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.
There comes a time when hard decisions have to be made. After long and hard reflection and with a prayer for guidance, I have decided to oppose re-election of Museveni as president of Uganda. There are many reasons for this decision as outlined below. Two of them, however, weighed heavily on my decision. First, I am opposed to Museveni for his refusal to lay a solid economic, social and environmental foundation for the majority of Uganda children. Museveni has refused to provide lunches to primary school children which governments in developed and developing countries are doing. As a result 80 percent of children are dropping out of school in large part because they are hungry. NEPAD of which Uganda is a member decided that African governments should provide lunches using locally grown food. Museveni has single handedly refused. Museveni has also refused to launch a stimulus package to ease youth unemployment. Governments in developed and developing countries are easing the pain. Consequently, over 80 percent of Uganda youth are unemployed of whom well over 50 percent is university graduates. Museveni has refused to heed advice to arrest and reverse environmental degradation. You need to travel between Masaka and Mbarara during the dry season to see dust clouds that at times make it difficult to drive through. You also need to visit the boundary between Ntungamo and Rukungiri districts to see a huge dry river bed caused by climatic change. Given his nomadic origins and accumulated wealth, Museveni and his family will likely move to greener pastures when the time comes leaving the rest in a desert. Museveni has also maintained low prices for alcohol that has destroyed the future of Uganda youth. Uganda is now rated number one country worldwide in alcohol consumption.
Second, Museveni is claiming credit for ending the 25 year war in northern and eastern Uganda and he is asking the people in those two regions to vote for him. He is even trying to corrupt chiefs that he will build palaces for them, give them limousine and escort vehicles and some tax free allowances etc. The people of northern and eastern Uganda and indeed the rest of Uganda must know that Museveni did not want to end the war. If he had his way, the war would probably still be raging and people would still be dying and others still in camps. It was the international community that forced him to end the war. Credit should go to that community, not to Museveni. If the people of northern and eastern Uganda choose to re-elect Museveni they should do so for other reasons, not because he voluntarily ended the war.
Other reasons for my decision to oppose Museveni can be compressed into six words: he has broken every single promise. For easy reference and at the risk of repetition, a few of them will be mentioned.
1. He promised he would be servant, not master of Ugandans. He has turned out to be a ruthless dictator that through the barrel of the gun, Museveni has dispossessed opponents of their properties and abused every human right.
2. He promised he would quit Uganda politics after security had been restored. The war has ended but Museveni is seeking re-election because according to him there is no one in Uganda fit to step in his shoes.
3. He promised he would never accept structural adjustment having witnessed the suffering of Ugandans when it was implemented in 1981-84 and with knowledge that the shock therapy version had been rejected in Ghana by 1986. Museveni adopted the harsh version when there was a better gradual and sequenced alternative. The people of Uganda have suffered too much hardship as a result.
4. He promised he would end sectarianism. He has in practice crushed Bairu in southwest Uganda whom he continues to see as inferior people only fit for menial work. He has crushed Protestants for supporting Obote and UPC. He has crushed people in northern and eastern regions to thwart opposition, and has humiliated Baganda (for example the Kabaka cannot freely visit his people) and Catholics (promised big things that have not happened) who have supported him since the guerrilla war days.
5. Museveni promised to end wasteful and luxurious spending on presidential travel, imported furniture, conferences and prestigious projects. He has since purchased one of the most expensive presidential jets at $80 million which he rarely uses, wasted too much money on campaigns for elections to AU Peace and Security Council, United Nations Security Council, United Nations Human Rights Council etc principally to protect his interests and not to benefit Ugandans. Museveni has spent colossal amount of money on hosting conferences that have left Ugandans poorer and with a bad reputation such as the CHOGM scandal.
6. He promised revolutions in agriculture, export, industry and technology as well as against poverty. In practice, agriculture and rural development have virtually been abandoned (he allocates an average of 3-4 percent of national budget), Uganda is de-industrializing and technology has virtually been abandoned. Absolute poverty is still over 50 percent. He promised Uganda would eliminate colonial policy of exporting primary commodities. Under Museveni Uganda has diversified deeper into an exporter of traditional and non-traditional raw materials and foodstuffs.
7. He promised that every Ugandan would wear shoes from Monday through Sunday to end the scourge of jiggers and hookworms. These two scourges have got worse on Museveni’s watch.
8. He promised adequate and balanced diets, adequate preventive and curative health care and decent shelter. Ugandans are more undernourished than ever before. Eating too much cassava and maize has resulted in neurological abnormality and the number of mentally ill is rising. Health care system is on the verge of collapse and some hospitals have turned into hospices – very sad indeed. Slums have spread in all urban areas and rural houses are becoming smaller and congested because building materials have become very expensive.
9. Museveni promised excellent education from kindergarten to university to build appropriate human capital for a knowledge-based global economy. He abandoned the idea and opted for mass education at the primary school level where he has also performed poorly given that 80 percent of children do not complete grade 7 and quality has plummeted.
10. Museveni promised good neighborly relations. His interference in Sudan, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya has had the opposite effect. In Kenya, it is believed that Museveni’s interference robbed Raila Odinga presidential victory. Odinga and his camp were so mad at Museveni that the two leaders would not talk to or cooperate with each other. That Odinga came to Uganda recently and campaigned for Museveni’s re-election has raised very many questions. Ugandans need to find out what is going on so that they do not end up in a trap.
Let me end up with this: I have decided to oppose Museveni’s re-election because I feel very strongly that he is driving Uganda in the wrong direction. Uganda needs new leadership with proven experience and impeccable record of impartiality etc, leadership that is committed to building a solid foundation for all the children of Uganda through food and nutrition security, comprehensive preventive and curative healthcare, appropriate education system tailored to Uganda’s development needs in a competitive world, decent shelter and proper clothing. Wearing used winter clothes in a tropical climate carries many disadvantages in a country that has cotton textile and apparel industries.
Neighborly relations must be given a fresh start from confrontation to genuine cooperation. Economic integration and political federation need to be carefully assessed for long term net gains for Uganda drawing on lessons from NAFTA, EU and SADC. And foreign policy should aim at promoting and protecting Uganda’s national interests. It must be drawn up in full consultations with Uganda missions abroad that have responsibility for implementing it.