For President Yoweri Museveni, who set his government six targets, it could be the year when everything appeared to run out of control. Events rendered hollow his pledge to create jobs through industrialisation, provide more electricity and fuel, lower costs of making phone calls, build and fix roads, improve rail, and make doing business easier.

In all sectors he pledged to fix; from energy, transport, health, business, education, to agriculture, the defining moments of the year were events that he could neither have predicted nor been prepared to deal with them. Museveni’s government looked on helplessly as fuel shortage raged in January, fire killed 20 pupils in Budo Junior School in mid-year, and wanton killings spread and the prices food of and other commodities rose as the year ended.

Yet the defining story of 2008 will be corruption.

Corruption

On November 3, 2008, during a caucus meeting of MPs from Museveni’s NRM party, his wife Janet, openly disagreed with him on a plan to absolve Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and Finance Minister Ezra Suruma of wrong-doing in the scandal of the year: the purchase of 400 acres of undeveloped suburban bush land for a whopping Shs 11 billion. Museveni succeeded in getting his tainted colleagues whitewashed, but that will be the highlight of the year.

From August 1 when The Independent broke the story of the Mbabazi-NSSF land saga, through the probe by Parliament, the story took some bizarre twists. In one case in September, a Kampala socialite one `tycoon’ Justus Kashoma was arrested for alleged attempted fraud at Stanbic Bank in a twist that sucked former Health minister Jim Muhwezi who was the de facto head of Mbabazi inquisitors. But the icing came this December when, in an ironic twist, NSSF MD Chandi Jamwa was fired on orders of Mr Suruma, who he had accused of forcefully peddling the Temangalo deal. Mr Jamwa’s deputy, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera who is Suruma’s business buddy was thrown out as well.

Pundits claim the Temangalo saga could be revisted in 2009, but for now the only challenger to the Temangalo scandal is one by another Museveni aide; Mr Ananias Gweinho Tumukunde, who was arrested in London for stealing Shs 117 million from the government of Uganda in inflated procurement bills. The British jailed and deported Tumukunde. On December 9, the British handed a cheque for the amount to the IGG at a public function in Kampala. Museveni is unshaken. Like he stuck with Mbabazi and Suruma, he is keeping his aide, Tumukunde.

A major event in the corruption saga was the jailing of the former army commander and Museveni favourite Maj. Gen. Kazini on March 27 for purportedly causing a financial loss of Shs 61m to the UPDF. He was sentenced to three years in jail but released shortly after in another queer twist in judicial process.

Roads

On roads, the government ended the year with announcements of several projects; Gayaza; Matugga -Semuto- Kapeka, and pledges to complete the unending ones; Jinja-Bugiri, Masaka-Mbarara, etc. Corruption is so embedded in road construction deals that President Museveni, who is known to maintain a stoic poise on it, on May 4 wrote a complaint to the prime minister and copied in MPs. The president was surprised at the runaway costs of doing roads and ordered a probe.

But it is the Northern Bypass, part of a ring road designed to direct traffic from Kampala city centre, which once again has tongues wagging.

The Shs 90 billion European Union financed Northern Bypass project started in May 2004 and was to end in November 2006. When that deadline was missed, the government vowed to have the road ready by the time the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM) was held in Kampala in November 2007.  2008 is 1AC (One year After CHOGM) and the Northern Bypass is not ready. But the earthmovers continue to roar along its 21km stretch.  Will the road be completed in 2009? At the current pace, the contractors spend three months to do one kilometer!

Meanwhile, the death toll attributed to narrow, badly designed and poorly maintained pot-holed roads continues. In November an MP died and another lost four relatives on one stretch of road where bus accidents claim lives almost daily.

Economy

Museveni scored some early successes in the telecom sector. With the entry of Warid, competition was inched up a notch and user tariffs tumbled. But the national data transmission backbone has not been completed, although Kampala and major towns are connected and a US$75 million loan has been approved.

The power sector did well. Work continues on the Bujagali Power Dam and a major heavy fuel plant in Namanve added 50MW to the grid, Kakira Sugar threw in 12 MW and the drone of generators declined in the city as power outages reduced.

But other investment was shaky. The Hilton Hotel is not ready one year after CHOGM; the Shimon hotel Saudi Prince remains elusive and an Egyptian minister stirred up a storm when he claimed in September that Museveni had given his government 2 million acres of land.

2008 is also the year when Ugandans heard new financial lingo like “pass through inflation” to describe the cause of spiraling rates that hit double digits and closed in on the 20% mark for the first time in decades. “Pass through inflation” apparently refers to irrational inter-jurisdiction spillovers of adverse factors into the Ugandan economy. 

It started with the aftermath of the post-Kenya election violence that disrupted fuel supply to Uganda. A litre of petrol shot from Shs 1,300 to over Shs 10,000 in one day. The fuel prices have remained as high as the number of reasons the fuel companies give for their persistence; from the price of crude oil on the international market to disruptions by truck drivers and decadent oil pipeline. Only one reason for high fuel price has not been mentioned this year: greed. It is unlikely that the economy grew at the projected 7% rate.

