Kamya to launch political group
Apr 17, 2009
Rubaga North MP Beti Kamya is planning to launch an organisation to mobilise a block vote in Buganda and ally with a presidential candidate that meets the region’s demands. MOSES MULONDO interviewed her.
Rubaga North MP Beti Kamya is planning to launch an organisation to mobilise a block vote in Buganda and ally with a presidential candidate that meets the region’s demands. MOSES MULONDO interviewed her. Excerpts...
QN: You have been so quiet, what are you cooking?
Have I been quiet? I have been busy in my constituency on the activities of our Lubaga North Development Association (LUNDA) which I started to improve the livelihood of my people. I have secured 300 bursaries for vulnerable children, 100 men have acquired boda bodas, we offer computer and management lessons and we also have a “bank†called LUNDA SACCO.
QN: Will you reconcile with the FDC leadership?
FDC is a closed chapter. I am waiting for my constitutional term with them to end and I quit the party for good.
QN: Doesn’t this confirm the rumour you are forming a party?
ANS: Not now because of constitutional boundaries, but it is possible in the future.
QN: Speculation is rife you are planning to form a pressure group to advance Mengo’s interests...
ANS: It is not only Buganda interests; we are forming a national pressure group that will champion the development of all regions. The major problem of Uganda is the current system of governance.
QN: What is wrong with the current system of governance?
ANS: It over-centralises power over national resources. Our struggle should not be based on who should take leadership but on the best system for equitable and effective service delivery. Whoever takes the helm of government, whether it is (Kizza) Besigye or Abed Bwanika, under the current system, will most likely fall in the same trap as Museveni. However, if he does not, it will be because that person is a good person. But gone are the days when our nation should depend on the goodness of an individual. All we need is an equitable and effective system of governance.
So, our pressure group will be promoting regional rather than party politics. A region has people who communicate to each other effectively, have shared aspirations. This makes it easier to speed up development. When each region focuses on their resources, values, and aspirations, then we can meet in Parliament and agree on give and take. But what is happening today is that resources are siphoned from all regions and given to one person.
QN: Couldn’t you have advocated for the same system through current political parties?
ANS: Political parties are divisive. They make you have Baganda fighting each other based on their political differences instead of having them united with one voice. With the experience of inequitable distribution of resources, people should wake up and fight for their regions instead of parties. For instance, in Parliament, Buganda has 80 MPs, Bunyoro has 14 MPs, Tooro has 11, Lango has 18, Acholi has 13, and Kigezi has 22. Over 60 Buganda MPs are NRM yet when they go to Parliament they represent NRM.
That is why we now want to have MPs who will bargain with government for their regions. People of each region should come together, form a bloc vote and tell governments, if you don’t give us this and that, we shall not support you. Regional MPs will even go ahead and make alliances so that they successfully implement their interests in Parliament.
Some people argue that your concerns are catered for in the current decentralisation
system.
Decentralisation is an extension of an over-centralised government. Decentralisation implements central government policies at regional level. But a federal state has autonomy which the central government cannot overstep.
QN: What activities will your pressure group engage in immediately?
ANS: We shall launch it in less than two months. We shall have workshops to gather people’s views on how it will achieve its objectives. Our main message will be: “Think about the resources in your region, the contribution of your region to the national coffers and demand for a fair share from the national treasury. For instance, Kisoro has Mgahinga and Burundi impenetrable forests which host 50% of the world’s gorillas and 90% of the tourists who come to Uganda come to see these gorillas. A ticket for one person to see these gorillas is $500 (about sh1m). But how much has Kisoro benefited from this? Bunyoro and Acholi are soon to be suppliers of oil, but are they informed of how much it is and will they have a fair share of it? Ankole is the biggest supplier of food, especially matooke, but do they know how much revenue government collects from their food? Our pressure group will mobilise the people in various regions to demand their fair share and to undertake regional development projects using such money.
QN: Who is part of your pressure group?
ANS: That is confidential for now, but within two months, it will be public knowledge. We are many Ugandans from various regions both within and the diaspora. I think 2010 will be a year of fresh ideas which will overrun the usual singing of party slogans and donning party colours.
QN: Are you promoting tribalism and therefore not being nationalistic?
ANS: There is nothing wrong with tribalism. It was just demonised by colonialists to promote their interests. At home they are proudly Scottish and English. We are all tribalists. We are tribalistic in our culture, association; choice of who marries our daughters, those guarding us and who we do business with.
QN: Who are you supporting for Rubaga Division chairperson?
ANS: I won 100% polling stations in my Lubaga North constituency. This means I got votes from people of all parties. In the LUNDA project, we work as people of Lubaga, regardless of one’s political inclinations. For instance, while our publicity secretary Florence Nabukenya is of FDC, our chairman Maxwell Takilambule is DP, the general secretary Sarah Kaddu is NRM. So I will not campaign for anyone, except, I will not support the FDC candidate.
QN: Why are you against FDC?
ANS: FDC cannot handle power because its leaders are vindictive, harsh and intolerant. Besides, they do not have fundamentally different policies from the NRM.
QN: In case the FDC candidate Joyce Ssebugwawo wins, will you work with her?
ANS: Of course, I will work with whoever wins, but the FDC candidate is not my first choice.  Â
QN: So, who should the people of Lubaga vote for?
ANS: The Lubaga people should ignore the politics of slogans, music and colours and focus on issues. They should vote a person with the best ideas. For instance, the major focus of the campaigns is advancing Mengo’s interests, but who is best suited of these candidates to fight for Buganda’s cause? Lubaga has half a million people with 617 schools, 224 health centres and about 200 worship places. The sh4b grant the Government gives to Lubaga cannot be enough for half a million people of an urban setting yet each of the rural small districts of Isingiro, Butaleja, Buko, Lyatonde, and Kalangala with a population of less than 200,000 people get over sh10b in grants. We need a person who will advocate for the turning of Lubaga into a district for a bigger grant. This same status should be accorded to other divisions of Kampala.
