Africa | Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

More misery on the continent of Africa, and this time in DRC again

22 Nov 2012 2 Comments

Friends,

I’m sad to read news everyday from DRC showing that Africans have not stopped killing fellow Africans despite the end of colonialism. It is a like a new form of colonialism is silently pronouncing itself and has come to be called ‘black colonialism’. In November 2008, Congo converted from being a personal property of Belgian King Leopold II to a colonial possession of Belgium, itself. The mineral wealth in Congo was the one that was used to build a modern city in Brussels at the expense of the poor Congolese that are still being killed up to now.

Congo finally got its independence on June 30, 1960 but it’s as if these guys have never been independent at all as foreigners still control the country left and right. No wonder president Kabila keeps running to Kampala and Kigali every time there is a problem in his country,as if Museveni and Kagame are the one leading DRC! But the question everyone should be asking themselves is: where do Museveni and Kagame derive their power from apart from obviously their armies?

When Leopard handed over Congo to Belgium, it was as if he had handed it to over to US and UK indirectly to also have a share of Congo’s wealth. The two countries are the one that have been funding the armies in Rwanda and Uganda, as documented by reports commissioned by the UN Security Council more than 9 years ago. Uganda , till a few days ago, was one of the largest recipients of U.K military and economic aid in Africa. Kagame is a student of US military tactics that he learned at Ft. Leavenworth and Rwanda is arguably Africa’s largest per capita recipient of U.S. military and economic aid.

The US is using the Uganda troops to keep in Somalia and they are also part of the “civilians” assisting the U.S. military in Iraq. When the lattest UN report came out again accusing Rwanda and Uganda of aiding the M23 rebels, Museveni used the Somali card to ‘shut up’ Obama for good over Congo, as he threatened to withdraw Uganda troops from Somalia if they keep pointing fingers at him. It was total blackmail and i guess some in Washington are still shaking their heads over it, but it worked, at least in the short run.

‘The USA has got an international mandate as a super power to stop the ‘nonsense’ in DRC but it looks like president Museveni has got them by their balls. The UK, on the other hand, have only cut aid over the recent corruption scandals in the Office of Prime Minister(OPM), Amama Mbabazi, but nobody expects them to do anything more than that. Now that only leaves Congo’s savior in the hands of Janet Museveni and probably the French and Belgians. Janet( being Museveni’s sweetheart minister) needs to prove what a christian savior she is to the world, not just Karamoja gold lands. I would hug her whole day if she can save the Congolese from murder, rape and all evils that have been associated with that country for the last 12 years. I would even forget about the auditor General’s reports implicating her in the OPM corruption scandal where she is accused of having used over shs.180m of ‘donor’ money( meant for recovery and development of the North)- to travel to Israel 12 times in a month. I would vouch for her to travel as many times as she wants as long as she can pull the plug on this one. No wonder a friend of mine left UK for good, with his IT degree, to go back to Zanzibar to work in a travel Agency!’

FRENCH

But the Congo is Europe’s cross to bare especially Belgium’s and French. If the French ever had any feelings of ‘punishing’ kagame after the fall of habyarimana, I think this is their chance. The problem in Europe is that all countries are stretched economically such that the idea of financing a foreign war looks so dumb at the moment. But this is their chance if they wanna find a way of changing the status quo in Kigali. Kagame has become a little bit more comfortable, I believe. He needs something to keep him busy.

In 2004, Kagame accused France of direct responsibility for the 1994 genocide of at least 800,000 people in Rwanda. The French have not forgotten that their gift to President Habyarimana: a Mystère Falcon jet, was shot down by allegedly the Tutsi( Kagames) and they would want to ‘pat Kagame at the back’ with a sound, given a chance to. Well. i think this is their chance and im really waiting for ’round 2′ between these guys. How president Museveni will feature in all this, i dont know, but it will be interesting if it happens when we are all still alive.

Congo is so big and it is an open secret that Rwanda would love to see part of that country under their control. Congo is like the size of Western Europe. Uganda’s population is only about 35 million and Rwanda’s no more than about 8 million. Rwanda is probably as big as west and East Yorkshire combined together.

The 2001-03 UN-commissioned reports showed just how lucrative the Congo invasion and occupation has been for Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers. No wonder Otafiire has got a house in his village in western Uganda that i can only dream of building one day, as he was one of those implicated in these reports.

The Congo is mineral rich. That is one of the driving reasons for the wars there. Take the DRCs industrial diamond output of around $300 million a year – any ideas who uses that?

