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.
Museveni is a Nilotic Muhororo. Bahororo are Batutsi from Rwanda who founded a short-lived Mpororo kingdom in mid-1600s that lasted less than 100 years. It disintegrated from internal struggles. Bahororo dispersed when Bahima under Bahinda ruling clan occupied their land in southwest Ankole (roughly present-day Ntungamo district), turning Bahororo into commoners. Some Bahororo went back to Rwanda, others to Rujumbura, yet others to other parts of Uganda while the rest stayed in Ankole and kept a low profile under the temporary adopted name of Bahima. Bahororo in Rwanda, Ankole, Rujumbura and elsewhere tenaciously clung together and kept the dream of becoming a great nation alive (hence Museveni’s dream of Tutsi Empire). That is why Batutsi (or Bahororo who returned to Rwanda and came back to Uganda as refugees in the 1960s) supported Museveni during the guerrilla war (they were supporting a fellow Muhororo!). These Bahororo/Batutsi refugees were closer to Museveni than members of other groups including Bahima, witness prominent roles played by Rwigyema, Kagame, Bunyenyezi and Baingana etc during and after the guerrilla war. Bahima played a supportive, not a deciding role.
By way of introduction, let’s see how feudalism worked in pre-colonial Rwanda. Batutsi stripped Bahutu of their land and property and even their king’s title of Mwami. Hutus who had been wealthy before the arrival of Tutsis through mixed farming (livestock herding and crop cultivation) and manufacturing enterprises were reduced to serfs or servants and labored for the needs of their new Batutsi lords. Bahutu provided free food and drinks (Batutsi did not grow their own food because cultivation was below their dignity), free labor and carried their lords and family members in litters and their luggage when they travelled. Bahutu were not allowed to own cattle which was a store of wealth, a source of protein and material for clothing, a measure of value, a means of exchange (dowry) and a symbol of prestige. In rare cases when a Mututsi gave a Muhutu a cow for whatever reason the cow was infertile or about to die or a bull to prevent Bahutu from accumulating wealth through reproduction. Wealthy Bahutu were disproportionately taxed through tribute to impoverish and dominate them.
As noted already, Bahororo introduced in what later became southwest Ankole and Rujumbura county of Rukungiri district feudal methods of governance. In Rujumbura which the author is familiar with, Bahororo did a lot of harm to indigenous Bantu people they dubbed Bairu (slaves).
First, Bahororo collaborated with Arab slave traders and sold members of defeated indigenous tribes into slavery (Bethwell A. Ogot 1976).
Second, Bahororo took over Bairu grazing land (Bairu had short horn cattle which was replaced by Bahororo long horn cows). Consequently short horn cattle disappeared.
Third, as slaves Bairu people were forced to labor for Bahororo. They produced all the food and drinks. Bahororo like their Batutsi cousins did not grow their own food because cultivation was below their dignity. While Bairu prepared food and brewed beer for Bahororo, the two groups never ate together because superior Bahororo could not imagine eating with slaves.
Fourth, Bahororo ate all Bairu goat meat. Bairu ate mutton because it is despised by Bahororo. However, Rujumbura ecological conditions are not suitable for sheep grazing. Accordingly, Bairu did not get enough protein, explaining in part their short stature (Bairu children from wealthy families that eat adequate and balanced meals three times a day are tall). To supplement mutton, Bairu ate grasshoppers which were regarded beneath Bahororo dignity (they did not need to eat grasshoppers because they had enough protein from meat and milk). Whenever there is a dispute between Bahororo and Bairu the latter are often described (till today in 2010) as cheap people who even eat miserable-looking grasshoppers. To Bahororo (educated or not, rich or not) Bairu are inferior no matter their education and status at local, national, regional, continental or international levels – very sad indeed! If one could record and produce what Bahororo say in private conversations about Bairu the world would get a shock.
Fifth, when Bahororo wanted to show how they despise Bairu, they would spit in the latter’s mouth. It happened in Buliisa recently!
Sixth, Bahororo women from royal families did not urinate on the ground when they travelled. They packed their chamber pots in their luggage which was carried by Bairu people. They would urinate in their chamber pots and more and order Bairu to empty and clean it, put it back in the luggage before the journey resumed.
Seventh, when one of the Bairu men carrying their Bahororo lords in litters got tired, his heel would be pierced with a sharp metal object (omuhunda) as punishment.
Eighth, at the end of the harvest season, Bahororo (who were nomadic) would camp in Bairu areas where the harvest was reported to be good and would eat most of the food. They would then sleep with Bairu women in their husbands’ beds, have sex with them or their daughters and even produce babies together while Bairu men slept in the bush. The new babies (called Abambari or half-caste) would be raised by Bairu men who did not produce them. Bairu men would not get mad at their wives or daughters because they were raped by Bahororo men.
The total effect of these human rights abuses was Bairu impoverishment and humiliation; voicelessness and powerlessness combined with resentment. This was the situation at the start of colonial rule.
