Tag Archives: and

Let us remove Museveni from power peacefully

Change of government in Uganda has been violent – in 1966, 1971, 1979, 1985 and 1986. In 2011 the change of government should be peaceful. But why do we need a change now? Here are some compelling reasons.

1. Museveni was groomed in the early 1980s and imposed on Uganda by powerful western powers to serve their interests in the Greater Lakes region and not those of Ugandans.

2. Museveni waged a destructive guerrilla war with backing of foreigners – some 25 percent of guerrillas were Batutsi from Rwanda who ran the country until they left for Rwanda in 1994 and took our national security secrets with them making Uganda vulnerable. Some still hold key positions in strategic public institutions and business sector and will continue to do so as long as Museveni is in power. Uganda’s economy is in foreign hands – even the strategic post office!

3. Museveni has treated Uganda and Ugandans as conquered territory and people. Since 1986, he has openly despised us as primitive, bankrupt, empty cans, lazy and drunkards not only at home but abroad as well including in the United Nations General Assembly Hall where 192 heads of state and government meet every year in September.

Read the full post
Posted on by

The time to liberate Uganda is now

There is evidence in time and space that when conditions become unbearable the downtrodden masses revolt. Time has come for Ugandans to do the same. The precondition for successful revolutions is to overcome the psychology of fear.

For the last twenty five years Ugandans – except Bahororo and their cousins – have lived in hell on earth worse than for serfs in the Dark Ages in medieval Europe.

Serfs or peasants in the Dark Ages fed on a meal of wheat, beans, peas and pork which was better than cassava and maize for the majority of Ugandans today. But there was a lot of injustice and suffering as lords accumulated wealth at peasants’ expense. The priests kept telling peasants not to worry about deprivation on earth because their rewards were in heaven. Eventually serfs in Western Europe got fed up when exploitation became unbearable overcame fear and revolted. The peasant revolt of 1381 in England was led by priest John Ball and peasant Wat Tyler who mobilized some 100,000 peasants and matched in protest in London and elsewhere. Eventually they triumphed and feudalism came to an end.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Land is life

Fourth appearance on Radio Munansi

Greetings fellow Ugandans and friends

In this session I wish to share with you why in Uganda land is life and cannot be sold or leased to outsiders as is being done by NRM government.

1. Every human being needs land for a house, factory, recreation, garden, final resting place or a combination of all these functions.

2. Thus, every Ugandan whether educated, urban dweller, wage earner or not should have a piece of land. President Museveni stressed this point of land ownership when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23, 2008. He stated that in Uganda all families own land. This point was well received by the audience.

3. Land ownership is especially vital for those who do not have non-agricultural skills.

4. Based on how an urban area is defined, some 90 percent of Ugandans still derive their livelihood from land.

5. The issue of land occupied the attention of colonial authorities. After serious debate between London and Entebbe taking into consideration the failure of European plantation agriculture in the 1920s, the colonial administration decided that Uganda’s land would be owned and worked virtually by Uganda peasants.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Politics and human rights in Uganda

Third appearance on Radio Munansi

Greetings fellow Ugandans and friends

1. Yesterday the world witnessed a momentous and historic occasion unfold before our eyes – a revolution occurred by unarmed, fearless and gallant people of Egypt. Egyptian men and women in uniform have set very high standards for others to emulate by extending a helping hand to demonstrators. And that is how it should be because the military’s job is to defend the people against internal and/or external aggression.

2. The demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia were about winning back God-given human rights – including dignity, liberty and equality that have been trampled by political inequities and injustices. Human rights are inalienable. They are God-given and not privileges given and taken back by leaders. Therefore human rights cannot be taken away by anybody. Leaders in Tunisia and Egypt who trampled peoples’ human rights were resisted and defeated.

3. We warmly congratulate the demonstrators in both countries.

4. The wind of change that marked the start of Africa’s de-colonization process in the late 1950s and early 1960s is upon us once again. Southern Sudan is now liberated. Tunisia and Egypt have just gotten rid of dictators and many countries are agitating for change.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Uganda voters should not sell their birthright for a kilo of salt

This 2011 election will save or destroy Uganda. Re-electing Museveni will change Uganda as we have known it – make no mistake about it. The trajectory is very clear. Museveni is already negotiating with foreigners to sell Uganda’s land – the deal with Egypt is in final stages of finalization.

When Roman food crop producing peasants were forced to sell their land to large scale farmers, the latter switched from food crops for peasant consumption to grazing cattle and sheep or growing grapes and olives for rich families. Rome’s population declined in part from high mortality rate of impoverished, hungry and sick peasants. The weakened Rome was invaded and conquered by barbarians.

Similarly, through the sale of Uganda’s land to foreigners who will then grow foodstuffs to feed their own people, Uganda peasants will dwindle and be replaced by ‘invaders’ through East African economic integration and political federation. This is not a joke. The brilliant, dynamic and jovial children that Uganda has known will be gone as education standards decline and child malnutrition and associated diseases take its toll.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Western leaders should not wait until Uganda starts to burn

There is increasing political, economic, social and ecological evidence that Uganda is heading for a deadly collision between the rulers and the ruled. It appears that Uganda leaders and development partners have not learned from Uganda’s history since the 1960s.

