To understand why majority Ugandans are getting poorer, jobless, hungrier, sicker, landless and are about to lose national sovereignty as borders are eliminated as suggested recently by the president of Rwanda when he met with a high powered Uganda delegation in Rwanda, one needs to know the origin of the core group of NRM and its motives to enable Ugandans to take informed decisions. To tell this story requires boldness because the risks are very high. But the story has to be told for Ugandans to read, discuss and decide on the way forward.
The original group led by Museveni formed some sort of association at Ntare School in the early 1960s, soon after independence in 1962. This group was motivated by the desire to regain domination of politics in the Great Lakes region. The independence of Congo (home of Banyamulenge or Batutsi from Rwanda), Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda introduced fundamental changes in the minority pastoralist and majority agriculturalist relations. The minority pastoralists who had dominated the agriculturalists for centuries were defeated during pre-independence elections based on majority rule. The association was formed to map out a road map to return Batutsi to power in Rwanda and regain domination in Ankole politics initially and Uganda and East Africa subsequently. The group launched an attack on UPC for rigging Ankole elections in order to gain the support of Catholic Bairu DP supporters. It also attacked UPC for lack of interest in the East African Community (EAC) project. Protestant pastoralists deserted UPC which they could no longer dominate and joined DP which they dominated. You need to remember that politics in Ankole is dominated more by religion than ethnicity. Museveni planted a seed among DP supporters in Ankole which would help him to mobilize Catholics throughout Uganda during the 1981-85 guerrilla war.
Most members of Ntare School association went to Dar es Salaam for undergraduate education primarily to get access to military training facilities because they realized they could not mobilize enough support through a democratic process. The kind of democracy they envisaged was to be achieved through the barrel of the gun. Those from the association who went to Nairobi College left for Tanzania upon graduation to undertake military training as well. This was long before Amin came to power in 1971, so they cannot use Amin regime as the reason for undergoing military training.
During the brief period that Museveni worked in the president’s office before Amin overthrew Obote in 1971, he was in charge of what he called nomadic people like the Masaai. Some have guessed that he was locating Batutsi people who had come to Uganda as workers since the 1920s and as refugees after the 1959 Social Revolution in Rwanda and were scattered in all parts of Uganda. He wanted to expand his fighting force with Batutsi, Banyamulenge, Bahima and Bahororo (Museveni is not a Muhima but a Mututsi/Muhororo). Bahima, Banyamulenge, Batutsi and Bahororo are cousins of Nilotic identity. When Amin took over Museveni had already some fighters who formed FRONASA. The core group of FRONASA was therefore made up of pastoralists (Batutsi, Bahororo, Banyamulenge and Bahima). FRONASA comprised the core group formed at Ntare School and Tutsi refugees or mercenaries.
It is this core group that was invited to lead the fight in Luwero Triangle against Obote II government. It was expanded to include Baganda and Catholics from all parts of Uganda who were unhappy that they lost 1980 elections to UPC once again (Catholics in DP lost to Protestant UPC/KY in 1962 elections). These new recruits formed the majority of guerrilla fighters but were kept on the periphery around the core group of Bahororo, Batutsi, Bahima and Banyamulenge who directed the war. In order to hide this core element in the guerrilla force, strict instructions were issued. There was to be no sectarianism. You couldn’t ask questions about one’s home area, language spoken, ethnicity, religion etc. Promotion was based on merit only which permitted Museveni to promote people largely from the core group of Bahororo, Batutsi, Bahima and Banyamulenge. Any digression was severely punished. For example, one day a curious young guerrilla fighter wanted to know the people in his group that spoke a strange language. He was severely punished as a lesson for others. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but most members of NRM dropped their first or religious names or changed names altogether as another strategic move to hide who they were.
When NRM came to power in 1986 it retained these characteristics of non-sectarianism and promotion on individual merit. Ideally it sounded great. Ugandans had been fed up with sectarianism that had favored Protestants and Muslims. So the element of secrecy was retained including elimination of religious names.
Museveni who had a list of his Batutsi, Bahororo, Banyamulenge and Bahima people from western, eastern, northern and central (Buganda) began to fill important positions. On the surface what we saw was a Muganda appointed to a key post, a Munyankole appointed to that key post, a Langi appointed to this key post, an Itesot moved to that post, a Musoga to this post, a Mugisu transferred from here to there, etc. We didn’t realize that most of these were Bahima, Bahororo, Batutsi and Banyamulenge who spoke local languages and adopted local names but retained their original Nilotic identity and domination instinct. Members of parliament, district councilors, ambassadors, ministers etc were and have been dominated by Museveni people.
