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If it is okay for the Kabaka to hold talks with President Museveni, then it is also okay for him to hold talks with all opposition leaders. He will then have had the opportunity to judge which party thinks like his kingdom, and who his real friends are.
It is imperative that the Kabaka has cultural talks with other stakeholders in the country. It will help Buganda’s position on various issues to be understood by all. Remember what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Also, what one government writes as law can be legally thrown out by the next. Paget Kintu,
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Yusuf Lule was a competent politician Former President Yusuf Lule was not as clueless as some people portray him to be. Lule was a wise man but the world never gave him time to prove himself. His tenure exposes how Uganda People’s Congress was ready to use all the means to get back into power in the post-Idi Amin era. They are partly responsible for his failure as President of Uganda. Lule at the time did not trust Paulo Muwanga because he knew that he was Dr. Apollo Obote’s hatchet man in the UNLF government, and that’s why he moved him from the important Ministry of Internal Affairs and replaced him with a man he could trust, Dr. Andrew Kayiira. UPC wanted to keep northerners as the majority in the army because they knew that power lies in the army in African politics. Museveni, on the other hand, did not like UPC at all but kept it within his reach and that is why he accepted to serve in the UNLF government. Lule wanted to create a balance in the army and so introduced the regional quota recruitment system. UPC did not like this because it would have meant more Baganda and other Western tribes in the army. The truth, therefore, is that Lule did try to take some positive steps within the 68 days to consolidate his presidency but of course never made it without an army of his own. Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba,
UK. Wife inheritance responsible for Africa's HIV spread AIDS Day commemoration and tons of Western money will not suffice unless Africans emerge from their caves and do lots of soul-searching in as far as why the continent is home to over 60% of the global AIDS cases. The debate as to why Africa is the global leader in HIV/AIDS boils down to sub-Saharan primitivity. In Death Stalks a Continent, Johanna McGeary documents how African taboos and primitive cultural practices have fuelled the spread of HIV like wildfire. For example, she says that in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya, widow inheritance is common and a leading factor in the HIV spread. I have read news reports of men lining up to share women after their husbands have been buried. HIV/AIDS statistics for the Kenyan side of the lake region are scary, to say the least. At a more general level, UNAIDS statistics indicate that sub-Saharan Africa, with a mere 12% of the world population, accounts for about two thirds (over 60%) of the global HIV/AIDS total. The explanation for this abnormally disproportionate rate could be found in this primitive culture of sharing women like animals, and inadvertently sharing and spreading HIV! Bosire Mosi,
United States.
Will Clock Tower be fixed by the Queen?
After six months of observation, it has come to my notice that certain public services are in an alarming state. Imagine an international award to Uganda during the 1950s is about to die off! Her Majesty the Queen of England donated the landmark Clock Tower to the people of Kampala and Uganda in general, to mark the good relations between Uganda and England. However, it’s surprising and sad that the clock on the Clock Tower is no longer functioning! Before now, Kampalans used it to tell the time and motorists could estimate the time wasted in the traffic jam at the tower. Who is responsible for fixing and maintaining this iconic landmark? Its present state will surely destroy the image of the government in the eyes of the international community, particularly the British. Should we take it that even something as simple as maintaining the tower requires foreign aid from Her Majesty’s Government? Kayondo Kizito,
Kampala University.
Centenary Bank teller was rude
On the morning of November 12, 2009, I had an encounter with an exceptionally rude teller at Centenary Bank’s Namirembe Road branch. She didn’t only have the courtesy to greet me (as is the custom in other banks) but she shouted at me while pounding on the desk, “counter sign wherever you have crossed!” And to think it was only 9:00a.m.; what would she be like 30 minutes to close of business after a whole day’s stress? Besides, how would she treat clients that are illiterate? I found her whole attitude uncalled for, gratuitous and insolent. This bank already has a bad reputation for its lengthy and time-consuming queues. In modern economies, exceptional customer experience is paramount for service providers to remain on top in a competitive industry such as banking. As a matter of fact, I have been using the bank to pay my university tuition, but after this experience I have no intention of using Centenary Bank’s services for my personal banking needs now or ever. And it’s possible I am not the only one that feels this way about this bank. I would humbly suggest that management invests in equipping tellers with adequate customer care skills, basic manners like greeting, and putting in place a monitoring system that will weed out such tellers like the one I encountered. Egan Tabaro, Ntinda.
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Bad for entrepreneurs to meddle in politics It is disturbing to learn that some of Kampala’s prominent entrepreneurs such as Gordon Wavamunno, Meddie Ssebaggala, Godfrey Kirumira, Sudhir Ruparelia and Umar Kakumba have left their boardrooms and turned into pseudo-politicians. These entrepreneurs were recently seen addressing a political rally to campaign for Amelia Kyambadde, the President’s Principal Private Secretary who has expressed interest in contesting for the Mawokota North parliamentary seat on the NRM party ticket. It’s very dangerous for this country with a private-sector- led economy to see prominent private businessmen meddling in partisan politics. In the long run, this will perpetuate the dreaded corruption in both the public and private sectors and will increase the risk to private businesses. Juma Nsi erikomawa,
Nakawa. What is killing our soldiers? I have tried to digest the President’s remarks at different occasions relating to the deaths of senior soldiers and have developed the feeling that the President, just like myself, is not convinced by the reasons given in post-mortem reports. On the death of Brig. Noble Mayombo, Gen. Museveni ordered a probe into the cause, perhaps holding the conviction that he was ‘forced to meet his creator’. Recently, the President repeated the same talk of probing Cadet Brian Bukenya’s death, observing that something was wrong. Gen. James Kazini met his death in a presumed domestic brawl but it is only the myopic who can be convinced that an unfazed Ms Draru could be the perpetrator of the crime. Isn’t it fishy that Ms Draru retracted her earlier statement that she was acting in self-defence after the General drew his pistol on her when it was later discovered that the General had left his pistol in his leather bag in the car? How possible could it be that Kazini, a cautious and highly trained senior soldier, left his pistol in his car?
The question then is: who is killing our soldiers? Is someone interested in reducing the number of our officers through underhand methods? Moses Kalanzi,
Kampala.
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