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Lack of compassion disqualifies Museveni to continue as Uganda leader

Museveni has become very unpopular at home (and he knows it witness the volume of envelopes packed with money his agents are handing out to buy votes and support he is seeking from Kenya leaders) and increasingly abroad (he has been reported in a credible magazine as one of the worst dictators in the world) not so much because of questions about his birth place – important as they are – but principally because of the inhuman and insensitive manner (primitive and bankrupt Ugandans, short men and ugly women etc) in which he has treated Ugandans since his guerrilla days (when he jailed in a very cold cave and threatened to shoot and kill a half naked Muhima man for asking Museveni about those guerrilla fighters in their midst that spoke a strange language) (EIR Special Report 1997).

If Museveni had treated Ugandans as he promised in his ten-point program and consolidated Uganda’s independence instead of adopting shock therapy structural adjustment program and handing the country over to Britain as a neo-colony respectively in return for Museveni protection as president, nobody would be discussing whether he was born in Rwanda or Tanzania or who his father and relatives are or where his ancestors are buried.

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Explaining the unique importance of 2011 elections in Uganda

Let me make two observations at the start of this article to clear the air. In my writings I have referred to Museveni as president, not in his personal capacity. Second, you cannot meaningfully talk about NRM government without talking about Museveni – for all intents and purposes Museveni has become NRM government. I do not hear much from ministers or senior civil servants. And in the absence of a government spokesperson, we are left with Museveni.

In a month’s time, Ugandans will elect a president, members of parliament, district councilors and mayors. These elections are taking place in unique circumstances which voters must be very familiar with before they cast their votes. Voters must therefore choose leaders that will genuinely represent their interests. The last twenty five years were dominated by structural adjustment (macroeconomic stability) and national security (defense of the state from external threats) at the expense of human security (protection of individuals economically and socially).

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By the end of this article Ugandans will have figured out who Museveni is

Many – if not most – Ugandans have not figured out who Museveni is and much less what he stands for although some have voted for him since 1996. However, going by the voters supporting him, his popularity is dwindling. The uncertainty about Museveni has led to stress and – combined with poor diet of cassava and maize – contributed to insanity which stands at over thirty percent and is rising at an alarming rate – a process that is destroying human capital formation.

The mystery about Museveni springs from many fronts. First, his birth place has remained unresolved. Some Ugandans and others believe he is Rwandese and that he came to Uganda on his mother’s back symbolizing that he was too young to walk on his own. Museveni has written that he was born in Kyamate of Ankole district, now Ntungamo district. Nina Mbabazi has disputed that arguing that Museveni was actually born in Rukungiri district but did not explain. And Nina has declined requests to elaborate which has corroded her reputation. Then, to make matters worse came Shifa Mwesigye with his own story that actually it is Museveni’s grandfather who was born in Rukungiri as if to deny that Museveni was. Like Nina, Shifa did not elaborate. He has been requested to do so. As we shall see later Ugandans are beginning to tilt towards Rwanda as being Museveni’s birth place.

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Is today’s Uganda better or worse-off?

Before Ugandans head for the polls on February 18, 2011 to elect a president, members of parliament, district councilors and mayors, it might be helpful to consider the following developments.

1. The general standard of living of Ugandans has not reached the level attained in 1970.

2. Fifty two percent of Ugandans live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day (HDR 2010).

3. Some twenty percent of Ugandans in the lowest income bracket have become poorer.

4. Economic growth has fallen short of 7 or 8 percent required as a minimum to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

5. Seventy percent of Uganda’s GDP is generated in Kampala and its vicinity with a population of some two million. The remaining 31 million Ugandans contribute a mere 30 percent of GDP.

6. Household income distribution is highly skewed with 20 percent in the highest income bracket taking over 50 percent while 40 percent in the lowest income bracket taking 15 percent. Urban areas have performed relatively better than rural areas and southern has performed relatively better than northern Uganda.

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The cost of having Museveni as Uganda’s president

As campaigning for February 2011 presidential elections enters the last phase, Ugandans need to consider the following illustrative events before deciding whether or not to re-elect Museveni for another five-year term.

1. There are increasing allegations that Museveni and/or his collaborators murdered key Ugandans to discredit Amin and have him overthrown.

2. There are increasing allegations that human, physical and institutional destruction in the Luwero Triangle was committed by Museveni and his guerrilla fighters to discredit Obote and have him overthrown.

3. There are reports that Museveni prolonged the northern and eastern war causing much destruction in human, physical and institutional terms. He was forced by the international community to end the war. Museveni should not earn credit for ending the war and be re-elected by northern and eastern voters.

4. A few months after he formed the government, Museveni introduced new Uganda currency and charged 30 percent conversion tax against the advice of IMF as such a tax hike would significantly reduce household incomes and cause untold suffering which it did in many families. It is not clear where that revenue went.

