KAMPALA- Veteran sports journalist turned city pastor Joseph Kabuleta has declared his intention to run for president in the 2021 elections.
Mr. Kabuleta, who has turned a sharp critic of President Museveni’s regime, said on Wednesday July 1, that he will be running on premises of reclaiming financial liberation of Uganda under his coined tagline — Reclaiming of our Country and Kin (ROCK).
After writing to the Electoral Commission on Wednesday, Mr. Kabuleta said in a statement:
“… in many ways we are heading into a golden era of Uganda’s wealth exploration; a fact that should fill the citizens of this nation with enthusiasm and expectation”.
He added:
“But yet we know, sadly, that with the current leadership in place (or any ‘successor’ they might have in mind) most Ugandans will simply be observers rather than partakers in this wealth distribution”.
Pastor Kabuleta said since the country is endowed with oil, minerals and arable land, he is ready to help create a culture of transparent leadership.
“I am coming with a message of money for the people of Uganda. This is going to be a big movement. There are many people who are going to stand (for presidency) but mine is for the financial liberation of the people,” he said.
“We have many people up there who extremely wealthy and weigh money rather than count it whereas down are people who are desperate. I am here to break that,” he added.
Pastor Kabuleta joins the growing list of presidential contenders such as Charles Rwomushana, Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde and Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi.
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Full Statement below:
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Fellow Ugandans
We are privileged to be born in a country richly endowed by the creator.
Uganda is blessed in the air with a friendly climate and incredible weather; blessed on the ground with half of East Africa’s arable land and blessed beneath the ground with rich extractives which include 27 different minerals spawned across the country in commercially viable quantities, as well as billions of barrels of explored oil with a lot more to be explored.
In the next few years, Uganda will become a proper oil producing nation, churning out in excess of 260,000 barrels of crude per day and the mining industry will take off in earnest. With proper investment, according to a recent World Bank report, the same period could see Uganda’s Tourism sector pull in an annual revenue of $10bn, about three times its current input.
So in many ways we are heading into a golden era of Uganda’s wealth exploration; a fact that should fill the citizens of this nation with enthusiasm and expectation. But yet we know, sadly, that with the current leadership in place (or any ‘successor’ they might have in mind) most Ugandans will simply be observers rather than partakers in this wealth distribution.
There is a ceiling that has been built over the decades that separates the privileged few at the apex of the income pyramid from everyone else, including the middleclass, who for so long have been feeding off the crumbs that fell through. That ceiling, however, becomes less porous every passing year and the people below it become increasingly desperate.
But now we stand up to Reclaim Our Country and Kin (ROCK) and we are here to break that ceiling; to create a system that will guarantee that the wealth of Uganda will belong to all Ugandans, not just a select few who perpetuate themselves in power for that very purpose.
This oppressive regime is only as strong as the fear it imposes on the population. But when the people rise up, as we are doing now, they will encounter an empire that is very weak and crumbling; and is there for the taking. Our desire for change must be stronger than our fear. We have a lot more to gain than we have to lose. Great are the challenges ahead; but greater are the opportunities.
My name is Joseph Kiiza Kabuleta and I have written to the Electoral Commission to inform them that I am offering myself for President of Uganda at the upcoming elections.
A vote for us is a vote for financial liberation; a vote to break the ceiling. That vote will, for every Ugandan, be a first step towards a country of our dreams; one in which government is our ally rather than our tormentor; a country where wealth is fully harnessed and equitably shared. A Uganda where growth will not just be figures flying out of budget speeches, but will be a formidable force in our pockets.
That is a Uganda we all aspire to live in. One we are finally going to live in.
A Uganda where Joseph Kabuleta is your president.
For God And My Country
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JOSEPH K. KABULETA
JULY 1, 2020
