The former chairperson of the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda-(CCEDU) Miria Matembe has said that President Yoweri Museveni’s announcement that Uganda is now a Middle Income country is a clear indication that he is not aware of what Ugandans are going through.
Matembe made the remarks on Friday while appearing on CBS FM. She said the top leaders in Uganda are totally detached from reality and they don’t know what the common man is going through.
“I don’t know why Mr Museveni thinks we are blind, because he is blind he also thinks we don’t see. If he says Middle income it’s true for some people because he and his clique are able to access everything they want but that is not how the entire country is. He has completely forgotten the common man who voted for him. However, I don’t blame him because even those who would advise him are dormant and fear him,” she said.
The former Ethics Minister added that President Museveni is no longer following the leadership principles of working for people but he is dying to keep his family in power.
“Whatever is happening in this country is a clear sign that leaders are detached from the reality. In such an economy how do you allow a Speaker and her Deputy to get new cars? If we are now in Middle Income why is it when they fall sick they fly them to other countries?” she asked.
Matembe’s reaction follows President Museveni’s statement on Tuesday where he said Uganda had surpassed the entrance points for lower middle-income status.
“The Ugandan economy, by the budget time in the next few days, will be standing at US$ 45.7billion by the exchange rate method and at USD 131.6 billion by the PPP method. This means that the GDP per capita is now $1046.You remember, the entrance point for the lower-middle-income status, is USD 1036. We have now passed that figure. Congratulations.”
However, Mr Museveni said in order to be declared a middle-income country, the nation has to sustain the points for two to three consecutive years.
“I am confident, we shall overperform, in achieving that. Remember that our economy expanded in spite of the lockdowns caused by covid-19 and in spite of the ever-increasing population; you can see that the size of the economy, when compared to the population that is always growing fast, has continued to grow and we have arrived at the boundary point as far as the middle-income status is concerned,” he added.
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