M7 is not as ”Naive” as Gaddafi- He wouldn’t Stay and Fight Incase of NATO bombs
25 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in Africa, Lule and Uganda politics, Museveni and NRM, Politics, Revolutions
Julius Nyerere
Some of Muamah Gaddafi’s messages to the media ever since he had that unbelievable exist from Tripoli have been very touching but I think they have come too late. He made his bed and now he must lay in it. He should have resigned before the situation escalated into something he could not control. I really feel sorry for him. He is probably the most generous dictator Africa has ever had.
Uganda’s Museveni will never make that mistake of staying on to fight as Gaddafi did despite his recent rhetoric I read in the Weekly Observer- because he is a very realistic man. He knows which wars he can win and those he cannot. If they put you against Mike Tyson in the ring, you should know when to call it off, because if you don’t, your nose gets blown away. Brother Gaddafi should have realized when the game was up, but on a good note: he was indeed a strong hearted, patriotic leader who saw himself only ” ending with the world’’ (as most dictators do).
Muslims and Africans will miss him. He did a lot for Libyans, Muslims and Africans in general but he denied political freedom to his people. Hope the NTC does not disappoint us. Libyans deserve to feel free in their own country. We all deserve to feel free in our own countries.
Freedom is not about putting food on somebody’s table. Otherwise, women married to rich husbands would have made the best wives ever. Because freedom is not about money, better housing, better health care,……. a poor man can easily bang your wife if you are treating her like a slave( like your own her). Hello! Human beings are not properties. They need a breather, and they always get bored easily if someone has been on their nerves for a long time.
I know it may be very difficult for some people to believe that Gaddafi fell without shooting any of the NATO planes but that‘s how the mission was planned, I believe. It was planned to neutralize his air space from the beginning. More so, I suspect that Brother Gaddafi initially thought that the situation will pass and NATO will eventually negotiate with him. So he did not want to make things worse for himself at the beginning by shooting their ‘birds’. I guess by the time he realized that NATO was about regime change not anything else, it was too late. He could not even move any of his weapons because there were within NATO target.
Look, most dictators fall in the least way expected. It is not unique to Gaddafi. Iddil Amin, for instance, also fell when people least expected it. Just like in Libya’s case, the OAU (AU) was against the foreign invaders (in this case the Tanzanians) though their arm was twisted over Amin’s own invasion of the Kagera triangle in northwestern Tanzania in October 1978.
Amin, like Gadafi, they never respected fellow leaders. Before the dust had settled over the Kagera incident, he annoyed Nyerere by suggesting that they should have a boxing match as a possible means of resolving the fate of the Kagera triangle. Amin was a professional boxer, remember. This was the point when Nyerere called up Obote to help organize the Uganda opposition in exile such that he could kick Amin’s ass.
But few people in Uganda saw all these developments as serious. Masaka and Mbarara fell into insurgent hands in early March but still Amin was making as much noise as Gaddafi was making till the last minute. Lukaya was taken and the road to Kampala seemed visible to the insurgents but Amin was still chest thumping. It’s good he did not promise a ‘Vietnam’ for Nyerere as some people are doing now.
Iddil Amin Dada
On March 28th 1979, both Libya and Kenya asked Tanzania to get their forces out but Nyerere stuck to his guns: ‘’SONGA MBELE’’ style. On April 6th, Entebbe Airport was then in the hands of the Tanzanian forces. A week later, Lule was pronounced as the new president of Uganda. Amin’s quick fall surprised a lot of people including him. Yes, Amin regime had internal weaknesses but without the help from Tanzanians, it would have survived for a long time.
The point here is that ‘chest thumping’ and rhetoric by leaders does not necessarily save them when their moment of ‘falling down’ comes. Gaddafi had bought a lot of military equipment from the Russians even before the war started. Actually, he had bought a lot before the sanctions were put on Libya in 1980s. He serviced the old equipment and also bought more after the sanctions were lifted. His old military weapons and planes were even better than what we have got in Uganda. But it is very difficult to use all these equipment when there are under surveillance. The first thing NATO did was to effectively destroy most of this stuff at the start of the air campaign.
Let’s us also not forget that MI6 and CIA had a close relationship with Gaddafi before all these so called people’s revolutions in North Africa started, as revealed by recent media revelations. They at least had their agents on the ground that had done enough home work on Libya and its military capabilities. So every bomb thrown by NATO was meant to hit the target. They neutralized the guy. They basically disabled him to stop him from walking. May be it was for the best because a well equipped Gaddafi would have died with a lot of people. He is a wounded lion now but without power and enough military equipment. Imagine if he had both!
Going back to Museveni, I think a coup is now almost impossible in Uganda because president Museveni has fragmented the army and air force there into as many separate segments as possible. During the ‘walk to work’ protests, for instance, we used to watch people in plain clothes ordering Besigye around such that in one of the videos, I remember Besigye asking one of them: ‘who are you?’ It seems even Besigye was surprised to see people in plain clothes ordering those in uniforms.
So, at the moment, it is difficult to tell the actual number of officers in UPDF or police or intelligence units. This situation has certainly made a military seizure of power much less likely in Uganda at the moment, which is ok for me because i hate millitary governments, but i feel sorry for those who may invest their hopes in a coup. Security matters,it seems, are certainly and directly in the hands of Museveni and the people totally committed to him.
