Oguttu Blasts Museveni Dickens H Okello Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Wafula Oguttu has Tuesday attacked President Museveni The Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Wafula Oguttu has called upon President Yoweri Museveni to wake up from what he describes as “dreamland” and face the reality of challenges facing the nation. Speaking at the LOP’s End of Year Address on Tuesday in Parliament, Oguttu said Museveni risks ending up in his “own created oblivion if he continues pretending” that the country is progressively moving forward when the reality is registering regression in all sectors in the country. Oguttu who surprisingly took over LOP office eight months ago from Nandala Mafabi used the better part of his 30 minutes speech spitting fire against President Museveni who has twice won the presidential race against the main opposition, Forum for Democratic Change candidate Col Kizza Besigye. “Despite the big writing on the wall that things are not good in all sectors, our colleagues in power seem to be totally drunk with that power and are unable or wish not to see the need for reforms and national dialogue,” said Oguttu. “We wish to call upon President Museveni to wake up or come back to the real earth and try seeing sense in listening and dialoguing with his political opponents on the direction and future of this country.” Museveni maintains the country is on a steady path towards growing into a middle income country. The president cites the growth in tax revenues, high literacy levels, expanded private and industrial sector and heavy investments in transport infrastructure as a catalyst for Uganda’s socio-economic transformation. However, Oguttu said Museveni should wait no more lest he end up like the African deposed presidents. “The President seems to be oblivious of the reality around him, lives in self-delusion and behaves and reasons exactly like similar absolute rulers of the recent past such as Gaddafi of Libya, Mubarak of Egypt and Campaore of Burkina Faso who used to reason just like him before their fellow citizens rose up and toppled their regimes,” he added. Museveni’s supporters say the economic conditions are not too bad in Uganda to spark a revolution as it happened in North Africa and recently Burkina Faso. The LOP also alleged that there is a disagreement in the ruling National Resistance Movement party and that should be another cause of worry for Museveni. “At the same time we have seen growing acrimonious struggle for power, turmoil and uncertainty within the ruling Party. It is a cause for worry as the division is said to extend even to the Army, Police and intelligence Agencies.” Oguttu reechoed the absence of any NRM member in the recently concluded convention on electoral reform at Hotel Africana. Gov’t Fires Back When contacted on phone on Tuesday, the minister of Presidency and Kampala Capital City Authority, Frank Tumwebaze dismissed Wafula Oguttu’s remarks as “laughable” and a failure’s last tactic. “The leader of opposition statement is laughable and a black and white sign of a loser resorting to irrelevant methods instead of constructively critiquing and soberly presenting an alternative view,” said Tumwebaze. “A lot of progress has been achieved across the whole country and you heard even opposition members themselves recently saying there is nothing they are going to tell people again to get back to their elective positions since NRM has tremendously performed and the president is always at the forefront of all these,” Tumwebaze added. On the Electoral Reform convention, Tumwebaze repeated that NRM was not invited and also touched on the sleeping of opposition leaders including FDC party president Mugisha Muntu and activists like Bishop Zac Niringiye. “I explicitly made a statement on opposition and CSO`s failure to invite us and I am consistently telling you that they didn’t. I like any other Ugandans also saw the pictures of our opposition leaders and known “activists” seriously sleeping at the convention
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 06:11:32 +0000
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