35 HEADS OF STATE TO ATTEND MUSEVENI SWEARING-IN,

The government has announced the confirmation of at least 35 Heads of State for President Museveni’s swearing-in and inauguration scheduled for May 12 at Kololo Independence Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala.

The Minister in-charge of the Presidency, Ms Milly Babalanda, says President Museveni invited “many of his colleagues” from the African continent and other parts of the world, and as of Tuesday, 30 delegations had confirmed their attendance.

“His Excellency, the President also invited 16 of the revolutionary parties across the world and information from the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretariat has indicated that 15 delegations have so far confirmed their attendance,” Ms Babalanda said while addressing journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala on Tuesday.

Mr Museveni of the ruling NRM party won the January 15 presidential election with 7,946,772 votes (71.6%), according to the Electoral Commission (EC). His closest challenger, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, of the National Unity Platform (NUP) got 2,741,238 votes, and Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) came third with 209,039 votes.

The other five contenders – Gen (Rtd) Gregory Mugisha Muntu (Alliance for National Transformation), Frank Bulira (Revolutionary People’s Party), Robert Kasibante (National Peasants Party), Mubarak Munyagwa (Common Man’s Party) and Joseph Mabirizi (Conservative Party) – combined received less votes than the 275,353 invalid ones.

Next week’s swearing-in and inauguration ceremonies mark the formal commencement of President Museveni’s seventh elective term of office.

Article 103 of sub-section 8 of the Constitution “as amended) provides that a person elected president shall assume office within 24 hours after the expiry of the term of the predecessor, while under Section 58 of sub-section 2 of the Presidential Elections Act Cap 179 it is a requirement that before assuming the duties of the Office of the President.

Consequently, the president-elect shall take and subscribe to the oath of allegiance and the presidential oath specified in the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution (as amended).

The NRM Secretary General, Mr Richard Todwong, said “quite a number of heads of states” have been invited and confirmed their attendance, while a number of fraternal political parties around Africa have confirmed attendance, including; the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), and Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

Others are Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) of Tanzania; Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF); National Council for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD) of Burundi; United Democratic Alliance (UDA) of Kenya, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) of South Sudan, among others.

“The Russian federal party is coming, the Communist Party of China is coming, plus all liberation forces around Africa and outside Africa. We are joining forces in solidarity to confirm that this victory is not only for NRM, but it is a victory for the Africans.

According to Ms Babalanda, both ceremonies (swearing-in and inauguration) will begin at 8am and end at 2pm, and will be held under the theme: “Protecting the gains, making a qualitative leap into high middle income status”.

Ms Babalanda also announced thanksgiving prayers to be held throughout the country ahead of May 12, and encouraged all Ugandans to hold them in their respective places of worship, starting in all Mosques on Friday, Seventh Day Adventist Churches on Saturday, and all other (Anglican and Catholic) Churches on Sunday.

A National Organising Committee (NOC) under the stewardship of the Secretary in the Office of the President, Hajj, Yunus Kakande, is spearheading the organisation of the ceremonies, and is comprised of representatives across the government, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and officers from the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretariat.

“The NOC is supervised by the high-level strategic committee of selected Permanent Secretaries chaired by the Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet, Ms Lucy Nakyobe.

Security, traffic

Ms Babalanda says as a standard practice, security agencies have put in place the necessary security measures to secure the Kampala Metropolitan Area and the entire country.

“Security has been heightened and the Uganda Police Force, headed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and heads of the security committee, is being augmented with specialised units like the Anti-Terrorism Unit, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), and Special Forces Command (SFC),” she said, adding that a programme for the traffic flow shall be communicated to the general public in due course.

Also invited are Cabinet ministers, the 11th and incoming (12th) Members of Parliament, civil servants, Uganda’s ambassadors serving the different stations across the world, the NRM, heads of the different structures across the country, members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Uganda, religious leaders, traditional and cultural leaders, and all Ugandans from all walks of life.

Asked why no mention was made regarding inviting Uganda’s Opposition to the fete, Mr Todwong said under the umbrella of Inter Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD), they are finalising the process of invitation.

“When you invite a political party, you don’t invite like you are inviting an individual; it goes through a process. So, under the IPOD umbrella, definitely, we are inviting political parties that have representation in Parliament,” Mr Todwong explained.

Mr Todwong’s assurance comes after FDC President, Eng Patrick Oboi Amuriat, and Alliance for National Transformation Alliance (ANT) coordinator, Ms Alice Alaso, last month, said they would boycott the swearing-in and inauguration ceremonies, citing circumstances under which President Museveni was elected.

They both cited alleged intimidation of voters, disappearance of polling agents on Election Day and militarisation of the electoral process, among other concerns, saying they will not attend an “illegitimate” ceremony.

However, Mr Todwong, said they are open and ready to work with anybody that is willing to come and join hands with them, but as to whether they will come or not, it is upon them, but the invitations will go out.

Mr Todwong was, however, non-committal on how much money will be spent on the swearing-in and inauguration, saying the amount is part of that which was budgeted for by the government, voted for and passed in the budget.

“This money is not something that is new; for every inauguration ceremony of a president, there is always a national budget attached to it, and we are going to confine ourselves within that particular national budget which was already passed, and the record is there in government and in Parliament.

“We have about 35 heads of states and heads of governments that have confirmed attending, and expect close between 30,000 and 40,000 people at Kololo, and this includes national and international guests. We need to cater for them.”