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Ugandans to the Rescue©
 
(Note: the following document is a working draft of the aims and objectives ofUgandans to the Rescue ©. It is continuously being edited and revised to more adequately reflect the cumulative values of all Ugandans. We welcome your suggestions on how to improve it.)
 
 
Foreword
Ugandans to the Rescue ©  is a new organization born of the necessity for change that requires the elimination of the scourge of unbridled dictatorship of the past 25 years in which disrespect for human life and fundamental rights, freedom, abuse of power and rampant corruption, disregard for the law by the custodians of the rule of law, regional marginalization and indifference to the plights of the poor and aggression against neighboring countries have been the norm.
 
In defense of liberty, rights, freedom to life and property, equal opportunity for all, and in patriotic solidarity with the poverty-stricken and oppressed people in our country, we patriotic Ugandans present to the people of our country the vision for a new Uganda, a vision that reflects the dreams, aspirations and wishes of all Ugandans who are suffering under the present one-man vision. Our collective vision is of a country with a system of governance that
 
(1) promotes honesty, accountability, responsibility, and mutual respect for all the people of Uganda;
 
(2) promotes and protects the rights and freedom of all citizens irrespective of nationality, gender, religion, political affiliation and social status;
 
(3) is just and equitable; and (4) promotes and protects the freedom to organize, assemble, associate, and participate in the governance of our country.
 
In pursuit of the above vision, we call upon all patriots to rise up and use all means available to remove the dictatorship of Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Movement/Army (NRM/A) from power and put an end to disrespect for human life, fundamental rights and freedom, abuse of power and rampant corruption, disregard for the law by custodians of national laws,  regional marginalization and indifference to the plights of the poor and aggression against neighboring countries.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © is the embodiment of The People's Struggle to free themselves from 25 years of the tyrannical rule of the NRM/A regime. Ugandans to the Rescue © is an organization with ideas and ideals but not inflexible ideology. What counts is what will work for all the people of Uganda. Unlike the NRM/A which made a profession out of lying to the people about its so-called fundamental change as presented in its 10-point Programme, Ugandans to the Rescue © will be honest and upfront with the people about the successes and failures of its programs.
 
We believe in Uganda, a great country with a great diversity of people, from North to South, East to West. While we know that all people of Uganda are a great people, it is a fact that the vast majority of them have over the years, especially the last 25 years under the misrule of Lt. General Yoweri Museveni and his NRM/A dictatorship, been set against each other through manipulation of tribal affiliations, social stati, memberships in political parties, religious beliefs, language and culture.
 
In contrast, we aspire to creatively harness our diversity through representative, participatory, and responsive political system that will restore faith and confidence in and respect for the government which have all eroded  under the present NRM/A regime.
Ugandans to the Rescue © seeks to re-create a Uganda that is united in diversity; with shared values and purpose; where merit comes before privilege; run for the many, not for the few; strong and sure of itself at home and at peace with its neighbors
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © aspires to create a Uganda that is confident, certain of its future, is neither fearful of its neighbours nor heavily dependent on the military and violence to settle both domestic and regional differences; is determined to re-orient Uganda's military towards a truly national institution that transcends partisan internal politics, regional, ethnic, religious or any other sub-grouping; and will deploy the military outside our national borders--and only under multilateral and regional consensus.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © is committed and bound by international humanitarian laws and norms, and will ensure that these apply comprehensively in situations of internal displacements of large populations of our citizens. We will aspire to avoid at all costs any loss of life, property, and human dignity, in contrast to the current government in its counterinsurgency strategies in northern and eastern Uganda in the last 25 years.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © seeks to renew our country's faith in the ability of its government, and to use new politics to deliver this new Uganda. It will achieve this by making a set of important promises by which we want to live. These are set out as statements of our vision for the new Uganda, for which we commit to the people of Uganda to hold us accountable for their achievement as the minimum measure of our integrity.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © commits to renewing faith in politics through a government that will govern in the interest of all citizens, especially the broad majority of people who want better for themselves and their families but have been shortchanged by those who shoot their ways into power, promise heaven on earth for the ordinary people, but set about lining their own pockets and those of their cronies while the majority of our people wallow in abject poverty and deprivation. In short, the dreams for Uhuru have become terrifying nightmares from which Ugandans to the Rescue © could not come any sooner to awake and rescue them.
 
Above all, Ugandans to the Rescue © commits to bringing about governance that supports our people particularly the poor and the marginalized, so that they are in  better positions to face the tough challenges of environmental change, of local and world economy and changed society in which we must live. In other words, a Uganda which we all feel a part of, in which future we all have a stake and therefore a say in how it is governed.
 
Introduction
 
A new beginning.
Uganda has had an appalling recent history of human rights violations and rule by force of arms. The National Resistance Army (NRA) of Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni seized power in January 1986 after five years of bloody guerilla war centered in the Luweero triangle. It transformed itself into a political "movement," called itself the National Resistance Movement (NRM), and promised to restore respect for human rights and establish democratic rule. Since then, it has done the exact opposite.
 
On their first day in office, they specifically proclaimed that the "National Resistance Movement government shall be an interim government and shall hold office for a period not exceeding four years from the date of this proclamation" (Legal Notice No. 1, 26 January 1986). Instead, the NRM government has systematically used a mixture of military force, administrative manipulation of elections, and legislative intrigues to ensure perpetual monopoly of power and exclusion of Ugandans with contrary political views from participating in the governing of their country.
 
Political repression, victimization, persistent violation of human rights, institutionalized corruption, contempt for transparency and accountability, tribalism and systematic pillaging of public assets by the NRM government and military officials have forced patriotic Ugandans to struggle for their rights over the years. The NRM government has often responded to such struggles with massive and indeed excessive military brutality, a response that has caused hideous loss of innocent lives and extensive devastation of large parts of the country. Innocent civilians living in the affected areas have thus suffered inhuman treatment and unimaginable anguish.
 
