Besigye remains the best ‘Chocolate’ in a x-mas box and Otunu Shouldn’t fire all his enemies
21 Dec 2011 10 Comments
in FDC, Museveni and NRM, Obote and UPC, Politics
Friends,
Most of the NRM mobilizers will be relieved when Besigye retires from FDC leadership because he still remains the best ‘chocolate’ in a box. Love or hate him, he is the most courageous, toughest and principled politician in Uganda history. The guy is undoubtedly the best opposition politician in Uganda’s history. He’s the best at what he does. When he talks on politics, he usually has been worth listening to more than any other FDC politician. Historians and political analysts will write endless books about him. The only thing missing in his political life is becoming the president of Uganda which he almost did in 2006 if Dr.Badru Kiggunud’s EC were not cowards. They reportedly allowed themselves to be intimidated but most political observers ‘believe’ that Besigye won those elections.
Museveni only outsmarted him in elections and I think this is the reason why he wants to retire, not forgetting the famous Gilbert Arinaitwe who liked playing with Besigye’s head using tear gas. What makes Museveni to stand out is that he thinks 10 moves ahead when it comes to rigging elections, and he planned for the presidency for a long time. The rest of the opposition leaders think two moves, and are proud of it. Museveni is probably the best politician of his generation in Uganda- at least of his NRM party; even Besigye would have to agree.
As for UPC, the way there are treating Dr. Otunu now has made me feel the slightest for them. He does not deserve to be treated this way just because he is not a Langi or related to late Obote. The smears his political enemies are now flinging mark them, not him, as beneath contempt.
Olara Otunu is the current UPC president
It’s good that Otunu has fired some of the UPC ‘rebels’ especially David Pulkol and Rurangaranga. The former chairman made it clear that that he will use whatever means necessary to incriminate the UPC president which was unacceptable. So he had to go. As for Pulkol, I have never trusted him even one little bit. He is one character that can give you a poisonous injection on the bum while feeding you a samosa at the same time. He was previously working for the Museveni intelligence system; then he moved to FDC temporarily before joining some funny political party I have forgotten. When Otunu came back, Pulkol went UPC mad with the famous bandwagon song of ‘we are coming back home’. Oh God, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read in the paper that Otunu had given him an executive position in UPC.
Anyway, it’s good that Otunu has started learning Uganda’s complicated politics on a table very slowly. In Uganda, all surviving party leaders have been sleeping with one eye open. Otherwise, Otunu should copy some of Museveni’s ugly tactics to survive the current situation. If he doesn’t’ he is a goner not a ‘gunner’ (like Arsenal supporters). If he wants to know some of these tactics, he should freely consult me privately and I help him out, but I will charge him some fee because I need to buy presents for my daughters before the New Year. But overall, he seems to be catching up with the game.
Of course there is a limit to what Otunu can do since he is not as ‘executive’ as president Museveni. The later allegedly uses the intelligence organs and URA to obtain innuendo and political ammo against his enemies, and the police and army to harass his enemies, but otunu can do a little bit of Museveni’s tricks that are less than that to survive his enemies. USA’s Richard Nixon too used IRS to target his political enemies. Bill Clinton also reportedly used to keep files of his political enemies.
Nevertheless, I think Otunu should have kept Robert Kanusu in his team. I don’t know Kanusus personally but he seems to be a people’s person and a grass root politician. He should have won that election in Jinja if NRM had not resorted to Museveni’s ways of survival. If it is true that Kanusu too had also been comprised, Otunu should have deployed him somewhere else but kept him in his team, while at the same time keeping an eye on him. Otunu should know that not everybody in Museveni’s cabinet are his friends. In fact, he does not trust most of them. But he has got his boys that keep an eye on all of Museveni’s ministers. They are people in Museveni’s government whose job is to monitor the likes of Edward Ssekandi (VP), Saida Bumba(Gender ministry), even Mbabazi( PM), and others. The man allegedly keeps a file in his office on all his political enemies in and outside NRM. He uses them when very necessary.
Actually, if people had ears, they would not come out to publicly portray themselves as Museveni’s friends because the man has often said that his only friends are his wife and kids, and he is right. In Uganda politics, you don’t trust anyone if you want to survive for a long time. So, Otunu should forget about New York or UN politics and sort out the mess in UPC. He should not fire all his enemies as he is doing because some of them are better to be kept in the party while keeping an eye on them.