But i have been disappointed with the UN and its peace keepers in Goma. The reports show that they took off when they saw the Congolese forces taking off too. It was like a coward following a coward. In 2004, UN came with an excuse that its peacekeepers in the Congo were not mandated to stop rebel factions taking control of the eastern town of Bukavu. Now, its almost the similar excuse in 2012 in Goma. So, what is UN doing there, anyway?

The UN Charter gives the Security Council the ability to take military action if other means don’t work. And both the Korean War and the Gulf War of 1991 were launched after explicit UN authorization for joint military force. So,what the heck do France, Belgium and Germany do with their armed forces anyway, if there are people killing each other in DRC? Show them off at parades or waiting for Ghadaffi to attack Benghazi again? No wonder Bush( Junior) never respected the UN( whatever that means) because they are really disappointing

–

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Stalk my blog at: http://semuwemba.com/

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“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. “

~ Martin Luther King Jr. ~

Remembering Patrice Lumumba

17 Nov 2012 1 Comment

by semuwemba in Africa

The CIA killed Patrice Lumumba with the help of the Belgians, and they turned to Mobutu as their leading man. Mobutu spat in Lumuba’s face before he( Lumumba) was eventually assassinated.

Before his death, the Americans had declared him mentally ill, too erratic and irrational. They feared that the communists will take over Congo. They tortured him along with others before he was eventually shot by a firing squard under the command of a Belgian officer.

Lumumba had a lot of similarities with Milton Obote. He was charismatic, never had a degree, good oratory skills and from a small tribe in Kasai province. Lumumba was a P.4 guy with 1 year at a technical school as far as his education was concerned, but he was a highly intelligent man that deserves to be admired by everyone in Africa. Obote was also a very intelligent man despite being a school drop out.

Just like Hitler, while in prison, he wrote a book- setting out his views on colonial rule. He was inspired by Kwame Nkrumah to fight the colonialists to the bitter end. Hiltler also wrote a book while in prison: ‘Mein Kampf ‘. It was written in 1923 while he was in prison as a revolutionary agitator .The Jews were frequently referred to in “Mein Kampf” and Hitler had made plain his hated for them. In one section, Hitler wrote about how the Jews planned to “contaminate” the blood of pure Germans.

Again, like Obote did in 1966 to dismiss the then president, Kabaka of Buganda, Lumumba tried to do the same against Kasa-Vubu( then president of Congo), accusing him of treason, but the parliament voted to annul his decision.

But there are lessons to learn from Lumumba’s death:
1. when you have power, don’t misuse it. Mobutu treated Lumuba badly b4 his death thinking that he would die the president of Zaire, but his death was probably more painful than that of Lumumba, and people now remember Mobutu as an evil man compared to their hero, Lumumba.

2. We all need each other one way or the other. You shouldn’t kill a good innocent man just because you have been commanded to do so.

Abbey

Raphael Lemkin must be laughing at Owana’s ‘Genocide’ jokes in the Redpepper

14 Aug 2012 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba in Africa, Bahima and Banyarwanda, Buganda, international, International Issues

Tony Owana

Folks,
I have always respected Tony Owana, the UBC chief, but his Redpepper article:’‘INTERNET POLITICIANS’ GET SET FOR GENOCIDE’ was more of an exaggeration than anything else i can think of. Branding Ugandans At heart ( UAH) forum a genocide promoting forum was the lowest of the low for a professional journalist of his status. As a moderator of the UAH, genocide is something we don’t take lightly but Owana’s message was clearly written in bad spirit and i hope his readers dont take him seriously- because there is never gonna be a genocide in Uganda promoted or started by UAH.Nobody could really think that the UAH will ever descend to such level.An accusation of genocide is certainly not taken lightly and will almost always be controversial.

Contrary to what Owana and my friend, Lt.Otto Patrick, write about Eric Kashambuzi(UN employee) as a genocidal megalomaniac, the later has been a subject of various interesting books and articles that are admired by a lot of people. I’m surprised that the duo are not instead writing about the genocidal maniacs that have wiped out millions in Rwanda, Northern Uganda, DRC and Ethiopia.

People are openly discussing President Museveni’s sectarian policies(i.e. allocating juicy positions to certain groups of people) because they want him to correct these mistakes. Yes, sometimes the messages are presented in the way that is alarming but anyone with common sense understands what they are trying to tell us. So, instead of branding these ‘free advisers’ to the president: ‘genociders’, we should investigate their allegations and see if there is an element of truth in them. For instance, while reading Major John Kazora’s memoirs in the Daily Monitor, i came across some advise Winnie Byanyima was giving to president Museveni about Muhoozi and his irregular recruitment of people in the army. Museveni’s response was: ‘ “Iwe Karagwe-mwatandika kutiina omwereere” meaning “You Karagwa you have started fearing toddlers……..Muhoozi is not even LDU, (a member of the Local Defence Unit) – I just asked him to identify people of good character who can be absorbed in the army.”But now few years the down the line, Muhoozi is nolonger LDU and the guys he recruited are the ‘elites’ or ‘abalangira’ of the army.

