PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL KIIZA BESIGYE OUGHT TO BE CAREFUL WITH PLEDGES.

Pledges are one thing people cannot forget, they always demand for them.  At this time when the productivity levels of Uganda are what they are, I think what Besigye should emphasize are the reforms his Government hopes to handle in the 1st year.  Out of these, savings are bound to be realized.  For a person seriously Eying Presidency with big chance of getting it if factors remain constant, there is need for the technical team behind him to show the people that they are really technical.  Talk of giving shs 50,000 to the elderly may look easy, but it is huge sums given that the country has a big liability in form of loans to service (both the domestic and international), the productivity where UMEME power is the source cannot be boosted without re-visiting the cost of this power.  Besigye has to tell Ugandans and the international community that he will put in place machinery to handle graft and robbery in Government (including procurement) where some of his big supporters hope to reap.  He has to show that he will address the functioning of the Auditor Generals' which is good at telling Ugandans how much cash has been stolen instead of ensuring that the stealing is not given chance.

It is easy to talk about introducing feeding of pupils and free scholastic materials, however, serious people cannot take him seriously until this is backed by facts.  Computation MUST be there.

When Besigye talks about re-sizing the Parliament, he may succeed in making an amendment, but during his term, all those to be voted will remain for the 5 years.      

All in all, my opinion is that the manifesto needs panel beating by experts, otherwise, it may end up with a lot of hot air.

Besigye’s key election pledges:

    •    Increase teachers salary to a minimum of Shs 400,000 per month for primary school teachers

    •    Introduce feeding of primary and secondary school students and free scholastic materials

    •    Introduce a minimum wage to scale down workers’ exploitation

    •    Introduce an agricultural bank to provide credit to farmers

    •    Increase the agricultural budget to 12 percent

    •    Introduce the tractor hire scheme at sub-county level

    •    Introduce electric trains 

    •    Reinstate presidential term limits and reduce the size of parliament and cabinet

    •    Introduce interest-free students’ loan scheme for university students

    •    Revive the national airline through private- public partnership

    •    Revamp Uganda Development Bank

    •    Transfer Shs 50,000 every month to persons over 65 years.