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Is intermarriage with Bahororo women part of a political game?

Politics is the art of gaining and retaining power by any means. In the great lakes region (southwest Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DRC), intermarriage between Batutsi, Bahororo, Bahima and Banyamulenge (pastoralists) on the one hand and Bahutu and Bairu (cultivators) on the other hand was extremely rare in pre and colonial times. On those rare occasions, a king or chief would give a woman to a good warrior or promising leader from cultivators as his wife. The husband would then be ‘tutsified’ and abandon his ancestral roots. The main purpose of this intermarriage was to deprive cultivators of men of leadership quality. Cultivators would thus remain leaderless and politically powerless.

Before proceeding with the story of intermarriage with Bahororo women, let me explain the relationship between Batutsi, Bahima, Bahororo and Banyamulenge, and the term ‘tutsified’ which appear to have caused confusion in my previous articles.

1. Batutsi is an umbrella word from which Bahima, Bahororo and Banyamulenge spring. According to Gerard Prunier (1995) and Linda de Hoyos (1997) Bahima are a clan of Batutsi.

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Museveni continues to deliberately impoverish the people of Uganda

It may sound mean but it is very true! Before you call me ‘sectarian and tribal hater’, look at the record. Some Ugandans have developed a habit of drawing negative conclusions when they do not like what they are reading. They do not even bother to rebut but are quick to blame the author and question the motive. When you speak the truth, they call you a divider and other outrageous names and/or threaten to silence you or members of your family.

We are not going to solve Uganda’s problems without a serious critical analysis of what is going on and how it has come about. When people genuinely ask whether or not Museveni is a true human being or a true Ugandan it shows the gravity of the challenges they are facing under his regime. I have done research focusing on poor people in remote rural area and I know what I am talking about. Those who disagree let them present their facts. When an increasing number of Ugandans is telling you that on balance Amin was better than Museveni what does that tell you. Obote is already a hero in most parts of the country especially for his work in the 1960s. Friends of mine who were totally opposed to Obote are now softening because they have compared his record and that of Museveni. The level of the standard of living set by Obote in 1970 has not been approached under 25 years of Museveni misrule.

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If monkeys can chase out a lion, Ugandans can defeat Museveni

Recently I watched a wild life movie. A lion strayed into the territory of monkeys. The monkeys were irritated and decided to chase the lion out. Young and old, male and female, some fifteen monkeys mustered courage and harassed the lion and it left. The lion actually ran to save its life! If irritated monkeys can unite and chase out a lion, angry Ugandans can surely unite and defeat Museveni in February 2010 elections.

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Museveni wasn’t born to rule, but to destroy

People who know Museveni well will tell you that during his secondary education life he exhibited restless rather than leadership behavior. Two developments appear to have disoriented him fundamentally in the late 1950s and early 1960s. First, during negotiations for Uganda’s independence, Bahororo (Museveni is a Muhororo) of Ankole demanded a separate district to recover part of former Mpororo kingdom. Bahima refused. It is believed that in retaliation, Museveni, as president, has refused restoration of Ankole kingdom. Second, Bairu’s political ascendancy in Ankole kingdom as independence approached was disturbing. Until then Bairu had been treated like slaves by Bahima and Bahororo. Bairu – a term coined by Bahima according to Speke (1863, 2006) – means slaves.

Realizing that numerically, Bahororo are insignificant and could not change Bairu’s political trajectory democratically, Museveni opted for a military solution: to stop Bairu’s political advance and restore Bahororo’s lost glory. His military participation in the overthrow of Amin was supposed to catapult him to Uganda’s presidency in 1980 election which he lost. He used the excuse of rigged 1980 elections which had been certified by the Commonwealth Observer team (which he has used to certify his rigged elections since 1996) to start a devastating guerrilla war. Museveni was aware that he would not win the next elections – hence the military option.

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How Museveni has used structural adjustment to strangle opponents

People close to Museveni will tell you (on condition you do not quote them) that he believes very strongly in dominating others. Deep in his heart he thinks God created him specifically for that role which he must bequeath to a member of his family. Some Ugandans who want Museveni to favor them call him God send to save Uganda! Museveni has a mission much larger than Uganda. On April 4, 1997 he disclosed that “My mission is to see that Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire [DRC] become federal states under one nation [and one leader]” (EIR Special Report 1997). He might add on Somalia at a later stage if his troops perform well there.

Earlier Museveni had revealed that as a pan-Africanist he had larger ambitions and would quit Uganda politics as soon as security had been restored. His dream of Tutsi Empire and political and military involvement in Burundi, Rwanda and DRC as part of that dream is well known. In fact Mugabe joined the DRC war in 1998/99 principally to stop Museveni from creating a Tutsi Empire in Middle Africa (Joseph N. Weatherby 2003).

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