Author Archives: Eric Kashambuzi

What people in the Great Lakes region demand is justice

I worked in a UN organization that treats all staff with a high degree of fairness. There is an ombudsman office where complaints of injustice are presented for a solution. You can also make recourse when you feel you missed a promotion unfairly.

I grew up in a Christian family where our parents exercised fairness. We sat together at meal times and we shared domestic chores proportionately. When it was about time to go back to school, our parents brought us together and gave us allowances (pocket money) according to our needs in a transparent atmosphere. And there was no favoritism.

In the Great Lakes region injustice has reigned supreme. Since John Speke racial theories popularized by Seligman that Nilotic Batutsi people are superior, more intelligent and born to rule over Bantu Bahutu and Bantu Bairu people who are inferior, unintelligent and born to be ruled the latter has suffered crushing humiliation.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Museveni acting in the footsteps of Cromwell

As Yoweri Museveni prepares to handover state house keys to his son and turn Uganda into a Tutsi dynasty, we need to know the extent to which Museveni learned from Oliver Cromwell in his rise to power and creation of conditions for his son’s hereditary succession.

James I and Charles I the Stuart kings of England believed and practiced absolute rule (absolutism) and divine-right of kings. They ignored Parliament, imposed taxes and dismissed it when it suited them. Parliament and the English people resented the Stuart kings first because they were foreigners from Scotland and second they ignored English traditions.

In 1642, while in session, Charles attempted to arrest some leading members of Parliament, touching off the civil war (1642-49). Those who fought for the king were called Cavaliers and for Parliament against the dictator king led by Oliver Cromwell Roundheads. The Roundheads won. Absolutism and the monarchy came to an end.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Uganda needs a leader for all Ugandans

Uganda was born and grew up in a divisive atmosphere. The religious wars at the start of colonial rule divided Uganda. Colonial wars in which some Ugandans collaborated with colonial armies to defeat and dismember defeated groups divided Uganda. Indirect rule that favored chiefs that were used to tax, punish, imprison and force commoners to do public work for free divided Uganda. The colonial policy that designated some areas economic growth poles and others labor reserve poles divided Uganda. The colonial policy of recruiting soldiers and police from the northern region by setting the height requirement that discriminated against shorter Ugandans in the south divided Uganda. The colonial administration based largely on districts staffed with officials from the same districts and a relatively detached central government divided Uganda. And the deliberate colonial policy of divide and rule deprived Uganda of national consciousness during the colonial period from 1894 to 1962.

Preparations for independence didn’t help. Uganda National Congress (UNC) which started off as a national party split along regional lines between Buganda and the rest of Uganda. Uganda Peoples Union (UPU) was formed by members of Legislative Council (LEGCO) outside Buganda to challenge Buganda. The non-Baganda UNC and UPU groups formed Uganda People’s Congress (UPC). UPC was overwhelmingly a Protestant party. Catholics formed their own party, the Democratic Party. So Uganda was divided along religious lines as we prepared for independence.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Uganda is down, not out

In every society, people make mistakes. Those who recognize them early and correct them get back on the right track and move on. Those who don’t correct the mistakes suffer the consequences.

In England, King Charles I was defeated in a civil war, absolutism and the monarchy were abolished and England became a republic (Commonwealth) under Oliver Cromwell, a military commander. Cromwell governed with an iron hand and his son who succeeded him was very weak. The people of England through their Parliament decided to restore the monarchy under King Charles II with restrictions. The mistake was corrected and England moved forward.

Since the Lancaster House constitutional conference for independence, we Ugandans have made mistakes. In a rush to meet the deadline of October 9, 1962 for independence, we postponed and overlooked major issues which should have been resolved with Britain in the chair. The daunting issues of Lost Counties, Head of State, Batutsi refugees and the fate of Amin were postponed. We abandoned Ben Kiwanuka whom we knew better and welcomed Milton Obote who had just returned from Kenya who didn’t know Uganda and Uganda didn’t know him. When Uganda became independent, it was neither a monarchy nor a republic. It was simply called “The Sovereign State of Uganda” with the Queen as Head of State.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Political control by any means necessary has some problems

There are many reasons why people join politics. There are those who join for fame. There are those who join because they have nothing else to do. There are those who join to make money. There are those who join to bring certain issues to public attention. And there are those who join to solve problems.

I joined politics very early in life. I joined student politics at Butobere School because I wanted to bring all students together to celebrate independence as one united group, not supporters of DP or UPC. I became president of Rujumbura Students Association to bring harmony among sectarian groups. I involuntarily joined Rukungiri UPC politics of meat eaters and vegetarians because I wanted to defend a civil servant who had been unfairly treated by the vegetarian group. I became president of African Students Association at the University of California at Berkeley because I wanted African students to have a common position on the Vietnam War. I became chairman of UNDP staff association in Zambia because I wanted harmony between locally and internationally recruited staff. I co-founded Uganda Unity Group in Zambia to bring Ugandans together and end sectarian politics against the Amin regime and I joined Amicale at the United Nations in New York so that Africans have a common position on matters that affected their welfare.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Why do relatives fight one another?