Persistent violations of human rights, institutionalized corruption, contempt for transparency and accountability, tribalism, systematic pillaging of public assets, land grabbing, and abuse of traditional leaders for political gains have continued unabated since January 1986. The time is ripe for change, the building of a new Uganda in which the military is not used for perpetuating the rule by one individual or political group as currently is the case. This is why patriotic Ugandans have come together and embraced Ugandans to the Rescue © as the vehicle to bring about change and create a new Uganda. The goal of creating a new Uganda means more than just changing the government and its leaders. It is to set Ugandan political life on a new course for the future.
 
It is hardly surprising  that people are cynical about politics and distrustful of political promises. There have been few more gross breaches of faith than when the NRM/A under Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni signed the Nairobi Peace Agreement in 1985 but continued his armed struggle until he took over power by force. After assuming power, Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni promised that the NRM/A government would be an interim administration that would stay in power for only four years. It has been 25 years and counting.
 
Lt. Gen. Museveni's broken promises taint all politics. That is why we have made it our guiding rule not to promise what we cannot deliver; and to deliver what we promise. What follows is not the politics of dishonesty, manipulation, division, revenge, and marginalization that has characterized the NRM/A regime. We aim to put behind us the bitter tribal political struggles perpetuated by the NRM/A that have torn our country apart for far too long.
 
Many of these NRM/A-induced conflicts will have no relevance whatsoever to a new Uganda governed through truly representative and responsible governmental structures. It is time for our country to move on and move forward, guided by a collective vision of the best that Uganda can be.
 
Preamble
 
We, the concerned Ugandan compatriots,
         United by our common citizenship and joined by common causes for liberty, fundamental rights and freedom, and in patriotic solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized masses of Uganda;
·         Aware of the NRM/A dictatorship's neglect of war-affected men, women, and children of, and policy failures in, northern and eastern Uganda, Luweero triangle and other parts of Buganda (Kayunga, Bugerere, Mukono, Semuto, Kapeeka, Masurita, Naziga, etc.), and other victims of all conflicts who were/are forced to take refuge in urban slums under the most degrading and deplorable conditions;
 
         United in opposition to the NRM/A dictatorship's use of cultural terrorism, infectious agents (HIV/AIDS and Ebola viruses) and chemicals as weapons of mass destruction, sexual assault and starvation as it's military's weapons of choice to fight its "enemies";
 
·         Shocked by the NRM/A dictatorship's total obliteration of the natural and national rights and freedom of Ugandans, especially those of the nearly two million citizens who were forcibly interned in concentration camps with deplorable conditions that resulted in very high death rates due to daily human rights abuses, incarceration without trial (often in ungazetted government "Safe Houses"), and denial of due process of law;
 
·         United in opposition to the use of children as child soldiers to fight wars;
·         Alarmed by the NRM/A dictatorship's preference for military over peaceful or diplomatic solutions in policy matters and overzealous use of force to settle conflicts, intimidation, brutalization, and cowering of our citizens, and invasion of Uganda's neighbours in the Great Lakes Region of Africa;
 
·         Desirous of a peaceful, just, fair, democratic society at peace with itself and its neighbours--guided by the principles of local, national, regional, and international consensus in its domestic, regional and foreign policies;
 
·         Determined to restore a reputable system of governance that reflects the will of, and accountable to, the people of Uganda;
 
·         Concerned about the well-being of every Ugandan irrespective of social status, political affiliation, religious belief, gender, or culture;
 
·         Deeply informed by social, economic, human and political costs our people have borne for the failures of politics and the brutalities of military rule in our nation's short post-independence history;
 
·         Eschewing policies and practices of torture, personal violations, degradation of human dignity and fundamental rights and freedoms of Ugandan citizens and other peoples who are subject to constitutional and legal protection by the state and laws of the Republic of Uganda;
 
·         Professing our deep faith in universal human solidarity;
 
 
·         Recognizing the rights of the oppressed and the suffering people of Uganda, and having full confidence in their ability, capacity, and determination to effect change and determine their own destiny as well as fashion the structures of economic and political systems best suited to their conditions and wishes;
 
·         Aware that none of the existing political institutions (DP, UPC, FDC, NRM, SUBI, CP, etc.) as well as rebel groups (ADF, LRA, etc.) have been capable of changing the situation in the last 25 years, and are not about to do so in the near future;
 
·         Compelled by our moral, political, and national responsibility and obligations to our homeland and its oppressed and suffering masses
Do hereby resolve to form a new organization-- Ugandans to the Rescue ©--with the aim of bringing about a change in Uganda that will promote and defend the fundamental rights of all Ugandans and establish the principles and practices of just and accountable governance.
 