Abbey
POLICE SHOULD INVESTIGATE MIRUNDI’S COMMENTS ASAP
25 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in media in Uganda, Museveni and NRM, Politics
Tamare Mirundi, Presidential Press Secretary
I may be wrong here but I really doubt if Mirundi gave the interview in the Newvision under the sub-headline:’Mirundi on Mukula, Bukenya’s troubles’. The Mirundi I know never untactically punches above his weight but the following paragraph makes him sound less intelligent. You don’t say things like that even if you are the president of the country with 24/7 security:
‘’ There are people in Mengo who think we were born to work for them, which I don’t agree with. Lastly, I would like to tell you that I don’t fear anyone. If you slap me, I will draw a gun at you, shoot and kill you.’’
I’m pretty sure that president Museveni himself wouldn’t say something like that in public. Maybe Mirundi meant to say something different, and the media misunderstood him. It happens to so many Africans because English is not our first language. For instance, I remember the Chelsea Striker, Didier Drogba, also making funny comments on one of his press conferences when he had just joined Chelsea. We had just won a game and my eyes were glued at Sky sports news channel. The journalist asked him if he’s a diver as he was being accused by other teams and Drogba answered:
“Sometimes I dive, sometimes I stand.”
In reality, Drogba did not mean to say that exactly but the media made a meal out of it. It created our sport’s back pages for a while. I still laugh my head off whenever i remember those comments. Drogba tried to retract the statement but the damage had already been done.
Similarly, there are a lot of mistakes in this interview and it is hard to believe that Tamare Mirundi really said what was published. If the interview was conducted in English then maybe he was misquoted. Tamare is very good at expressing himself in Luganda. I actually think he should conduct his press conferences in Luganda with an interpreter and some sort of a script to follow, if possible. Speaking English fluently does not measure anybody’s intelligence or capabilities.
It is very important that Mr. Tamare comes out and tells Ugandans that he was misquoted in this interview. There is no need to attack Mengo anymore than necessary. He should borrow a leaf from the respected former PM, Appolo Nsibambi, who remains a member of UAH up to now. He never attempted to attack the Kabaka or Mengo throughout the time he was in government. I know we all sometimes get excited with the fortunes of this world, and this may be Tamare’s case, but we should keep it under the wraps. Life is just a very complicated thing.
I sometimes wonder about Mirundi and Nambooze Beti especially on who made the right decision after their ‘trials’ on several media programs. Both used to be regulars on Buganda’s CBS fm; both are still friends; both are Baganda and both are very articulate in Luganda. As Nambooze remained Mengo leaning, Mirundi opted for a career in central government. Namboozi is now a member of parliament for Mukono North, and the sky is the limit for her, as far as opportunities are concerned. Mirundi, on the other hand, reportedly hopes to open up a political school in future but I wonder how he will recruit students when some people are openly for vying for his blood.
Nonetheless; I’m really so disappointed in some of the stuff in this interview. People should learn to value human life. How do you vow to kill somebody who has only slapped you? It doesn’t make sense to me and I can’t believe Tamare Mirundi said that. Something is not right here and it needs to be investigated. May be Tamare is not mentally well at the moment. Something is definitely not right. I have copied this message to him because all this does not make sense to me at all.
The police should investigate these comments made by Mirundi immediately. If it is true that he said this, then he should not be allowed to carry a gun anymore. He is not fit to carry a gun in public. He is not in the right state of mind to carry a gun. How do you kill somebody who has only slapped you? Good Lord! He should go for anger management lessons before he is given a gun again.
In the meantime, if you see anyone slap Mr.Mirundi, just run for the hills before he draws his gun out because bullets tend not to discrimate when they are being fired.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey
Notes:
Mirundi on Mukula, Bukenya�s troubles
Bidandi:Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming but prepare for a Muhoozi presidency!
20 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in media in Uganda, Museveni and NRM, Politics, Presidency
Guys,
Bidandi ssali’s letter to Major Muhoozi is a land mine for the former but it just confirms what I have always told people that there is no serious opposition in Uganda. I don’t know what Bidandi and former DP president, Kawanga Ssemogerere, see in letter writing as far as changing Uganda politics is concerned, because these two guys have been writing letters to whoever is in power since 1980s. I’m not surprised that both of them are going to die without ‘tasting’ the presidency. You don’t become a president in Uganda by annually writing letters in the media. Bidandi is not a serious opposition leader. He once called Paul Semogerere ‘docile’ on one of the FM stations (when he was still in NRM) but I see no difference between them now.
Yes, Bidandi urges Muhoozi to prove to himself, to his family, and to the world, that he makes his own decisions, and that his being the son of president Museveni has got nothing to do with anything, but I cannot see Muhoozi doing so because he has become what he is because of his father. Bidandi is inviting him to walk through a land mine here because Muhoozi cannot afford to start rebelling against his father. Such advice is ok for sons of leaders in developed nations but not Africa. A label like ‘being son or daughter of a big man in government’ can help one gate crash anything. If, for instance, Muhoozi opens up a facebook account right now, several Ugandans would rush to become his friends because he is simply the son of Museveni. People create ‘ghost’ friends and enemies when they are in that kind of position.
