Sweeping problems under the rug can only delay a catastrophe

I fully agree with Museveni that to recommend a solution, we must get to the heart of the matter and find out what the problem is. We have failed to recommend appropriate solutions to problems in the Great Lakes regions because we have not yet got to the heart of the matter. There are two major constraints in our work: western biased or distorted reporting in favor of Batutsi and against non-Batutsi people and cover up of ethnic conflicts.

Western reporting since Europeans arrived in the Great Lakes region in the mid-19th century has been biased in favor of Nilotic Batutsi and against Bantu people dubbed Bahutu and Bairu (slaves or servants). Speke and Seligman began this process. Batutsi who are black people were falsely christened white people through the Hamitic Myth and incorrectly credited with all the civilizations they found in the region especially in Buganda including earth works in the central region of Uganda. They even claimed Bachwezi were Batutsi and Bantu had never had kingdoms and kings or chiefs. It is now confirmed that Bachwezi were a Bantu aristocracy (B. A. Ogot 1999). The history that was written covered royal courts, leaving out atrocities committed against Bantu people whom they treated as slaves or servants or sold into slavery as Makobore did. “The coastal traders were also employed in interstate raids for slaves. For example Makobore, the king of Rujumbura, employed them in his raids against Butumbi and Kayonza”(Bethwell A. Ogot 1979).

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.

Uganda will develop only when donors relax their conditionality

Pre-colonial communities that later formed Uganda produced and traded in local and regional markets and consumed a wide range of products based on local endowments. Economic activities included a variety of crop cultivation, herding livestock, fishing, salt extraction and manufacturing enterprises especially those producing iron, wooden, skin and bark products.

Besides a strategic motive to control the source of the Nile, Uganda was colonized to produce raw materials for British industries and a market for British manufactured products. Lord Lugard stated clearly that the growing population in Europe and industrial expansion led to a desire for new markets for manufactured products, tropical raw materials for British industry and foodstuffs to supplement decreased home production and feed increasing British population (A. Seidman 1972). Consequently, Uganda was reduced to a producer and exporter of raw materials and an importer of manufactured products.

Economic discussions by Ugandans before independence emphasized manufacturing enterprises to transform a colonial economy and society, create jobs and add value to exports. However, the British had a different plan. As independence became inevitable, the British government invited the World Bank to evaluate development possibilities for Uganda. The World Bank’s principal recommendation was that Uganda should accelerate and diversify agricultural production primarily for export purposes (A. Seidman 1972).