I would say it has more with keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer. For example, The Nazis and the Soviets were on opposite sides during the Spanish civil war. But why did Stalin and Hitler sign the Non-Aggression Pact on August 19, 1939? Why did they agree to the division of Poland and invaded it together? Meanwhile in the period just before that pact, Stalin had been warning all the British, the Americans, and the French that the Germans were getting to be dangerous. In addition there were elements of the German intelligence service that had been trying to work with British MI to assassinate Hitler. These German agents were ignored. The capitalists at that time thought that Nazi Germany would be a good bulwark against the Soviet Union.
Otherwise, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy X-mas and new year. Besigye said recently while at Makerere University that 2012 is gonna be ‘bloody’. So, let’s keep our eyes on the ball.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Like this:
Jeniffer Musisi’s salary of $178,509 (shs.432m) annually is very disturbing
13 Dec 2011 12 Comments
in Corruption, Economics, Politics
Kampala Executive Director, Jennifer Musisi
I have been saddened by the salary that has been accorded the executive Director of Kampala City, Jeniffer Musisi. Apparently, she is to earn shs.432 million (US. $178509.08) annually as a salary excluding other financial privileges. I find this kind of extravagancy so hurting and unbearable especially for one person to earn that much in country where the biggest part of 33 million people are barely having any food.
How does someone doing cleaning or teaching as a job in Uganda feel about this. I don’t know how much exactly people make in these jobs but I equate them to someone flying burgers in Europe or USA. Let’s take a look at a McDonald’s burger flipper. Here they make between £6.50 to £7.50 an hour. That may be what a burger flipper makes next year and the year after, as well. That does not matter if the cost of living does not rise either. In fact, it is to be expected in a non-inflationary economy. The value of any given labor is going to remain the same relative to the overall economy, unless for some reason that particular labor becomes more important.
But why would Jeniifer Musisi get that kind of salary in a country that is clearly facing a financial crisis? Is this selfishness of the highest order or our leaders are just heartless? The simple fact is that the NRM party does not care about poor Ugandans and low-level working people in general. They either seem to be stronger believers of the theory of trickledown economics, by which if we let rich people make more money, jobs would be created, and it would then trickle down to the rest of the society, or they are purposely making people poor to keep them at the bottom of Maslow’s theory of needs. They want them to keep thinking about basic needs instead of changing governments.
Under Gordon Brown leadership here in the UK, when we were in recession, the government was borrowing money and increasing spending where it is necessary.
‘Where is necessary’ here involved pumping more money into the banking system or nationalising some banks but not buying expensive jets for the executives or presidents or increasing the salaries/bonuses of company executives ( as is the case with Jeniffer Musisi’s shs.36m per months[US.$ 14875.76]or other public workers. This is where Uganda has got it wrong. They should not allocate biger salaries to public officials in such a poor country. Even bigger salaries are questionable in developed nations.
All countries or local governments around the world are reducing on their budgets because of global recession. In USA, according to the centre on Budget and Policy Priorities, 44 states have reduced their budgets by more than $350 billion dollars since 2009.
In the UK, bodies such as the Association of British Insurers, the Investment Management Association and Pirc, a consultancy advising shareholders, believe the bonus culture should be reformed during this recession period. Both in Nigeria and Tanzania, there are finding ways of reducing on public spending.
It is also true that different countries deal with recession using different theories of economics which I prefer not to go through today. However, the theory people are familiar with is the Keynesian theory which was welcomed by former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, with open hands, before David Cameron switched to cutting down on public spending. This is where governments advocate for deficit spending.
With Keynesian theory, when you are heavily in debt, the only way to keep spending is to keep borrowing. I supported Gordon Brown but his Keynesian theory was more of a political survival decision rather than anything else. The whole thing was a gamble from the start. Yes, consumer spending is the main driver of the UK’s economic growth but an increase in people saving to pay off their debts normally results in companies’ profits falling. Companies in turn tend to lay off staff, leading to a vicious cycle of people losing their jobs and being unable to pay their debts and mortgages.