OBJECTIVES
 
In our efforts to realize the visions of Ugandans to the Rescue ©, we aim to do the following:
 
1.    In line with the wishes, commitments and resolutions of all peace-loving Ugandans, rid our country of the corrupt, despotic, dictatorial, militaristic and genocidal National Resistance Movement/Army regime headed by Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni;
 
2.    Employ all means available at our disposal to free the oppressed citizens of Uganda living in abject NRM-induced poverty in many parts of the country and establish a balance of power in favour of all our citizens and their struggle for genuine peace, liberty and basic human rights and freedom as codified in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms;
 
3.    Promote national peace and reconciliation, secure our frontiers and normalize relations with all our neighbours in a spirit of good neighborliness and peaceful coexistence;
 
4.    End the vicious cycle of political violence and outright genocide in northern, eastern, and central Uganda; dismantle forthwith the structures put in place to perpetuate the genocide; resettle the millions of displaced people back to their ancestral homes and land (an act vested in the Ugandans to the Rescue © belief and principle that all citizens have a common national heritage, a right to make contributions to the development of self and country and to live free under the law and enjoy rights and fulfill duties which offer equality to every citizen irrespective of background);
 
5.    Foster an economic, social, military and educational balance in different regions of Uganda in a concerted effort to promote local, regional and national peace, equality, reconstruction, and economic development for the good of all citizens, and reject any exploitation of natural and human resources for the benefit of a few;
 
6.    End gross abuse of political and economic power, and the misuse of public institutions such as the national treasury, army, police and administration departments and assets to champion and promote the security and political survival of a few members of the ruling elite;
 
7.    Institute a lasting tradition of law and order, free and fair multiparty democracy with strict adherence to due process, clear national security policy, equality, liberty, reasonable welfare for all citizens, a prudent procedure for conflict resolutions, and constitutional order;
 
8.    Cultivate and strengthen solidarity with citizens, friends, and progressive forces with the aim of replacing the Lt. Gen. Museveni's NRM/A dictatorship with a democratic government that protects and promotes national unity and social justice;
 
9.    Chart a course of national action against poverty, corruption, tribalism, diseases, ignorance, institutionalized militarism, and all other forces deemed averse to national unity, wellbeing, and development.
 
Mission Statement
 
The mission of Ugandans to the Rescue©is to support the liberation movement in Uganda by
(a) Uniting Ugandans at home and in the Diaspora by coalescing internal and external resources in their hands as they struggle to remove the National Resistance Movement dictatorship from power and
(b) Advocating for the transformation of our country into The Federal Republic of Uganda
 
The Vision.
We are a broad-based organization striving for progress and social justice in Uganda. Ugandans to the Rescue © is the political arm of none other than the Uganda people as a whole. Our values are the same: the equal worth of all, with no one marginalized; fairness and justice within a diverse country. Our vision of the new Uganda is therefore that of a country with
 
·         A government that belongs to the people and receives its powers and legitimacy from the people, and for whom the people and not the military are the ultimate stakeholders;
 
·         A defense military insulated from open partisan politics;
 
 
·         Respect for the demographic diversity of the country, celebration of its multiculturalism as the centerpiece of the country's identity and basis for cohesion and stability by minimizing tribal differences and maximizing commonalities;
 
·         Responsible and accountable government whose particular form will be determined by the people in open national debates;
 
·         Stable and peaceful polity, ensuring equal protection of security of persons and property, and empowering people by providing equal opportunities for people to engage in maximum economic development;
 
·         A strengthened East African Community as a partnership of equal nations in the interest of their peoples but not a club of political elites and special interests at the expense of their citizens;
 
·         Respect for, and commitment to, noble regional, multilateral and international treaties, agreements, protocol and conventions that do not disadvantage the interests and aspirations of the people of Uganda or those of its other constituent member states;
 
·         Political, diplomatic, and peaceful resolution of differences and conflict under a regional and  multilateral consensus; and
 
·         Respect and protection of indigenous traditional practices that do not conflict with fundamental rights and freedoms and contribute to peace and development, and Ugandans to the Rescue © objectives and vision for a new Uganda.
 
Three-phased plan for Liberating the people of Uganda
 
The liberation of Uganda from the Movement dictatorship is a three-phase political project, and Ugandans to the Rescue © cannot count itself successful in its mission until all three phases have been implemented and completed successfully. The entire project should take no less than three years and no more than five years.
 
 
Phase I:   Remove Lt. Gen. Museveni’s regime from power, end the “Movement”
                Dictatorship, and completely dislodge the “Movement” political system in
                Uganda by any means necessary and appropriate without compromising the
                security of persons, property, and institutions.
 
Phase II:  Institute a democratic government—a people’s government—that is
                responsive and responsible to the people of Uganda.
 
Phase III: Peaceably transfer political power to a succeeding popularly-elected    
                democratic government within five years of coming to power.
 
PHASE I
 
REMOVE THE MUSEVENI DICTATORSHIP FROM POWER AND COMPLETELY DISLODGE HIS "MOVEMENT" POLITICAL SYSTEM IN UGANDA BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © acknowledge that the people of Uganda have not been taking Museveni's dictatorial oppression with their hands down. Ugandans have made Innumerable efforts to put an end to Lt. Gen. Museveni's abuse of political, military, and economic power through electoral processes, mass demonstration, court challenges, military rebellions and others, but to no avail.
 
Part of the failure is due to the successful machination of the NRM regime to divide and rule which enable it to isolate each group and destroy it. Having recognized the basis of past failures to dislodge the NRM regime, Ugandans to the Rescue © will this time use broad common-cause-based national approaches to remove the NRM dictatorship from Uganda.
 
To accomplish this goal, Ugandans to the Rescue © is building itself from the ground up to prepare for an internal and external grassroots popular uprising against the NRM dictatorship. Ugandans to the Rescue © shall establish a transitional government as soon as Kampala falls. The transitional government will immediately proceed with assurance of civilian safety and seek recognition by foreign governments.
 
Grassroots Organization
 
1.    Create a civilian wing of the struggle in every sub-region of Uganda.
 
2.    Draw competent men and women into the struggle who will build grassroots support for the liberation struggle in their sub-region.
 
3.    Locate patriotic leaders who shall coordinate the popular uprising within each sub-region and across all sub-regions.
 
4.    These patriots shall be leaders who will implement the UPF strategies, tactics, and logistics for a popular uprising and civil disobedience.
 
