The Former Member of Parliament for Rukiga and Vice Chairman of Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament of Uganda, Jack Crissy Sabiiti has spoken out on Rukiga and national politics. He is presently a lecturer at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
Check below the exclusive interview;
What is your take on the Ukraine- Russia war?
Its against the international law for a sovereign state to be invaded or attacked by another. In any case if Russia feels that Ukraine is part of their country the ’are set systems and procedures Mr. Putin could have used to pursue that matter.
So, Ukraine has to defend its sovereignty and its people, the United Nations and other relevant international authorities and bodies should condemn Russia and even fight its illegal action of invading Ukraine. The war has been disastrous and has caused several deaths and loss of property.
Such wars are in Africa and they are very un-fortunate and detrimental to social economic development.
What do you think about Parish Development Model (PDM)?
The Parish Development Model is good if it can be well implemented. But the problem is lacking technical staff to guide the people on how to utilize the funds given to them. What enterprises are the locals going to engage in? are they well trained? You just get a billion dish it out in Kabale  district and without a plan how the locals will use it and expect much ? The locals need training and if that was done even less money would be given to them and it causes much impact.
But today if you just dish out money to the locals, they will eat and drink it(alcohol).
We have had similar programs such as bonabagagawale, the locals wasted it and many others that failed to work. For example, in Kabale who are the agricultural officers and extension workers, if you do not have them to guide the farmers/people on how to utilize it(funds), it will be wasted also.
Have the aspirants for Rukiga MP seats started to early?
If they must work now, they can start and show themselves to the voters but they need to go slow and just keep it at showing themselves to the voters.
I have seen them in like a fully-fledged campaign as if they are in real campaigns. First of all, it is against the law to start campaigning now but they can consult. The only problem if you operate now as a full campaign, the locals may drain your resources which you need to use later. Even if you have a lot, it can be drained and you get stuck later.
But I can advise them to be strategic. The main place to consult is in Universities and with some elders and opinion leaders in the district where ones/ an aspirant’s plan is shared to those people. And they would be expected to fully roll out a campaign when it a year the voting date.
What are the roles of an MP?
Its representation of the people’s views in Parliament and feedback about their problems(legislation), oversight role is also crucial.
MP are expected to follow up on government projects and funds sent to the constituency to ensure value for money.
MPs should fight poverty, discuss policies such as PDM, scrutinize classified expenditure of government because that is where most monies are lost.
The MPs are very central in the running of government since they also pass the laws and policies upon which government functions/ operates.
What is the problem of today’s politics?
Some youths, the young generation are focused on making money. They are not driven by the desire to offer services to their constituencies. One can win go to Parliament use all his money and even fail to get money to ask for a re-election.
In my time with the late Hon Manzi Tumubwine we were driven by service delivery. He wanted to fight poverty and I wanted to fight the same for our people which we tried to do to our best. And our competition revolved around that not making quick money. Today you will find some one with 8 buildings in Kampala when he has no company and has not drawn a bank loan and you wonder where he got the funds to put up the 8 buildings. The politics must not be driven by just getting votes, no service delivery to the electorate for both the President and all elected leaders.
What are the problems of Rukiga now?
The local governments have no money. The money was taken to central government. Government should at least consider to leave the locally generated revenue in the local governments to help in service delivery. In the mean time the local government have been useless since they have no money to implement government projects.
The second problem is poor roads; government sometime back promised to work on some roads in Rukiga and it was not fulfilled.
The other problem is in health and education sectors where services are very poor. These need to be rescued by good leaders so that they are made functional and last but not least is poverty.
What do you think about the swamps in Kigezi?
Swamps are crucial for good climate and weather management but if people were put in these swamps by the coronial government in 1945 in Kigezi, say Rukiga, Rubanda, and Kabale districts, if government wants to shift them, It must compensate them and with good money to help them move to other settlements where they can grow food live normal lives.
I remember my brother hon Bamwanga was sometime back assigned by President Museveni to remove some locals from the swamps and when the affected people complained to me I told him to plan for proper compensation and the idea was abandoned.
The problem today the rich have jumped to the hills and that is where they have settled destroying trees and the environment.
How would you solve the problem of poverty?
For example, if your using the PDM, let be hinged on something(enterprise) and lets also have zones in Uganda where a district or an area is supported depending on where they have an advantage. Roll out money but after training the locals on how to use it. Deploy technical staff to overseer the process, utilize places such as Kacwekano agricultural centre for research and guidance on technical implementation in agriculture with new technologies and approaches.
It would also be important to fight corruption so that government funds are spent on the right and planned projects not just ending up in pockets of very few people having stolen it.
Will you participate in campaigning for candidates in Rukiga?
Yes, I will move in later to ask the people what they think about the candidates and also advise them on the most capable leader whom they can vote. I retired I am an elder but I can advise the people who to vote but I would decampaign others.
I would off course prefer my FDC candidate although I have not seen one with great potential to win.
But all the candidates are well educated and have the abilities to lead Rukiga. In fact, Rukiga MP seats are virgin and all the candidates one of them can win, they are all well educated even Laston Besigye the one of Kashambya has been in my class at Makerere University where I lecturer, and he is equally bright.
I know all of the aspirants they are my brothers and sons and were part of my campaign team, Alex Kanuga, Kiconco Katabazi, Bish Ndyomugyenyi and even Adison Kakuru. And I am happy for them and will pray for them, do you know there are some constituencies in Uganda where they may not have good MP aspirants/candidates? I am happy for Rukiga.
The one with a great personality will win.
You had issues with Mr. Kabafuzaki, what was his problem?
The former MP for Rukiga Kabafuzaki tried to bring the politics of religion which we had discouraged in Rukiga district, it was very bad and later , he was voted out because that is divisive and not good for our people.
Have you met the President to share with him your views?
Yes, we met the President, 15 elders from western Uganda sometime back. I remember we were with Amanya Mushega and Rukikaire among others he called us to ask about our views of enhancing service delivery.
We told him that the government should be governed by good policies which are crafted by experts whom we have in Uganda. We also advised him to also deploy them (experts and technical people) to implement the good policies.
So, what has not worked in Uganda?
In Uganda we have failed to have systems, we do not have the right policies which are researched on and well implemented. It is more less a one man’s show. We told the President to have a well-structured government system with good policies and to have them well implemented by experts. Jobs in government must be held by professionals and we have them, lets utilize them to cause change. When I used to work in public service, I was paid little money but we worked and moved to several places in the country such as Guru, we were not driven by making quick money. We need the right people in government jobs to move the economy and drive poverty out of Uganda and ensure good governance.
