Tag Archives: uganda

Why Uganda should avoid a revolution

There has been talk of using force to get rid of NRM government which has disappointed Ugandans and neighbors that had counted on Museveni to champion peace, security, stability, prosperity and good neighborly relations. It was hoped that through multiparty democracy, NRM would be unseated through free and fair elections but that hasn’t happened because of electoral fraud and suppression of opposition parties.

New developments regarding formation of Tutsi empire using Uganda as a base and the recent decision by Uganda and Rwanda delegates to terminate colonial borders has raised eyebrows and fear that Uganda could disappear as we have known it. In addition the prime minister’s statement that peasants should be replaced by large scale farmers without indicating where he would put them has created tremendous anxiety.

Regarding elimination of national borders, it is possible that Uganda and Rwanda parliaments which are basically rubber stamp institutions could be instructed by Presidents Museveni and Kagame to pass legislation for merging Uganda and Rwanda into a single state and erase national borders through legislation. These developments should be taken seriously and prevent them from happening because once they have happened it is very difficult if not impossible to reverse them peacefully.

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Uganda should refute allegations of involvement in DRC

Press release

United Democratic Ugandans (UDU) is concerned about allegations that Uganda and Rwanda were supplying weapons to the M23 Congo rebels whose insurrection has resulted in loss of lives and displacement of some 500,000 people from their homes. Uganda shares a common border with DRC. For peace, security, stability and development Uganda should make an effort to maintain good neighborly relations with DRC.

During a mission to DRC including to Kinshasa, North and South Kivu provinces about three years ago there were stories from formal and informal meetings from a wide range of people – Congolese and others – that Uganda and Rwanda had been destabilizing DRC through among other things creating and arming militias and plundering its resources including minerals and timber. There were also stories of a possible loss of Congolese territory in the eastern region that would either declare independence or join Rwanda which has been calling for redrawing African borders demarcated under colonial rule.

It is UDU’s humble view that if Uganda hasn’t been involved in any way with M23, it should refute those allegations for all to see. Threatening to withdraw Uganda troops from Somalia and Central African Republic unless “these malicious allegations are withdrawn” and the international community at the United Nations assures Ugandans that it appreciates the sacrifices being made may give the impression that there is something Uganda is hiding which could damage Uganda’s reputation.

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Federalism is about improving society through power sharing

The October 27, 2012 London conference on federalism in Uganda could not have been organized at a better time. It has given us the opportunity to examine the system under which Uganda has been governed for the last fifty years, the benefits and deficits associated with it and how to proceed in the next fifty years.

One thing should be made clear at the outset: the conference is about federalism which is a system of governance by sharing power between the central and local governments. Following consultations, my understanding is that the conference isn’t about kingdoms. However, fellow Ugandans who still have doubts should seek clarification from the organizers of the conference.

Since the launch of the Republic Constitution in 1967, Uganda has been governed under a unitary or centralized system of government that has concentrated power in the executive branch of government at the expense of legislative and judicial branches and local governments. Presidents in Uganda from Obote I to Museveni have governed like European absolute rulers including the Stuarts of England, the Bourbons of France and the Czars of Russia.

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Uganda’s Political Economy

First seminar on Radio Uganda Boston

This is Eric Kashambuzi in New York, United States of America.

Fellow Ugandans at home and abroad, friends and well-wishers welcome to this first seminar on Uganda’s political economy. The seminars will be apolitical.

We thank Radio Uganda Boston for launching this new program of seminars on the interaction between political decisions and economic change and vice versa.

This political economy 101 is primarily designed for the general public. However, professionals are welcome to participate and enrich the debates. During the seminars to be conducted once a month initially we shall show how political decisions affect economic change and vice versa.

I will lead the seminars which are intended to be interactive and in response to popular demand.

We therefore encourage all of you to participate and make your voices heard as we seek a new political economy model suitable for Uganda in the next 50 years and beyond.

The governance formula including merits and demerits of military and civilian governments suitable for Uganda will be part of this discussion. Military regimes or regimes led by military leaders have so far proved unsuitable.

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Hope coming out of Uganda’s despair

Major changes including in political, economic and social fields more often than not take place in the wake of crises. The plague or Black Death in Europe contributed to the end of feudalism. The devastation of European economies and societies during the Second World War contributed to the birth of the European Union. In his Zurich speech of 1946, Winston Churchill proposed a “United States of Europe” so that Europeans can “dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom”. Although Europeans supported the creation of a European federation, they resented being rushed or forced into it.

