By M. Suleman

10^th Dec 2012: Judging from the level of public debate, there is no doubt that the cutting of donor aid to Uganda has been welcomed by many Ugandans.

Many political analysts and activists have rightly argued that this is an action that was long overdue – because corruption in Uganda is not new – it now malignant.  Interesting as it is, the current debate is missing a few important points.

For a start, the discussion is concentrated on the theft of funds meant for Northern Uganda.  That is not fair.  The issue of corruption is not merely about Northern Uganda.  It is about the systematic and well organized looting of the country since Museveni came to power.

The building blocks for the current thieving spree were laid by Museveni himself.  When he captured power, he found that many of the professional civil servants who were in office at the time were unwilling to facilitate or participate in the looting.

Consequently, he launched a campaign to reshuffle the civil service – a catastrophic process that eventually saw great men and women of honour and integrity replaced by unscrupulous money-hungry NRM cadres.  These are the NRM cadres who now fast-track the ongoing looting.

Apart from the NRM cadres, many of their family members and friends have also been planted in “rich” ministries and other government departments.

For example, Janet Museveni, who controversially got her Degree in Education without doing the mandatory “Teaching Practice” only the other day, and had never held any public office, is now a Minister.

Museveni’s son was fast tracked to his current rank of Brigadier in the army.  Of course, it goes without saying that even without any evidence implicating Museveni’s son Muhoozi in corruption, in his father’s Uganda, the higher you climb, the more access you get to loot the country.

Museveni’s government is inherently corrupt. Everywhere in the world, governance is about balancing the budget, the ability of the government to provide services to the people, and grow the economy using the available resources.

At first, Museveni defended his jumbo size government by saying he needed to create a “broad-based” governing coalition to engender national cohesion and reconciliation.  It was very attractive rhetoric, and the donor community voted to support it with budgetary support for the government.

For the thieving NRM syndicate, it was like ‘Father Christmas’ had come early.  They did not only swindle the initial donor funds, they expanded the corruption network even more through political patronage.

For example, as Ugandans plead with Museveni to reduce the size of government, he responds by creating more districts, more Ministries, more army officers, more Parliamentarians, etc.  The waste has created an immeasurable burden on taxpayer’s money.

Thirdly, while donors think they are funding programmes to improve healthcare, fight corruption, increase rural incomes, support peace and security, support democratic governance, Museveni’s government diverts the money to fund its political survival activities.

The donors know all this.  Strangely, although not surprisingly, they still see Museveni as one of their best partners on the African continent.  The solution to Uganda’s problems therefore to do not lie with the so-called donors – it lies us Ugandan.

We are the biggest stakeholders in Uganda PLC.  That means it’s we the true sons and daughters of Uganda who have the patriotic duty to uproot Museveni’s unpatriotic and corrupt tyranny.  END: Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates

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