President Museveni has asked Ugandans to take lessons from the ethnic violence in Kenya and stop thinking in terms of tribe; but critics insist that actions speak louder than words.

Ironically, the President made the call as NRM celebrated 22 years in power - years in which critics say the ruling party has failed to address imbalances in job distribution which its leaders claim were caused by historical reasons.

With the NRA guerrilla war being started by a largely southern army fighting a largely northern UNLA force, imbalance in political and military leadership positions has been explained away over the last 22 years. Incidentally the NRM's regional voting patterns today tally with this initial set up.

But some NRM leaders from "neglected areas" are beginning to question whether this is merely history or plain sectarianism, on the part of the government. As a result, an investigation has been ordered.

"The [Kenya] violence is a very serious lesson for Africa. It shows that whoever tells you tribal, religious or sectarian issues in modernity is meaningless," Museveni told his audience at Kololo Airstrip. Close to 1,000 people have died in widespread post-election violence in Kenya, with thousands more injured, displaced; property destroyed and business disrupted.

Tribalism allegations

Having recently come under fire inside his own party over unbalanced political appointments, the President was probably referring to unhappy supporters such as Capt. Mike Mukula in his remarks. He might also have been referring to the opposition which has previously made the same claim.

Capt. Mukula, the NRM Vice Chairman for Eastern Uganda, raised eyebrows when he told the President to his face during a closed NRM parliamentary caucus meeting in December that skewed appointments were making the job of marketing NRM in eastern Uganda more difficult.

The President, who was chairing the meeting, disputed the claim, but still ordered an investigation. Prime Minister Prof. Apolo Nsibambi confirmed to The Weekly Observer this week that he had ordered Public Service to compile a list of political appointees showing their tribe, religion and home district. He says the information will be made public.

But the opposition is not letting NRM treat the issue as an internal party matter. Makindye West MP Hajji Hussein Kyanjo says he is planning to raise a motion in Parliament, seeking an investigation.

Commenting on Museveni's Kololo remarks, Mr. Kyanjo told The Weekly Observer that the President ought to be the first student of what favouring one ethnic group against others can do to a nation.

"What I am doing, or Mukula is doing, is to help present the situation because it is happening here systematically. It will be wrong for us, representatives of the people, to keep quiet until what is happening in Kenya befalls us," Kyanjo said on phone from Cairo, Egypt.

Kyanjo, also Shadow Minister for Internal Affairs, added: "I am planning to initiate a motion in Parliament aimed at investigating the entire Public Service recruitment and all the other appointments in the country. Otherwise politically stopping people from debating this matter is recipe for disaster."

Historical reasons

Some NRM functionaries admit a glaring imbalance in the distribution of jobs, especially in the military, blaming it on history whereby the NRA war was started by largely southern guerrillas fighting a largely northern UNLA army.

All the original 27 NRA/M armed fighters were southerners; with about three from the Central region and the rest from Western Uganda.

Does this explain why at the moment 74% of all political appointments are shared between Western Uganda and Central region? Critics argue that 22 years are enough time to address such an imbalance.

During the December NRM caucus meeting, when Mukula, a former minister and member of the ruling party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) raised the matter, Museveni first complained bitterly; he then ordered that a list of all appointments showing district of origin be compiled and presented during the next NRM caucus meeting.

But even before the list could be compiled, NRM Deputy Spokesman Ofwono Opondo and Kibale MP Frank Tumwebaze threw a spanner in the works, with commentaries in newspapers dismissing Mukula's claims.

In his January 8 opinion in The New Vision (See: Mukula wrong on Kivejinja defeat); NRM Ofwono Opondo writes that the "westerners" Mukula alluded to "qualified, applied, and have been competent on their jobs, their ethnicity notwithstanding".

He also reminded Mukula that there were many public bodies led by easterners. In another article titled, 'Are government jobs reserved for the West' in The New Vision on January 13, Kibale MP Tumwebaze argued that "all deserving Ugandans rise to positions of responsibility irrespective of their tribe or religion". He added that if a particular region was dominating jobs at the top, middle or low levels, it was not by government design.

But these arguments don't seem to be satisfying the critics. This week, Members of Parliament on the Commissions and State Enterprises committee put Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) officials to task to explain why majority of their staff hail from one region. The URA officials were eventually ordered to produce a list of all their employees indicating their home districts.

Disturbing data

So what is the Prime Minister likely to find?

According to information obtained from Public Service, the Central region and Western Uganda clearly dominate appointments in all sectors.

