President Musevenis donations and functionality of government systems.

Busiinge Christopher
In the Month of August 2013, President Museveni visited the Rwenzori region, particularly the districts of !toro"o, #undi$ugyo, %a$arole and veterans were on his zero priority list& As usual, in response to 'people(s re)uests*at every gathering that he addressed, he either gave cash or pledged to give so+ething& ,e gave far+ers in puts li"e coffee seedlings, in other places he gave +oney-real cash to .accos, and gave /01 320 +illions to %iteere 3aste +anage+ent plant in 4ort-Portal& Previously, the president at %aliro district head )uarters in #usoga handed over /01 220 +illions in a sac" to a youth group to which he is a patron& At another function in 5nte$$e, the president gave /01 60 +illion to A"uga$a car wash sacco& 7he list is endless& 8ritics say, in part of the president has literally carried +illions of +oney to give out to people&It is very good to give, $ut the $ig )uestion is, where does the president get all this +oney9 Is it healthy for the president to "eep giving +oney to whoever is as"ing for it9 7hose who support the actions of the President, have argued that, the president gets the +oney fro+ statehouse $udget that is approved $y parlia+ent& 3hile this reasoning +ight pass, it leaves a lot to $e desired& In the first place, the de+ands fro+ the people and leaders are too +any, and will never $e satisfied $y the statehouse $udget or $y the president(s giving& In the recent past foreign donations have $een criticised for creating dependency, and particularly so, the dependency of the +ind& 7he +oney that president Museveni gives at every pu$lic function also creates dependency& 7he president(s actions of donating +oney and agricultural in puts further suggest that, he doesn(t trust the agencies and depart+ents that have $een constitutionally entrusted to respond to the social and econo+ic challenges that /gandans are facing& 7he other argu+ent is that +ost +inistries and depart+ents are +alfunctional, and can not $e trusted& 7here are so+e critics who have argued that, the president is aware that, often resources transferred $y the +inistry of finance for e:a+ple through other +inistries and depart+ents never reaches its target in its original a+ount, thus achieving less i+pact& Argua$ly, it would +ean that, instead of the president ta"ing over the role of line +inistries and depart+ents, he should $e wor"ing towards i+proving their syste+s& 7hat is if only they can $e reha$ilitated& the )uestion is, is this in the interest of the president9 8ritics say , the donation approach of the president is not really new, is part of the sustainance strategy to "eep hi+ in power& ,ow9 If syste+s are capacitated to function well, then he will not $e relevant any +ore& People will $e happy a$out the services, lead a nor+al life and will care less a$out the person of

the president& .o, the tric" is, fail the syste+s, ignore all the corruption, politically de+onise those who don(t perfor+ or even $la+e lac" of perfor+ance on the opposition& .uch situation will naturally "eep relevant and the +essiah ,create a +esiah approach to solving pro$le+s, where the person of the president can present hi+self as the only person with the solution- the savior& 7herefore, it understanda$le for hi+ to traverse the country, listen to people(s grievances and respond $y either giving cash or agricultural in puts& ;$viously, the response of the 'poor people* will $e to 'praise hi+* for his generous response& 7his scenerio reflects the true character of so+e African leaders $oth in the past and present& 3here so+e of the leaders li"e %a+uzo #anda at one ti+e too" over all the functions of govern+ent +inistries and was $asically in charge of everything including chairing ca$inet +eetings where he is the only one present& ;ne wonders why Africa has pro$le+s< #ut, the reason is si+ple,patronage and too +uch love for power& Progressing de+ocracies li"e 0hana and "enya provide the $est e:a+ple of the rest of the African countries, 3hen %i$a"i was president in %enya, +ost of the power was transferred to per+anent secretaries, and he was never too often seen co++issioning all sorts of pro=ects $ut only +a=or ones that re)uired hi+ to do so& 7he future of /ganda, and that of /gandans lay in a govern+ent with functional syste+s and the president +ust provide leadership on getting the+ functional& 7he president and his govern+ent +ust endeavour to get rid of all the $ottlenec"s that disa$le the functionality of agencies and govern+ent depart+ents, and a+ong others he should get rid of corruption&

4or 0od and My 8ountry-0od $less /ganda&

#usiinge is a .ocial 8ritic $ased in 4ort-Portal and head of Infor+ation /nit at the %a$arole Research and Resource 8entre&