Poor funding of ISO and ESO is the reason for declining Popularity of President Museveni
by Buyinza Adam Luzindana
The declining popularity of President Museveni and the NRM Government is attributed to so many things such as Poverty,Unemployment,Corruption,Poor service Delivery,etc but the most prominent factor that will even lead to the fall of the NRM Government is the deliberate poor funding of the Internal Security Organization (ISO) and the External Security Organization (ESO).
The galloping corruption is largely because of a weak ISO which has no capacity to detect corruption schemes and possibly lack capacity to covertly investigate corrupt wealth government officials.
In districts, the looting which is going on, the poor service delivery, the stealing of drugs in hospitals is attributed to the weaker Internal Security Organization (ISO). The ISO Operatives are poor, frustrated and many in depression. How do you expect poor people to follow the rich corrupt government officials. Parish Development Model money is being swindled by government officials in the districts and they can’t easily be detected.ISO which used to be an early warning agency is now relying on whatsapp groups to generate information that is then analysed into intelligence reports.
The smartness and competitiveness of ISO Officials at the National level and in districts is not disputed but these guys are poor and not well facilitated to do their work. That is why in most cases ISO Officials or operatives go on Public functions and introduce themselves as officials of Internal Security Organization (ISO) so that they can be recognized by corrupt politicians and wealthy people to give them transport refund. It’s very unfortunate that the ISO Operatives these days are looking for transport refund from politicians.
The rising criminality is attributed to the weaker ISO.The scamming of people, the stealing with impunity, etc is because ISO which used to engage communities covertly is now more of an overt security organization with limited resources to execute its mandate.
Internal Security Organization (ISO) is a counter intelligence agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to Uganda’s policy makers and the President but its poorly funded and lacking capacity to execute its mandate. It’s important to note that the gap between the President of Uganda Gen Museveni and the International Security Organization is widening. The President has limited time for the agency and this explains why he is detached from realities. State House Officials are more powerful than ISO and ESO Senior Officials. The President has of recent relied more on military intelligence other than the civilian based intelligence. However the Military intelligence lacks skills and competency to engage civilians and to detect criminality.
President Museveni will invest all billions in politics but he will never get good results if the Internal Security Organization (ISO) is vulnerable and not effective. Politicians and mafias will utilize the weakness of ISO to blackmail the president and possibly use him in unproductive schemes. The SFC is however doing a very good job in counter-Intelligence but it has perfected in the sector of political intelligence, strategic engagement with peasants,etc. This is a big challenge to the NRM Government.
President Museveni is credited for creating and maintaining a secure, peaceful and stable environment and the Government through Ministry of Defense has continuously engaged in a number of activities to curtail security threats however the trend is now changing as the ISO is becoming weaker by the day. While The security agents in ISO, ESO and CMI have continued to enhance the capability and capacity of intelligence through efficient information collection measures, it’s important to note that ISO and ESO are not well funded to do the job competitively.
In early days of the NRM Government and up to 2011, President Museveni strengthened the Internal and External Security of Uganda by enhancing information collection and analysis capabilities. He instituted measures including advanced detection techniques and appropriate technologies to deter and curtail terrorists and other hostile activities against Uganda. In the endeavor to create and maintain a secure, peaceful and stable environment, the sector has continuously engaged in a number of activities to curtail security threats but of recent ISO is lacking resources to effectively work and politicians are very happy because they know that a weak Museveni can easily be scammed and can easily release money to politicians. President Museven must wake up and empower the intelligence agencies to enhance the capability and capacity of intelligence through efficient information collection measures.
The rise of a strong opposition force against President Museveni in the diaspora is attributed to a poorly funded External Security Organization (ESO) which has no capacity now to engage Ugandans abroad for purposes of demobilizing them. ESO agents in the Diaspora are the most poorly facilitated officials yet they are supposed to protect our country. However a weak and vulnerable ESO is good to the NRM Politicians because they are earning a lot of money from President Museveni to travel regularly abroad to engage the opposition people.
As I conclude, I call upon Politicians especially members of Parliament to rethink and boost the capacity of Internal Security Organization (ISO) and External Security Organization (ESO).Above all the commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and President of Uganda General Museveni should close the widening gap between him and his civilian based intelligence agencies.
For God and my country
Buyinza Adam Luzindana is Team Leader/CEO of Public Opinions
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