Ronald Amanyire
@amronaldo • 4,107 subscribers
Principal Road Safety Officer, MoWT. Views expressed here are mine and not of MoWT. Exercising my right in Article 29(1) (b) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda.
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I am ashamed to hold the title of Principal Road Safety Officer at the Ministry of Works and Transport. I am ashamed that every time a road crash happens, I feel the need to comment because I know it could have been prevented. I am ashamed that, no matter how many Ugandans die on our roads, I seem to be the only one willing to say openly that it is the responsibility of government to stop this carnage — a government I work for. If this were another country, I would have resigned long ago. Not because I am incapable of doing my job, but because I have not been given the funds, tools, or institutional support to do it. But this is Uganda, where even resignation carries the risk of losing the basic means of survival. What enrages me most is that the excuse of “lack of funding” is false. Completely false. As we began budgeting for FY 2019/20, I drafted a five‑year project to reverse road carnage. It required UGX 20 billion per year. At the last minute of the budgeting process, UGX 30 billion was approved by Ministry of Finance, under the belief that it was for road safety. They approved it knowing the intention. They were wrong. And instead of fixing the mistake, I was hounded — and continue to be hounded — while the funds were diverted to things that do nothing to save lives. Someone recently sent me that TikTok video. It reminded me of one of the core components of the project: improving driver testing. The plan was to automate the entire process. A theory test with randomised questions from a national question bank would be first for any applicant after going through any driving school. A system where once a candidate registered, every testing station — Busia, Jinja, Arua, Gulu, Mbarara, Masaka, Kabale, Fort Portal, Hoima — could see her/his results instantly. No shortcuts. No piles of paper. No manipulation. If she failed, the system would show it everywhere. Instead, the initial funding became the foundation for spending over UGX 100 billion on motor vehicle registration — and it seems the system is now worse than before. I reported this misuse to the Director Criminal Investigations Directorate-UPF, who as part of the investigation requested a forensic audit by Office of the Auditor General Uganda. I even asked to be summoned by the audit team, as shown in the screenshots. I wanted them to understand my motivation clearly. But the OAG team told me their mandate was only to confirm whether the money was spent “as per contract,” not whether it served the original purpose. They promised a value‑for‑money audit to determine whether taking motor vehicle registration from Uganda Revenue Authority was justified or simply a convenient way to siphon funds. Since then, everything has gone silent.
Ronald Amanyire41,727 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
Why are we staging this as though President Museveni is being sworn in for the very first time? Like some grand liberation from imaginary colonial masters? Strip away the theatrics and the truth is this spectacle is nothing more than a cash‑grab. The real headline isn’t the ceremony, it’s the billions that will vanish into the pockets of those orchestrating it. Whenever the President takes center stage at a national ceremony, Uganda is treated to the same grotesque financial theatre: prices rigged sky‑high through shameless direct procurement. It’s not economics; it’s organized theft. In any rational market, bulk buying drives costs down. Here, government “negotiations” magically push them upward which is a perverse Ugandan anomaly that mocks logic and law alike. It’s a deliberate racket: suppliers and officials collude, inflate invoices, and carve up the loot. Later, when audits inevitably expose the absurd figures, the country is fed the ritual of fake outrage fiery debates in Parliament and media, headlines screaming scandal. But accountability never arrives. Why? Because the stolen billions are recycled to bribe silence. Media houses, MPs, police, even auditors, all get their cut. The scandal doesn’t explode; it is smothered in cash. Uganda’s direct procurement circus is a system perfected for plunder.
Ronald Amanyire16,465 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
This audio may be what prompted the so‑called “commandos” to raid Bobi Wine’s home. In the recording, she explains that the threats made earlier were carried out. Al Jazeera English posted it on Instagram last evening, and it is now pinned. Her account of what happened paints a disturbing picture: dozens of large, intoxicated masked men storming her home, violating her privacy in ways many of us have never imagined possible. For four decades, the NRM has justified its rule on the foundation of peace and a disciplined army. Yet what we are witnessing now suggests that these pillars may be crumbling. How can four men sit on one woman? And what does it say that eight policemen who had effectively kept her under house arrest simply stood by and did nothing? The growing obsession with masks among security personnel is deeply troubling. Who are these people, and why are they hiding their identities? It is likely they were not even in uniform. To make matters worse, no security agency has issued any statement. One of the most disturbing comments in her account is the reference to “the same tribe.” I am not a Munyankore, though many assume I am. Why are we so determined to fuel hatred toward Westerners? How can we fail to see the long‑term danger this creates? Have we not already inflicted enough harm on this country through the money that has been stolen? What remains now? If peace is gone, and the discipline that once defined the army has collapsed, then the virtues Museveni instilled in the NRA have been completely eroded. We are coming full circle, and it is a tragedy. In moments like this, perhaps Gen. Salim Saleh should intervene to locate Bobi Wine and have a talk with him. Not arrest, but find. He has, in the past, exercised his influence in a manner that prioritizes safety. He is also someone President Museveni trusts.
