Tag Archives: takes

Batutsi expansionism takes hold in Eastern DRC

When I wrote about Tutsi Empire project, detractors quickly dubbed me a genocide promoter and a tribal hater. But I stood my ground. Batutsi want to set the cloak back to pre-colonial days of lords and serfs. From their small nucleus in Mbarara town in southwest Uganda in the early 1960s, Nilotic Batutsi debated and agreed to use military means to recapture the dominance over Bantu people that they lost through the ballot box because of their numerical inferiority.

The guerrilla war in Uganda gave them the opportunity to capture Uganda and use it as a base to invade and overthrow Bahutu-led government in Rwanda, then overthrew Bahutu-led government in Burundi and Bantu-led government in Zaire.

The declaration of Tutsi Empire was cut short when the people of Congo resented Batutsi dominance in Desire Kabila government. Kabila expelled Tutsis from DRC. Kagama and Museveni responded with another attack which was defeated by a combined force of Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe because they resented a Tutsi Empire in Middle Africa of Nilotic Batutsi dominating Bantu people in the Great Lakes region.

BBC has vindicated me. According to BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse, “The M23 is largely made up of ethnic Tutsi, the same group which dominates the government in Rwanda”.

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What we have learned since Uganda’s independence in 1962

The discussions within UDU and other forums about the future of Uganda have necessitated an assessment of Uganda’s experience since independence in 1962. This is still work in progress but here are some preliminary findings. Your constructive comments are welcome.

1. Winner-take-all or government of exclusion has created many problems. Future governments should be inclusive on a proportional representation basis. Uganda’s population and natural diversity should be seen and used as an asset;

2. Notwithstanding political deficits, the civilian government in the 1960s performed much better in economic and social sectors than the succeeding military regime of the 1970s and military-turned democratic regime since 1986. Leaders with military background do not appear to be suitable for civilian administration.

3. Learning the art of governing a country on-the-job has proven to be the wrong approach. All the three presidents (Obote, Amin and Museveni) did not have what it takes at the beginning to govern, forcing them to rely on loyalty than competence. Future leaders must show experience, confidence and success in managing a large organization preferably with diverse characteristics as in Uganda. This would avoid or minimize parochialism which has become an endemic problem. Leaders that jump out of a ‘corn field’ onto a presidential stage no matter how educated they are should prove their practical experience. The issues of experience and character should be emphasized. Good character here refers to those leaders that in their lives have demonstrated distaste for corruption and nepotism and are conscious of good public image. When you become a leader you cannot afford to behave recklessly in private or public arena;

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Bahima and their culture of winner takes all

To understand why corruption has reached an unprecedented level in Uganda’s history and there are no signs that it is subsiding, Ugandans and their development partners need to understand the pastoral culture of Uganda’s present leaders. From time immemorial pastoralists including Batutsi, Bahima and Bahororo (Batutsi from Rwanda) live in hostile environments marked by shortages of pasture and water, droughts, epidemics like the 1890s rinderpest, bovine diseases and cattle theft.

In the Great Lakes Region pastoralists lived in fragile ecosystems which rendered them vulnerable and forced them to engage in fighting for survival. Most of the wars in the region since the arrival, in the 16th century, of the Nilotic Luo-speaking Bahima and their Batutsi and Bahororo cousins have been related to land and cattle. They have fought to expand territory and increase their herds, dispossessing the losers. Accordingly, they developed a mentality of winner takes all which has been carried over into governments in Uganda and Rwanda.

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