Mirundi on Mukula, Bukenya’s troubles
Sep 24, 2011
NRM party’s Mike Mukula believes time has come for the President to retire. <i>Saturday Vision</i>’s <b>John Semakula</b> sought out the opinion of the President’s press secretary, Tamale Mirundi, on the matter.
NRM party’s Mike Mukula believes time has come for the President to retire. Saturday Vision’s John Semakula sought out the opinion of the President’s press secretary, Tamale Mirundi, on the matter. They also talked about a myriad of other issues, including the WikiLeaks reports, the proposed giveaway of part of Mabira Forest and the 2016 elections
Your senior, John Nagenda, said President Yoweri
Museveni has become an autocrat. What is your take?
That is Nagenda’s opinion. He has disagreed with the President in the past. My problem with him is that as a senior presidential advisor, it was wrong for him to publicly call his boss a dictator. What he did was like a Sheikh who eats pork and then throws up in a mosque or a married woman who claims she is a virgin.
He referred to you as a Sabayaye (chief lumpen), who hasn’t paid him back the money he lent you.
It is true he helped me. But I do not want to engage in abusive exchange with him. A person who abuses the Pope and then calls his priest a sabayaye is not worth an engagement.
What do you say about the WikiLeaks reports made by Capt. Mike Mukula?
Africans believe that talking to Americans is a big deal. Those who met the Americans are in trouble because they did not think they were discussing secrets. Mukula did not know he would be exposed. It is betrayal. This is not the first time President Museveni is being betrayed. The good thing is that when those who betray him come back, he helps them.
For instance, he once agreed with Mengo on the regional tier, but shortly after, the kingdom changed its position. But has Museveni ever abandoned Mengo? WikiLeaks is helping Museveni to know what other people say about him in private.
Is it true Museveni is grooming his son to take over after him?
Bringing the First Family into the succession talks is an attempt to incite the people against the President. Museveni is more popular than NRM and some people, even in NRM, are looking for ways of reducing this popularity. Museveni cannot impose his choice on NRM.
What do people want? They accused Museveni of sending other people’s sons to the frontline. His son joined the army and now they are complaining.
Mukula believes time has come for the President to retire...
Museveni is an intelligent person who does not need bells to know what to do. Some of the agitators forget that the NRM delegates conference has powers to vote out the President if they feel he can no longer handle.
Secondly, if there are people in NRM who think Museveni is clinging on to power, why don’t they form their own political parties and take him on in 2016, if he comes back?
What is your view on restoring term limits?
There are no term limits in Britain, Italy and Germany. Why do they want to deprive a bright child from sitting an exam? Should Brazil be expelled from the World Cup because they have won many times?
Do you want NRM to abandon Museveni for someone who could be defeated by the opposition? The opposition in Uganda thinks they can only get into power by removing Museveni from the competition, which is peasant thinking. It is the opposition which needs new players in the game.
The President directed that sugar be imported to avert the current crisis. But sugar still costs sh5,000-7,000 per kilo.
The middle men are not Government agents. That is why, even when we get imported sugar, the price remains high. The prices can only go down if the Government uses some of its parastatals to import sugar. Some people are hoarding sugar.
But there are other alternatives. In the 1960’s when I was growing up, sugar was reserved for the visitors, the elderly and the sick. And, by the way, the increasing prices also mean that there are Ugandans who can afford the commodity.
As a Muganda who often attacks Mengo, don’t you fear for the day you will need them when you lose your job?
Ben Kiwanuka was hated by Mengo for taking the same position I am taking today. So he inspired me. That is why I have named one of my children after him.
There are people in Mengo who think we were born to work for them, which I don’t agree with. Lastly, I would like to tell you that I don’t fear anyone. If you slap me, I will draw a gun at you, shoot and kill you.
What do you say about the proposed Mabira giveaway?
By the time the President came to power in 1986, Mabira Forest had been encroached on and part of it had totally been depleted. The President saved the forest from the encroachers by evicting them. Where were those people, the Mengo and Namirembe (Church leaders) who are opposed to the giveaway?
The other people, like Beatrice Anywar, are fighting because they get donor money. If the Government drops the plan to give away part of the forest to Mehta and instead buys land, from which tenants have to be evicted, I will incite the tenants against the Government.
You are quoted to have said presidential advisors are appointed for welfare reasons. Is that true?
I did not say that. I said President Museveni appointed me on welfare grounds. He said he had appointed me so that I may be able to look after my children. But the papers turned it round.
What do you say about the President’s proposal to scrap bail for rioters?
