Tag Archives: have

Without justice and equality there won’t be lasting peace in the Gt. Lakes region

We want to thank the international community including African Union and the United Nations as well as some governments for the efforts to end the invasion of DRC by M23. While this effort is appreciated, it must be recognized that it won’t by itself bring about lasting peace and security for all unless the root cause of the conflict which is Nilotic Tutsi domination of Bantu people is recognized and solved so that the two ethnic groups live together in peace and security.

Batutsi have deceptively presented themselves to the world since the 1994 Rwanda genocide as victims in a hostile environment and must defend themselves by eliminating ‘enemies’ and occupying more territory under the pretext of correcting the wrongs of a colonial system of borders that robbed them of land, not realizing or ignoring that they too took land from somewhere else such as 5 thousand square kilometers that Rwanda and Burundi gained from then Tanganyika in 1923.

In my attempt to identify the root cause of the problem, I have touched on sensitive areas previously regarded as taboo that have made some people uncomfortable and forced them to hit back hard without supporting evidence.

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The struggle in the Gt. Lakes region is between poverty and wealth

I have defined the Great Lakes region to include southwest Uganda (former Ankole and Kigezi districts), Burundi, Eastern DRC (North and South Kivu) and Rwanda. Since interaction between the two ethnic groups of Bantu and Nilotic peoples, the region has been characterized by ethnic conflicts of so-called Bantu agriculturalists and Nilotic (Tutsi) pastoralists. Bantu designation of all people in southwest Uganda is a linguistic convenience because Bairu and Batutsi are ethnically very different. Tutsi are Nilotic people that originated in South Sudan (not Ethiopia as originally thought) home also of Nubians, Acholi and Dinka, etc. Bairu and Bahutu are Bantu people that originated in the Cameroon and Nigeria border.

The Nilotic pastoralists or Batutsi entered the region around the 15th or 16th century poorer and less civilized than the Bantu people they found there. They adopted Bantu language, names and culture (the Tutsi title of mwami or king was originally Hutu’s). Batutsi resisted intermarriage with Bantu people: occasionally a prominent Mwiru or Muhutu man would be given a Tutsi woman to marry and then the man would be tutsified and join the social Batutsi club as a junior partner and abandon his ancestral people thus depriving Bantu of capable leaders. This was a tool of Tutsi dominating non-Tutsi people. These were politically-induced and arranged marriages, not through love. Batutsi have many distinct characteristics.

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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.

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Seeking political tools to implement the people agenda

As I have said before, I joined Uganda politics not for personal gain but because I was unhappy about what was and still is happening in a country that was once the envy of the world, with a potential for rapid economic growth and social transformation in terms of improving the standard of living and life expectancy of all Ugandans.

I have expressed my disappointment through writing, radio broadcasting and trying to advise NRM government in writing and orally about how to do things better to no avail. I have distributed some five hundred copies of my ten books to Ugandans free of charge and created a free website www.kashambuzi.com to reach a wider readership. But Uganda continues to decay. This is undeniable. Metaphorically speaking, rampant corruption and sectarianism are eating Uganda away before our eyes!

Many Ugandans and others have contacted me and advised that what is needed is implementation of the good ideas already proposed. It requires that we acquire political tools since NRM has refused to adopt the ideas we have put forward. That is why I joined the United Democratic Ugandans (UDU) and was elected Secretary General with authority to mobilize political and diplomatic support for the implementation of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).

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The idea is to make life better for all Ugandans, not to make history

My humble contribution in Uganda politics and writing about the Great Lakes region (I have written ten books and created a blog www.kashambuzi.com) has been interpreted by some Ugandans as an expression of ambition and the desire to make history. They are wrong.

In making choices about what to do as a student and worker, I have been guided by my parents’ advice, Christian and community values. I was born and raised in a Christian family. My father, now retired, served in the Church of Uganda and rose to the rank of Archdeacon. He served in many places in Rukungiri and Kanungu districts where we interacted with people from many walks of life. Our house was open to all and they opened their houses to us.

I was also born and raised in a large extended family that includes Protestants and Catholics. And coincidentally some of the managers of my businesses are Muslims. I also grew up in an atmosphere where community cohesion and sharing on a reciprocal basis was very strong and children belonged to the entire community.