To be honest, I just hate all of Bidandi’s letters because they seem to do a PR for Muhoozi and Museveni than anything else. He wrote one during the previous presidential campaigns which I again thought was more of a PR for Museveni than anything else, especially where he sneaked in the issue of Museveni visiting his son in the hospital. The leader of a supposedly a national party (PPP) writing to the president of a nation about national issues and then concludes the message with a personal note….. I thought this was either an intended political miscalculation from Mr.Bidandi or he was just overwhelmed with parental emotions when writing this letter. In all fairness, President Museveni visited Bebe Cool to tap votes of the musician’s supporters.
The way Bidandi sounded in the letter to Muhoozi one would think that he was talking to a son of Martin Luther King, sr. You see Martin Luther King, Jr. was a son of a preacher but despite his unprivileged Negro background, everybody could see that he was a man on a mission to save a certain group of people. So who is Muhoozi really going to save? He is basically looking at the presidency as the highest he can get after being put on a speed boat in army promotions.
Like I said, there is nothing in Uganda at the moment that can stop Muhoozi from becoming the next president of Uganda. Letter writing, wiki-leaks cables, restoration of term limits, media interviews by NRM old guards,……. are all not going to stop the Muhoozi project. It is only the UPDF and foreign nations that can stop it if they decide to do so.
In any case, what Museveni is doing with Muhoozi is not that much different from what George Bush, Sr. did to help his son to become president. Actually, somebody wrote a damaging and well researched book: ‘Fortunate Son’ by J.H. Hatfield, to open the eyes of the Americans on what they were electing into the White House, but it did not stop Bush, Jr. from becoming the president. The book showed Bush’s weak academic performances, his three known arrests, his alcoholism, the failure of all of his oil companies, you name it, but he still made it to the presidency.
This same Bush did not even give a damn on how the public perceived him before he became the president. At one time during a conversation with Hartford Courant associate editor David Fink, he was asked at the 1988 Republican Convention: “When you’re not talking politics,” Fink asked the vice president’s son, “what do you and [your father] talk about?” “Pussy,” George W. replied. I’m sure he made a lot of people to long for one then.
So, those who think that because Muhoozi was allegedly involved in some shoot outs at Kasubi tombs where two people lost their lives, the ‘’massacres’’ in Karamojja or whatever, then it is capable of twisting the minds of Ugandans in rural areas when he is presented as NRM presidential candidate, they should plan for something else. Such propaganda does not stop sons of former presidents from winning the presidency. In any case, Muhoozi has already done a PR of his own by writing a book, whose title I even don’t know up to now, because I know why he wrote it. He will also be helped by the fact that NRM and the government now control the radio space in the country which can reach out to the biggest masses. If probably Ugandans At Heart was a radio station that covers at least 60% of Uganda, he should have been worried.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Mike Mukula Was Right about the Muhoozi- Museveni ‘presidency’ and the opposition cannot stop it
16 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in Politics, Presidency, UPDF
Friends,
Muhoozi in the middle of president Museveni and Cabinet minister to Karamoja
If I’m being honest with you, there was a time I believed that Muhoozi will automatically be Uganda’s next president, but from what I have observed in the last 9 months, I think this project will prove to be disastrous for president Museveni if he goes ahead with it. I’m not saying that it is not going to happen but it will bury him if he is not careful. The world has changed so much and everyone is looking for an excuse to attack someone, and there will be no better excuse for the ‘big boys’ to kick Museveni’s butt in future if he goes ahead and promotes his son to the presidency.
Having said that, I have come to believe that one does not become a president in Uganda because of mere elections. May be, it will change in the next 10-20 years but not now. So if anyone thinks that elections will stop Muhoozi from becoming our next president, please think again.
Museveni knows that he will meet resistance within NRM, the UPDF, and parliament if he imposes Muhoozi on Ugandans but this will not stop him if he is determined to pursue this project. Of all the institutions that may resist this ‘’Muhoozi project’’, it is only the army he is afraid of. Muhoozi will not be fielded as NRM candidate if president Museveni senses that the military, and in this case UPDF, may cause huge problems. Forget about the rest and their problems. It is only the military that may internally stop it but not elections of any kind.
Elections are useless in Uganda because president Museveni can use them to get whatever he wants. Without going into the presidential rigging that is often rightly cited by the opposition, Let me give you an example of the two referendums to either stay with the Movement or Multiparties, and the vice versa.
The first one was held in June 2000 and the second was held in July 2005. Those who voted ‘‘Yes’’ to Movement system were 4,471,681 that represented a 90.7% according to the Electoral Commission. Those who ticked or voted ‘‘No’’ to Multiparty system were 442,843 which represented 09.3% of the total votes.
The second referendum was held after less than 4 years but the results again came out as President Museveni wanted them to be. Those who said ‘‘Yes’’ to Multiparty system were 3,736,367 which represented a good 92.4% of the total votes cast. Those who ticked ‘‘No’’ to Movement system were 297,865 representing 07.6% of the total votes.