Museveni packed them in the constituent Assembly, explaining why the Constitution has interesting articles which appear fine at face value like everyone has a right to settle anywhere in Uganda and speak own language etc. Because we are represented disproportionately by immigrants (whether their parents came a long time ago or more recently) that have not integrated with local communities and therefore don’t care about concerns of indigenous populations, we have these challenges that are beginning to explode in our faces witness the hot discussions regarding candidates for the forthcoming by-election. That is why development is skewed in favor of a few, wealth accumulation including land grabbing is taking place at break neck speed, schools are torched and none is caught etc. Where are indigenous representatives? What are they saying in parliament and district councils? How many ambassadors and senior staff do indigenous people have in key Uganda missions abroad?
Museveni also hired some of the best historians as presidential advisers presumably to identify his ethnic group people. Key ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs and security forces are packed with his people. You take a quick search of people that are running Uganda at home and abroad in embassies since 1986 and you will see the level of disproportional representation. Another point to note is that the leadership of Uganda since 1986 has been dominated by people who studied at Dar es Salaam when Museveni was there. Take a pen and paper and jot down names against key positions and you will not fail to see that connection.
As I have written before, Museveni decided that Ugandans in the diaspora should not come home because NRM was training other Ugandans in universities and vocational/technical schools. At the same time, Museveni selectively called home from the diaspora Ugandans from his ethnic group who got into key positions including ambassadors. Museveni used the very sectarian tool he legislated against to practice sectarianism, suggesting that anti-sectarianism was designed not against sectarian practices but against criticizing sectarian practices. Even if a particular department was filled with relatives from one family you are not allowed to question that because the selection was done on individual merit, not on sectarian grounds. Do you see the trick?
Consequently, we have a situation in Uganda where we don’t know who our leaders and even our neighbors are. Ugandans have developed the habit of withholding even basic information from colleagues on the same team. This analysis hopefully may help debate what to do next. Keeping quiet or acting emotionally is counterproductive. We need to understand why in spite of huge government revenue a few people are growing richer while majority are getting poorer, why some get elected to representative offices in parliament and district councils while others can’t make it. It is therefore not a crime to ask who your representatives in parliament, district councils, embassies etc are. Let us clarify in case we are misunderstood. We are not saying that all immigrants don’t care about the interests of indigenous people. We are saying we want to know who these representatives or potential representatives are and what they have contributed to their communities before we give them a vote. Representatives or candidates who tell you all their relatives died a long time ago and cannot even remember where they came from have something to hide. Such people should be treated with a grain of salt.
Many Ugandans got a shock when people we thought were Ugandans and occupied key and strategic position in government and security forces packed their bags and returned to Rwanda in 1994. That was a wakeup call. But there was no follow-up because of anti-sectarian law. Time has come to be bold and seek to know who our leaders are (their family trees) for two main reasons.
1. Developments in the East African Community. Negotiations in the East African Community that have put political federation ahead of economic integration are likely to disadvantage Uganda. The first president will be the most senior sitting president who is Museveni. Once in there he will work with his allies from Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan and push for elimination of national borders to ease population density in Rwanda and Burundi. Kenya might go along because it like Rwanda and Burundi has high population densities and removing national borders will enable excess Kenyans to settle in Uganda. To prevent this from happening we need sympathizers in Uganda parliament and East African community to block dismantling national borders or prevent unregulated settlement of immigrants in Uganda. Remember it was patriotic Baganda in Obote I government that blocked Uganda from joining the East African federation in 1963. Do we have patriotic Ugandans in Uganda parliament or East African Community now?
2. Loss of land to large scale foreign and local farmers may happen soon. Whether Museveni becomes president of East African federation or not, Uganda appears to be on the way to losing land to large scale farmers. In one way or another some 90 percent of Ugandans depend on land for livelihood. They get food, cash, fuel-wood and building materials from the land. Once land is taken away, these people will have no means of earning a livelihood because their poor education or outright illiteracy will not get them a job outside agriculture. To prevent this from happening we need to do two things. We should demonstrate against prime minister’s decision to take land from subsistence farmers to large scale farmers. We should notify our legislators of the danger involved in that decision and alert the international community that supports small holder farmers that are more productive, more efficient, more environmentally and more socially friendly than large scale farmers. Then we need to identify and support candidates to represent national interests in Uganda parliament and East African Community. Being gentle in a matter regarding land ownership and use is unwise. No leader including the president should force Ugandans to abandon their land even if there are promises of compensation. Money will vanish fast and before you realize you have no land, no money and no job. Those who keep quiet because you want to avoid controversy for political or other benefits are doing a disservice to their people. People will choose you for honesty and show of leadership qualities, not for hiding in a closet until the day of nominating candidates. So come out and express your opinion in this important subject.
Fellow Ugandans, these are facts. The issues of sectarianism that were gradually disappearing were reinvigorated by Museveni’s luster for power and domination by relying on members of his ethnic group. Uganda is about to reach a boiling point. We have to take bold steps and make Uganda a better place for everyone or the minority mostly immigrants that have refused to integrate with others will drown the rest. I have told you the story as a patriot and researcher. It is up to you to advance it or reject it. Either way, you will have a share of responsibility for the outcomes.