allAfrica.com: Uganda: Museveni Deserves Another 'Kisanja' (Page 1 of 1)

YESTERDAY marked two years since President Yoweri Museveni was sworn into office for yet another term.

If it is true that the best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do it again, then the people of Uganda made their feelings about the son of Kaguta's previous 20 years in office categorically and unequivocally clear, telling him he could have another five years of service. What did we as the National Resistance Movement (NRM) pledge to do and what have we done two years down the road? Not enough space to touch all the sectors, but here are a few pointers.

On the political scene, we have seen the first multiparty Parliament in two decades take off quite vibrantly, and the emergence of strong, credible parties that are stirring and stimulating debate on national issues. The Army is growing in quality and in terms of reflecting national character - the recruitment is now on district quota basis and features highly selective and competitive entry criteria.

Many of the entrants are brilliant university graduates, who are expected to form the bedrock of an intellectual army rather than what we had in the past - huge fellows selected on the basis of mass and muscle, rather than brains - a legacy of colonialism. And while we are seeing an increasing demilitarisation of politics, it is being matched by an increasing politicization of the army with the emphasis that a professional army must be politically empowered, but remain non-partisan.

It is also significant that for the first time in two decades, northern Uganda has enjoyed two years of uninterrupted peace, thanks to Government overtures to the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) that have yielded goodwill and ceasefire agreement.

The trend is that we are seeing increased investment in peace rather than war and slowly life is getting better up north; which has also opened the gateway to South Sudan, now a very important hinterland for our merchandise. Investment in the country has also gone up significantly - because people have confidence in the security and stability in the nation.

In the last four months alone, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) has licensed 88 projects worth

$379.5m, expected to create 8,225 jobs. By the end of 2012, UIA will have created one million new jobs from new investments and reinvestments. This will go a long way into answering unemployment, one of our key challenges.

What is important here is that Ugandans are slowly becoming the leading investors in their own country. Of the 88 projects 19, worth $186,097,000 are locally generated. That is critical because while foreign direct investment will always be mobile depending on factors like profitability and political stability, local investment first and foremost considers not only how to stay in business, but how to continue thriving. When citizens are the lead investors, it also means they are willing to walk the extra mile to ensure that their country is peaceful and stable, because they are key stakeholders. The communication sector is doing great, with Warid Telecom being the newest player on the market. Mobile phone subscription has grown from 2.7 million in 2006 to 3 million now.

The proportion of people living in mud and wattle houses reduced from 25 percent in 2005 to 22 percent in 2007. An educated population is the most sustainable way of developing a nation because it empowers the people to take advantage of a conducive atmosphere by applying their time, talent and resources with precision and productivity. The key target has been providing free basic education - primary and secondary -up to advanced level for everyone.

We have seen the enrolment for primary level shoot from three million in 1997 to seven million today, thanks to the Universal Primary Education (UPE). That has been accompanied by a progressive growth in teachers' salaries from sh150,000 last financial year to sh200,000 now - critical because this marks improved welfare for teachers, which should translate into better delivery of service to children. In gender terms, boys enrolment stands at 50.16 percent while girls are at 49.84 percent.

Some 1,149 schools have registered to provide Universal Secondary Education (USE), of which 794 are government-aided and 355 private. Some 155,176 UPE students with between aggregate four to 28 were enrolled in USE, purely on merit - not just pushed.

The President's pledge to have four public universities in this term of office has been surpassed - we now have Makerere, Mbarara, Gulu, Busitema and Kyambogo. There are also 20 private universities.

Safe water coverage has improved from 41 percent in 2000 to 61 percent by end of 2006. The target is 85 percent by 2011. At least 72 percent of households have a reliable water source within a maximum of one kilometre radius from where they live. The remaining 28 percent have to cover no more than five kilometres maximum to access safe water.

In the health sector immunisation has grown from 41 percent in 2001, to 76 percent in 2004 and now stands at 90 percent. It is commendable that 70 Health Centre IVs have been built and equipped with ambulances and doctors. There are challenges that still lie ahead. The biggest is no doubt the twin problem of pacifying northern Uganda and Karamoja, and embarking on a reconstruction programme that will normalise life initially and gradually translate into human resource and economic development. The President has been cracking the whip on corruption actively and the Inspector General of Government is biting hard. The Anti-corruption Bill before Parliament will give powers to confiscate property of those found guilty.

Clearly, if you take out a copy of the NRM manifesto and scrutinise what has been done, the challenges notwithstanding, if we voted today you can be sure the NRM will score between 65 to 75 percent.

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