The only reason why Gordon Brown could not easily reduce on public spending was basically because he had been on TV telling people that reduucing public spending means worse public services, so he couldn’t turn around and start slashing it. So the only real option for the UK government then was to spend some of the money that was saved during the good times combined with less borrowing to beat the recession. After all, the UK economy had been booming for years. UK had not had a recession since 1992.
But the reality is that any government under financial crisis should be trying to cut debt by trimming public spending. But that is suicide to some political leaders especially if all they care about is keeping themselves in power.
The main downside to Keynesian style of economics is that government borrowing is exactly the same as consumer borrowing. At some point, you have to pay it back. And the way government pays off borrowing is through higher taxes.
One Ugandan wrote on the Ugandans At Heart(UAH) forum in 2009 when recession had hit big nations such as UK: ‘To say that Uganda has recession is like talking of a chicken with a toothache’. Basically, the statement would have been:’ to say that Uganda has got no recession, it is like a man sleeping with a woman with HIV for a long time without a condom, and then turn around and say that he has got no HIV before he even goes for a check up’.
Uganda has been sleeping with the donor countries who have got HIV (recession) for a long time. Uganda is basically married to the donors ( USA , UK , Canada , France, Japan , Dubai ,…) and there have got a lot of children (Ugandans abroad) together. Donors support over 30% of our budget at the moment.
Ugandans abroad gave Uganda about $1.4 billion in 07/08 alone and there are the major source of foreign exchange in the country. Each of these guys looks after a lot of families in the 75% non-monetary sector. So because the ‘’Nkuba Kyeyo’’(unpaid Ugandan ambassadors abroad) or donors are affected financially, less money is being sent back home at the moment, and as a result the following services have been affected one way or the other: Construction boom in Uganda has declined; Quality of life of families is affected especially those depending on Ugandans abroad; Businesses in Uganda cities like the hospitality industry are feeling it because of reduced spending; Uganda’s general export industry has been affected because of less spending in USA or UK . We don’t have enough market within Uganda to consume the goods we produce. Let’s hope that the donor countries don’t shut down their markets from us as was the case in 1930s.
NGOs are already reducing their activities in Kampala because donors have squeezed funds. Tourism industry is already in decline in Uganda and this is directly affecting the so called CHOGM hotels and travel agencies. Foreign investment is in a decline as few foreign investors wish to bring money into the country. Food prices have become high in Uganda such that I was told a sack of charcoal costs over shs.90,000 and I kg of sugar is at shs.4000.
This country needs to make some changes. It has to start with Campaign Finance Reforms, corruption and the excesses there. To get that passed, we need a new Executive leadership, and it certainly can’t be NRM to get this done.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Federalism is not ‘crap’ but Subjecting it to a referendum in Uganda is crap
12 Dec 2011 44 Comments
Dear folks,
I would like to thank the president of Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA), Beti Kamya, for her fight for federalism in Uganda but I still don’t trust her intentions for reasons I have already stated publicly. Nevertheless, my interest has been drawn to an article she wrote recently and was posted on Ekitibwa Kya Buganda (EKB) blog under the headline: ’Kamya’s Appeal to Ugandans’. She wrote:’…………. UFA has formally declared that we shall evoke Article 74 of the constitution of Uganda to cause a referendum come 2015 for the purpose of changing Uganda’s political system to federalism..…’
While I agree with Kamya that federalism is the way forward, I never imagined that there’s still any sensible opposition leader out there who still believes that systems can be changed in Uganda through elections under the present leadership of president Museveni. Elections of national importance are useless in Uganda because president Museveni can use them to get whatever he wants.He only allows the opposition to win mainly byelections because they are somehow difficult to rig.
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 Multiparty that were conducted between 2000 and 2005, 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 a referendum or elections in Uganda cannot change a system to anything which has not been endorsed by president Museveni. He gets whatever he wants, and if Kamya wants us to have a referendum on federalism, she better finds ways of convincing president Museveni, and leave Ugandans out of it for now.
