Movement To Choose Museveni Successor

By Alfred Wasike PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said the Movement should decide his successor. Museveni told an international news conference at the Nakasero State House yesterday, "The Movement has structures to decide that. But it must be a discussed plan, not just someone jumping up and saying I am the one. The Movement should decide on who will succeed the historical leader of the Movement when the right time comes." The press included the CNN, BBC, Reuters, AFP, the Japanese Kyodo News Service, AP, dpa, VOA, National Public Radio of USA, SABC, The East African and others. Museveni condemned pre-election violence including intimidation and said he had rejected vigilante groups. He denied that the army was campaigning for him. "Much of the intimidation has been coming from the opposition. They know they don't have support. We have massive support so we don't need to harass or intimidate anyone." Museveni said some Movementists had called for vigilantes to counter Sebaggala's "gangs" which, he said, he rejected. Nasser Sebaggala is Col Besigye's special campaigner. "I said we cannot have citizen-on-citizen violence. It cannot be sanctioned by me. If the Police is not able, let them be augmented by the army. For me I will use the state to stamp out violence. It's the opposition who want to intimidate and rig the elections," Museveni said. Asked when he planned to leave office, Museveni said, "I would like to leave if there was an over supply of cadres. I have spent 35 years of my life trying to sort out the mess caused by useless leaders. If the citizens don't want me, why should I stay? But I'm not an old man. I am still energetic." He said he would retire to his village to look after his cattle, trees and grandchildren. "I can't leave my people prematurely because I know the problems there are. I want to be sure that it is the people that say 'you go,' not journalists, not donors, not these hungry politicians," he said, causing laughter. Asked about the risk of rigging the election today, Museveni said, "Our answer is mass vigilance. We will fight these people by checking, not by guns. This is the battle we are fighting, not a battle of popularity." He blamed the electoral commission for the controversial voters register. "I wanted to computerise the voters register but it could not be done in time. We are still using primitive manual register," he said. He said Besigye teamed up with opposition elements whom he said the Movement fought in 1985 and 1996. "They are essentially the same old political groups like UPC, DP. Sebaggala was with Amin. They are like the Interahamwe of Rwanda. They are linked to criminal and terrorist organisations. I can't make an alliance with people like Sebaggala," he said. He denied that he was harassing Besigye on health grounds. He said there was no personal animosity with Besigye. He said the matter of pre-election testing for AIDS was discussed but the Cabinet decided to push the matter forward. "But there is evidence that I am the best friend of people with AIDS. I built the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Uganda. It is an ultra-modern facility. There is none like it in Africa. I have saved many people," he said. He said he he had written a book on corruption, highlighting the fact that one impediment to rapid economic development is corruption by state officials. "By 1986, State agencies were not only the epitome of corruption but of the most despicable criminality. We've fought corruption. We need cadres trained to fight embezzlement, bribery, fraud, abuse of office and nepotism. These are not overt crimes. They are covert. I'm not an armchair revolutionary," he argued. Ends