Considering members of cabinet, ambassadors, presidential advisers, presidential assistants and chairpersons of commissions, as well as other statutory bodies, Western Uganda has a commanding 42% share of all political appointments. The Central region (Buganda) takes second place with 32%. Thus between themselves, the West and Buganda account for 74% of all appointments to these top offices.

Eastern Uganda is in third position with 14% of the top jobs, while the North (comprising Acholi, Lango, Karamoja and West Nile) has only 9%.

The Cabinet, when the President and Vice President are included, comprises 71 persons. Full cabinet ministers number 28 and 13 of these (43%) are from Western Uganda. The Central region has 8, Eastern Uganda 5, and the North 2 full cabinet ministers.

The West also dominates positions of minister of state with 16 out of 44. It is followed by the East with 11; Central region has 9, while the North trails with 7.

Treated as a whole, President Museveni's cabinet has 29 politicians from Western Uganda which is 40%; 17 from Central (23%); 16 from East (22%), and 9 (12%) from Northern Uganda.

Foreign missions

Of Uganda's 28 ambassadors, the West and Central regions have 11 each, representing 80% between them. Northern Uganda has only two ambassadorial appointments (7%), while the East has three (11%).

As for public enterprises and commissions, there are 75 of them in which government appoints the Managing Director as well as the Board of Directors. For purposes of this report we have only considered the chief executives and the board chairmen, bringing the number of jobs under consideration to 150.

Western Uganda takes the lion's share here with 62 appointments, which represents 41%. The Central region as expected is in second position with 44 jobs (29%). The Eastern region has 23 (15%), while Northern Uganda has 14 (9%).

State House

There are at least 106 presidential advisors and assistants operating under State House and President's Office. Of these, 47 are from Western Uganda, representing 44%. The Central region follows with 41 (38%). That means the West and Central combined account for 85% of the total workforce in State House and President's Office.

Both East and North have nine assistants (or advisors) each, giving each region a mere 8%. Excluding private secretaries deployed under the Vice President's office, State House and President's Office employ 89 people and 44 of these (49%) are from Western Uganda. The Central region comes second with 33, which represents 17%; the North has 9 (10%) and East 6 (9%).

Bukenya's 64%

While some NRM officials like Ofwono Opondo argue that what matters is services reaching the people, not who is in charge, it's clear that appointments at the top have an effect at the bottom. For instance, ministers and other top appointees are known to appoint private assistants and drivers from their home areas, which gives their people more opportunities.

For example, just as 47% of the President's Office and State House officials are from Western Uganda, the Vice President's office is also dominated by individuals from his home region.

In fact, all 4 assistants of the Vice President are from Buganda. In addition, there are at least 17 assistants "attached" to the Office of the VP and out of these 11 (64%) are from Buganda. Three of these "attached" assistants are from the West (17%) and another 3 from the East (17%). None is from northern Uganda.

Population

According to the 2002 Population and Housing Census, the Central region is the most populated of Uganda's four regions. Out of the 24.4 million people (2002), Central region had 6.5 million, followed by Western Uganda with 6.2 million, East with 6.2 million, and the North with 5.3 million.

Uganda's population is currently said to be at least 28.2 million. As these statistics indicate, the distribution of population across regions does not explain away the imbalance.

Lessons

As Kenya has demonstrated, such poor distribution of top jobs plays into the hands of the disadvantaged, who see it as the reason for their predicament.

The unemployed and landless Luo and Kalenjin feel that the Kikuyu have been favoured for too long and a stolen election was just the spark that set this hatred alight. Uganda awaits Prof. Nsibambi's report with anticipation and hope that it will help address the issue.

Original 27 NRA fighters

1 Gen. Yoweri Museveni

2 Gen. Elly Tumwine

3 Brig. Andrew Lutaaya

4 Col. Fred Mwesigye

5 Gen. Paul Kagame

6 Col. Julius Chihande

7 Maj. Gen. Fred Rwigyema

8 Col. Julius Ayine

9 Capt. Arthur Kusasira

10 Sam Magara

11 Nathan Mwine

12 Topher Agaba

13 Andrew Kangaho

14 Jackson Mucunguzi

15 Capt. David Ndayondi

16 Maj. Robert Kibura

17 Tumwebaze Kamwanamwana

18 Col. Reuben Ikondore

19 Paul Kagina

20 Shaban Kashanku

21 Enock Mondo

22 Capt. Mugabi Marachi

23 Capt. Sam Byaruhanga

24 Col. Stanley Muhangi

25 Lt. Guderia Kyakabale

26 Berebera Kyakabale

27 Maj. Frank Kifuba

Director and Managing Director are used to refer to chief executives of

various departments. More direct public service jobs have been left out

because appointment is not always by politicians but Public Service.