The second half of the 1960s was characterized by a serious political and constitutional crisis that paved the way for the 1970 military coup that brought Amin to power. Amin destroyed the country demographically (over three hundred thousand dead), professionally, economically and socially hoping that he would silence dissent and rule for life. He even invaded a neighboring country to consolidate support at home. Amin’s atrocities resulted in a war with Tanzania and Uganda rebels that left many parts of the country devastated.

The 1980 general elections were won by Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC) led by Obote and certified legitimate by international observers (based on ‘prevailing circumstances’). The verdict was rejected by opposition parties. A few groups unhappy with the democratic process took to the bush and waged a very destructive five-year guerrilla war forcing a section of the national army to topple the government in July 1985 which was six months later removed from power by guerrillas led by Museveni.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Museveni has violent and feudal characteristics

The people of Uganda are resenting Museveni because of his increasing use of violence which he studied in Tanzania and has been encouraged to apply at home by some donors to maintain ‘stability’; his implementation of the philosophy of metamorphosis designed to transform beyond recognition Uganda’s ecological and demographic landscape (having more cattle than crops and more foreigners than indigenous people and another Ivory Coast in Uganda); and his consolidation of feudalism of lords (Bahororo) and serfs (the rest of Uganda) and Tutsi empire disguised as East African political federation with western encouragement.

Through the application of harsh anti-sectarian and anti-terrorism Acts and with tacit donor support, Museveni has violently silenced dissent apparently in the name of political and economic stability. Meanwhile suppressed dissent built into frustration and anger and then into enlightenment and dialectics. Ugandans thus no longer regard Museveni as a leader with divine right whose word is taken at face value. Instead, Ugandans are asking questions and demanding satisfactory answers (enlightenment) and are spending more time in archives and libraries and on the internet unearthing what was hidden (dialectics). Supporters of Museveni at home and abroad should not be surprised at what has hit them.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Comparison between Museveni and British colonial chiefs in Uganda

The comments and questions I am receiving from readers of my books and blog have rekindled hope that Uganda might exit from the current neo-colonial, private sector dominated and market oriented model to a truly poverty-reduction paradigm based on building viable and lasting institutions and infrastructure (rather than governments and individual leaders) and promoting public and private partnership. But for this to happen, leaders in Uganda must have a different political economy profile from those in power today.

Museveni has failed the people of Uganda and pleased his western sponsors because he has had two conflictingstrategies. On the one hand, he has told Ugandans the right things such as transformation of Uganda’s economy through industrialization and improving the living standards of all Ugandans etc. On the other hand, he has in practice implemented what western powers have demanded – integrating Uganda into a global market economy embodied in the Washington Consensus (WC) similar to what Britain demanded during the colonial period. The WC model requires Uganda leadership to adopt policies and strategies similar to those in the colonial days under the indirect rule system. In essence Museveni has behaved like an indirect rule chief under the direction of western powers including the World Bank, IMF and especially Britain. Let us review a few examples to show that Museveni has served western and not Ugandan interests.

Read the full post
Posted on by

Explaining the unique importance of 2011 elections in Uganda

Let me make two observations at the start of this article to clear the air. In my writings I have referred to Museveni as president, not in his personal capacity. Second, you cannot meaningfully talk about NRM government without talking about Museveni – for all intents and purposes Museveni has become NRM government. I do not hear much from ministers or senior civil servants. And in the absence of a government spokesperson, we are left with Museveni.

In a month’s time, Ugandans will elect a president, members of parliament, district councilors and mayors. These elections are taking place in unique circumstances which voters must be very familiar with before they cast their votes. Voters must therefore choose leaders that will genuinely represent their interests. The last twenty five years were dominated by structural adjustment (macroeconomic stability) and national security (defense of the state from external threats) at the expense of human security (protection of individuals economically and socially).

Read the full post
Posted on by

By the end of this article Ugandans will have figured out who Museveni is

Many – if not most – Ugandans have not figured out who Museveni is and much less what he stands for although some have voted for him since 1996. However, going by the voters supporting him, his popularity is dwindling. The uncertainty about Museveni has led to stress and – combined with poor diet of cassava and maize – contributed to insanity which stands at over thirty percent and is rising at an alarming rate – a process that is destroying human capital formation.

The mystery about Museveni springs from many fronts. First, his birth place has remained unresolved. Some Ugandans and others believe he is Rwandese and that he came to Uganda on his mother’s back symbolizing that he was too young to walk on his own. Museveni has written that he was born in Kyamate of Ankole district, now Ntungamo district. Nina Mbabazi has disputed that arguing that Museveni was actually born in Rukungiri district but did not explain. And Nina has declined requests to elaborate which has corroded her reputation. Then, to make matters worse came Shifa Mwesigye with his own story that actually it is Museveni’s grandfather who was born in Rukungiri as if to deny that Museveni was. Like Nina, Shifa did not elaborate. He has been requested to do so. As we shall see later Ugandans are beginning to tilt towards Rwanda as being Museveni’s birth place.

Read the full post
Posted on by