Monthly Archives: December 2010

Privatization of Uganda’s public enterprises was Thatcher’s idea

In her article dated December 7, 2010 on Uganda parastatals, Kesaasi wrote that privatization of Uganda public enterprises was not Museveni’s idea. It was Margaret Thatcher’s! This reminded me of work I did a few years ago about similarities between UK’s and Uganda’s development programs.

While researching and writing about structural adjustment programs (SAPs) or Washington Consensus around the world (Chile, Bolivia, Poland, Russia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia etc), I found that the similarities between Thatcher’s and Museveni’s structural adjustment programs were very striking. It was as though Uganda was a part of Britain run by British officials and institutions under Margaret Thatcher as prime minister. I decided to study it in a historical perspective and to identify which areas were similar and with what impact on the people in the two countries. I compressed the findings into chapter three on ‘Structural Adjustment in the UK and Uganda: Are there Similarities?’ in my book titled “Uganda’s Development Agenda in the 21st Century and Related Regional Issues (2008)” available at www.jonesharvest.com.

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Museveni has turned Uganda into a sad story

1986, the year Museveni became president of Uganda, coincided with an announcement from Ghana that “IMF fails to redeem”. Since 1983 Rawlings had used force to implement stabilization and structural adjustment program. In the end the experiment failed – badly. In 1986, the minister of finance publicly admitted that Ghana’s economy was in deep crisis – the ‘economic success story’ had been a hoax. There were complaints that there was something inherently wrong with international financial institutions’ (IFI) diagnosis of Africa’s challenges and the medicine they prescribed. Rawlings was accused of sowing in the wind by ignoring advice of his Ghanaian advisers in preference for IFIs – IMF and the World Bank (Africa Concord September 18, 1986). Although donors’ had poured vast amounts of money into Ghana the experiment did not work. Finally Rawlings too announced that he had been unimpressed and had had enough of IFI policies (Peter Anyang’Nyong’o 1992). Ghana quietly dropped off the World Bank/IMF list of high performers and was replaced by Uganda (Paul Nugent 2004).

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Museveni imposed birth control without informing the nation

Museveni’s long term vision is to make Bahororo dominate Uganda permanently. But Museveni knows that Bahororo as a group are numerically insignificant that even if their women bear children to the limit of their reproductive capacity they will never attain a critical mass for political domination. Museveni also knows that the military he has used so far has inherent weaknesses that it cannot be relied upon as an instrument of domination by Bahororo in the long term. Further, Museveni has realized that poor and hungry people he has created produce more children than wealthy ones he has also created through skewed distribution of income in favor of Bahororo (Museveni is a Muhororo). He has therefore come up with a silent strategy of increasing the number of those immigrants (particularly Somalis and Tutsis) likely to permanently support Bahororo who will also be encouraged to produce as many children as they can while reducing the number of majority Ugandans through birth control, among other measures. To those not familiar with subtle developments in Uganda this observation may sound mean but that is the truth in Museveni’s country.

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How Museveni sold Uganda to UK in exchange for protection

During the interim period between the fall of Amin in 1979 and the 1980 elections which he lost, Museveni realized that he was unpopular at the national level and in his home area. He concluded that his ambition of becoming president would be achieved through the barrel of the gun and close collaboration with and guidance by foreign powers especially Britain.

Museveni planned and executed the guerrilla war with British support. Much financing was provided by Tiny Rowland, chairman of Ronrho, publicity was directed by William Pike of BBC while political backing was led by Linda Chalker. One commentator observed that “Museveni is not acting on his own. His links to the British royal family run through two interlinked personages: Lady Lynda Chalker, Minister of Overseas Development and a favorite of Lady Margaret Thatcher, and Tiny Rowland, chairman of Lonrho, who reportedly introduced Chalker to the higher echelons of London society. The on-the-ground British case officer for Museveni is reportedly one William Pike (Mike) Pike, editor of New Vision, a daily financed by Rowland. Pike is believed to report directly to Chalker.

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What Museveni says to Ugandans, leaves out his real goals

A careful reading of Museveni statements and observation of what is happening on the ground show a mismatch. This could not be an accident, it was planned. Museveni never discloses his real intentions. Having realized that the truth was in what Museveni omitted from his statements, I wrote an article a few days ago urging Ugandans to begin to think dialectically: to look for the truth in that which is not said. That is Ugandans should not take Museveni statements at face value.

Museveni studied carefully the minds and aspirations of Ugandans and discovered that what they want is different from what he wants. He chose a two-pronged strategy: make statements about what Ugandans want to hear and implement what he wants to achieve, hence the mismatch noted above. After 25 years of NRM rule, Ugandans see a country in a mess. Not so for Museveni. Keeping Uganda messy, Ugandans drinking too much alcohol and praying the whole night or watching pornography movies etc is helping him to advance his goal towards total domination of the country. Bahororo dominated Bantu/Bairu in southwest Uganda by impoverishing and marginalizing them. This method has been extended to the whole country. That is why you do not hear Museveni expressing regret that children are dropping out of school, Uganda youth are unemployed and poverty has remained unacceptably high. All these adverse developments are in line with what he wants: impoverish and weaken Ugandans and govern them with minimum difficulty. Below are illustrations of contrasts regarding what he preaches and implements.

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Museveni is responsible for re-opening old wounds and inflicting new ones

Some Ugandans have been warning me directly and through other channels that if I continue writing against Museveni’s government and his governing style I will be severely punished directly or through members of my family, relatives or friends. There are times when risks have to be taken for the sake of present and future generations. This may sound naïve but I believe in it very strongly. Museveni risked his life and that of his family when he chose to fight the government of Obote from Luwero jungles.

The wounds inflicted on Bairu (slaves) by Bahororo in Rujumbura and in Ankole have a long history. To understand them we need to revisit the feudal methods Batutsi used to cripple Bahutu (slaves) in Rwanda and how Bahororo carried them and used them in southwest Uganda.

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Museveni could easily become the first hereditary Muhororo king of Uganda

A forecaster is a person who, using available information, estimates, calculates or predicts in advance what will happen in future. Based on information at hand, it is possible to foretell that Museveni plans to become the first hereditary king of Uganda kingdom. What are the ingredients for this prediction?

1. It is not a secret any longer that Museveni entertains the notion of creating a Tutsi Empire with himself as the first Emperor. Museveni believes very strongly in using military might to realize what he wants. Other strategies are supplementary. And that is why democracy in Uganda is conducted at gun point. There is sufficient information about Museveni’s military/political intervention in Burundi, Rwanda and DRC as preparation for Tutsi Empire. If Mugabe had not intervened in DRC war, Museveni would probably have realized his dream. As is now known Mugabe entered the war principally to stop Museveni from creating a Tutsi Empire in Middle Africa (J. N. Weatherby 2003). Besides military intervention, Museveni is indirectly pushing Tutsi Empire through the East African economic integration and political federation. Museveni has even talked about a federation larger than the Great Lakes one. On April 4, 1997, it is reported that Museveni stated “My mission is to see that Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire [DRC] become federal states under one nation [and one leader]” (EIR Special Report 1997). Thus, Uganda kingdom is an integral part of this scheme. The following steps have been or are being taken to create Uganda kingdom.

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