5.    Reprisal killing shall be forbidden and repercussions for engaging in it shall be severe, immediate, and strictly enforced, including detention until such time that the culprits can be tried in the court of law.
 
Defense Force
 
Although military force has been the only means by which political power has ever effectively changed hands in Uganda’s post-independence history, Ugandans to the Rescue © will support the use of force only when its employment becomes necessary and inevitable, but  making sure of the following:
 
1.    The use of force is justified only when it becomes necessary to defend those agitating for regime change. Force is, therefore, not the primary means of removing the Museveni dictatorship, but a secondary one to grassroots political action.
 
2.    If Ugandans to the Rescue © has to embrace the use of force, then the defense force has to be under civilian command. Command positions must be filled by officers who have the necessary experience, professionalism, and respect for civilian authority.
 
3.    Recruiting will be done discriminately by dressing and arming only good men and women who understand and respect the role of the army in subordination to civilian authority in a democratic society.
 
4.    Strict military discipline and adherence to an established Ugandans to the Rescue © Military Code of Conduct will be instilled into all levels of the defense force so that civilians are not harmed physically or materially. This means that collateral damage will be strictly minimized. A clear and rigorously-implemented policy of protecting civilians shall dictate and guide Ugandans to the Rescue © in all aspects of its liberation operations.
 
5.    The composition of the Ugandans to the Rescue © defense force shall reflect the diversity of the population of Uganda as much as is feasible. Ugandans to the Rescue © sees this liberation struggle as a national project.
 
6.    The Ugandans to the Rescue © defense force will secure the entire country as rapidly as possible, and insure the security of person and property for all Ugandans in line with a plan that will have been worked out in advance. This is to avoid previous experiences in Uganda's history when, in the aftermaths of regime changes, there have often been unnecessary extra-judicial killings of innocent people, and looting--particularly of government properties and institutions as well as private shops and properties.
  
Establishment of a Transitional Government
 
  1. A Transitional Government will be installed as soon as Kampala falls. The Transitional Government will assure all citizens of Uganda that they are safe and that this will be a national government that reflects the diversity of Uganda—their government. A detailed plan for reassuring and building the confidence of the public in a transitional government will be worked out in advance.
  2. The Transitional Government will secure the entire country and prevent Museveni’s supporters from intervening. This will be done in accordance with findings on the ground and experience of how the counter attacks occur and ways of handling soldiers and other security personnel serving under the current NRM regime.
  3. The Transitional Government will implement an anti-corruption campaign at all levels of government as a matter of extreme urgency.  
 
The Uganda Constitution.
 
 In order to effectively carry out its mission, Ugandans to the Rescue © will suspend forthwith those applicable Articles of the current constitution of Uganda that have been put in place to consolidate and sustain political and economic power in the hands of the NRM dictatorship as well as those that conflict with its transitional arrangements. Ugandans to the Rescue © will reorganize the makeup of parliament under an Interim Legislative Council
(ILC).
 
The Ugandans to the Rescue © government shall, within the five-year transition term, convene a constitutional convention to write the people's constitution, including provisions for a more suitable form of government that will be determined in a politically open environment, possibly by a referendum within the five-year life of the transitional government.
 
Stabilization of the North and Other War Ravaged Areas
The people of northern and eastern Uganda--the Greater North--were insidiously forced out of their homes and land by the NRM government and interned into concentration camps. These people's personal properties such as livestock and food stock were consistently confiscated by government soldiers. The concentration camps lacked the most basic necessities of life such as clean water, sanitation, food, safety, medicine and health facilities.
 
These camps turned into death camps with mortality rates as high as two thousand five hundred (2,500) excess deaths per week in the Acholi sub-region alone. Sadly, these statistics come from preventable deaths due to malnutrition, preventable and curable communicable diseases, violence by government and rebel soldiers, and diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola.
 
The NRM government used these viruses as biological weapons by transferring soldiers that tested positive for the HIV/AIDS virus to the north with specific orders to infect as many northerners as possible through sexual violence. The social fabric and cultural norms that held communities together in these war-affected areas have been destroyed or gravely damaged by the deliberate use of cultural terrorism such as soldiers sodomizing husbands and raping wives while family members are forced to watch the abominable acts.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © will dismantle any concentration camps still in operation and develop a comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation plan to resettle and rehabilitate all returnees back to their homes and ancestral land. Each returning internee family will shall be provided with adequate resettlement packages, requisite compensation for losses, and other necessary support so they can not only quickly resume normal life and become masters of their own destiny, but also assume unconditional citizenry of a new Uganda with full rights and freedoms.
 
Stabilization of the Luweero Triangle and other War Ravaged Areas in Buganda.
 
During the civil war from 1980 to 1986 that brought the NRM dictatorship to power in Uganda, there were massive human rights violations that included merciless killings, wholesale population displacements, confiscation of properties, rapes and torture, etc. The areas of NRM operation that were commanded by Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni personally suffered unspeakable atrocities despite very limited case in areas commanded by other leaders such as Dr. Lutaakome Andrew Kayiira and Fred Gisa Rwigema. Despite all the promises of reimbursements and restitution to the people of these conflict areas, the NRM regime has done nothing for the people who supported and sustained him from 1980 to 1986. The people of Luweero have neither received the promised largesse or resettlement packages.
 
Instead of taking care of the very people of Luweero Triangle, Kayunga, Bugerere, Mukono, Semuto, Kapeeka, Masurita, Naziga, etc. who enabled him to gain power in Uganda, Museveni has declared war on the Kingdom and the Kabaka of Buganda.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © will develop comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation plans to resettle and rehabilitate the people in these areas. Each deserving family shall be provided with adequate resettlement package, requisite compensation for losses, and other necessary support so they can quickly resume normal life and begin the process of reconciliation, growth, and development.
 