So basically elections in Uganda cannot stop Museveni from being the president of Uganda even if 90% of Ugandans vote for the opposition. Similarly, they cannot stop his son or anybody he wishes, from becoming the next president.
Apart from the UPDF, international pressure or intervention would also be able to stop the Muhoozi project, because there is nothing on the ground that is capable of stopping Muhoozi from becoming the president of Uganda if Museveni wants him to. The opposition is weak, parliament can easily be twisted, the media is under his control, the old NRM historicals have accumulated a lot of wealth and have got no appetite to wage more wars, and the man with the ”hat” on his head almost controls everything in the country.
Let’s face it: Muhoozi is President Museveni’s project with a lot of money behind it, and Captain Mike Mukula was so right in his remarks to the Americans though I read somewhere that he had started backtracking for fear of the ‘big eyes’ from the big fella in state house angrily rolling all over him. Having Muhoozi in state house is like having Museveni in another form. We don’t need that anymore. We need to find a break from all this NRM, musevenism, Janet Musevenism, Muhoozi Musevenism, e.t.c
If you ask me, I would tell you that I respect poor people who join the military so much but it is not something I would recommend to anybody. It is too much sacrifice taken by the young men and women out there who join this service to serve their country. The military men are paid so poorly worldwide apart from obviously the top bosses yet they sacrifice so much.
However, the military training tends to give people some kind of discipline and routine in their life. So I think it is good for the sons of the rich, monarchies, the privileged, e.t.c. That’s why sons of royals in the UK all enlist in the military at some point but I would not recommend it to anybody from a poor background. It is not easy to become successful in the military when you are under privileged though some few people have made it and eventually became great leaders.
But obviously I cannot say the same thing for Muhoozi who joined the UPDF as soon as he graduated at university. Since then, he has been on a variety of courses abroad including in the prestigious Sandhurst in the UK. I think he is the most paper qualified UPDF soldier at the moment.
Abbey
Obama Isn’t a Muslim.Mutesa 1 was a ”modern” King but he Never died a Muslim.
16 Sep 2011 1 Comment
This picture of Barack Hussein Obama in Muslim garb was released during the 2008 campaign.
Yes, Under Kabaka Muteesa 1, Islam was spread in Buganda such that he used to execute some people who did not embrace it. So basically, some ‘pagans’ also became martyrs because they refused to convert to Islam, the religion Muteesa1 favoured for some time.
It is difficult to know whether king Muteesa 1 had genuinely converted to Islam or he believed in foreign religions at all but all indications are that he was just an a survivor and an opportunist. He was a man open to new ideas, like I have already said, but he would drop those new ideas the moment he realised that there are a threat to his hold on to power. Therefore, the kabaka’s interest in Islam, clocks, and the written word can all be understood as an interest in modernity rather than genuine belief in Islam or any of the modern religions.
Kabaka Muteesa 1
At some point, Muteesa 1 attempted to return to traditional forms of worship, but he found it difficult because other religions had already taken hold in Buganda- according to S.R.Karugire in his book: ‘’A Political History of Uganda’’.
As for Obama, he came out during the presidential campaigns and publicly said that he was not a Muslim despite keeping the name ‘Hussein’ but Allah knows better why he put him in the most powerful office of the land.Obama is one hell of a clever man and this is displayed in the way he announced his presidential candidature on February 10, 2007, where he never acknowledged the historic nature of his candidacy as an African American or someone with an Islamic background. He knew how controversial such subjects can drag any candidate such that one ends up having no time to explain any policy in their manifesto. It is like if, for instance, I stand for presidency now and one of the Muslim brothers or Sisters comes up to me to publicly appeal for the Muslim votes, I just drop that person like a pack of cards on the table, because Uganda is a country dominated by non-Muslims and a Muslim cannot become a president without their support. This does not mean that I don’t love Muslims but it means that I know how to separate sugar and salt when preparing a meal.
At the moment, it may prove to be difficult for any Muslim to win an election in Uganda because Uganda is so deeply divided along religious lines. In USA, since the publication of the book: ’Beyond Black and White in 1995’’, public opinion has changed somewhat, showing that whites today are more open-minded than in the past about the race of a candidate, and this somehow helped Obama’s candidature.
May be Muslims in Uganda also need to write a lot of books, open up radio stations, news magazines, and inter-faith projects that may help those non-Muslims who perceive them as a threatening force to their beliefs or ventures. Obama’s presented himself as non- threatening to anybody’s race or religion and it worked. He says in his book:’’ Dreams from My Father’’ as he describes the tactic he learned to use as a teenager: ‘‘People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied; they were relieved— such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn’t seem angry all the time.’’The man knew what he wanted from the beginning and Islam was not part of the equation.
Because Obama spent several years of his childhood in Indonesia, the home of his mother’s second husband and home to Muslim majority, we could say that this helped him to learn a lot about Islam. But Islam was not such a major factor in his candidature as the issue of his outspoken pastor, Jeremiah Wright, whose church people viewed as radical. Obama first started attending this church while he was working as a community organiser. He got married in this church and the good pastor also baptised his two children. So why would anyone continue to call Obama a Muslim?
