Why Museveni must not be re-elected in 2011

Thankfully, our Creator has felt your suffering for the last twenty five years and has heard your prayers for change of government. Now all Uganda voters must gather courage and unite in order to defeat Museveni for the following reasons.

1. Instead of moving the country forward, he is driving it backwards towards pre-colonial conditions (witness increasing human sacrifice, witchcraft and feudal style of governance through lords and serfs and plans to turn Uganda into a kingdom).

2. Instead of uniting the country, he is dividing it up into tiny districts virtually along tribal lines too poor to sustain themselves and therefore dependent on Museveni with stiff conditionality.

3. Instead of protecting the nation, he is opening it up to immigrants from everywhere who are occupying jobs, owning land and are alleged to have registered to vote in 2011.

4. Instead of promoting good neighborly relations, he has interfered in the internal affairs of Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Kenya.

5. Instead of consolidating Uganda, he is forcing it through fast tracking into East African Political Federation without consultations in order to realize his dream of Tutsi Empire. He would probably be Emperor today had Mugabe not intervened in the 1998/99 DRC war (J. N. Weatherby 2003. The Other World page 222).

6. Instead of protecting land for peasants like Britain did, he is dishing it out to foreigners and rich Ugandans, forcing sub-counties (witness Kagunga sub-county in Rukungiri district) into municipality to facilitate cheap purchase of land from peasants by the rich.

7. Instead of modernizing agriculture, he is abandoning it in favor of urban development along Singapore City State model, hence 70 percent of GDP is generated in Kampala where less than 2 million out of 33 million Ugandans live/or work. Service industry in towns is capital intensive, hence jobless growth in Uganda.

8. Instead of industrializing the economy to transform its structure, add value and create jobs, he is de-industrializing Uganda by allowing cheap imports like second hand clothes and powdered milk that have destroyed local industries. Increasing interest rates and devaluing Uganda currency (making imported industrial inputs expensive) have discouraged establishing new labor intensive businesses or expanding existing ones.

9. Instead of promoting modern education and keeping children in school, he has degraded it and driven children out of school by refusing to provide lunch as agreed by NEPAD of which Uganda is a member.

10. Instead of improving health care to prevent and cure diseases, he has turned hospitals into hospices (witness Mulago’s children ward).

11. Instead of feeding the nation, he is starving it by exporting food including through World Food Program (WFP) to earn foreign exchange to cater to the needs of few rich families.

12. Instead of protecting biological diversity, he has deforested the environment such as by clearing forests to grow export crops such as cut flowers around Kampala and between it and Entebbe. Fisheries (originally developed by Britain to provide affordable source of protein to low income families) have been depleted to earn foreign exchange for the rich.

13. Instead of building and retaining human capital, he is advising well educated and experienced Ugandans to work abroad and remit foreign currency as their contribution to nation building and is replacing them with young and inexperienced foreign experts and advisors.

14. Instead of ending corruption, he has championed its increase by favoring members of his family, relatives and in-laws.

15. Instead of ending corruption, he has championed its growth by condoning it (GAVI and CHOGM scandals have damaged Museveni’s reputation).

16. Instead of moving the country to safety, he is driving Uganda towards a very dangerous cliff (witness diseases of poverty some of them long forgotten such as jiggers, scabies, trachoma, repellent body odors, break down of cultural and moral fabric, overnight prayers, floods in towns, alcoholism, massive unemployment of youth, teenage pregnancy because they drop out of school too early and environmental decay – lakes are shrinking, water tables dropping, rivers disappearing, temperatures rising, rainfall becoming irregular in amount, timing and duration – all resulting in frequent and devastating droughts and floods).

17. Instead of protecting human rights, he has turned Uganda into a military dictatorship silencing dissent. So-called stability praised by donors is due to an iron hand of a dictator that has informers in every household. This arrangement has divided up families, tribes and neighbors etc.

18. Over the last 25 years the negatives have far outweighed the positives. It does not make sense to re-elect a president and party that have failed miserably. Those who support Museveni at home and abroad should recast their stand for the good of the country and her people.

19. Uganda’s development partners and friends are therefore requested to extend a helping hand in ending a regime that has presided over the suffering of innocent and God-loving people of Uganda especially women and children.

20. Three months to the elections day in February 2011 is long enough to turn the tables on Museveni and his ruling NRM.

21. To do it all that Uganda voters need is to muster courage and unity and make sure Museveni does not rig a single vote.

22. Those in disagreement with above points are welcome to rebut in substantive and civil tone.

, , , , , , , , , All