Internal Security
 
1.    The transitional government will implement a legislative plan to maintain security throughout the country utilizing a civilian police force. Military personnel will be strictly confined to military duties--the defense of the nation.
 
 
2.    The transitional government will implement a legislative plan for civilian executive and legislative control of the national military.
 
 
3.    Inter-ethnic/inter-regional cooperation and harmony shall be the cornerstone of our national unity. Given over two decades of destructive civil wars and sectarianism in Uganda, the surest way forward for sustainable peace is inter-ethnic/inter-tribal reconciliation. Ugandans to the Rescue © will ensure that an independent National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (NTCR) is created and fully funded to work directly with the office of the President as well as the leaderships of all the various tribes in Uganda, especially all those who were/are directly affected by the war to oust Idi Amin, the Luweero Triangle and other war-affected areas of central Uganda, and the 25-year war in the greater north, to focus the nation's attention on reconciling the various ethnic groups and tribes and creating national harmony.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © recognizes, and shall protect, all ethnic representations irrespective of their numerical strengths. A citizen of Uganda is neither disadvantaged nor privileged by belonging to a particular clan, tribe, ethnic group, religion, or region. The new constitution of Uganda shall protect all, govern all, and offer Uganda to all its citizens as their common heritage.
 
It is imperative to emphasize that the deeply-rooted notion of national reconciliation and peaceful coexistence among the various ethnic groups of Uganda was born of the equally fundamental principle that "WE ARE BETTER OFF TOGETHER AND WORSE OFF APART."
 
Cognizant of political fragmentations, conflicts, and genocides suffered by our country since before the dawn of political independence, Ugandans to the Rescue © shall provide the leadership to address state-building, national reconciliation and peace-building capacities, and create an independent and impartial justice system. The people shall choose the political system they want in their country. they shall then possess and protect that system by writing a truly people's constitution.
 
Development
 
1.   Ugandans to the Rescue © shall develop a plan for free market zones in the Great Lakes region of Africa. We recognize that the Great Lakes Region has a lot of potentials as a viable economic market and regional power in natural and human resources. We will begin immediately to rigorously work with our neighbors to promote regional cooperation in commerce and trade, cultural exchanges and educational integration, and work towards common regional security and stability. Ugandans to the Rescue © shall re-draft national and regional economic development plans based on a system that maximizes regional autonomy.
 
 
2.    Agriculture is the main sphere of material production in Uganda and land is the single most important asset a Ugandan owns. The NRM/A dictatorship forcibly removed the people of northern and eastern Uganda from their ancestral land under the guise of offering people protection from the LRA rebels. Its grand plan however was to deprive the people of their land--their main means of livelihood. Government officials in charge of these concentration camps suggested turning them into permanent settlements and turning the people's land over to commercial agricultural investors. We are convinced that the prolonged civil war in the North and East of the country is no accident
 
In Buganda, the NRM/A dictatorship expropriated and/or sold off land that belonged to the Kingdom and the Kabaka. Many instances of the government taking Buganda land away and either selling it for little or no money, or simply removing ownership titles from owners and transferring them to his cronies, foreign businesses, or his own family. The people of Buganda want their land back! They are in one accord with the people of northern Uganda as they vigorously fight to keep and protect the land that once belonged to their ancestors, but are now being taken away by crook and hook.
 
In Ankole, members of the Museveni clique are building huge farms and ranches by forcibly taking land away from the local people. The Banyankole had already been experiencing tremendous pressure on land for grazing and cultivation prior to the NRM/A dictatorship emerging in Uganda. Population growth has increased this pressure. Population movements away from Ankole is directly linked to land scarcity, and land grabbing by Museveni and his people have borne even more pressure on the land.
 
 
Ugandans from other parts of the country have also noted disproportionate interests on their land by the NRM/A dictatorship machinery. Most instances, government and military officers grab large tracts of land from local owners and register them in Entebbe as their own lands. Local populations who never before needed to survey and register their lands may no longer own titles to the lands their ancestors passed on to them because these titles in the Land Office in Entebbe now show that they belong to someone else.
 
3.    Land relations are directly linked to the livelihood and vital interests of the vast majority of the Ugandan population. The intricate interdependence of diverse forms of land ownership such as state/crown land in traditional Uganda kingdoms, communal, private, and land tenure characteristic of the people of eastern and northern Uganda as well as the rest of the country must be honored.
 
Malicious deforestation for charcoal production by the NRA/UPDF officers in these regions has caused, and continue to cause alarming environmental damage and land degradation, and may lead to outright desertification.
 
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © shall ensure that land  is restored to its rightful owners, and any environmental degradation is urgently addressed by restoring the vegetation, waters and other natural structures.
 
4.    It is our conviction that education is fundamental to development and national renewal. We reject the commercialization of education under the NRM/A dictatorship which has made access to good quality education available only to the elite who are able to afford it. The current NRM/A dictatorship's policy of universal education has not been matched by the vital need for expansion of the educational infrastructure, including numbers and improved working conditions of teachers and other education personnel. The problem is epitomized by the deplorable state of education in the war-affected regions. Ugandans to the Rescue © will ensure that access to good quality education is afforded to all citizens throughout the country.
 
 
5.    Access to healthcare, particularly in the rural areas where the vast majority of our population lives, has remained extremely poor or outright absent. Under the NRM/A dictatorship, it has actually drastically declined. The advances in healthcare services made immediately after independence through the building of rural hospitals has been reversed as a result of total neglect. We will lobby international bodies and friendly countries and institutions in advance so that when Ugandans to the Rescue © removes the NRM/A dictatorship, visible changes in the state of existing rural hospitals and services they provide are made within the five years of transitional administration.
 