This is a proposal and not a decree as President Amin used to do. When the President makes such a proposal, he sets the ball rolling for the intellectuals to come up with alternatives.
What is your view about the eviction of vendors from the streets in Kampala?
Eviction will not solve the problem. The Government needed to know how and why the vendors came to the streets. Government’s priority should be
Your senior, John Nagenda, said President Yoweri
Museveni has become an autocrat. What is your take?
That is Nagenda’s opinion. He has disagreed with the President in the past. My problem with him is that as a senior presidential advisor, it was wrong for him to publicly call his boss a dictator. What he did was like a Sheikh who eats pork and then throws up in a mosque or a married woman who claims she is a virgin.
He referred to you as a Sabayaye (chief lumpen), who hasn’t paid him back the money he lent you.
It is true he helped me. But I do not want to engage in abusive exchange with him. A person who abuses the Pope and then calls his priest a sabayaye is not worth an engagement.
What do you say about the WikiLeaks reports made by Capt. Mike Mukula?
Africans believe that talking to Americans is a big deal. Those who met the Americans are in trouble because they did not think they were discussing secrets. Mukula did not know he would be exposed. It is betrayal. This is not the first time President Museveni is being betrayed. The good thing is that when those who betray him come back, he helps them.
For instance, he once agreed with Mengo on the regional tier, but shortly after, the kingdom changed its position. But has Museveni ever abandoned Mengo? WikiLeaks is helping Museveni to know what other people say about him in private.
Is it true Museveni is grooming his son to take over after him?
Bringing the First Family into the succession talks is an attempt to incite the people against the President. Museveni is more popular than NRM and some people, even in NRM, are looking for ways of reducing this popularity. Museveni cannot impose his choice on NRM.
What do people want? They accused Museveni of sending other people’s sons to the frontline. His son joined the army and now they are complaining.
Mukula believes time has come for the President to retire...
Museveni is an intelligent person who does not need bells to know what to do. Some of the agitators forget that the NRM delegates conference has powers to vote out the President if they feel he can no longer handle.
Secondly, if there are people in NRM who think Museveni is clinging on to power, why don’t they form their own political parties and take him on in 2016, if he comes back?
What is your view on restoring term limits?
There are no term limits in Britain, Italy and Germany. Why do they want to deprive a bright child from sitting an exam? Should Brazil be expelled from the World Cup because they have won many times?
Do you want NRM to abandon Museveni for someone who could be defeated by the opposition? The opposition in Uganda thinks they can only get into power by removing Museveni from the competition, which is peasant thinking. It is the opposition which needs new players in the game.
The President directed that sugar be imported to avert the current crisis. But sugar still costs sh5,000-7,000 per kilo.
The middle men are not Government agents. That is why, even when we get imported sugar, the price remains high. The prices can only go down if the Government uses some of its parastatals to import sugar. Some people are hoarding sugar.
But there are other alternatives. In the 1960’s when I was growing up, sugar was reserved for the visitors, the elderly and the sick. And, by the way, the increasing prices also mean that there are Ugandans who can afford the commodity.
As a Muganda who often attacks Mengo, don’t you fear for the day you will need them when you lose your job?
Ben Kiwanuka was hated by Mengo for taking the same position I am taking today. So he inspired me. That is why I have named one of my children after him.
There are people in Mengo who think we were born to work for them, which I don’t agree with. Lastly, I would like to tell you that I don’t fear anyone. If you slap me, I will draw a gun at you, shoot and kill you.
What do you say about the proposed Mabira giveaway?
By the time the President came to power in 1986, Mabira Forest had been encroached on and part of it had totally been depleted. The President saved the forest from the encroachers by evicting them. Where were those people, the Mengo and Namirembe (Church leaders) who are opposed to the giveaway?
The other people, like Beatrice Anywar, are fighting because they get donor money. If the Government drops the plan to give away part of the forest to Mehta and instead buys land, from which tenants have to be evicted, I will incite the tenants against the Government.
You are quoted to have said presidential advisors are appointed for welfare reasons. Is that true?
I did not say that. I said President Museveni appointed me on welfare grounds. He said he had appointed me so that I may be able to look after my children. But the papers turned it round.
What do you say about the President’s proposal to scrap bail for rioters?
This is a proposal and not a decree as President Amin used to do. When the President makes such a proposal, he sets the ball rolling for the intellectuals to come up with alternatives.
What is your view about the eviction of vendors from the streets in Kampala?
Eviction will not solve the problem. The Government needed to know how and why the vendors came to the streets. Government’s priority should be