Kony

In his New Year 2008 speech, Museveni announced: “… the terrorism that was causing immense suffering … has practically ended”. But despite an avalanche of year-long activity: the signing of a raft of agreements in February, two visits to Kampala by the Government of Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir in March and July and the involvement of indefatigable former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano, warlord Joseph Kony has refused to sign a Final Peace Agreement with Museveni’s government. In dramatic fashion, he missed two high profile signing ceremonies in March and December. There might not be fighting in northern Uganda, but fear of this possibility will remain strong in 2009. In June, reports were rife of imminent attack. Fortunately it did not happen.

Buganda

A major headache for Museveni in 2009 will remain the proposed Land Amendment Bill 1998 that is at the committee stage in parliament and continues to be opposed by the Buganda kingdom headed by Kabaka Ronald Mutebi II.

This year, the stand off between Museveni and Mutebi started with the December 31 reshuffle of the Buganda cabinet by Mutebi. Speculation was that he was bringing in hardliners to battle the Land Bill.  Around the same time, Kabaka Mutebi snubbed Museveni’s invitation to meet prompting Museveni to write a strongly worded public letter to the Kabaka. The Kabaka replied in kind. When Museveni changed tactics and started “sensitization campaigns” in Buganda, the kingdom appointed its own sensitization team.

The tension peaked on July 18 when two Buganda kingdom ministers and the leader of the Buganda sensitization team were arrested “Black Mamba style”, driven to remote parts of the country and locked up in secret cells. Museveni had one demand. He wanted to meet the Kabaka. The Kabaka snubbed him. Defeated, Museveni released the officials. He still wants that meeting.

Meanwhile, he has rallied the kingdom of Bunyoro, carved a “Sabaruuli” kingdom amenable to him from Buganda and, since the King of Busoga kingdom Wako Muloki died on September 1, Museveni has played kingmaker in the eastern Uganda kingdom with mixed fortunes.

Fire and crime

2008 witnessed a spate of murders, starting with the killing of the Pakistani car dealer in February in broad daylight on a lonely road at Makerere University. Nothing has been heard of the case since. From that point, a wave of crime swept through the city, with robbers hitting the offices of major government offices; the Uganda Bureau of Statistics office on May 12.

July witnessed a series of unprecedented and horrific murders to such an extent that images of murder victims became commonplace in newspapers. The year closed with the gruesome murder of Arua MP Akbar Godi’s child bride on December 5.

This year police recorded 14 cases of ritual murder of children. The most reported was that of a 12-year old boy who was murdered in November and whose head and body parts were sold for Shs 350,000. The suspects are in jail. Another 10 cases are in the courts.

In June, balls of fire, screaming crowds, running and ducking flying bullets were the images many saw as police attempted to arrest drug users in a city slum but ended up sparking a major shooting incident that sucked in the army and left an innocent boy and at least two policemen killed.

That same month, on April 11, taxi drivers rioted in a stand off between taxi operators and police in scenes that paralysed the city and left many bleeding.

Before that, in February there had been the Makerere University lecturers strike over the usual demand – money.  The year saw student strikes in several schools a major strike on October 30 by Kenyan students at Makerere University. There was also a truck drivers’ strike over the poor conditions at the Malaba border post parking area, and another of clearing and forwarding agents at the Uganda Revenue Authority office in Kampala in November. 

Rebellion

Politically, Museveni has focused on winning parliamentary by-elections. The year began on a good note for him when the NRM won in Samia-Bugwe North and Labwor MP seats. They floundered a bit when they lost Buikwe South to the Democratic Party in April and Bugweri County to the FDC.

The plot shifted in February when FDC firebrand, Beti Kamya, questioned Museveni’s loyalty to Uganda in an opinion: “Where is Museveni’s heart?” in Daily Monitor. The government paper, Sunday Vision reported: “Museveni to sue Beti Kamya/MP must prove I am not a Ugandan by birth” on February 10. But the year turned around when NRM won Kyaddondo North albeit amidst allegations of rigging.

That apart, Museveni’s party has been rocked by internal dissent over the handling of important national issues including the arrest of Buganda ministers, the Temangalo saga, and by-elections. The rifts have led to the emergence of the so-called “rebel MPs”. By July news media was awash with speculation of a plot to “oust Museveni” hatched by so-called historicals, dissenting NRM members, Ms Janet Museveni or whoever. In August the head of the army felt compelled to warn that the “army will not allow `bad people’ to rule”.  Museveni also responded by tacitly endorsing calls for a “4th Term” as a reflection of his popularity. But when things almost got out of hand, a whip wielding Museveni ordered the dissenters to shut up and toe the line or else.

After scoring a major victory in May when the Constitutional Court ruling  erased the widely held view that members of the public require police permission to publicly demonstrate, the opposition suffered a set-back when police clobbered a woman MP in Owino market on June 7. On June 5 police had brutalized another woman MP in the most humiliating manner that was condemned by a Parliamentary motion. Museveni backed a non-repentant and brutal police. Then the FDC national chairman died, sparking a succession row that is yet to be resolved. An interparty cooperation agreement was snubbed by the DP and remains shaky.

Museveni meets God

As the year ends, many Ugandans trying to evaluate 2008 will recall that at one rally in Rukungiri on October 12, Museveni told his audience that he does not tell lies because “the president is second to God”. So he did not lie about any of his pledges for 2008. But if Museveni were to do a 2008 performance appraisal interview with his boss, God, the scorecard would look something like: Vision: excellent, Charisma: declining, Economy: Not good. Delegation: Zero; Communication: Declining. Recommendation: Mr Museveni needs refresher course in 2009.

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