Independent challenger Joseph Kizza Kabuleta. Photo: Facebook.
Joseph Kizza Kabuleta, one of the presidential candidates contesting to oust dictator Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni in the 2021 election has accused him of plundering the country’s resources during his three decades in power.
Kabuleta, an independent candidate who does not enjoy the high-profile recognition of others like leading candidate Bobi Wine, blasted Museveni who was campaigning in Uganda’s Karamoja region. The dictator had tweeted: “I feel embarrassed on behalf of the opposition. I was in the Karamoja sub-region, opened a good hotel, commissioned the road from Soroti to Moroto, and the internet linking Moroto to New York by underground cable. I feel sorry people are there talking not appreciating facts…”
Kabuleta, in his response, recalled how the aged dictator—officially he’s listed as 76 but could well be 80—stole Karamoja’s wealth using his wife, Janet Museveni, who was the region’s minister. “Why don’t you tell us about choppers which fly out of Kalamoja so often carrying gold and marble; national resources which your family has personalized. Those are the facts that matter. How you have nationalized (and skyrocketed) Uganda’s debt while personalizing all our resources,” the counter attack from Kabuleta read.
Kabuleta first came to the limelight in Uganda when he was arrested by the security agents from Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) for criticizing Museveni and the Muhoozi Project, a scheme by the dictator to have his son Gen. Muhoozi Kaenerugaba succeed him—back in July 2019. Kabuleta’s manifesto aims at empowering Ugandans and liberating them financially.
It is important to note that Karamoja region is one of the most impoverished regions in Uganda with a poverty rate of more than 70% while in other regions like Ankole, Buganda and Kigezi poverty is as low as 10%.
The ritual of the incumbent in Uganda is that every election year, he commissions shoddy development projects in every region as he campaigns for another term or gallivants about the country showcasing his supposed achievements even as the country is increasingly impoverished. What is amazing is that all these development projects—which are not undertaken—are funded by donors, especially the European Union and USAID, China, and the World Bank. The dictator boasts while the country is saddled with loans at fantastic interest rates.
Uganda is a country yearning for liberation. It is a very beautiful and rich country but for maladministration, poor leadership, and incompetence headed by dictator Museveni and his criminal cartel in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ruling party. A journey around the country—south, central, east, and north—reveals a magnificent country blessed with eye catching sceneries of verdant hills, mountains, lakes, lush vegetation, rivers, and forests. Mineral resources are found in every region.