That said, Ugandans should not allow anybody to scare them off federalism. There are people who use Late Oyito Ojok’s scare tactics of 1980s: telling the rest of Ugandans that any changes in status-quo means the return of slavery by Baganda. He used the same tactics during the 1980 elections scaring other Ugandans against voting for DP’s Paul Ssemogerere. Oyite Ojok while speaking in Luo urged the Acholi and Langi to unite and elect Obote who would cater for their interests.
But I would like Ugandans to look at federalism as a potential stabilizing force for the country if it is adopted by any incoming government. Stability in most federal states is measured on the basis of three yardsticks: the constitutions, fiscal arrangements and party systems. Switzerland, which is considered as highly federal on all the three counts, is stable (that is, free of secessionism and violence).
Uganda has got noises about secession from some Baganda but the government can easily put an end to this by granting full federalism to Buganda or the rest of the country. The reason why secessionist voices won’t go away is because there isn’t even a small bone to cling to at the moment, and as a result, the secessionists are more powerful than us.
The central government in most cases accords autonomy to the region in the first place if it is assured that secession is unlikely. If a right to secede is justified as remedy for oppressive and discriminatory practices towards a region, then the same objective can be achieved using other means such as: federalisms, checks and balances, entrenchments of civil rights and liberties, and judicial review.
I don’t support secessionism but Let me also remind anti-federalists that Buganda, just like Quebec, are asking to secede because they just want to run their own things. May be one of the reasons why some Baganda aren’t happy can be found in the fact that some people in the present government are doing everything possible to weaken Buganda’s culture and economic foundations such that some people see secession as the only way to protect them. By the way secession is a normal thing as it has happened in some other parts of the world. For instance, Norway and Sweden in 1905, UK and Ireland in 1922, Iceland and Denmark in 1918.However, I can’t see a Buganda and Uganda going separate ways because there is still a chance that everything will be sorted out in the post-Museveni era.
Canada, which is believed to have an ambiguous constitution, quasi-federal fiscal relations and a federal party system, is partially stable since it faces a peaceful secessionist movement in Quebec. The Quebec secession movements have gone quite because the Canada government gave Quebec federalism. Nevertheless, Canada is a federal society despite its constitution which is only quasi-federal.
Quasi federal means the federal government is the dominant partner. Canada was quasi federal between 1867 and 1896 under Macdonald’s leadership. Most of the decisions were made by Otawa not provinces. Then Canada became a classical federalism between 1896 and 1914 –meaning the power became equal between Otawa and provinces. Then it became an emergency federalism between 1914 and 1960-meaning the balance of power swung back towards the federal government. Then it became a cooperative federalism between 1960 to present –meaning the provinces now have much power to raise revenues and exercise power over their respective jurisdictions. It also means that the two levels must constantly bargain and coordinate their actions. So this cooperative federalism is run on a quasi federal constitution which makes it a bit tricky for analysts to call Canada a full federal like USA.
India is also believed to be quasi-federal in all three respects (the constitutions, fiscal arrangements and party systems) and is therefore facing violent secessionist movements and thus is unstable. Uganda is still lucky that the secession movements are not violent and it’s in government’s interests to grant Buganda and other parts that want it- federo to keep them that way. The longer they delay it, the more ‘’chilli’’ these guys will put in their sauce at some point.
All in all, Federalism is not bad at all. I even don’t know why some people call it ‘crap’ as if it is one of those MacDonald burgers and chips or Chelsea’s Torres on a bad day. But subjecting federalism to a referendum right now is crap.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
‘Cold War’ is Back but i Still think the Russians and Chinese will lose out
04 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Africa, international, International Issues, Museveni and NRM
vladimir putin
The rebels in Syria are reportedly being armed by Qatar, Turkey and CIA. With more defections in the Syrian army, it will be just a matter of time before president Assad goes. Russia will lose out in the Middle East as it is the case in North Africa today. The Russians are still feeling their losses in Libya after the fall of Gaddafi. Putin has sought the presidency again to revive the Russian supremacy in international affairs and to be fair to him, he tried it in his first reign, but the world has changed so much since he left the presidency.
The major threat to the western powers now is the continued cooperation between Russia and China on international stage. In the UN Security Council, both countries have got veto powers and they tend to use them together against the others. They seem to have increased trade links and alliances recently. So, the western think tanks must be scratching their heads 24/7 over this.
