Why do relatives fight one another?

Upon realizing that Batutsi are Nilotic people one fellow Ugandan wondered why then have Nilotic people been killing each other in Uganda. I replied briefly that the fight has been over power. Power doesn’t recognize relatives when relatives face each other. When relatives have a common opponent from another group (Obote and Ibingira versus Kakonge), relatives come together. When that opponent is out of the way (Kakonge out) relatives turn against each other (Obote and Ibingira). Before elaborating on Nilotic rivalry in Uganda politics, let us look at two examples of relatives fighting and replacing each other in England and Burundi respectively.

1. The War of the Roses (1455 – 1485). For thirty long and bitter years, two noble families in England: the House of York (whose badge was a white rose) and the House of Lancaster (whose badge was a red rose) fought a bitter civil war as a result of conflicting claims to the English throne. Many nobles and others died in the war. In the end the House of Lancaster defeated the House of York. Henry Tudor was crowned king of England as Henry VII. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I belonged to the Tudor family that ruled from 1485 to 1603. Because Elizabeth had no children (she never married), she was succeeded by James Stuart her distant cousin who became king of England as James I.

Struggle to control riches of DRC and suffering of Gt. Lakes people

The people of DRC especially those in the east need more of our prayers at this hour of intense human suffering. The three K leaders (Kaguta, Kagame and Kabila) with military background and their domestic and foreign backers need to come to their senses and end the suffering of the people. The United Nations too needs to move faster and end the war before it loses its credibility as an institution that was created in 1945 to maintain or restore peace and security in all parts of the world.

The fall of Goma town may sharpen the appetite of victors to want to capture the rest of DRC, Angola, Namibia, Congo and Gabon and then Kenya and Tanzania. Mark my words: if concerted and collective action is not taken that is what will happen. Rwanda and Uganda, the two countries alleged to be causing this instability are too poor to be acting alone. So those supporting them should stop.

Seeking political tools to implement the people agenda

As I have said before, I joined Uganda politics not for personal gain but because I was unhappy about what was and still is happening in a country that was once the envy of the world, with a potential for rapid economic growth and social transformation in terms of improving the standard of living and life expectancy of all Ugandans.

I have expressed my disappointment through writing, radio broadcasting and trying to advise NRM government in writing and orally about how to do things better to no avail. I have distributed some five hundred copies of my ten books to Ugandans free of charge and created a free website www.kashambuzi.com to reach a wider readership. But Uganda continues to decay. This is undeniable. Metaphorically speaking, rampant corruption and sectarianism are eating Uganda away before our eyes!

Many Ugandans and others have contacted me and advised that what is needed is implementation of the good ideas already proposed. It requires that we acquire political tools since NRM has refused to adopt the ideas we have put forward. That is why I joined the United Democratic Ugandans (UDU) and was elected Secretary General with authority to mobilize political and diplomatic support for the implementation of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).

Why people demand change and rebel when they fail

People demand change of different degrees when existing frameworks don’t work well. Students demand better food because what they are eating isn’t good or is monotonous. Workers demand better working conditions because the existing ones aren’t good. This is a normal thing in all societies. And when leaders refuse to respond or convince the public they face difficulties, sooner or later, some of them revolutionary. Leaders that adjust as enlightened despots in Europe did during the 18th century lasted longer. Those that didn’t like Charles I of England, Louis XVI of France, Nicholas II of Russia and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia were booted out of power and their dynasties destroyed.

Similarly, the people of Uganda after fifty years of independence are demanding change of leadership and a new governance system. NRM leadership and its unitary and tier system of government are not only controversial but also unacceptable. They have made a few families filthy rich and the majority real paupers. All Ugandans are born equal and must be presented with equal opportunity to develop their talents. If they fail to get what they want peacefully, they are likely to resort to other means. This is natural.

The difference between Nilotic Batutsi/Bahororo and Bantu Bairu/Bahororo in Rujumbura County

Because I have written disturbing facts about how Nilotic Batutsi/Bahororo enslaved and impoverished Bantu Bairu/Bahororo of Rujumbura county in Rukungiri district, Batutsi/Bahororo represented by Museveni and Muhwezi have or their surrogates fought back by dubbing me a Muhororo so that people who don’t know the difference will think I am one of them and should carry the cross with them for the sins they have committed.

“Bahororo” in Rujumbura is a colonial administrative term that was created by British authorities. When the British arrived on the scene, they found many Bantu people identifying themselves by their clan names although collectively were dubbed Bairu (slaves or servants) by Batutsi/Bahororo who came to Rujumbura around 1800 as refugees from their former Mpororo kingdom which Ankole had absorbed. Presumably because colonial officers didn’t like the term Bairu which means slaves or servants, it was suggested presumably by Makobore who was chief of Rujumbura that all people in the county be called Bahororo. That was acceptable to British authorities. As a result there are Bahororo of two types. Nilotic Batutsi/Bahororo people now the rulers of Uganda and Bantu Bairu/Bahororo people like me who became Bahororo for colonial administrative convenience.