And progress was slow and some disappointments were experienced like when Jean Monnet “the Father of a United Europe” resigned as President of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) because it was not followed by further steps towards integration. Out of this frustration, a committee of experts was formed to study the situation and make suggestions on the way forward.

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Roadmap to achieving a federal government in Uganda

Fellow Ugandans and friends

One of the major complaints at Uganda meetings that I have attended is that participants are never given reports in good time to study them and consult appropriately in order to debate effectively and take informed decisions. Consequently, meetings end up without taking decisions on the way forward.

Given the vital importance of the London Federal Conference, I have decided to publish my preliminary thoughts before the meeting to give Ugandans and others an opportunity to make comments and suggestion especially on points I may have left out for incorporation into the final statement so that everyone participates in this exercise. I have already circulated a draft statement on “What do we know about federal governments?” on Ugandans at Heart Forum, www.udugandans.org and www.kashambuzi.com.

Please let me have your comments and suggestion as soon as possible before finalizing them for the conference.

Eric

Roadmap to achieving a federal government in Uganda

My presentation is in two parts:

1. Renewing national support for a federalism

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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.

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What will Museveni report to Uganda on October 9, 2012?

On October 9, 2012, Uganda will observe 50 years of independence. The president is expected to report what has happened to Uganda and her citizens since October 9, 1962. To do that he needs to recap what independent Uganda inherited from British colonial administration. He should outline why Ugandans demanded independence and how it has been used to realize our dreams. In doing so, he is expected to look at the processes but most significantly at real outcomes in terms of quality of human life and status of our environment. In short, are we better off democratically, economically, socially and ecologically than we were fifty years ago?

On October 9, 1962, John Kakonge (RIP) then Secretary General of UPC that formed the first government issued a statement under the title “Uganda Regains Freedom”. He observed, inter alia, that Uganda inherited an impoverished nation, based on traditional agriculture and very low living conditions characterized by inadequate education and health care facilities, very high mortality rate, low school attendance and many other challenges. He left out the good things that the colonial administration did.

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Uganda needs righteous and ethical leaders

A righteous leader is one who is morally right, fair, upright, virtuous and law-abiding. Readers familiar with my publications since 1997 will have realized that I am trying to put together some ideas or a doctrine that will guide Uganda leaders to treat all Ugandans with justice and dignity. Our history has caused Ugandans to live in constant fear and suspicion of one another. Ipso facto, Ugandans don’t trust existing and potential leaders because they have been betrayed by past and present leaders. But fear and suspicion must be overcome in order to live together in peace and security. For this to happen Uganda will need leaders who tell the truth so you know where they stand, are just and ethical and believe in equality for all.

My honest writings that attempt to get to the root causes of Uganda and Great Lakes problems have caused a few people (who are using different names to give the impression that there are many opposing my views) to demand that discussing ethnic, tribal or clan differences is dangerous and should be stopped (I attended Ttabamiruka Convention in Boston, USA a few days ago and Baganda were proud of their clans with no adverse impact on their being Baganda). Those guilty of crimes against humanity in the Great Lakes region are demanding that African borders be dismantled so they can disappear in other parts of the continent to avoid being apprehended.

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Uganda: complicated birth; difficult upbringing

Uganda, the size of the United Kingdom, was born after a complicated ‘pregnancy’ following the Berlin conference; border adjustment negotiations among the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and France; religious and colonial wars that left some parts devastated. The outcome was compression into one country of segments of society with different cultures, hostile neighbors, different government systems and levels of economic and social development. Indirect rule using former oppressive chiefs over their subjects and employment of Baganda advisers to other parts of Uganda complicated the situation. Buganda was rewarded with territory taken from Bunyoro for cooperation in subduing the latter, a deal that Bunyoro never accepted. Through the 1900 agreement, Dundas reforms of 1944 and the 1955 agreement, Buganda was accorded a status of a state within a state. Because of various local administration ordinances, the colonial administration introduced a strong decentralized government system at provincial and district levels at the expense of central administration. Collaboration between colonial administration and the Protestant Church at the expense of Catholic and Muslim Faiths also created complications.

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