Tag Archives: similarities

Similarities between Yoweri Museveni and Oliver Cromwell

The people of Uganda are beginning to take a probing interest in Uganda’s politics. But I wonder whether we understand the potential dangers ahead. The 2011 elections have introduced worrying elements particularly the participation of foreigners in Uganda’s electoral process. If this practice is not stopped, we could easily have an Ivory Coast situation in 2016.

The purpose of this contribution is to compare Oliver Cromwell who started off as a liberator and ended up as one of the worst dictators with absolute power and intolerance of opponents. Let us briefly review conditions that led to the emergence of Cromwell as the Lord Protector of a republican government in England.

The Stuart kings succeeded the Tudor kings of England who had been very careful in dealing with parliament and succeeded in hiding their absolutism. King James I, the first Stuart King of England, subscribed to the doctrine of the divine right of kings and lectured to parliament about it. James wrote “The state of monarchy is the supreme thing on earth” and kings “sit upon God’s throne”. He added that “as to dispute what God may do is blasphemy, so is it sedition … to dispute what a king may do” (N. Barber 2006). Parliament objected to absolute monarchy.

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Similarities in suffering between Rujumbura’s Bairu and Indigenous peoples

The indigenous peoples from all over the world are meeting (April 2010) at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. For the last six years I have attended their meetings. I have listened carefully to their stories and read their publications. Their common theme has been land that has economic and spiritual value. They are therefore trying to hang on to what is left and to utilize it according to their priorities. But they are facing daunting challenges from global demands. Their stories about the negative impact of losing their land are similar to what Rujumbura’s Bairu are experiencing as they lose more land to newcomers. I will compare the experiences of the two groups, draw conclusions and propose corrective actions.

The story of Indigenous people in the Great Lakes Region

Before Bantu-speaking people arrived in the area some 3000 years ago, the Great Lakes Region was occupied by indigenous people (the term ‘indigenous’ has not been accepted by governments in the region because it is considered divisive and the term ‘Pygmy’ has been rejected by indigenous people because it has derogatory meaning). For the purpose of this article, I will use indigenous people for lack of a better term.

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