QN: You have been so quiet, what are you cooking?
Have I been quiet? I have been busy in my constituency on the activities of our Lubaga North Development Association (LUNDA) which I started to improve the livelihood of my people. I have secured 300 bursaries for vulnerable children, 100 men have acquired boda bodas, we offer computer and management lessons and we also have a “bank†called LUNDA SACCO.
QN: Will you reconcile with the FDC leadership?
FDC is a closed chapter. I am waiting for my constitutional term with them to end and I quit the party for good.
QN: Doesn’t this confirm the rumour you are forming a party?
ANS: Not now because of constitutional boundaries, but it is possible in the future.
QN: Speculation is rife you are planning to form a pressure group to advance Mengo’s interests...
ANS: It is not only Buganda interests; we are forming a national pressure group that will champion the development of all regions. The major problem of Uganda is the current system of governance.
QN: What is wrong with the current system of governance?
ANS: It over-centralises power over national resources. Our struggle should not be based on who should take leadership but on the best system for equitable and effective service delivery. Whoever takes the helm of government, whether it is (Kizza) Besigye or Abed Bwanika, under the current system, will most likely fall in the same trap as Museveni. However, if he does not, it will be because that person is a good person. But gone are the days when our nation should depend on the goodness of an individual. All we need is an equitable and effective system of governance.
So, our pressure group will be promoting regional rather than party politics. A region has people who communicate to each other effectively, have shared aspirations. This makes it easier to speed up development. When each region focuses on their resources, values, and aspirations, then we can meet in Parliament and agree on give and take. But what is happening today is that resources are siphoned from all regions and given to one person.
QN: Couldn’t you have advocated for the same system through current political parties?
ANS: Political parties are divisive. They make you have Baganda fighting each other based on their political differences instead of having them united with one voice. With the experience of inequitable distribution of resources, people should wake up and fight for their regions instead of parties. For instance, in Parliament, Buganda has 80 MPs, Bunyoro has 14 MPs, Tooro has 11, Lango has 18, Acholi has 13, and Kigezi has 22. Over 60 Buganda MPs are NRM yet when they go to Parliament they represent NRM.
That is why we now want to have MPs who will bargain with government for their regions. People of each region should come together, form a bloc vote and tell governments, if you don’t give us this and that, we shall not support you. Regional MPs will even go ahead and make alliances so that they successfully implement their interests in Parliament.
Some people argue that your concerns are catered for in the current decentralisation
system.
Decentralisation is an extension of an over-centralised government. Decentralisation implements central government policies at regional level. But a federal state has autonomy which the central government cannot overstep.
QN: What activities will your pressure group engage in immediately?
ANS: We shall launch it in less than two months. We shall have workshops to gather people’s views on how it will achieve its objectives. Our main message will be: “Think about the resources in your region, the contribution of your region to the national coffers and demand for a fair share from the national treasury. For instance, Kisoro has Mgahinga and Burundi impenetrable forests which host 50% of the world’s gorillas and 90% of the tourists who come to Uganda come to see these gorillas. A ticket for one person to see these gorillas is $500 (about sh1m). But how much has Kisoro benefited from this? Bunyoro and Acholi are soon to be suppliers of oil, but are they informed of how much it is and will they have a fair share of it? Ankole is the biggest supplier of food, especially matooke, but do they know how much revenue government collects from their food? Our pressure group will mobilise the people in various regions to demand their fair share and to undertake regional development projects using such money.
QN: Who is part of your pressure group?
ANS: That is confidential for now, but within two months, it will be public knowledge. We are many Ugandans from various regions both within and the diaspora. I think 2010 will be a year of fresh ideas which will overrun the usual singing of party slogans and donning party colours.
QN: Are you promoting tribalism and therefore not being nationalistic?
ANS: There is nothing wrong with tribalism. It was just demonised by colonialists to promote their interests. At home they are proudly Scottish and English. We are all tribalists. We are tribalistic in our culture, association; choice of who marries our daughters, those guarding us and who we do business with.
QN: Who are you supporting for Rubaga Division chairperson?
ANS: I won 100% polling stations in my Lubaga North constituency. This means I got votes from people of all parties. In the LUNDA project, we work as people of Lubaga, regardless of one’s political inclinations. For instance, while our publicity secretary Florence Nabukenya is of FDC, our chairman Maxwell Takilambule is DP, the general secretary Sarah Kaddu is NRM. So I will not campaign for anyone, except, I will not support the FDC candidate.
QN: Why are you against FDC?
ANS: FDC cannot handle power because its leaders are vindictive, harsh and intolerant. Besides, they do not have fundamentally different policies from the NRM.
QN: In case the FDC candidate Joyce Ssebugwawo wins, will you work with her?
ANS: Of course, I will work with whoever wins, but the FDC candidate is not my first choice.  Â
QN: So, who should the people of Lubaga vote for?
ANS: The Lubaga people should ignore the politics of slogans, music and colours and focus on issues. They should vote a person with the best ideas. For instance, the major focus of the campaigns is advancing Mengo’s interests, but who is best suited of these candidates to fight for Buganda’s cause? Lubaga has half a million people with 617 schools, 224 health centres and about 200 worship places. The sh4b grant the Government gives to Lubaga cannot be enough for half a million people of an urban setting yet each of the rural small districts of Isingiro, Butaleja, Buko, Lyatonde, and Kalangala with a population of less than 200,000 people get over sh10b in grants. We need a person who will advocate for the turning of Lubaga into a district for a bigger grant. This same status should be accorded to other divisions of Kampala.