Museveni didn’t pick up the gun to save and develop Uganda

When you break new ground, as I am trying to do, you are bound to run into all sorts of difficulties. Some will misunderstand, others will misinterpret, yet others will dismiss you as a trouble maker, a sectarian or an ambitious person to be avoided like a plague. Readers of my contribution on Ugandans at Heart Forum are familiar with what has been hurled at me. Some who are worried about what may happen have suggested I use a fake name or drop writing altogether. I thank them all for their concern. After careful reflection and prayer, I decided that changing at this late hour may not be the right thing to do.

In my spare time I devoted some thirty years studying the Great Lakes region (southwest Uganda, Eastern DRC, Burundi and Rwanda) to understand why it is a troubled and unstable part of Africa. I concluded that the trouble comes from minority Nilotic Tutsi (Batutsi) trying to reassert their dominance over majority Bantu Hutu (Bahutu) and Iru (Bairu), a decision that has automatically led into accusations of genocide promotion and tribal hatred.

Museveni has to be flexible to save Uganda

Museveni as Uganda leader has to recognize before it is too late that Uganda belongs to all of us. His notions that Uganda is his because he fought and won and that he cannot be thrown out of the house like a chicken should be dropped without further delay. He is not going to keep the opposition out in the cold forever because the laws of nature do not work that way. Museveni knows how it feels to be kept out of government by illegitimate means. He went to the bush to change all of that. But he has since 1996 done exactly what he opposed and caused him to fight a five year destructive guerrilla war on somebody else’s territory mostly in Buganda without commensurate compensation. He should not for a moment think he has monopoly to wage war against illegitimate governments. Others can do so and succeed as he did. But Uganda does not have to go that far again.