The difference between Nilotic Batutsi/Bahororo and Bantu Bairu/Bahororo in Rujumbura County

Because I have written disturbing facts about how Nilotic Batutsi/Bahororo enslaved and impoverished Bantu Bairu/Bahororo of Rujumbura county in Rukungiri district, Batutsi/Bahororo represented by Museveni and Muhwezi have or their surrogates fought back by dubbing me a Muhororo so that people who don’t know the difference will think I am one of them and should carry the cross with them for the sins they have committed.

“Bahororo” in Rujumbura is a colonial administrative term that was created by British authorities. When the British arrived on the scene, they found many Bantu people identifying themselves by their clan names although collectively were dubbed Bairu (slaves or servants) by Batutsi/Bahororo who came to Rujumbura around 1800 as refugees from their former Mpororo kingdom which Ankole had absorbed. Presumably because colonial officers didn’t like the term Bairu which means slaves or servants, it was suggested presumably by Makobore who was chief of Rujumbura that all people in the county be called Bahororo. That was acceptable to British authorities. As a result there are Bahororo of two types. Nilotic Batutsi/Bahororo people now the rulers of Uganda and Bantu Bairu/Bahororo people like me who became Bahororo for colonial administrative convenience.

Use your voting birth right wisely in Uganda elections

People all over the world have struggled to reclaim their birth right to vote, some losing their lives in the process. Uganda’s independence restored our right to elect representatives in parliament, district councils and lower houses. The purpose of electing representatives in these institutions is to promote and protect interests of all the people in the constituencies they represent. In ancient Greece all eligible citizens met regularly to discuss matters that affected them. As such they didn’t have representatives. This arrangement worked when numbers were small and distances short. When they are large over a wide area it becomes impossible, hence election of representatives.

In Uganda land is a vital asset, source of wealth and symbol of prestige

We are writing these stories not because we are driven by radicalism or assertiveness as some people have suggested but because we want to save a bad situation from getting worse. For those who care to know two worrying developments are taking place in Uganda – land grabbing by foreigners and inferior education for indigenous population. These developments are reminiscent of the recently ended apartheid system in South Africa where the indigenous black population lost most of the land to the minority white population and got inferior education. It took almost one hundred years of struggle, abandoning education, loss of lives and long term prison sentences from 1912 to end this unjust system but the effects are still being felt. Let us examine the land issue as it relates to Uganda.

When we were growing up in poor families in southwest Uganda we were told again and again that our future was in education and not in tilling the land, a profession left for those who failed at school. To drive the point home we were punished at home and at school for whatever wrongdoing by doing agriculture work in school or family gardens. So Ugandans developed a dislike for agriculture and by extension land ownership. Educated people distanced themselves from rural areas and most would not even think of investing a small portion of their income in agriculture or rural development. Village life was something to be avoided.

When people demand change, they can’t be stopped

I have followed and participated in Uganda politics since before independence. Those at Butobere, Ntare, Rukungiri, Nairobi, Berkeley (USA), Arusha, Brussels (Belgium), Addis Ababa, Lusaka and Mbabane (Swaziland) where I was born, studied or worked and now New York where I reside will recall the political discussions we had and are now having about the desire for Ugandans and Africans to take charge of their own destiny. The lesson I have learned is that when people are determined for change, they will get it regardless of the hurdles on the way. We used to hear that Africans were not ready for independence. They needed more time and guidance. They were like children beginning to walk or to ride a bicycle. Some even argued that people in Southern Africa would never be liberated in our lifetime. Ready or not, the people of Uganda and Africa pushed on and got independent.

In Uganda land is a vital asset, source of wealth and symbol of prestige

We are writing these stories not because we are driven by radicalism or assertiveness as some people have suggested but because we want to save a bad situation from getting worse. For those who care to know two worrying developments are taking place in Uganda – land grabbing by foreigners and inferior education for indigenous population. These developments are reminiscent of the recently ended apartheid system in South Africa where the indigenous black population lost most of the land to the minority white population and got inferior education. It took almost one hundred years of struggle, abandoning education, loss of lives and long term prison sentences from 1912 to end this unjust system but the effects are still being felt. Let us examine the land issue as it relates to Uganda.

When we were growing up in poor families in southwest Uganda we were told again and again that our future was in education and not in tilling the land, a profession left for those who failed at school. To drive the point home we were punished at home and at school for whatever wrongdoing by doing agriculture work in school or family gardens. So Ugandans developed a dislike for agriculture and by extension land ownership. Educated people distanced themselves from rural areas and most would not even think of investing a small portion of their income in agriculture or rural development. Village life was something to be avoided.