International Relations
 
1.   Ugandans to the Rescue © shall build good relationships with international governments and organizations ahead of removing the NRM/A dictatorship from power in Uganda. Ugandans to the Rescue © will meet with foreign diplomats immediately and assure them of
 
(a) their personal safety,
(b) the transitional government's unswerving commitment to honoring and respecting all bilateral, multilateral, and international agreements, arrangements, and practices to which Uganda is either a signatory, a member, or a partner. the new transitional government will however reserve the right to re-negotiate or abrogate any treaty, agreement, or arrangement which does not promote the interests of the [people of Uganda. We shall contribute generously towards combating common international problems such as terrorism, environmental pollution, illicit drugs, child and sex trafficking, and other such crimes as may affect international peace, security, and stability.
 
2.   Ugandans to the Rescue © will develop and maintain good relationships with our neighbouring countries in the East and Central Africa region, including Kenya, Tanzania, North and South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, Central African republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Egypt. this effort will be initiated before or soon after taking office with the intent of preparing for (a) diplomatic recognition of the transitional government and (b) the establishment of permanent security arrangements between the transitional government and Uganda's neighbours.
 
3.    Uganda has been a sanctuary for refugees and visitors from many countries even before independence, notably Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan. In the spirit of Pan-Africanism, and in accordance with the United Nations Charter, Uganda shall continue to hose these refugees and visitors with hospitality and dignity at the same time as it participates in finding ways to reduce population displacement in Africa and the world.
 
 
PHASE II:
 INSTITUTE A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT—A PEOPLE’S GOVERNMENT—THAT IS RESPONSIVE TO THE PEOPLE OF UGANDA.
Transition to a Democratic Government
 
1.    In order to justify this project, Ugandans to the Rescue © shall institute a model democratic government that belongs to the people of Uganda. This new government must win the people’s trust and confidence from the very beginning. This, the second phase of the Ugandans to the Rescue © mission, is to give the country back to the people and allow them to create a government of their own—a government that belongs to all of them, that they control, and that is subservient to the will of the people.
 
 
2.   Ugandans to the Rescue © shall therefore institute in Uganda a civilian Transitional Government and attract qualified citizens from all over the country and in the Diaspora to staff its ministries and other organs. Creating the conditions and environment that give all citizens of the country the confidence and freedom to choose the type of government they want shall therefore be the immediate responsibility of the new Ugandans to the Rescue © Transitional Government.
 
3.    Once these conditions and environment are created, then all citizens of Uganda shall participate in a democratic and transparent constitutional convention (or referendum) to choose the type of government they want. Unforeseen circumstances notwithstanding, the Transitional Government shall need between three and five years to create these conditions and environment.
 
System of Government:
 
1.    The Ugandans to the Rescue © Transitional Government will facilitate an open national debate on the form of government the people of Uganda want. This debate should  result in a choice and appropriate constitution within 3-5 years.
 
2.   Ugandans to the Rescue © shall vigorously promote the adoption of a system of government which provides for checks and balances of power between the Executive, the Judiciary, and the Legislative branches.
3.   Ugandans to the Rescue © shall also strive to create the necessary balance of power between national unity and local autonomy that is necessary for Uganda to sustain peace, security, development, and national harmony.
 
4.   Ugandans to the Rescue © shall strive to create an effective use of governmental power for the benefit of all the peoples of Uganda and with policies which recognize, protect, and promote human rights, culture, and freedom for all Ugandans.
 
The UTR Transitional Government.
 
Executive Council of Ugandans to the Rescue ©
 
There shall be an Executive Council (EC) of Ugandans to the Rescue © which shall be its Supreme Political Organ. Its decisions shall take precedence over all decisions made by any other entity within the organizational structure.  All authority and powers of other organs of Ugandans to the Rescue ©, including the military, shall derive from the  Executive Council and be ceded to it until the transitional government has been formed. Upon the establishment of the transitional government, the Army shall derive its authority and direction from governmental structures as provided for in law.
 
All Founding Members of Ugandans to the Rescue © shall compose the First Executive Council which thereafter shall admit new members upon being proposed and accepted by a majority of the members composing the Executive Council at the time. The military shall have two representatives to the Executive Council.
 
The Executive Council shall remain in place as a non-executive political organ throughout the period of the transitional government as an appointing body for the Presidency and Vice-presidency and an advisory body to the president, the Cabinet, and the Interim Legislative Council. This is important because those who formulated the values and principles of Ugandans to the Rescue © under which the transitional government is established must continue to provide political guidance to the new government and the new nation.
 
Division of Power
 
The new Ugandans to the Rescue © Transitional Government shall institute a political system of checks and balances. The three branches of government—the Executive (Presidency & Administration), the Legislative (the Interim Legislative Council), and the Judiciary (the Courts) shall each regain, maintain, and protect its independence from each other while working cooperatively to implement the programs for creating the new Uganda.
 
Contrary to what we have had for the last 25 years when the three branches of government colluded against the people of Uganda, Ugandans to the Rescue © will insist on the independence of the three branches of government and cooperation between them to work for the people of Uganda. The leadership of Ugandans to the Rescue © will serve as a model for the rest of government institutions.
 
We have learned an important lesson on what not to do under the present NRM/A dictatorship. In a situation such as ours in which the people's participation is very weak, what the leaders do has a profound influence on what the rest of the country does. Because Lt. Gen. Museveni gave the people a corrupt leadership, corruption has become all-pervasive in the country. Ugandans to the Rescue © wants to model a new type of African leadership--not just for propaganda but in real practice.
 
