Tag Archives: must

As father of the nation Museveni has failed Uganda children and must go

In my culture – and I believe in all cultures – parents have three principle responsibilities: to feed their children adequately so that they do not fall sick; prepare them for successful adulthood; and preserve land for them. I watch movies about wild life a lot. What is common among all creatures – birds and animals alike – is that they make sure their young are fed well and protected against danger; the young are taught how to survive and succeed in a dangerous environment on their own and cared for when need arises; and protect the territory for present and future generations. Recently I watched a movie in which a lion strayed into monkeys’ territory. All the monkeys – young and old, male and female – gathered around the lion and harassed her until she left the area. The monkeys re-conquered their territory with great joy!

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Britain put Museveni into power, it must take him out

Britain through its citizens put Museveni into power. Tiny Rowlands funded the guerrilla war and facilitated Museveni’s travel. William Pike has led the media and publicity work for Museveni since the guerrilla war days. Linda Chalker a trusted former minister in Thatcher’s government was the first foreign dignitary to meet Museveni as president and has remained a very close adviser since then. Paul Collier has been the chief foreign macroeconomist that constructed structural adjustment program (SAP) based on Thatcherism – get socialism and state out of Uganda’s economy; focus on inflation at the expense of employment; discipline trade unions and facilitate labor flexibility to hire and fire at will and pay low wages; and privatize all public enterprises so that laissez faire capitalism and invisible hand of market forces drive Uganda’s economy and society. Structural adjustment program has been implemented by British economists in the powerful ministry of finance and central Bank. The Department for International Development (DFID) has also been active in Uganda’s economy.

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Museveni has failed, he must go

One of the tasks of teachers is to identify students with potential leadership qualities and prepare them accordingly. A student who is always punctual is made a time keeper. A student who likes reading is made a librarian. A student who is the best soccer/football player is made captain. A student who does well among scouts is made troop leader, and student who has overall leadership qualities is made prefect etc. These student leaders observe the behavior of their fellow students and identify those that could succeed them and on some occasions recommend them to the headmaster who finally takes the decision.

People who know Museveni very well as a student are in general agreement that he did not exhibit leadership qualities. During the interim period between the fall of Amin in 1979 and the elections of 1980, Museveni did not impress Ugandans as a national or constituency leader. He lost an election for Member of Parliament in 1980, yet he had been one of those who fought and defeated Amin.

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Museveni must be having sleepless nights

Well placed people in Uganda and abroad who have watched Museveni’s rapid rise believe he has reached the top of a hill and has begun riding down a steep, winding and slippery road in a poorly maintained vehicle with unreliable brakes.

Museveni has had four reliable allies: western powers; Baganda and Catholics; NRM; and security forces. Museveni received strong western support for his willingness to implement the unpopular structural adjustment program (SAP) and to serve as a surrogate for one western group in the Great Lakes geopolitics. IMF and the World Bank wanted a place with a bold leader to develop structural adjustment into a development model for developing countries. Uganda was that place and Museveni was that bold leader who would not tolerate complaints about the harshness of SAP.

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Ugandans must begin to think dialectically

Dialectics is the art or practice that helps to understand that we are not always told the truth. Dialectics therefore helps us to get to the truth by making sure that the absent is made the present because the greater part of the truth is in that which is absent.

Since colonial days Ugandans have been largely conditioned to obey what the teacher, or priest and increasingly Museveni says. Our history is still based on what John Hanning Speke (1863) and his aristocratic European and African followers connected with the royal courts wrote. They came up with the Hamitic Myth that Bahima and their Batutsi, Bahororo and Banyamulenge cousins are ‘white’ people, more intelligent, physically attractive and born to rule and that they brought civilization to the ‘Dark Continent’ then occupied by Negroes (black people).

By contrast, they emphasized that the Negroes were short with round heads and thick noses, unintelligent and born to be ruled and to serve as slaves (Bairu) of the ruling hamitic people. Although these stereotypes have been discredited with scientific evidence and performance at school and at work, Bahororo and their cousins of Nilotic Luo-speaking ancestry from Bahr-el Ghazel in southern Sudan (not Ethiopia as Speke wrote) have insisted they are superior and will rule in perpetuity wherever they happen to be, hence the idea of Tutsi Empire in the Great Lakes region.