Obama publicly rejected and denounced the support he had earlier got from Louis Farrakhan, the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam. He did this on live TV in his debates with Hilary Clinton. There is no doubt in my mind that Obama knows a lot about Islam but this does not make him a Muslim.In any case, he would not have become US president if he was known to be a Muslim. Polls showed that most Americans would not vote for a Muslim president.
If Obama is still confused about his religion, we shall get to know more about it after his presidency in case he comes out and say that he is a Muslim. In his memoir,’’ Dreams from My Father’’, Obama describes his struggle with identity, growing up biracial while raised by a single white mother.
Like I said, only Allah knows why he chose Obama to become the first Black-American president, just like he chose him to become first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review when he joined Harvard Law School in the late 1980s. May be he is on a mission bestowed on him by God. Who knows! May be one day, Ugandans will also vote for the first Muslim president.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Why I think African Union Has Become Useless
11 Sep 2011 2 Comments
in Africa, Corruption, International Issues, Museveni and NRM, Political murders, Politics
Friends,
Whatever happens in Libya and Egypt after several years of dictatorship, Gaddafi and Mubaraka aren’t coming back to power. That is out! Some of the problems these two countries are experiencing now were expected.
NATO is not the best of friends to be trusted because western powers always look at wars as ‘investments’ and always demand a return on their investments starting with awarding themselves contracts for reconstructing what has been destroyed. So anybody can understand why some revolutionaries are trying to distance themselves from them now that the war is almost over.However, If NATO, with the help of Isreal, disorganizes Libya after Gaddafi by sponsoring some rebellions, it will be their loss.
As for Egypt and Mubaraka’s trial, this is a real kindergarten circus. Mubaraka was removed but the system he built is still there. He is somehow still controlling events in Egypt. The judge has been postponing his trial without giving good reasons. It is a real circus but Mubaraka is not coming back to power. The sooner the Egyptians hold elections, the better. Libyans are still a long way to holding elections but they will be fine in the long run. We should not sympathize with African dictators.
An African Union delegation met Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli to negotiate a truce between the Libyan leader and rebel forces
Hell or no hell, the African leaders created this situation in the first place. Why would anybody think that being a life time president is their natural right? If it is going to take hell for Africa to sort itself out, then it will naturally happen despite the fact that I hate the thought of violence on the continent itself. I just don’t feel anything for any leader that kills, tortures and imprisons his own people just to prolong his stay in power. It is so wrong at so many levels.
Some people are already openly and privately telling me not to step any foot in Kampala in future because they think I may become a ‘target’ of some sort, because of some of the stuff I write on UAH and other forums. But I will go to Kampala as I have been doing because I hate the thought of anybody denying me freedom to do anything I want to do. I don’t have a private army of any sort. All I do is writing when I’m not happy with the government. So why should anybody harm me? I’m not hurting anyone apart from pouring out what I exactly think of the events unfolding in Uganda. In any case, i heard Andrew Mwenda saying that president Museveni of 2011 nolonger imprisons, kills or tortures those opposing him as was the case in 1980s.
Anyway, I just don’t hold too much respect for African dictators anymore. Brother Gaddafi and others claim that NATO is here to steal African resources which is true, but they are also thieves – stealing from their own people. They steal with the help of foreigners, fellow dictators or through their local business agents. They are all the same. Oil, for instance, in Africa is owned by foreigners. In Angola, for example, USA owns most of their oil there with the blessing of the government there. US companies, especially Chevron, dominate the market in Angola. Beligium’s Petrofina, France’s Elf, Italy’s AGIP, Sweden’s Svenska pertoleeum, Brazil’s Petrobars, Japan’s Mitsubish and Britain’s BP – are the other owners. It is the same story in Nigeria, Uganda, Chad, Cameron, Congo, Egypy and Libya and Algeria.
In Uganda, politicians are proposing giving away large pieces of land in Buganda, North Uganda, and Bunyoro to Asians to grow sugarcane, as if the environmental problems are a smaller problem than sugar. These very African leaders pretend to care about the environment through their meetings at the African Union but they make different decisions in their own countries.
AU was partly formed in 2001 to help at managing conflicts involving natural resources but have they even issued a statement against Museveni’s threat to give away part of mabira forest to Asians? No. AU met in Feb 2004 in Sirte and came up with Sirte Declaration on the challenge of implementing sustainable development and Agriculture and water in Africa, but what have they practically done so far? Nothing, if you ask me.
AU met before that in 2000 and drafted a protocol against the illegal exploitation of natural resources. They also adopted a common Defense and Security Council to promote peace and security in Africa, but how much have they done to help Africans feel that they are any different from the old OAU. If you ask me again, I will say they are a bunch of people wasting our time.
They created NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) which was a good step but little progress has been made. NEPAD started up the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), set up by heads of states and government of NEPAD for those countries willing to be evaluated on what they are doing on good governance. I think Uganda is part of NEPAD but even this project is just on paper but nothing really has been achieved.
So, you can really understand why most Africans don’t look at AU or our leaders as serious people anymore. They need to change if they want to be taken seriously. Their long stay in power is responsible for what is happening in Egypt and Libya or elsewhere. It will be the same story in Uganda in the post Museveni era, if you ask me. But Museveni has got the power to change this right now by going back to the Museveni of 1980s who gave everyone a breather instead of being obsessed with keeping power.
