Opposition slams big Cabinet
By Joyce Namutebi, Charles Ariko and Mariam Nalunkuuma

June 2, 2006 – (The New Vision) Opposition politicians have criticised President Yoweri Museveni’s new cabinet, saying it is too big and a waste of taxpayers’ money. In separate interviews carried out yesterday, they also said the ministers should have been given posts in line with their professions. The women complained that they had been marginalised in the new cabinet.

“The size of this cabinet is too big. We think it should be smaller,” DP President General John Ssebaana said. He said Kenya, with a population of about 34 million people, has 20 ministers, while America, which is the richest country in the world, has only 15 ministers. “They have come to waste taxpayers’ money yet we do not have the money,” he said, noting that Uganda gets money from taxes on manufactured goods, which are becoming scarce for lack of electricity. Ssebaana questioned the rationale of having many ministers yet whenever there is a problem, everybody runs to the president who does all the work. He said in addition to the big cabinet, presidential advisers earn salaries similar to those of ministers. He warned Ugandans against demanding ministers from their areas, arguing that ministers serve the whole country.

UPC Secretary General Peter Walubiri said, “There is nothing new in the Cabinet announced by President Museveni. It is the same old stale wine packed in the same old bottles. What do you expect from my elder Kirunda Kivejinja, who was involved in a fuel scandal a few years ago? At his age, he should be in the village playing with his grand-children. As for my former lecturer, Prof. Khiddu Makubuya, he has failed to run the ministry of Justice. They can’t even prosecute cases. That is why they have to spend sh2.5b to hire private lawyers to prosecute one single case (against FDC party leader Kiiza Besigye).” He said most of the ministers were NRM functionaries who had been within the government for the last 20 years.

CP leader John Ken Lukyamuzi said the deployment of Crispus Kiyonga in defence was a waste. “We are surprised that president Museveni has insisted on having his brother Salim Saleh in the finance sector. But we are happy Maria Mutagamba has been elevated to a senior position in cabinet.”

The National Association of Women’s Organisations Secretary General, Peace Kayamureku, said women were marginalised in the new cabinet. “The decrease in the number of women in positions of responsibility is discouraging women in the lower levels,” she said. Opposition leader Prof. Ogenga Latigo said Amama Mbabazi’s deployment was not a demotion. “Some people think he has be relegated but a minister for security is a highly strategic position and controls unclassified expenditures of government and will tell what is likely to happen,” he said. He said Saleh’s micro-finance portfolio reflects Museveni’s commitment to eradicate rural poverty.

From: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/501863