President shuffles cabinet ahead of debate on presidential term limits

The cabinet reshuffle announced by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday will strengthen his hold on power and minimise disagreements in government ahead of a crucial national debate over whether to lift presidential term limits, observers said. Museveni, who has been in power for 18 years, is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in office when his current one expires in 2006. But there are a growing number of voices, especially within the ruling "no-party" National Resistance Movement (NRM) hierarchy, who are calling for a constitutional amendment to allow Museveni to run for another term. "The president has assembled a team that is loyal to him in his bid for a third term and he seems to be strengthening his legal team, which points to a determination for a legal show down with the opposition," Kampala lawyer and opposition activist, Erias Lukwago, told IRIN. The president has not directly joined the fray, but his close allies, some of whom were appointed to cabinet in the reshuffle, are leading the parliamentary crusade to lift the constitutional presidential term limit. Announcing the changes, Museveni moved Ezra Suruma from the NRM secretariat to replace long-serving finance minister, Gerald Ssendaula. Sam Kutesa, a close family friend of the president, was promoted from junior investment minister to foreign minister while Prof Kiddu Makubuya was named justice minister and Attorney General. One of the new junior ministers, Nyombi Thembo, recently proposed changes in parliamentary procedure designed to keep dissenting MPs in check. He suggested that secret voting in parliament be stopped. Another new appointee, Charles Bakabulindi, is the chairman of the NRM caucus in parliament. Museveni also named a new Inspector General of Government (IGG). Faith Mwondha, a high court judge, replaced Jotham Tumwesigye as the principal watchdog over corruption in government departments. But, another analyst said, the appointment of the director of legal affairs at the NRM Secretariat, Rachael Baku, as deputy IGG, "fused the IGG’s office with the politics in government". Constitutionally, the inspectorate of government is supposed to be independent. Museveni seized power in 1986 after fighting a five-year guerrilla war. He has since ruled Uganda under a "no-party" system of government. Recently however, there have been moves to return the country to multi-party democracy.