Kampala — MY attention is drawn to George Bush's legacy in the White House.

It is a contentious and controversial legacy. Most commentators can only be for or against Bush's legacy.

Locally many Luganda FM's fondly referred to him as salongo George Walker Bush (father of twins) whose legacy, I now present from an African perspective.

Many would be shocked by my assertion that Bush was Africa's friend. Although he was most likely undermined by his brusque cow-boyish Texan style, evidence illustrates that Bush moved beyond rhetoric and mere public sympathy, regarding our dismal African situation.

For he "walked the talk" of his stated generous policy objectives, that focused on addressing our continent's development challenges.

Bush's main contribution to Africa was through his initiative, US President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). A five-year intervention that channeled $15b to fund HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programmes. Malaria kills more than two million Africans per year.

This funding is directed to 15 countries, 12 of whom are African including Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The non-African countries being Vietnam, Haiti and Guyana. These countries contain 50% of all HIV/AIDs cases in the world.

Before Bush's PEPFAR intervention, only about 50,000 Africans accessed anti retroviral medication for HIV/AIDS.

These were mainly the rich and mighty, as the cost of ARVs was way beyond the means of most Africans.

Then, it was only Botswana that offered free ARVs to its HIV patients. Otherwise, for many in Africa the contraction of HIV is equated to a death sentence! Bush's PEPFAR turned HIV/AIDS from being a death sentence into nearly any other disease. Revolutionary is what this intervention is, as it supplies the HIV/AIDS patients in Africa, Haiti and Vietnam with free ARV medication, enabling many ordinary people to live productive lives. Also arising out of the PEPFAR intervention is the fact that it encouraged wealthy American charities as the Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation, to offer substantial funding, in billions of dollars, to the fight against HIV/AIDS and malaria in Africa.

Economically, the Bush administration more than doubled US aid to Africa and also introduced the less bureaucratic Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). This MCA competitively targets selected African countries, based on a 16-point indicator, an average of half a billion dollars for developmental purposes. Beneficiaries include Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Bush also renewed the African Growth and Opportunity Act, trade that offers African countries preferential access to the US market.

From a security perspective, the Bush administration guaranteed Sudan's comprehensive Peace Agreement, between the supremacist Arab regime in Khartoum and the SPLM/A. Bush also steadfastly applied a "carrot-and-stick" policy in the attempt to resolve the tragic Darfur crisis.

Less successful, but nontheless crucial, was the Bush initiated Immigration Bill.

Bearing in mind the significance of migrant (kyeyo) remittances to Africa, this Bill intended to give legal status to more than 12 million illegal migrants in America, many of whom are Africans.

Bush was also friendly and respectful to President Museveni and Uganda.

The writer is a political analyst