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UDU mourns death of four children in electricity accidents

Press statement

United Democratic Ugandans (UDU) commends the wives and children of police officers who exercised their right through a demonstration in Kampala demanding payment of delayed salaries of police officers in order to restore electricity to their homes. We mourn with parents and relatives the four children who lost their lives in accidents related to illegal electricity connections. May the Lord rest their souls in eternal peace!

These accidents and demonstrations represent external manifestation of long and deep suffering of the people of Uganda. If police officers in Kampala can’t be paid on time, imagine what is happening to those in remote places. This is a clear reflection that NRM has failed the people of Uganda. It is also a clear sign of lack of development.

Development means that the benefits of economic growth are equitably shared so that every household meets basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, safe drinking water and electricity, etc. When that doesn’t happen, as in Uganda, there is no development. Thus, those in Uganda and abroad that praise NRM government for success in development are probably confusing economic growth of Gross National Income (GNI) and per capita income with meeting basic human needs.

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Federalism is about improving society through power sharing

The October 27, 2012 London conference on federalism in Uganda could not have been organized at a better time. It has given us the opportunity to examine the system under which Uganda has been governed for the last fifty years, the benefits and deficits associated with it and how to proceed in the next fifty years.

One thing should be made clear at the outset: the conference is about federalism which is a system of governance by sharing power between the central and local governments. Following consultations, my understanding is that the conference isn’t about kingdoms. However, fellow Ugandans who still have doubts should seek clarification from the organizers of the conference.

Since the launch of the Republic Constitution in 1967, Uganda has been governed under a unitary or centralized system of government that has concentrated power in the executive branch of government at the expense of legislative and judicial branches and local governments. Presidents in Uganda from Obote I to Museveni have governed like European absolute rulers including the Stuarts of England, the Bourbons of France and the Czars of Russia.

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Comments on Robert Response on Gt. Lakes developments

I am basically a researcher and writer. In doing so, I provide well researched information as a basis for discussion on the way forward. My focus of research and writing is on the Great Lakes region. As such you cannot avoid writing about inter-ethnic conflicts which have been of a zero-sum game: “I am in power and you are out”. I am trying to create space for dialogue so that we engage in a win-win discussion to permit all people in the Great Lakes region to live in peace, freedom and dignity. And what’s wrong with that?

Apart from 1959 to 1994, the history of Rwanda since the 15th century is one of Tutsi dominating, exploiting, impoverishing and marginalizing Hutu people. When Kayibanda became leader of his Hutu party in the 1950s, he approached Tutsi and suggested power sharing in a win-win arrangement. Tutsis refused because to them power sharing with Hutu is impossible (Kagame dismissed the Hutu president, prime minister and other ministers whom he used when he captured power in 1994 before he was able to control Hutu population).

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NRM is in disarray and won’t recover

The Roman Empire was severely weakened by luxuries, corruption and strife. The empire would have collapsed even without barbarian invasions. The invasions merely speeded up what was inevitable. NRM is in the same situation. It has been weakened by too much luxury, too much corruption and the emerging internal strife. If you want to understand the level of luxury, you keep your eyes wide open during the end of year season festivities – from Christmas Day to the New Year – in the countryside. I say countryside because that is where the differences between the rich and the poor are very striking. The NRM big shots and their families are driven in four wheel vehicles. They organize parties the moment they arrive in the villages. They organize extraordinary wedding parties, christening parties, thanksgiving parties; parties for relatives; parties for supporters, parties, parties, parties to show how rich they are until they return to Kampala. And on Christmas Day they come to church dressed expensively and immaculately from the head of the family down to the youngest member. And while these festivities and displays are going on the poor, in second hand clothes and without shoes gather around and watch in disbelief, their hands covering their mouths. And they begin to wonder how these people most of whom lived in poverty like them a few years ago managed to amass so much wealth.

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Only true democracy will end Uganda suffering and insecurity

Holding regular elections even if free and fair does not constitute democracy. It is just a small part of a bigger package. In Uganda elections are held basically for two reasons: to give NRM legitimacy and to meet the requirement for foreign aid and technical assistance. To many Ugandans true democracy occurs when public opinion helps shape government policies and behavior including accountability. In Uganda what NRM is doing has very little, if at all, to do with public opinion. What Ugandans want is very clear and simple and we have the means to deliver but NRM leadership is not interested. Ugandans want a country and society that is peaceful, stable and free from absolute poverty which Robert McNamara, former World Bank President, described as “a condition of life so degraded by disease, illiteracy, malnutrition, and squalor as to deny its victims basic human necessities” as well as freedom from abuse of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

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