Through education, church counseling and Bairu marrying Bahororo women (Bahororo men still do not marry Bairu women although they have sex with them and increasingly with other non-Bahororo Uganda women and are even producing children together under the current regime), there was a general consensus that what happened in pre-colonial period should be forgiven (not forgotten) and move on.
While in exile during Amin days, difficult conditions encouraged Bairu, Bahima and Bahororo families to work together for survival. For the first time the two tribal groups ate and drank and even formed non-sectarian political parties together. Many Bairu people joined Museveni’s guerrilla war not as slaves but as Ugandans who wanted a better life for all. Museveni did not see it that way.
Upon becoming president, Museveni began to plot how to reintroduce feudal methods of governance in a subtle way. Like Batutsi of pre-colonial Rwanda, Museveni believes very strongly in military might to crush any real or imaginary opponent and to impoverish others beginning with Bairu as his immediate ‘enemies’. There are reports of meeting(s) Museveni has convened at his home in Rwakitura to plot the implementation of the feudal strategy. One report of those meetings has been in circulation for a while. The report details what steps should be taken by Bahororo to marginalize Ugandans in order to rule the country for ever through hereditary arrangements. Those who have not read the report are advised to do so. One point that was recorded is that Bairu should never see the report in part because they are the principal target.
Because Museveni claims historical connections with Rujumbura, Bairu people thought that since they had supported him during the war, he would reward them commensurately like other groups. What shocked Bairu people is that when the war was over, Museveni associated with Bahororo from Rujumbura including those who were staunch UPC supporters that forced him to go to war to remove them from power. Bairu people who mobilized support for him were left out in the cold. When the military size was reduced, many Bairu were kicked out, not a single Muhororo from Rujumbura is reported to have been retrenched.
Under structural adjustment, schools in Bantu communities were either closed or downgraded from secondary to primary level, forcing many students to drop out. In the public service, many Bairu were disproportionately retrenched.
Although Rujumbura has had influential ministers, presidential advisers and senior civil servants in strategic ministries, there is no development project of significance that has been brought to areas where Bantu/Bairu live. While Bahororo dominate the business sector in Uganda, none has invested in Rujumbura. They have built residential houses and one small hotel for them to stay in when they are in the area. The Muhororo Member of Parliament returns to Rujumbura at campaign time with bags of salt, soap and money for local brew to distribute to desperate, impoverished and vulnerable Bairu people in return for promise to re-elect him.
While I was doing research on Rujumbura, I travelled widely in the area and by bus between Kampala and Rukungiri town. I found it better to do research by listening to conversations than using a questionnaire or asking direct questions. From Kampala to Rukungiri and back and for several trips I was able to together useful information from primary sources and could write with confidence. After studying the situation carefully I wrote an article titled “How Rujumbura’s Bairu got impoverished”. It was published in Observer (Uganda) newspaper about two years’ ago. The article became very instructive of what was going on in other areas of Uganda. Those who did not like the article descended on me with all sorts of insults, accusing me of sectarianism and a man full of hatred. They even distorted what I had written and accused me of fomenting a revolution against Bahororo which I was advised would not occur because influential Bairu men from Rujumbura have married Bahororo women and would side with their in-laws, not with disgruntled Bairu losers. I was threatened with arrest and imprisonment if I stepped on Uganda soil again because I violated the anti-sectarian law and reopened old tribal wounds.
In spite of these threats and friendly advice to give up writing, I have persisted and more articles have been written and published. I have even written to the President, Speaker of Parliament, Prime Minister and other government officials bringing to their attention the suffering of Uganda people under their leadership (These letters are on my blog www.kashambuzi.com and in my book titled “For Present and Future Generation” available at www.jonesharvest.com.
The way Museveni and his government have treated the people of Uganda especially the youth, our future leaders, is unacceptable. A leader like Museveni who chooses to export food to earn foreign currency to buy a presidential jet worth some $80 million etc when his people are starving and children are dropping out of school because they are hungry and too weak to study; a leader like Museveni who refuses to assist unemployed youth during a severe economic recession and spends public funds hosting ICC and AU conferences for his personal prestige should be opposed no matter how strongly he is backed by powerful western powers.
Thus, it is Museveni who has reopened old tribal wounds in southwest Uganda. It is Museveni who has extended feudal methods of governance to the rest of Uganda causing untold suffering and opening fresh wounds in the rest of the country. Experience in Ethiopia under Haile Selassie and Zaire under Mobutu is that when unjust status quo is protected too long and changes finally occur, the impact is massive. What others and I have been saying is that Museveni should stop what he is doing because it is reopening old wounds and inflicting fresh ones. If I am hurt or any member of my family, relatives and friends the world will know who has committed the crime and he or she will not go unpunished! Those who may want to try should think again.
Here is a word of advice: If Ugandans do not unite and drive Museveni out of power, we and our children and grand children will regret the consequences of our inaction. If Museveni continues along the current trajectory of dictatorship the negative impact of his actions will be with Ugandans for a very, very long time. Now you know!