On November 12, 2011 political parties and organizations met in London to discuss Uganda under the theme: “Uganda at Cross-Roads: Which Way Forward?”
I had planned to attend the conference but was not able to get a visa because of a time constraint. I prepared a statement on the National Recovery Plan (NRP) as an alternative to the failed policies of NRM government. I submitted it to the organizers for their necessary action. The full statement is available at www.udugandans.org.
I had also planned to make an oral presentation on the impact of the silent pursuit of Tutsi Empire on Uganda’s future. Museveni has championed the idea for a long time disguised as East African federation, going as far back as his Ntare School days in the early 1960s. Museveni has worked on this project silently, methodically and incrementally, starting with capture of power in Uganda and using it to extend his imperial tentacles.
We are in the age of enlightenment and can no longer take things at face value regardless of the source – reason has become order of the day. Thus, to understand Museveni’s mind one needs to reason dialectically, by looking at and exposing that which is not said but done.
Museveni’s involvement in Burundi (the latter part), Rwanda, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and DRC may be interpreted at face value as efforts of a man genuinely seeking to bring about peace and stability in a troubled region, thereby hiding the principal motive of laying a foundation for the ultimate formation of a Tutsi Empire. His real motive in political changes in Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan and DRC and protection of status quo in Kenya needs to be discussed dialectically.
Hidden from public view is his pet project of Tutsi Empire which he has carefully and incrementally promoted under economic integration and political federation. Museveni has justified his strong support for rapid integration and federation to remove balkanization that has hindered economic and political development in the great lakes region and beyond.
But at home he is championing rapid economic and political balkanization by creating over 100 districts – and still adding – in a small country with a small population. Thus, for Museveni, balkanization is fine for Uganda, but not so for East Africa. Do you now see the paradox or worse?
Fortunately for us, Museveni let the cat out of the bag – and some believe accidentally – when he stated in the late 1990s that his mission was to create a federation of states in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes Region. Since then, he has put on fast track negotiations to create East African federation ahead of East African economic integration which should precede the former. He has carefully appointed reliable and loyal staff in Uganda relevant ministries and the East African Community to push the project relentlessly according to his time table.
Against this background, we are cautioning East Africans, their leaders and negotiators in the East African community to pose for reflection. It does not hurt anyone to ask why unlike in other regions, political federation is proceeding ahead of economic integration in our region.
The first attempt at East African federation collapsed soon after Kenya’s independence in 1963 because Uganda objected. Why has Uganda accepted so readily this time? Has the government uncovered benefits for Uganda that were not seen in 1963? If so can we be informed?
Winston Churchill proposed the “United States of Europe” in 1946. It’s now 2011 and Europeans are still working on it. Political federation in Central Africa crumbled after ten years (1953-63). And proposed federations in West, Central and North Africa did not go far.
The lesson one can draw is that integration and federation are not easy projects in time and space. They require patience and all inclusive, transparent and genuine consultations and above all compromise within and among states.
There are rumors (to be confirmed) that if Museveni does not get the entire region or the process takes too long, he may go for a smaller region comprising Uganda, Southern Sudan, western Kenya, northwest Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and eastern DRC.
Museveni, according to these rumors, has figured out that being Nilotic (his Nilotic ancestors are believed to have come from Southern Sudan) Nilotic leaders in these areas may buy the idea quickly and form a region in which they constitute a majority whereas they are numerically inferior in most areas where they live right now. This may be just a rumor, but who knows.
Be that as it may, this new regional dimension is being pointed out so that it becomes part of the equation in mapping out Uganda’s future direction. As they say prevention is better than cure.