Black people will get better if they get Africa better. A more stable and resourceful Africa will make any black man all over the world to feel proud. At the moment, our leaders are doing everything possible to destroy Africa, a reason why most of the middle class that was created after independence are out of the continent. This is very visible, in for instance, Zimbabwe where there is almost no middle class in the country, and Robert Mugabe has taken advantage of this. Most of the Middle class in Zimbabwe migrated to other countries. But Mugabe is one of the icons of the African Union, an organisation that is supposed to make Africa better. Phew!!!!!!!!!!
Abbey Semuwemba
Not Excited by John Nagenda’s Interview to Sunday Monitor
05 Sep 2011 4 Comments
in media in Uganda, Politics, Presidency
Dr. John Nagenda
I’m not so excited by Nagenda’s interview because I believe he is now a ”nobody” in Museveni’s political ambitions.In any case, there is nothing he said that is not already known to Ugandans. Some people in the media and opposition will try to hype it a little bit but I’m sure Nagenda has already received a phone call telling him to ‘calm down’. If the interview had been made by one of the big guys in the army, Museveni would have lost his sleep but not a presidential advisor. The army is the main thing that terrifies Museveni now but nothing else.
However, Nagenda’s interview in the Sunday Monitor is full of foundation rattling comments that would seem to deserve a reaction from State House. The smart money suggests that this is only the beginning of the fall out of Museveni with the old guards or so called NRM historicals – that similar comments will be made by others in the next few years. It is only natural if somebody has been in power for such a long time.
Nonetheless, the interview has raised Nagenda’s stakes but that is as far as it goes. He may either be promised something better than presidential advising or he is going to be pulled down by the very system he helped to build. I think as presidential advisor he’s scaled new heights of slime and outrageousness.
Nagenda’s interview is a bit confusing, though, because he is very skilled at dancing around the periphery of issues. Any answers he delivered to the Sunday Monitor can survive a thousand interpretations. He is a very intelligent man who is very good at framing, positioning and spinning ideas. He can, therefore, easily turn the whole interview around depending on how the president reacts to it. He obviously made this interview to get the president’s attention and Tamare Mirundi was very right on this.
But he runs the risk of being punished by the president because I don’t think presidential advisors are supposed to advise the president through the media, and I think they have got certain binding agreements in their contracts that don’t allow them to behave the way Nagenda did. This doesn’t require elaboration. If Nagenda broke certain stuff in his job contract knowingly, it’s a misdemeanor, and it may be punishable in the courts of law or may lead to his dismissal as presidential advisor.
However, any Presidential advisor must have the freedom to be allowed to give the President honest and straight forward advice without the danger of being cited by the president during a witch hunt for political reasons. Nagenda may reason, as he stated, it is no longer easy to meet the president. More so, the president never listens to anyone anymore apart from his wife who is a cabinet minister.
TAMARE MIRUNDI
I was not surprised that Tamare Mirundi butted in as soon as Nagenda gave a negative interview to Sunday Monitor. He’s doing his job. Wouldn’t you agree that Nagenda’s role in this government is relatively insignificant compared to the role of presidential spokesperson who is participating in the presidential affairs on an on-going basis? Yes, it may true that a presidential advisor outranks any presidential spokesperson but in Uganda’s case, presidential advisors are more or less useless. That’s why Tamare referred to them as people with ‘financial difficulties’.
Nevertheless, Tamare’s comments may not go down well with other presidential advisors but he was telling the truth. I wonder what Chris Rwakasisis is thinking right now. He should have found a better way of addressing this issue.
Anyway, Tamare himself is just a guy trying to make a living by pandering to the propaganda needs of the very rich and powerful. Being spokesperson is not the best paying and most secure job in the world but it’s usually a pretty good living, actually. I don’t how much Tamare is paid annually but I’m sure his life has financially changed ever since he got this job.That is why he looks and sounds so excited.
Yes, he still mangles the English language but most of us- Ugandans in central, are like that. It would be better if he is usually given a script tree to follow which will allow him to respond to most topics of concern. I think they do it with spokespersons of developed nations. If a spokesperson lies, then the person he speaks for lies as well, unless the spokesperson is immediately corrected or removed from the organization. When Tamare Mirundi speaks Luganda, he is actually a pleasure to listen to though he is very arrogant and disrespectful. I also hate it when he belittles our Kabaka and other elders in the society. However, he seems like a smart guy when he talks in Luganda but his body language gives him away as a man who is angry, revengeful and always looking for recognition. The way he straightens his neck when talking to the media- points to a man with less confidence.