Representation from War Ravaged Areas
 
Because of the chronic deprivation to which the people from all war-ravaged areas of Uganda have been subjected since 1980, the new Ugandans to the Rescue © Transitional Government shall put special emphasis on ensuring that they are adequately represented in the new government. This shall be done while assuring all regions of fair representation.
Structure of the UPF Transitional Government.
 
The Ugandans to the Rescue © Transitional Government shall have three separate and independent branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. We are aware that a government model may appear very attractive on paper, but the model by itself does not determine its success. Rather, we are convinced that the success of a government depends on having a good workable model. Another equally important component includes a reputable, trustworthy, and high-integrity personnel. Furthermore, laws governing the behaviour of individuals and institutions must be just and fair, and must be followed by all citizens irrespective of their status in life or height of office at work.
 
The Executive Branch.
 
The President of Uganda
 
 
1.    There shall be a President of Uganda who shall be the Head of State, Chief Executive Officer, Commander-in-Chief of the Security Forces and the source of guidance and reputation who shall be the model citizen of the Republic of Uganda.
 
2.    The President and Vice-President of the Transitional Government shall be appointed by the Executive Council. In the event that the Executive Council has determined that the president is unable to execute his or her duties, the Vice President shall automatically assume office.
 
3.    The executive authority of Uganda shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised in accordance with the directive of the Interim Legislative Council and the laws of Uganda. The President shall be the national unifier, the person responsible for creating and projecting the national character of the nation.
 
4.    The President shall appoint a Cabinet headed by a Prime Minister, who shall be head of the Cabinet and responsible for the execution of all government programs and policies.
 
Vice President
 
1.    There shall be a Vice President who shall assume such roles as delegated by the President.
 
2.    The initial Vice President shall be appointed by the Executive Council. The Executive Council shall at all times have the authority to appoint the President and the Vice-President during the interim period.
 
Proposed Cabinet of the UPF Government.
Cabinet
 
 
1.    There shall be a Cabinet which shall consist of the President, the Vice President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and such number of Ministers as may appear to the President and the Executive Council to be reasonably necessary for the efficient running of the State. Under Ugandans to the Rescue © Transitional Government, the cabinet shall cease to be a carrot that the president uses to buy political support. The size of the cabinet shall be determined by the needs of the people and not as a system of patronage.
 
2.    All initial members of the Cabinet shall be proposed by the President and approved by the Executive Council. All cabinet appointments subsequent to the seating of the First ILC shall be approved by the ILC.
 
3.    Ministers shall individually be accountable to the Prime Minister for the administration of their Ministries and collectively be responsible for any decision made by the Cabinet.
 
Prime Minister
1.    The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and approved by the Executive Council.
 
2.    The Prime Minister shall be head of the Cabinet and responsible for the execution of all government programs and policies.
 
Deputy Prime Minister
 
1.    The Minister for Local Government shall be the Deputy Prime Minister. The Deputy Prime Minister shall oversee the establishment and implementation of the regional governments.
 
2.    The Minister for Social Services, or another Minister the President appoints, shall work closely with the Deputy Prime Minister and be in charge of overseeing the War Ravaged Areas Reparation Program (WRARP) or a corresponding program that the Ugandans to the Rescue © Transitional Government shall develop.
 
The Legislative Branch
Current Parliament
The Ugandans to the Rescue © Transition Government shall dissolve the current Parliament.
 
The Interim Legislative Council
1.    An Interim Legislative Council (ILC) shall be appointed by the Executive Council of Ugandans to the Rescue © in consultation with Regional stakeholders. members appointed to the ILC must be people of high integrity as determined by the people of the local area and vetted at the national level.
 
2.    The ILC shall be composed of voting members corresponding to the following:
 
a.    Each district shall be represented by one member.
b.    Each Regional Governments shall be represented by one member.
All members of the cabinet shall be non-voting members of the ILC.
 
3.    The ILC shall be independent from the Executive and Judiciary branches.
4.    A minimum of thirty percent of all ILC members shall be women.
 
Regional Government Structures
 
1.    During the interim government period, Ugandans to the Rescue © will initiate a review process with the goal of creating administrative structures of the Regional Governments. Ugandans to the Rescue © will propose a system which will effectively serve the people at the local level, but also maintain national unity. Cultural institutions and leaders shall exist without license from the state, but function within the domain of the established law of Uganda.
 
2.    The Ugandans to the Rescue © Transition Government will operate under the basic current government structures, but without any structures which are deemed to work against the people.
 
The Electoral Commission
 
1.    The Electoral Commission shall regain its independence. Ugandans to the Rescue © shall ask the Minister of Justice to create a truly independent Electoral Commission whose membership shall be subject to the approval of the ILC.
 
2.    The ILC shall have the power to oversee and discipline an electoral commissioner for cause.
 
3.    The Head, the deputy head, and the secretary of the Electoral Commission shall all be persons qualified to be justices of the High Court.
 
4.    An Electoral Commissioner shall serve for a term of seven years
 
5.    Once seated, the Electoral Commission shall immediately begin the task of preparing the country for general elections at the national and local levels that will choose a new (a) President and (b) national and regional legislatures.
 
The Judiciary Branch
 
The current judiciary system in Uganda shall remain as it is, subject to any article of the constitution that may have been suspended or annulled during the interim period. The independence from the executive and legislative branches of government shall be reestablished and strengthened.
 
PHASE III:
 
TRANSFER POLITICAL POWER TO A SUCCEEDING POPULARLY-ELECTED GOVERNMENT PEACABLY.
 