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Ugandans must know the damage Museveni has caused before they go to the polls

Discussions about Uganda by Ugandans convey a simple message: there is anger out there. People have been hit hard (insanity, joblessness, alcoholism, domestic violence, jiggers, human sacrifice etc) and blame Museveni for this suffering. In Uganda culture, the head of the family has overall responsibility. He/she takes credit when things go well and accepts blame when they go wrong. They seek guidance on how to make things better. Similarly, Museveni as Uganda head of state has responsibility and accountability for commissions and omissions in Uganda. Like head of the household, Museveni should seek guidance on how to improve the desperate situation. Here are examples of the damage he has caused as president for twenty five years.

Damage number one: The first responsibility of the head of a family or nation is to make sure that every member of the household eats enough breakfast, lunch and dinner. Men travelled long distances in search of food when there was famine in their locations. Others committed suicide as punishment for failure to feed their families, demonstrating the importance of food security.

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“A new colonialism: Europe must go back into Africa”

There have been suggestions that Europe must go back into Africa to put the continent back on track. Despite independence Europe never left Africa. It’s like governors went on indefinite vacation leaving behind Africans acting as Officers-in-Charge (oic). Through these oics, Europe has continued to exert tremendous influence (perhaps more than if Europeans were in direct control) in many ways that have contributed to the many political economy challenges Africa faces.

For some African countries, their relationship with Europe after so-called independence can be compared to relations between a department chief who before going on mission or vacation instructs his/her designated officer-in- charge (oic) to implement the chief’s decisions, and have the chief clear all outgoing correspondence before they go out under the signature of the oic. There are many instances when correspondence is drafted by the chief and signed by the oic. Many are deceived that the oic is in full control of the department and acts independently in the absence of the chief. Similarly in some African countries policies come from Europe or the international institutions they control although they bear the signature of the African head of state or head of department concerned. This has been particularly the case since the 1980s when stabilization and structural adjustment programs (SAPs) or the Washington Consensus were launched.

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What the next Uganda government must do

I am writing this article on the assumption, inter alia, that:

  1. the new government will muster sufficient political will, genuine and real commitment to raise the standard of living of all Ugandans
  2. Ugandans and their friends and partners will recognize and accept that Uganda is basically an agrarian country dominated by peasants
  3. Ugandans will put the highest priority on meeting the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter
  4. the empowerment of the poor through inter alia mass quality education, healthcare and appropriate technologies will be promoted
  5. external advice however sound will not deliver without support from the nationals
  6. there is a recognition that structural adjustment has been a failure in social and environmental terms and sustaining economic growth
  7. development strategies are home designed, executed and owned
  8. land is life and a basic asset for peasants
  9. the respective roles of the state and the private sector will be redefined in a mutually reinforcing manner
  10. a bottom up approach will be supported through appropriate policies, strategies and institutions
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Uganda must embrace the idea of inclusiveness and compromise

Uganda has reached a political impasse with the potential for explosion largely because of winner-take-all or zero-sum game mentality.

During the campaigns for the 1980 elections, I had the opportunity to talk to the leadership of the three parties because I had gone to school and university with them, reconnected with many of them after graduation, and made new Ugandan friends in the United States, Europe and Africa. I counseled that whoever wins the election should include Ugandans from the other two parties and stressed the need to pull together particularly given the ruinous years of Amin’s rule. The response was lukewarm and nothing came of it. The result was a destructive guerrilla war and overthrow of the Obote II government.

Let me share other experiences and hope that they will help those in present and future leadership positions.

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Uganda’s downward spiral must be suppressed quickly

In my book “Uganda’s Development Agenda” published in 2008 I wrote a chapter comparing independent Uganda with medieval Europe (500-1500 AD). I showed similarities in the low standards of housing, clothing and eating as well as in agrarian economy and low level of technology. Since the publication of the book, I have conducted further research about Uganda and concluded that its problems have gone beyond standard development challenges.

The mounting problems including absolute and relative poverty have been suggested as part of the reasons why many Ugandans have turned to unusual behavior including witchcraft, human sacrifice, excessive alcoholism etc.

A few years ago while on vacation in Uganda, a python was killed in our village. It had to be incinerated and the ashes scattered so that parts of the snake are not used for witch craft. I also learned that cats were disappearing mysteriously because parts of them are used for witchcraft. I had a conversation with a senior citizen in the area who said that people have lost faith or suffered a rupture in institutions that sustained them forcing them to turn to witchcraft.

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