–
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
http://ugandansatheart.org/
http://twitter.com/#!/semuwemba
http://jjanguonkwekule.blogspot.com/
http://semuwemba.wordpress.com/
No Internal Revolt Will Dislodge M7 In The Near Future Unless if it is backed by a Strong foreign nation
03 Sep 2011 10 Comments
in FDC, international, Museveni and NRM, Politics, Revolutions, UPDF
Ugandans are not capable of getting rid of Museveni on their own without foreign help. Ugandans are not capable of overcoming Museveni’s security organs that at least seem to be loyal to him- personally. A guerilla war in Uganda without any foreign backing is more like walking in a death trap. This is the reason why Dr.Besigye made a lot of noise in 2001, 2006 and 2011 but he never openly came out to declare war on Museveni despite the rigging of elections -mainly because I believe there was no foreign nation willing to sponsor such a war. The rumors about Rwanda sponsoring him were absolute nonsense than anything else. It is believed that the intelligence experts wanted to squeeze more money out of the government, and president Museveni temporarily fell for it. But he wizened up and that is why he made up with president Kagame through a presidential visit recently.
Guerilla war
Historically, all Uganda’s long serving president have been pushed out with the help of foreigners. Obote’s was ousted by Amin in 1971 with the help of the Israelites and British. Even Iddil Amin would have died a president if the Tanzanians had not come to our rescue in 1979. Museveni received help from Libyans and British to fight Obote 2 and later Tito Okellos in late 1980s.
In Angola, UNITA’S Savimbi fought the government for over a decade if I’m not mistaken but how much did the rebels achieve? In the meantime, how many lives and property were lost during that time? By the way, Even Savimbi made some progress during that conflict because of foreign backing. Everyone needs some form of foreign backing to make it. Fighting a guerilla war is not easy, from what I have observed, such that even Museveni would not have made it if the Acholis and Langis were not so divided then. Actually, Museveni is a lucky man indeed, because I cannot see anybody doing what he did in 1980s and become president in the present Africa. It is just so difficult.
Military coup
The only internal revolt president Museveni is scared of is a coup by the military guys but not ‘walk- to -work’ or a people’s revolution of any kind. Did you see how the ‘walk- to- work’ died suddenly as soon as Besigye was ‘arinaitwed’ in the eyes and ears. The protests can only dislodge Museveni if they are backed by again foreign nations as it happened in Gaddafi’s Libya recently. Protestors on their own cannot dislodge him.
Let us also remember that Museveni is USA’s main man in the sub sahara Africa, a reason we saw some Kenyan politicians with ICC problems campaigning for him during the elections yet they hate him. According to Wikileaks, Museveni asked the Americans to protect his plane after falling out with Gadaffi. So attacking Museveni is more like attacking USA interests in the region. Whoever plans to attack Museveni will need some kind of endorsement from Washington. Museveni may write as many documents as he wants against NATO bombing in Libya but he is not going to fool some of us. What he is doing is more like a man that abuses an ugly woman in public yet he is sleeping with her.
The day the Americans stop trusting Museveni is the day things will start falling apart in Kampala. Museveni has built a weid relationship with Russia, Chinese and some Arab states though Europe seems not to like him anymore. But Europe can do nothing if it is not endorsed by Washington.
Yes, Ugandans have now got a lot of options to get rid of any president but all need some kind of foreign endorsement, if you ask me. Look, Uganda is now in a bad shape; everything is so bad; people are so poor, the economy is wanting; but Museveni has not been shaken by it. He can even afford to bring in ‘’Mabira-give away’’ without being worried of the repercussions. Everybody is feeling the economic pinch in the country but there is not even some smoke coming out of the hut, what does that tell you about the people of Uganda and the opposition in general?
Syrian Revolution
Guys, let’s accept it that Ugandans aren’t Tunisians or Syrians. Assad has killed over 4000 Syrians but they are still going, but Ugandans aren’t like that. They could not even sustain ‘walk to work ‘ protests without Besigye. We are a different kind as we never walk the talk.
I believe Washington disappointed Besigye when he made that trip to America after the protests, and I guess that is why he tactically pulled out of the whole protests. If Washington had endorsed Besigye’s ideas, Museveni would be history by now but it seems they don’t trust him. No wonder Besigye made an announcement not to stand for party president again as soon as he came back from that trip.
Egyptian Revolution
The Egyptian revolution would not have been successful if Washington had not endorsed it. It seems to me that the Americans owned the Egyptian army indirectly but Mubarak was not aware of it. The Egyptian army used to receive $1b annually and may be that constituted something we don’t know. The army never helped Mubaraka at the time he needed them. Some of them joined the protestors, but I don’t see that happening in Uganda.
Anyway, what do I know? May be UPDF is also waiting for someone to sustain the protests for a long time and they join, but I highly doubt that. UPDF is a micro-managed institution unlike the Egyptian’s army.
By the way, I believe that Mubaraka, is very bitter with President Obama as he ( Mubaraka) used to do everything the Americans wanted( just like Museveni) but they abandoned him for reasons I’m yet to know up to now.
Abbey
All these Wars in Africa are more like ‘Investments’ to the Big Nations.There is always a catch
03 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Africa, Corruption, International Issues, oil
The Struggle for oil and mineral wealth by big nations is as old as humans themselves. It has been going on militarily since the end of the Cold war. Yes, France and Britain found it easy to intervene in the Libyan situation because of the oil wells there. I bet nobody is going to attack Mr. Mugabe because Zimbabwe has got less to offer. The few gold mines there have been taken over by the Chinese and Russians. So it is not worth it attacking such an old man. War is a business as far as the great nations are concerned.