The election and seating of the first popularly-elected post-Movement Parliament and the inauguration of the first popularly-elected post-Movement President of Uganda shall automatically bring to an end the Ugandans to the Rescue © transition government.
A smooth and open transfer of political power by the Ugandans to the Rescue © transition-government to the newly-elected government fulfills all of the Ugandans to the Rescue ©’s raisons d'être.
 
The Military
 
Since independence in 1962, the military has played increasingly significant roles in the country’s politics. This has led to the chronic insecurity and blatant disregard for democratic institutions that have attended the country’s post-independence political maturation from Kabaka Mutesa II to Lt. Gen. Museveni. Each successive government has come to power through military coups d'état. Extensive human rights abuses, including massive killing, rape, torture, extra-juridical arrests and detentions, etc. have attended each of these coups d'état, especially those of Idi Amin and Gen. Yoweri Museveni.
Ugandans to the Rescue © shall break the cycle of military domination of the country’s politics.
 
(a)  No active-duty military officer shall hold political office of any kind. In order to ensure that military influence on the politics of the country is minimized and eventually totally eliminated, no military officer shall hold public office for at least one year after retirement from active duty.
 
(b)  All barracks shall, from the inception of the Ugandans to the Rescue © transition government, become military academies. These academies shall provide scholastic, vocational, and military training so soldiers can gain academic as well as vocational certifications. The curricula of the academies shall be developed and implemented focally to instill both discipline and professionalism into the ranks so soldiers understand their protective roles in the nation’s security and sovereignty on the one hand, and the country’s democratic systems on the other.
 
(c)  Uganda shall have a smaller but highly professionalized volunteer standing army. Rigorous training and qualification shall be the determining factors in promotions. Such promotions shall follow, among others, a clear guideline that emphasizes the candidate’s delimitation and differentiation of his or her roles as a soldier defending the nation which security he or she is entrusted, and as a citizen of the country responsible for the protection and promotion of civilian rule and democratic system of governance.
 
Disguised dictatorial, militaristic, materialistic, and opportunistic democracy under Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni for the sole purpose of winning foreign aids and monopolizing state power for the selfish interests of a miniscule clique must be thoroughly defeated and removed.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © aims to restore a free, democratic and independent Uganda with its citizens as the sole guarantors of who is to lead their country. At no time shall their leaders again be chosen and maintained by the gun. Ugandans to the Rescue © will provide Uganda with leaders, not rulers.
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © will adopt one of the modes of national participation by our military as practiced in the federation countries of Kenya and Tanzania, as we see fit, in order to institute and constitute an army of national character, unity, and stability. The army shall identify with executive authority and respect the wishes of the people of Uganda as expressed from time to time in local and national elections. The army shall not unconstitutionally influence, change, or challenge elected civilian authority; rather, it shall submit to it. The primary obligation of the national army shall be to protect the sovereignty of Uganda against external aggressions. Only in exceptional circumstances shall the army be used, and only in very limited capacities, in handling matters of internal security--matters that the Uganda Police is institutionally and capacity-wise unable to handle.
 
Conclusion
 
Ugandans to the Rescue © gets its moral authority to do that upon which it has embarked from the following:
 
1.    The genocidal situation that the NRM/A dictatorship has been orchestrating in the northern and eastern Uganda for the last 25 years, rampant corruption in government, aggression against neighbouring countries, land grabbing and other injustices inflicted on citizens while the rest of the world ponders its moral stances on the various aspects of Museveni's dictatorship is totally unacceptable.
 
2.    We cannot accept, and therefore cannot sit back and watch as the NRM/A dictatorship declares war on the people, kingdom and the Kabaka of Buganda. Denying the Kabaka access to his subjects, burning the Kasubi Tomb, taking away Buganda land, confiscating royal assets, depriving the Baganda of their rights to practice their culture, etc. constitute a declaration of war on them, and they must exercise their natural rights to get rid of the enemy.
 
3.    A clear recognition that while we need and welcome assistance from friendly individuals, private organizations, and governments, it is primarily the responsibility of the people of Uganda to act decisively to bring about fundamental change in the governance of the country. if we ourselves do not want to or cannot do what it takes to change our situation, then we should not and cannot expect other people to do it for us. We have to take the initiative and others can only help when we ask them to do so.
 
4.    We cannot simply whine and play the blame game about our terrible situation. We have to embrace the responsibility to act in order to put an end to a situation which most citizens hate but feel incapable of doing something about it. failure is not an option in our commitment.
 
5.    The hypocrisy and double standards displayed by world governments that preach human rights and democratic institutions while using its taxpayer money to prop up Lt. Gen. Yoweri Museveni’s corrupt government and fund the UPDF and the LRA that are killing civilians.
 
6.    An informed and crosschecked determination that its choices are not between good and bad, but between bad and worse, and that to not take action is to abandon the very humanity in us, a humanity bestowed upon us by Almighty God and blessed with moral standards that automatically transform into moral responsibilities to act when the least of His flock cry out for help.
 
We shall do this with a clear mind, sound judgment, and compassion for those we may hurt in the process. We shall do this without fear, always mindful to retain the we who used critical moral judgments to embark on this trip and not lose ourselves along the way. We shall not fear, for we may hurt a few, but rescue millions. We shall bitterly mourn the former, but celebrate merrily with the latter.
 
In everything that we shall do, we will never lose our mind. We shall work as hard as possible to form a government that belongs to the people of Uganda. We shall always keep in mind that we cannot, and must not, impose a rule on the people of Uganda. We shall make sure that whatever transitional government we institute in Kampala after getting rid of the NRM/A dictatorship either seeks the people’s mandate as early as humanly possible, or steps aside as soon as a transparent and independent Electoral Commission is seated and a truly democratic general and presidential election is conducted to put in place a new government—the people’s government.
 
Our dice are cast, and we must now play the game.