Things I Would Do If I Were Uganda’s President For Just One Year…

By Simon Nabendeh Wamoto

I am aware that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its entirety. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality, arriving at intelligence-based-decisions.

My government, therefore, would establish a professional lobby/syndicate group of 1000 eminent personalities drawn from public service, retired army officers, teachers, and civil society organisations that would act as a legislative refinery to downsize the current Parliament to 180 MPs.

This is because while the Administration of Parliament Act was introduced to strengthen the institution, Parliament has been eroded by shameful party loyalists and overtaken by coercive instruments (security). Uganda cannot get to the next chapter of growth if she keeps re-reading the past one (chapter).

Parliament is supposed to be a good reflection of the population (society) and must have the teeth with which to bite the corrupt and corruption. This however, needs an upright, uncompromised and disciplined custodian (speaker).

We have seen chaotic, yet with pockets of corrupt Parliamentarians recently. The conclusion is that there is a crisis of confidence and the whole situation appears that Parliament and the public (owners) are both inhabited in two different universes resulting to lost faith in the institution.

For anyone to boast that the National Assembly has any progressive outputs is quite a new and abstract concept. I would therefore need 175 Mainstream Constituency representatives, one retired Army, Police, Prisons, Intelligence, and a PWD, no more affirmative action for women, youth and workers.

The paramount Interventions I intend to effect in the first 180 days of my presidency could start with governance with the process of crucial constitutional amendments as below:

• Expunge Article 1 that stipulates that all power belongs to the people and replace it with “ALL POWER BELONGS TO THE ALMIGHTY GOD WHO IS A CONSUMING FIRE.”
• One is guilty until they prove themselves innocent to eliminate the current shadow boxing in glaring corruption cases.
• Those confirmed guilty to have their right hands c*t off.
• Re-instate the presidential two terms limit and 70 year age limit.

IMMIGRATION/INTERNAL AFFAIRS Like America’s President Elect, Donald Trump, I would strengthen the immigration laws to hinder undeserving strangers/foreigners from entering Uganda and unlawfully accessing jobs in the country. That would avail slightly 4 million jobs for ghetto youth/locals regardless of at what levels in the six (6) months.

TOURISM / ENVIRONMENT/CLIMATE CHANGE

My government would be very serious with planting the four (4) month timber (the magic bamboo) by law in all open spaces, in schools, barracks, rivers/stream banks and in all disaster prone mountainous regions such as Rwenzori and Elgon. Bamboo is reported to have over 16,000 benefits, this would sort out youth unemployment and redundancy.

I would discourage mourning, lamenting and lip-service on the part of my cabinet (executive). This Bamboo greenery would promote Tourism which in turn would provide the biggest catchment area of jobs to the youth. Uganda is endowed with the best scenery, abundant flora and fauna which my government is going to economically and structurally develop into the largest nursery bed of employment to the tune of 6 million job opportunities initially in Culture, Amusement parks, Cable cars, Cleaning services, Religious, Sports, Food, Crafts, Adventure, Imbalu Carnival and Theatre tourism.

My Government would benchmark with two specific countries of successful tourism: The value of conference tourism in the United Kingdom alone, has been estimated to be more than 6.5 billion US dollars (Uganda is almost the same size as United Kingdom).

The Seychelles Islands with rarely a quarter of Uganda’s natural resources except sand beaches enjoy a much higher standard of living than Uganda. Because of the tourist dollar, there is practically no crime in the Island. By the year 2000, the whole Island country had about 120 prisoners mostly drug abusers (traffickers). Corruption which seems to be the worst form of Present-day Insecurity in Uganda is almost non-existent in Seychelles. The Seychelles whether black, white or brown live peacefully in racial harmony.

My government would exploit and seriously fund sports, religious, cultural and entertainment tourism which actually can be the biggest home-based export for Uganda.

My government would reconstruct and heal the environment and climate change challenges respectively using the already available human resource of Kyeyo and security guard returnees to rally the population to plant one billion other friendly tree species in strategic open spaces in all the country.

NATIONAL DEFENCE/NATIONAL SECURITY

Since the country has a Junior Command and Staff College, Senior Command and Staff College and National Defense College, the defense and security concerns of the country are well grounded in experienced hands. In the 365 days of my presidency, I would complete the cycle by establishing a War College (NDC) to finetune the back log of young intellectual Army officers to cleanse them of the current abductions, arbitrary arrests and torture of the tax payers who pay them.

During my 365 days tenure, I would link up with States and Governments in Africa and the world to start exporting retired Senior Army officers to become expatriate trainers in Army colleges and Academies. This would serve as another foreign exchange earner for my government and the country.

I would put more money in the Chieftaincy of Engineering and Logistics of Uganda People’s Defense Forces to enable the Army to construct all central government and local government’s office structures and other infrastructure in the whole country to reduce on the evil, corrupt and unpatriotic contractors and procurement officers.

LAND/LAND PRODUCTS

Land Registry to be expunged. I would force all registry staff into early retirement and review all land titles and ownership in the whole country. Land owners with redundant or under-utilized land would be heavily taxed to provoke them into hard work.

This is to encourage owners to engage in public/private partnerships with either government or with investors so that land is optimally and profitably used to ensure food security and economic production and productivity.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

The established professional lobby/syndicate group of eminent persons would make researched recommendations on how to re-institute partial autonomous Federal/Regional governments with full powers to re-institute graduated tax based on, a humane and harmonious collection legislature.

A system that rewards specific Regional governments that collect the tax well and fastest by the National government. This would keep the redundant youth groups away from the evil scourge of gambling, betting and other crimes.

Simon Nabendeh Wamoto writes from Mbale

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