Upon realizing that Batutsi are Nilotic people one fellow Ugandan wondered why then have Nilotic people been killing each other in Uganda. I replied briefly that the fight has been over power. Power doesn’t recognize relatives when relatives face each other. When relatives have a common opponent from another group (Obote and Ibingira versus Kakonge), relatives come together. When that opponent is out of the way (Kakonge out) relatives turn against each other (Obote and Ibingira). Before elaborating on Nilotic rivalry in Uganda politics, let us look at two examples of relatives fighting and replacing each other in England and Burundi respectively.

1. The War of the Roses (1455 – 1485). For thirty long and bitter years, two noble families in England: the House of York (whose badge was a white rose) and the House of Lancaster (whose badge was a red rose) fought a bitter civil war as a result of conflicting claims to the English throne. Many nobles and others died in the war. In the end the House of Lancaster defeated the House of York. Henry Tudor was crowned king of England as Henry VII. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I belonged to the Tudor family that ruled from 1485 to 1603. Because Elizabeth had no children (she never married), she was succeeded by James Stuart her distant cousin who became king of England as James I.

Read the full post
Posted on by

DRC: Agents do not decide; they are instructed

Those calling on Kaguta, Kagame and Kabila (the three Ks) to pacify the Great Lakes region are exaggerating what the three leaders can do for two major reasons. First, these are military leaders who believe in military solution to problems. Peaceful negotiation or democracy isn’t their cup of tea.

Museveni engaged in a very destructive Luwero Triangle guerrilla war to solve a political problem caused by the 1980 elections which he lost instead of mobilizing for the next elections. If the international community hadn’t exerted pressure on him, Museveni would probably still be fighting the rebels in the north and east of Uganda.

Second, Kaguta, Kagame and Kabila are agents. And agents don’t decide: they carry out instructions. The locus of power and decision making is elsewhere, not even at the United Nations in New York. It is in major western capitals.

During a mission to the Great Lakes region in DRC, Burundi and Rwanda about three years ago, it was made clear from different sources that Uganda and Rwanda and their leaders are mere agents of western powers and corporations. Therefore calling on Kagame, Kaguta and Kabila to end the fighting is a waste of time and money. These leaders are acting on instructions.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Struggle to control riches of DRC and suffering of Gt. Lakes people

The people of DRC especially those in the east need more of our prayers at this hour of intense human suffering. The three K leaders (Kaguta, Kagame and Kabila) with military background and their domestic and foreign backers need to come to their senses and end the suffering of the people. The United Nations too needs to move faster and end the war before it loses its credibility as an institution that was created in 1945 to maintain or restore peace and security in all parts of the world.

The fall of Goma town may sharpen the appetite of victors to want to capture the rest of DRC, Angola, Namibia, Congo and Gabon and then Kenya and Tanzania. Mark my words: if concerted and collective action is not taken that is what will happen. Rwanda and Uganda, the two countries alleged to be causing this instability are too poor to be acting alone. So those supporting them should stop.

Read the full post
Posted on by

How a Catholic Archbishop saved the Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos came to power in 1965 and refused to leave despite failed policies that brought about economic inequities and political instability. A combination of population growth, absolute poverty and land shortage created massive discontent and contributed to the formation of a communist insurgency. Concerned about economic and social injustice, the Catholic Church got involved.

Then on August 21, 1983 former senator Benigno Aquino and strong opponent of Marcos was assassinated at Manila International Airport when he returned home from exile. This assassination served to mobilize massively against Marcos. The Church played a pivotal role through pastoral letters and a Manila-based Radio Veritas station owned by Catholic Bishops Conference.

In panic, Marcos abruptly announced a snap election to throw opposition candidates into disarray and win. The Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin and his colleagues issued strongly worded pastoral letters that left no doubt that they were on the side of the people. The snap presidential election of February 7, 1986 was massively rigged by Marcos supporters. On February 15, the Philippine parliament announced that Marcos had won. The announcement was followed by massive campaign of civil disobedience to force Marcos out of power.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Batutsi expansionism takes hold in Eastern DRC

When I wrote about Tutsi Empire project, detractors quickly dubbed me a genocide promoter and a tribal hater. But I stood my ground. Batutsi want to set the cloak back to pre-colonial days of lords and serfs. From their small nucleus in Mbarara town in southwest Uganda in the early 1960s, Nilotic Batutsi debated and agreed to use military means to recapture the dominance over Bantu people that they lost through the ballot box because of their numerical inferiority.

The guerrilla war in Uganda gave them the opportunity to capture Uganda and use it as a base to invade and overthrow Bahutu-led government in Rwanda, then overthrew Bahutu-led government in Burundi and Bantu-led government in Zaire.

The declaration of Tutsi Empire was cut short when the people of Congo resented Batutsi dominance in Desire Kabila government. Kabila expelled Tutsis from DRC. Kagama and Museveni responded with another attack which was defeated by a combined force of Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe because they resented a Tutsi Empire in Middle Africa of Nilotic Batutsi dominating Bantu people in the Great Lakes region.

BBC has vindicated me. According to BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse, “The M23 is largely made up of ethnic Tutsi, the same group which dominates the government in Rwanda”.

Read the full post
Posted on by