Ronald Amanyire31,822 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere educating African about the Banyamulenge are at the heart of the M23 War.
Ronald Amanyire24,235 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
Those who have followed my long-standing criticism of corruption in government may find my assessment of Bobi Wine’s recent actions anticlimactic. His claim that he is “in hiding” appears less like a spontaneous reaction and more like a pre‑planned accountability exercise aimed at reassuring his sponsors at home and abroad. From the initial false Sky News report to the series of foreign media interviews, the pattern suggests a coordinated narrative. It is also a sharp departure from his earlier posture as the most popular leader whose legitimacy supposedly comes from “the population.” A population which he cannot control. He further claimed that he escaped from his home after it had already been surrounded, using his “skills.” If that is true, then he fled while leaving behind his wife and children. Why didn’t he leave with them? They are not many. My view is that he likely never returned home after casting his vote—or if he did, it was only briefly. The entire performance strikes me as futile if he genuinely seeks regime change. It comes across as cowardly, poorly conceived, and designed to attract attention and create tension. In a few weeks, the country will move on, and he will have accounted for whatever funds were entrusted to him. He also appears to misunderstand the nature of peaceful protests capable of toppling a government. Does he believe that raising flags or staying at home can unseat any government—let alone the deeply entrenched NRM? By now he should know that sustained peaceful protests in Uganda are nearly impossible due to actions from both demonstrators and security forces. Admittedly, security forces bear greater responsibility because they wield weapons, but the reality remains: the environment does not allow for the kind of mass, disciplined, nonviolent mobilization that could force political change. In several interviews, he insists he would win a “free and fair” election, and like many opposition politicians, he cites the internet shutdown as proof that the election was not free and fair. But what exactly did they intend to use the internet for? Were there no credible elections before the digital age? According to publicly available data, Uganda’s internet penetration is around 37%, and social media usage is roughly 4.7%. Such numbers suggest that a small, highly connected minority can create disproportionate noise and potentially destabilize the broader population. If their agents were at the polling stations, they should have been able to transmit their data using SMS texts since there are cheap bundles for sms messaging. If he does not trust the Judiciary—as he has repeatedly stated—what was his plan in the event of losing the election? It seems clear that his strategy was always to disappear into “hiding” and then urge Ugandans to take to the streets. I do not see such mobilization happening at a scale or duration capable of forcing regime change. And if it does happen, people will die on his behalf. For comparison, Kiiza Besigye (arguably the fiercest challenger President Museveni has ever faced) is sadly in prison and in poor health, yet he never resorted to such theatrics. He was repeatedly arrested, beaten, or kidnapped, and could easily have been killed and dismissed as collateral damage. But he consistently showed up and led from the front because he genuinely believed he can in the cause.
Ronald Amanyire25,832 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
Stop misleading Ugandans. There is no system, anywhere in the world, that truly detects traffic violations. At best, systems can capture them, and even that function is riddled with limitations. Your technology cannot capture every motorcycle registration number plate at a signaled junction, even if they linger there for an hour. The sheer volume overwhelms the system. As for lane violations: detection is impossible when most roads are unmarked. Even where markings exist, they’re either non-reflective or buried under dust. This entire charade must end—it needs a complete overhaul. Your technical drawings posted here for basic procedures smack of desperation. If transparency matters, publish clear, accessible steps for acquiring the so-called “Digital Number Plates”—that was the core of your contractual mandate. Traffic enforcement should never be privatized. It undermines legality and opens the door to extortion. If your goal is truly road safety, stop hiding speed cameras. Instead, place signs clearly where they’re installed so drivers can adjust and comply. Concealed cameras aimed at maximizing capturing violations for profit don’t enhance road safety, they erode trust. You continue running out of blanks for embossing motor vehicle registration plates, exposing a basic supply chain failure on your part. You don’t manufacture the plates, I know this, you import them and emboss locally. If this simple process is difficult for you, how can you credibly handle the complex demands of traffic enforcement? This misguided approach risks undermining road safety, as government officials are misled into believing progress is being made when, in reality, there’s little to show. That illusion is dangerous, and must be challenged. Parliament of Uganda Uganda Police Force Road Safety Advocacy Coalition Uganda 🇺🇬 Joseph Beyanga Joe Walker Percy B Mulamba Munwankyo Brian 4RoadSafety TofiiraKuKkubo initiatives Ministry of Works & Transport Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Ministry of Finance Parliament Watch NTV UGANDA NBS Television UBC UGANDA Percy B Mulamba Munwankyo ULGA Government of Uganda And what is the President talking about here?
Ronald Amanyire14,319 görüntüleme • 11 ay önce
Daha fazla içerik yok.