please Museveni and foreigners (banamawanga), with little regard to what ordinary Baganda want. The learned sister says that it hurt her and her husband that, although the conference was supposed to be a Buganda Conference it appeared that fewer than 100 of the about 800 attendees were ordinary Baganda.  However, she also acknowledges that the speeches by Kabaka Mutebi and Hussein Kyanjo ultimately made the conference worth the registration fee that she and her husband paid and more.

Below are excerpts from the lawyers four and one half  page long email.

Buganda Conference Was A Wrong Name

 “It was easy to tell that a significant percentage of the attendees  were foreigners (banamawanga). There were some Banyoro, North people and others. But not so many Banyankore cattle keepers (the balaalo)  as you would think. It was remarkable that the people who appeared to be real Baganda were overwhelmingly well to do businesspersons, lawyers, politicians and fully employed city types. Clearly, fewer than 100 were ordinary Baganda from Ngogwe or Nyendo or Ndejje. To that end, Apollo Makubuya and the Katikkiro should have been truthful and called it the Kampala Uganda Conference.”

Mao, Kanyeihamba and Katikkiro Walusimbi

  “It made me boil to hear this Acholi man with a Chinese name (Mao) set us conditions for getting Federo, as if he is some type of political god. He said, ‘If you Baganda want Federo, you must package it so that other Ugandans don’t think that you are claiming to be special’ and, as you would expect, he got thunderous applause from the foreigners present. I think every self-respecting Muganda must have felt like me; belittled. How dare that Mulugwaala tell me that, Baganda must never achieve their fundamental human right to self-determination until they convince him that they are ‘not special’? I think this Acholiman was in a team with Kanyeihamba, the Munyankore cattle keeper, who similarly talked down to Baganda like small children. Essentially, Kanyeihamba, who should know better because he is an experienced lawyer, also told us to do a better job convincing other Ugandans that we deserve our self-determination rights.  As if that was not enough,  Katikkiro Walusimbi used the same exacts words in his highly apologetic speech, ‘Buganda does not seek a special status’. Our Katikkiro, who sounded like he is ashamed to be a Muganda, seemed to be reading from the same exact script as Kanyeihamba and Mao.”

Mental Asylum Escapee Mutale

 “Then there was the insane looking man called Mutale, who came as Museveni’s main representative. You could tell Museveni intentionally sent this unkempt man, simply to unnerve those easy to scare attendees of the conference. It was not easy to understand his English all the time but he threateningly told us that our discussions were meaningless because we did not have power. His people, presumably Museveni and Banyankore, are the ones with the guns and the power. This man looks like he escaped from an asylum, but the Apollo Makubuya and the Katikkiro, who must know him, chose to give him a platform to desecrate an event attended by our Kabaka and Nnabagereka?”

Handsome Hussein Kyanjo

“The truth is that there were some good and clearly pro-Buganda speakers, including retired Katikkiro Dan Muliika and other Baganda elders. However, you could feel an air of conspiracy among the Baganda speakers to be ‘polite and not upset the foreigners’ regardless of  their provocations and patronizing towards Buganda.  At the same time, you could also sense that the foreigners, both speakers and in the audience, had a sense of heightened confidence that the Baganda were at their mercy.

“The man who gave us real hope was the handsome young Moslem and proud Muganda, Hussein Kyanjo, who made some of the ‘bakungu ba Kabaka’ look like champion cowards.  First, he directly rubbished Museveni’s crazy man Mutale by telling him that, because power comes from the people, the unpopular NRM government has lost power and resorted to using force to remain in control. Then, to the apparent discomfort of some of the well fed ‘bakungu ba Kabaka’, Mr. Kyanjo said it loud and clear that dictatorships force citizens to resort to violence and that is what may have to happen in Uganda. However, he added that Buganda must seriously look at secession as a way to avoid war.  It is Kyanjo’s words that helped us keep our dignity as Baganda in the face endless apologies by our ‘bakungu’  to those Bakaramajo, Banyoro, Balaalo, Bakiga, Banyarwanda and Bakonjo for being Baganda and special.”

Traitor Bidandi Ssali

“At an intellectual level, probably most offending speaker was Bidandi Ssali, the man who engineered the still birth death of Federo in 1995 with his Decentralization fraud. I believe that Museveni would not have been able to deny Buganda Federo in 1995 were it not for Bidandi Ssali’s rabid hatred for monarchies.  And I agree with my husband that Bidandi Ssali’s current pretention are not because he loves Federo or Buganda but only because, with the current Katikkiro and Mengo cabinet, any Federo Buganda might get would be cosmetic and might drastically weaken the Kabaka.  We think that this man is one of the most treacherous Baganda alive today.”

Empologoma ya Buganda

 “Kabaka Mutebi made all the wait and pain worthwhile. He gave a brief but sweet speech. Ignoring Museveni’s incessant warnings about so called ‘cultural leaders’ getting involved politics, the Lion of Buganda declared that Buganda was nation even before the British colonialists came. That the colonialists could not kill Buganda. And that, even when Obote abolished the kingdoms in 1967, Buganda remained alive.

“Further ignoring Museveni’s Regional Tier nonsense, the stern toned Kabaka reminded everyone that according to the Odoki constitutional committee, over 90% in Buganda and a healthy majority of other parts of Uganda demanded a federal form of government. He challenged those opposed to Federo to explain why they are denying people that basic right. Oh, this man, our Kabaka, is a real leader. Without him, Buganda would have been sold to Museveni a long time ago. Awangaale Ssabasajja! I left the conference feeling OK because, clearly, Ssabasajja and his man Hussein Kyanjo has salvaged our dignity and made the conference worthy much more than the $10 registration we paid each. ”