Monthly Archives: December 2010

With all the will in the world why has Museveni failed?

In countries with true democracy where citizens hire and fire their representatives through the ballot box and/or public opinion, Museveni would have resigned or forced to because he has failed to deliver on his promises. Museveni cannot step down in large part because he is not sure what will happen to him once he has lost the immunity that goes with the presidency.

Museveni has had all the support at home and abroad that he needed to succeed. Why has he failed so badly? Everywhere you look domestically, regionally and internationally you see nothing but failure. At home, the diseases of poverty and environmental degradation are undeniable, at the great lakes region level, he has been accused of removing governments, his troops of committing genocide against Hutu people in DRC and plundering DRC resources; at the AU level he has quarreled with Qaddafi and at the global level his star has faded.

Discussions with people who have known him for a long time have shed some light. First, it appears that he set high ambitions that were not matched by his capabilities. Apparently, he deceived himself that he is intellectually superior to Ugandans because of his connections with the Aryan race of Europeans and therefore did not need to listen to people of lower IQ.

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Is intermarriage with Bahororo women part of a political game?

Politics is the art of gaining and retaining power by any means. In the great lakes region (southwest Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DRC), intermarriage between Batutsi, Bahororo, Bahima and Banyamulenge (pastoralists) on the one hand and Bahutu and Bairu (cultivators) on the other hand was extremely rare in pre and colonial times. On those rare occasions, a king or chief would give a woman to a good warrior or promising leader from cultivators as his wife. The husband would then be ‘tutsified’ and abandon his ancestral roots. The main purpose of this intermarriage was to deprive cultivators of men of leadership quality. Cultivators would thus remain leaderless and politically powerless.

Before proceeding with the story of intermarriage with Bahororo women, let me explain the relationship between Batutsi, Bahima, Bahororo and Banyamulenge, and the term ‘tutsified’ which appear to have caused confusion in my previous articles.

1. Batutsi is an umbrella word from which Bahima, Bahororo and Banyamulenge spring. According to Gerard Prunier (1995) and Linda de Hoyos (1997) Bahima are a clan of Batutsi.

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Museveni and external backers have made elections meaningless and wasteful

Museveni who was unpopular in student, youth and party politics before becoming president has remained so since 1986. After hard political and military campaign, Museveni was disappointed and humiliated at the Moshi conference when he failed to get elected to either of the two most important positions of leader of the transition team to replace Amin or chairman of the military commission. During the transition period (1979 to 1980), he also realized that he could not lead either UPC or DP parties. Consequently, he formed his own party – Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) to contest the 1980 elections. UPM won one parliamentary seat! Museveni concluded that he would never realize his dream of becoming president or any other public office through the free will of the people of Uganda. He decided he would use force, bribes and tricks to achieve his goals.

That is how he began the destructive guerrilla war that lasted five years. He deliberately destroyed Luwero to put blame on Obote and have him overthrown (EIR 1997). Knowing that Baganda and Catholics were unhappy with Obote and his UPC government, Museveni tricked them that he would provide military backing to get them into power if they came together and form a political movement. Museveni showed no external interest in wanting the post of president for himself. He presented himself as a liberator with no political ambitions.

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Museveni continues to deliberately impoverish the people of Uganda

It may sound mean but it is very true! Before you call me ‘sectarian and tribal hater’, look at the record. Some Ugandans have developed a habit of drawing negative conclusions when they do not like what they are reading. They do not even bother to rebut but are quick to blame the author and question the motive. When you speak the truth, they call you a divider and other outrageous names and/or threaten to silence you or members of your family.

We are not going to solve Uganda’s problems without a serious critical analysis of what is going on and how it has come about. When people genuinely ask whether or not Museveni is a true human being or a true Ugandan it shows the gravity of the challenges they are facing under his regime. I have done research focusing on poor people in remote rural area and I know what I am talking about. Those who disagree let them present their facts. When an increasing number of Ugandans is telling you that on balance Amin was better than Museveni what does that tell you. Obote is already a hero in most parts of the country especially for his work in the 1960s. Friends of mine who were totally opposed to Obote are now softening because they have compared his record and that of Museveni. The level of the standard of living set by Obote in 1970 has not been approached under 25 years of Museveni misrule.

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If Museveni is re-elected, Uganda will enter a very delicate phase

Ugandans, development partners and friends must understand fully that Museveni’s goal – and one goal only – is to impose Bahororo hegemony over the people of Uganda through democracy at gun point. Democracy is needed for international recognition of his goal otherwise Museveni would simply use force and impose it. If Museveni is re-elected (I have advocated vigorously that he should be defeated to avoid troubles ahead), he will use the next five years (because time is not on his side) to force a conclusion of his project or lay a solid foundation for his handpicked successor to complete it. His push may provoke resistance that could result in a political and /or military confrontation and possible explosion. To prevent this from happening, we need to disaggregate the components of his power base and understand when, where, why and how his journey began. This is a tough and dangerous job but someone has to do it. I will do it for the future of all Uganda children. Those who have described me as a divider and advised Ugandans to ignore what I am saying are trying to divert your attention from Museveni’s plan for Bahororo hegemony. Bahororo (Batutsi from Rwanda) are people (whose base is in Ntungamo and Rukungiri/Rujumbura in southwest Uganda) that were represented at a meeting Museveni convened at his home in Rwakitura on March 15, 1992. The meeting was convened to agree on a road map for Bahororo hegemony. The report of that meeting and participants has been widely circulated.

