Presidential Jet: Ugandans are Right to Question State

Published on 24th December 2007

It will do President Yoweri Museveni, and by extension, African leaders good to learn from the Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Thabo Mbeki (South Africa) experience.

In spite of being popularly elected, Chavez's bid for big government was rejected by the electorate in a hotly contested referendum. Similarly, South Africans allegedly voted in controversial Jacob Zuma as a punishment to Mbeki for his aloofness, rigidity and bid to extend his term against the existing constitution.

Museveni thus ought to carefully take his taxpayers' pulse on matters pertaining their money. Already, there is an outcry over the whooping £79 Million spent to host CHOGM and £27 million used to refurbish the presidential palace. Taxpayers have not forgotten the fact that £15000 of their money was allegedly used to fly his daughter to Germany to give birth. They have not forgotten his 1986 speech that castigated African leaders for flying in executive jets while their citizens languish in poverty. Now, the president intends to spend £24 Million to purchase a presidential jet.

When somebody spends somebody else's money, prudence is thrown to the wind. It is worse when somebody spends someone else' money on yet someone else! African taxpayers ought to be patriotic enough to put their governments to task to deliver on their electoral promises as well as be accountable on use of taxes.

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