In Uganda, we have got oil but I cannot see the international community taking on president Museveni at the moment because he is doing everything they want. He has given them ownership of Uganda’s oil and UPDF is doing their ‘’dirty’’ work in Somalia. More so, Washington has not identified their next man in Uganda. Yes, London wanted Besigye to take over from Museveni but they failed to convince Washington, and that is why Museveni is still president. The rest of the guys in the opposition are just wasting our time, I can tell you that!
Anyway, as long as state institutions in Africa continue to be fragile backed with weaker economies, the scramble for African resources will never stop. We brought this on ourselves by electing selfish leaders after independence. How we correct it, I don’t know yet!
So Russia’s decision to recognize the rebels in Libya should not surprise anybody. They were given some assurances by the Libya’s NTC that their interests in Libya will be protected. China will also recognize the rebels as soon as they are given assurances too. That is how international politics works.
Personally, I know that big nations don’t care much about Africans but I also know that most African leaders are actually worse than the so called ‘international businessmen’ (donors). All African leaders care about is power and monopolizing the wealth in their respective countries. They could kill anybody as long as they retain power and keep wealth. For instance, the July 1999 Lome peace agreement on Sierra-leon civil war, where the management of the country’s diamonds was put under the control of the rebel leader, late Foday Sankoh. Another example is that of Liberia’s former president, Charles Taylor, who almost owned every natural resource in the country.
Similarly, I would not be surprised if president Museveni and his friends are more interested in their share of Uganda’s oil rather than looking at the bigger picture. Every man is looking after his stomach, as Kampalans used to say. The current opposition leaders in Kampala right now, probably apart from the ‘hardworking’ Besigye, they are all opportunists who don’t deserve a shot at the State House.
Yes, democracy in Africa is something great nations would like to take place in the long term but it is not their priority in the short term. Their short term interest is business, nothing else. They have been busy selling arms to Africa since the end of the cold war. They have been buying and selling Africa’s natural resources since independence, and this has resulted into a lot of conflicts on the continent.
With Africa oil, it is dominated by foreign companies in almost all Africa’s leading oil producers. Apart from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya are among the leading oil producers in Africa. Libya is the second largest oil producer and its proximity to Europe makes it an attractive option to greater nations. The total proven oil reserve of Libya is about 30 billion barrels.
During the sanctions, Gaddafi ensured that the state owned National Oil Company (NOC) controlled the entire oil industry- working with 33 subsidiaries.
In 1979, Gaddafi allowed NOC to open up to foreign companies as a way of conning the international community to remove the sanctions against him. This was at a time he was also drifting towards African-blacks instead of Arabs, again for the same purpose of getting the sanctions off his rail.
When sanctions were removed in 1999, more than 50 foreign oil companies moved into Libya. Italy’s AGIP dominated the market though I was surprised when the Italians supported NATO’s bombing. Let us also note that Africa produces more than 15% of US oil needs.
Egypt has also got vast amounts of oil. Oil there was discovered in 1868 by a company called Suplhur Mines while they were searching for Sulphur. Britain’s oil company, BP, own most of the oil discovered in the Saqqara field. As of 2003, Egypt was producing about 620 barrels per day. Foreign companies there have been operating under joint ventures with Egypt main oil companies under former president, Mubaraka. I don’t whether this has changed now that Mubarak is gone.
So I can fairly say that both the conflicts in Libya and Egypt are somehow linked to the international oil politics that surround oil pricing and marketing. I understand Gaddafi was selling his oil at a higher price despite being a member of OPEC. He was among those that never allowed OPEC to control them. No wonder he got less support from OPEC countries when NATO started bombing him, not that he was innocent of human rights violations in his country. OPEC accounts for the production of more than 70 % of world oil reserves.
Nonetheless, with or without oil, I have got no sympathy for dictators in Africa. They kill, imprison and torture their own citizens without any remorse. If NATO can help us get rid of all of them, that is ok with me. We shall sort out the ‘theft’ of multinational corporations- stealing Africa’s resources, later on.
Because Africans are poor and their economies are in a bad shape, multinational corporations take advantage of them. In 2000, 31 out of 42 poorest countries in the world were in Africa, and in 1989, only 10 out of the 53 countries in Africa had a per capita income not exceeding 1000 US dollars.
Again because we are poor, it is the reason why oil in Uganda has also been ”hijacked” by foreign companies. Museveni had to accept the foreign companies to take the biggest shares of Uganda’s oil partly because it requires extensive capital and technological skills for prospecting and processing oil. Uganda also being a land locked country; it has made the drilling for oil extremely expensive. Uganda somehow needs some kind of cooperation with especially Kenya and Tanzania to export their oil via the coast. But we don’t know how these negotiations went because people in the government don’t want us to know the details.
Museveni, himself, has not been transparent throughout the oil process. Up to now, we don’t know which is which as far as Uganda’s oil is concerned. Yes, there is now an oil ministry, which oversees the oil industry though Banyoro aren’t happy with the minister given this docket, but who supervises the operations of the oil companies? Is this still the responsibility of the minister of Petroleum? Have we got a national company that deals directly with the foreign companies or it is the president’s office directly dealing with them? How many shares has the Uganda government got in the oil deals?
Abbey Semuwemba