I think we have officially gone back to the cold war days. The Americans want to squeeze China out of Africa and in this process; some African leaders are going to become victims of the whole process. Uganda’s Museveni has been a bit clever so far by inviting all sides to share the oil cake but at some point he is going to have to decide who to give the biggest piece of the cake to.
The British, French and Germans have also gone for the Indians like flies on a rubbish pit. Everybody wants a piece of India on their side. PM Cameron was there last year. Several British officials have been visiting India in the last 5-10 years, including Prince Charles. So, we are in for a game of international chase but my money is on Russia being the biggest loser.
Russia’s top ‘friend’ in the Middle East is Iran. They have been building nukes for them for years. Russia has been equipping Iran for war for a long time. So, what is happening in both Iran and Syria is about Russia & China Vs Europe & USA. China gets a lot of natural gas and oil from Iran. I can’t say I’m looking forward to any form of war in the Middle East because most of the people there are my Muslim brothers and Sisters. More so, I hate wars.
Actually the Russians reportedly sold some missiles to Syria in 2005. Russia is a great manufacturer of Surface-To-Air missiles. Of course, Surface-To-Aircraft missiles are still an elusive dream for Syrians. Syria has been buying Russian military stuff for years but Iran is well armed. So, Europe has got to handle it with care.
Putin’s downside is that Russia is now dominated by ex-KGB gangsters who control almost everything. He is ex-KGB himself. Putin is unable to shed his former role as a lieutenant-colonel in the KGB. He likes always being the first point of contact, and I think that is why he has gone back to contest for the presidency. This makes Russia look more of a dictatorship than anything else. Actually, Russia is worse than the dictatorships in Africa. The mafia-ship in Uganda is nothing compared to that in Russia, and I guess Gilbert Bukenya would now be dead if he was in Russia.
Obama in a meeting with the president of Russia in July 2009
The reason why I’m saying that Russia will still lose is because history shows that they have always been losers. So, I don’t think that power is going to shift soon to Russians and Chinese just because Europe and Americans are in a financial crisis. In any case, it is better for the Arabs and dictators to have Russian arms than American arms. Israel always handily defeated Russian arms in its previous wars, but the American arms in the hands of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other Arab states constitute a real danger to Israel. Saudi has a lot of US weapons than any other country because they can afford anything money can buy.
Israel’s own tank, the Merkava, is more in use in Israel than the USA’s M-1 tank precisely because Israel found its own tank to be superior to the M-1s that are now being manufactured in Egypt under license. M-1s are the third generation battle tanks originally produced in the USA in the 1980s and they remain the principal main battle tank of the USA army.
If the US and Europe choose to attack Syria or Iran, those Russian arms will be about as effective as Russian arms have proven to be in the past. From the Korean war onwards the US and Israel have always found superior answers to Russian arms, and will do so in the future, especially since so many US and Israeli defense companies work together these days. If Europe and USA attack Iran first before Syria, Israel will support them. If they attack Syria before Iran, Israel may be reluctant to support them because the former(Syria) is a mine field of all sorts.
Russians used to have MIGs and they used to be effective in war fare. Actually, I’m now wondering what kind of planes the Russians sold to Museveni recently because Russian weapons have never been stronger than those of the Americans. I know the MIG aircrafts are still in use today and the Chinese have a lengthened and upgraded version of it. I think it’s called the F-9??? I’m not sure as I read about these ages ago, but if I was a serious buyer with serious money, I wouldn’t go for Russian weapons. What Russians can do in arms manufacturing, the Americans can do better, and that is where Museveni should have spent our oil money.
I still think the Russians will do everything possible to make sure the west don’t take over Iran even if it means secretly helping Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb. The Americans have always cheated the Russians in ‘gentleman’ agreements made between leaders. For instance, before the Iraq war, there was reportedly an agreement between Bush and Putin. The war was about controlling the price of oil, which was very important for Putin. The war was started in March, 2003 to help Presidential campaigns of Putin and Bush, who had been together since 1999. It was beneficial for Bush and Putin not to pump oil from Iraq or Iran, which was also beneficial for OPEC.I guess Tony Blair, was just a middleman who knew everything. MI5/6 and CIA tries to control global political economics that may surprise a lot of people, which is why Tony Blair met Vladimir Putin in 2000. Global political economical dynamics have not really changed.