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What kind of revolution was Museveni talking about?

When Museveni graduated from Dar in Tanzania, he began to talk about revolution. This led into the 1981-85 guerrilla war that toppled the government of Okello (not of Obote which was toppled by Okello in July 1985) in January 1986. He continued to talk about revolution. Many Ugandans thought he was talking about the familiar development revolutions: agricultural, industrial and technological. And many gave him support. Museveni suggested that he needed at least 15 years to accomplish this revolution that would in the end metamorphose Uganda’s economy and society.

As time passed, revolutions in agriculture, industry and technology were not happening. While Museveni kept Ugandans waiting for the promised fundamental changes, he embarked on a different kind. Here are a few illustrative cases.

First, he toppled (or it is alleged) governments in Burundi (1993), Rwanda (1994) and Zaire (1997).

Second, Museveni silently handed over Uganda’s economy to foreign ownership, arguing that nationalization was a wrong policy. That is why – justifiably or not – an increasing number of Ugandans think that Museveni is a foreigner working for foreign interests. They reason that a true Ugandan cannot hand over the entire economy except land which he is likely to sell if re-elected.

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If monkeys can chase out a lion, Ugandans can defeat Museveni

Recently I watched a wild life movie. A lion strayed into the territory of monkeys. The monkeys were irritated and decided to chase the lion out. Young and old, male and female, some fifteen monkeys mustered courage and harassed the lion and it left. The lion actually ran to save its life! If irritated monkeys can unite and chase out a lion, angry Ugandans can surely unite and defeat Museveni in February 2010 elections.

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There are troubling developments in Uganda that must be fixed

A close friend of mine with many years of accumulated experience advised me on four things. First, a message must be repeated (orally or in writing) until it is properly understood. He explained that listening and hearing or reading and following a story are important but they must lead to a full understanding of the story and its implications on society. Until that understanding has been attained, the story must be repeated. Second, when a conversation is about a forest it should not be allowed to degenerate into a talk about trees. When you focus on one or two trees, you miss the larger picture. Third, during economic and political hard times, people tend to be short-term focused and miss the long-term dimensions. Fourth, three treasures must always be protected and used properly: population, land and institutions. Let us examine the fourth point with respect to Uganda.

Since Museveni came to power, Uganda has become a laboratory to test new ideas (Sebastian Mallaby 2004). Uganda provided laboratory facilities for shock therapy structural adjustment experiment starting in 1987 after it had been rejected in Ghana in 1986 as very problematic (Paul Nugent2004). The people of Uganda have paid a very heavy price. Uganda has now become a center for testing genetically modified crops (GM) and birth control.

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Rujumbura was never part of short-lived Mpororo kingdom

In the beginning

Bantu people are believed to have left Nigeria/Cameroon border on massive and gradual migration about the time of Christ (R. W. July 1998). They entered the great lakes region about 2-3000 years ago. They entered Uganda through south west and/ or western corner. So they are the indigenous occupants of Rujumbura County (remnants of Bambuti are believed by some researchers to be Bantu people who adapted to a forest environment).

Bantu people brought with them short horn cattle, goats, sheep, poultry, crops and knowledge of iron technology (R. O. Collins 2006 & R. Oliver and G. Mathew vol. I 1963). They settled in good areas endowed with fertile and grazing land and iron ore. With iron technology (axes, machetes and hoes), they cleared land and grew a wide range of crops including bananas, grazed animals and manufactured a wide range of products based on resource endowment. They supplemented cultivated foodstuffs with plentiful wild game and fish, fruits and vegetables.

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Why Museveni must not be re-elected in 2011

Thankfully, our Creator has felt your suffering for the last twenty five years and has heard your prayers for change of government. Now all Uganda voters must gather courage and unite in order to defeat Museveni for the following reasons.

1. Instead of moving the country forward, he is driving it backwards towards pre-colonial conditions (witness increasing human sacrifice, witchcraft and feudal style of governance through lords and serfs and plans to turn Uganda into a kingdom).

2. Instead of uniting the country, he is dividing it up into tiny districts virtually along tribal lines too poor to sustain themselves and therefore dependent on Museveni with stiff conditionality.

3. Instead of protecting the nation, he is opening it up to immigrants from everywhere who are occupying jobs, owning land and are alleged to have registered to vote in 2011.

4. Instead of promoting good neighborly relations, he has interfered in the internal affairs of Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Kenya.

5. Instead of consolidating Uganda, he is forcing it through fast tracking into East African Political Federation without consultations in order to realize his dream of Tutsi Empire. He would probably be Emperor today had Mugabe not intervened in the 1998/99 DRC war (J. N. Weatherby 2003. The Other World page 222).

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