The leader of National Unity Platform (NUP), Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine,has said that for decades under President Museveni’s rule, nepotism has been the unwritten criteria upon which citizens are hired or appointed to public offices.
Kyagulanyi made the remarks while commenting on Museveni’s recent statement where he promised to employ sons and daughters of the rich to curb corruption in the country.
Kyagulanyi said that Museveni’s revelation is a fact already well-known to the public, adding that this is what has been going on for a very long time.
"Museveni has for long personalised our country and runs it as though it were his personal home or property. Out of public resources, Gen. Museveni and his inner circle have built a private empire to enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary citizens, the vast majority of whom are poor," he said in a statement.
He stated that most of the "descendants" the president intends to deploy in public offices come from those families that have gained wealth through corruption or through opportunities denied to the rest of the citizens.
"He feigns ignorance about the fact that corruption is rampant today largely because of his leadership's policy of patting the back of government officials implicated in corruption scandals. After all, it is usually his relatives and associates implicated as we saw in the 1997 junk choppers' saga," he said.
Kyagulanyi noted that Museveni has been using the army to brutalise local fishermen claiming that the fishing industry is now firmly controlled by his family and business associates.
"His relatives are running a monopoly of sorts in the most profitable businesses. They have amassed wealth, grabbed poor people's land, and are now in an advanced stage of establishing an empire,"he noted
He claimed that key offices in ministries and public bodies are populated by Museveni's inner circle.
Kyagulanyi said during the recent elections Museveni outdid himself by bribing some of he NUP supporters to turn against him in exchange for material gain.
He explained such happens when a ruler gathers absolute power around himself.
"Our task is not yet complete. Gen. Museveni’s statements spell doom for our nation. The poor people who are the vast majority must rise up and defend themselves from a small, unpopular clique that is overfed and wealthy at the expense of all citizens," he said.