However, after the war, the Americans cheated the Russians flat out basing on the fact that Putin did not come out openly to support the war. American companies ended up benefiting more from the war than any other country. Even the British lamented about this on our TVs, i remember. That’s why Europe has kind of wizened up after the Libyan war though their plans may be spoilt by the Islamists that are likely to eventually take over power in Libya.
Anyway, Now that the cat is out of the bag: we are back to cold war days, let us watch how leaders in Africa will deal with this situation. Obama has already stationed US forces in Uganda, Ethiopia and west Africa, but how far are the Americans willing to go? What about the Chinese? What is in their stock apart from giving aid to dictators, like Zimbabwe’s Mugabe, without any serious conditions attached?
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Like this:
The Murder of Charles Ingabire reminded me of my grandparent’s ordeal in Bugerere in 1990s
04 Dec 2011 7 Comments
in Bahima and Banyarwanda, Museveni and NRM, Political murders
Charles Ingabire, editor of the Inyenyeri News
Dear friends,
It was very sad to learn of the murder of Rwanda journalist, Charles Ingabire(RIP), who was gunned down in Kampala on 30th November 2011. He was a known critic of Paul Kagame, and if it can be proved that the state of Rwanda is responsible for the death of this journalist, it is the responsibility of every African to make it a life mission to make sure that the culprits are brought to justice. I have always admired Kagame’s leadership compared to other African dictators but I think this is one of his weakest points, i.e. killing his political opponents abroad instead of calming things down. This is where Uganda’s Museveni is better than him, i.e. at least, he kills some and bribes some. Killing is allegedly a last resort for Museveni, at least. He uses mainly ‘amafalanga’[money] to cool down political opponents which is ethically wrong but it is effective and saves lives. Otherwise, people like UPCs Hajji Badru Wegulo and Henry Peter Mayiga, NRM’s Eriya Kategeya, former chairman of FDC who replaced late kiggundu, and others, would all be dead. But the president reportedly paid them off to stop opposing him and that was the end of the story.
I would not say that I would not be looking over my shoulders while in Kampala because Museveni is more of a ‘MAFALANGA’ guy compared to Kagame who targets the part between the eyes, but all I know is that Museveni and NRM do not kill their opponents in broad day light unless if you are protesting on streets as we saw with the ‘Walk to Work’ this year, and he only eliminates serious opponents but then again, I may be killed by some people to prove otherwise. Please don’t kill me. OK!
Secondly, I have a feeling that Kagame is a very emotional, no- nonsense, unreasonable guy compared to Museveni. The later, on the other hand, is reportedly a good listener, very patient, and knows how to control his anger and emotions. In other words, he can kill you when you least expect it, he can be easily become anybody’s friend or he can easily sense danger before other people. I don’t know whether this makes him more dangerous than Kagame because of the unpredictability around him, but I think he is the best political strategist Uganda has ever produced.
Kagame comes across as a sadist/ mafia: he can easily put a bullet in one’s mouth without thinking twice. I’m sorry to say this but I think most Rwandese/Banyarwanda (35 years and above) are like this. Their past especially the 1994 genocide has had a big effect on their value of human life. They find killing someone so easy compared to other nationalities in Uganda. I have watched documentaries about the genocide but the stories there are so horrible.
Let me tell you a story that happened when I was doing my O’ Levels. I used to help out with the management of my grandfather’s farm in Bugerere during the vacations. We employed a lot of Banyarwanda as our ‘Balalo’[herdsmen]. So, one day one of my uncles from Canada, Dr. Abdullah Kirumirah, visited us in the village. During those days, whenever someone’s son or daughter from abroad visited, the whole village got to know about it. So when Uncle Abbey (as we used to call him) arrived, I personally had to take him around the village to say hello to almost all the elders in the village.
Hajjati Mayimuna Nabagereka, my grandmother
To cut the whole story short, there was this group of men who used to rob people’s homes at night. One of the boys in that group called Katende Mabilizi, was very well known to our family because he used to work for us in our shambas. My grandfather had a policy of treating workers and the family members as the same: we could eat the same food; share milk; some slept on boys’ quarters, e.t.c. We even used to treat former employees as part of the family.
So, the third day uncle Abbey was at the village, this boy Mabilizi managed to sneak into the house, got himself under one the bed of one of my cousins, and later opened up for other robbers in his group to come inside our house. Like I said, Mabilizi was known to us but we did not know that he had joined this gang when he left our home. In any case, his father was a good friend of my grandfather, and I also used to treat him as a friend.
On that terrible night, his gang friends first broke into my grandparents’ room and started chopping their bodies in pieces demanding for Canadian dollars. Mabilizi had locked us up in our rooms while we were sleeping. So we could not come out to help at all yet we could hear the noise and screams from our grand’s bedroom. Actually, the thumb of my grandfather was chopped badly such that we had to fly him to USA to repair it later on. Mulago could not fix it. He sustained serious cuts on the head and arms too. I even don’t want to remember this because there was a lot of blood in the bedroom before our Banyarwanda/ Balalo came to my grandfather’s rescue. There was never any noise from grandma as she was the first to be silenced.
Fortunately, one of the ‘Balalos’ managed to break the window to my grandfather’s room from the outside. So the thieves run away but my grandmother was assumed dead because she lay on the floor breathlessly with a serious deep cut on her head. Uncle Abbey later came out and found some pulse on her but we had all thought that she was already dead. So, we rushed them to Nagalama hospital before they were transferred to Mulago.
The following day, the whole village (Kisega, to be precise) was hunting down the gang leaders including Mabalizi. The mother of the gang leader helped us to track down his son as we found him hiding in some hut somewhere in a forest. He had built a hut for himself in the bushes and it was only his mother who knew about it. He was dragged out and the decision was made by the villagers to take him to Kangulumira police station.
While on the way to police station, one of our Banyarwanda ‘Balalo’ got his pang out and cut his throat in broad day light, as if he was cutting a goat’s head. I still remember his first name as ‘George’ but he actually looked like Kagame in the face. He used to be the head of the ‘Balalo’ but he was as tall as Kagame, and he used to keep a smile on his face. I will never forget his face. The gang leader died immediately and his body was left in the middle of the road by the villagers for almost a couple of days.
My grandfather made it 100 years old in 2011
It was the saddest moment of my life ,i.e. watching both my grandparents/guardians in pain in Mulago hospital for over a month. We could not transfer them abroad straightaway till they had gained some energy and life in them. My grandfather had lost his memory as soon as he was discharged from Mulago. He had developed some form of mini-dementia but the experts in USA did everything possible to help him get back his memory. With God, everything is possible. He celebrated his 100th birthday this year. My grandmother came off worse as there was a large concentration of blood around her brain and she could not talk. So, she was taken to Canada with my uncle as soon as she left Mulago.
I believe there are lots of families out there that are facing such ordeals everyday because there is no security and hospitals in their regions. Instead of the government investing in police departments, they have instead allowed people like the president’s brother, Salim Saleh and Prime minister’s daughter, Nina Mbabazi, to start up security firms that fill in this void in urban centers, but people in the rural areas have been left with no teeth to bite anything. As a result, so many Ugandans lose their lives carelessly because the nearest hospitals are miles away and have no means to reach there. It is really sad.
Since that day, I give myself an arm’s length whenever I see a Munyarwanda who has got a pang or knife or those long sticks of theirs. Their faces are beautiful but their minds need serious counseling. They can easily kill anyone. May be Kagame finds it easy to order for the murder of anybody because of his past? Just think about it! Will African leaders ever find a different way of treating their political enemies other than killing or poisoning them while in prison? Why do some people cheaply look at human life? Why do they find it easy to kill someone?
May be I’ve generalized a little bit about the Banyarwanda/ Rwandese but frankly it is the feeling I have got for the present generation of Banyarwanda/Rwandese because they have all been affected by the genocide. I, however, have hope in their kids. They will hopefully value life more if we don’t get another genocide in Rwanda.
Anyway, let me end this by sending my condolences to the family of Charles Ingabire. Nobody deserves to be killed like that. The decision to have a life was taken out of his hands by some people with ugly hearts and minds. Till when we find a long lasting solution to such people, the society will continue to lose young people, such as Charles [RIP].
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