Definitions of genocide

‘Genocide’ is defined as the deliberate killing of people based on their ethnicity, nationality, race, religion, or (sometimes) politics, as well as other deliberate actions leading to the physical elimination of any of the above categories. There is disagreement over whether the term genocide ought to be used for politically-motivated mass murders in general (compare “democide”). The term genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew, in 1944, from the roots genos (Greek for family, tribe or race) and cide (Latin – occidere, to kill). In the wake of the Nazi Holocaust, Lemkin successfully campaigned for the acceptance of international laws, defining and forbidding genocide. This was achieved in 1951, with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1948 and came into effect in January 1951. It contains an internationally recognized definition of genocide which was incorporated into the national criminal legislation of many countries, and was also adopted by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Convention (in article 2) defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:”:(a) Killing members of the group;:(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;:(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;:(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;:(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Much debate about genocide revolves around the proper definition of the word genocide. Opponents of government massacres often insist that the word’s usage should include such massacres, even if international law has a narrower scope. The Baganda on UAH have got all the reasons to believe that Obote and UPC did a ‘genocide’ in Buganda in late 1960s and 1980s just as the northerners also argue that Museveni did a genocide in the north, but Owana is quick to accuse the same Baganda of being ”different from their ancestors in ‘Mission Objectives’ and ‘Target Identification’, as if the Baganda have ever targeted any group for murder in the past. I know Baganda talk too much but they are not murderers. For instance, they made a lot of noise when their Kabaka was stopped from visiting Kayunga in September 2009 but at the end of the day, the more than 40 people that died during that time were killed by Owana’s ‘friends’ who are still waking freely in the country.

In nearly every case where accusations of genocide have circulated, partisans of various sides have fiercely disputed the interpretation and details of the event, often to the point of promoting wildly different versions of the facts. Owana and other NRM advocates are not complaining at the narrower definition that is exculpating the totalitarian governments that are killing the same people they are supposed to protect. Yes, there was a genocide in Rwanda and we hope it never happens in Uganda but so many factors led to the genocide in Rwanda. I don’t know why some people attribute this entirely the propaganda spread by the radio RTLM alone. During and before the genocide in Rwanda,Rwandans could listen to the more state-owned station, Radio Rwanda. The government of Rwanda was mainly responsible for the genocide as they promoted the killing of the Tutsis. If the govt had no stake in it, then this genocide would not have taken place. So how can a genocide take place in Uganda if the state does not want it to take place.

Genocide is an ongoing process, which should be constantly opposed and eradicated by elimination of the tools of injustice, oppression and genocide. If a government is oppressing its own people then it is directly promoting a future genocide.Therefore, it’s very unwise to suggest that an online forum advising the government should be banned yet it keeps pointing out the issues that are unfair toward all the other disadvantaged individuals, or groups of individuals who continue to suffer from injustice.

The first draft of the Convention included political killings but that language was removed at the insistence of the Soviet Union. I’m sure Owana, Museveni and other NRMs would have done the same if there were seated in that UN panel.The exclusion of social and political groups as targets of genocide in this legal definition has been criticized. In common usage of the word, these target groups are often included.

–

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Stalk my blog at: http://semuwemba.com/

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/semuwemba

Follow UAH at: http://ugandansatheart.org/

Daily Monitor Should Apologise to Anne Mugisha as she’s done nothing wrong

04 Aug 2012 7 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, FDC, international, International Issues

Anne Mugisha is former FDC envoy( whatever that brings on anyone’s bank account)

I don’t wanna jump on anybody’s horse at the moment before we get all the facts right but i kind of sympathize with Anne Mugisha on the accusations that he used a ‘sweetener’ to get endorsement from Museveni for a UN job in Somalia. First of all, Anne has not rejoined NRM as some people seem to insinuate. She got a job with UN and she needed to be cleared by State House and this is so normal and procedure. What did you,guys, expect her to do? Turn down the job or go on welfare in USA where she used to live? Welfare can give you money but it cannot give you job experience that will move you ahead economically. Selling drugs on the streets can get you more money than welfare but it cannot give you experience that you can put on a job application. And if you decide to sell drugs all your life, that life can be very short. FDC was not gonna pay her bills, was it? She is a single mum, as far as i know, and she needed money to support her family.

She temporarily came back to Uganda to get on a wheel but things did not work out for her as she expected. She gave a shot at a parliamentary seat- first in Nakawa before she moved to Mbarara, and it did not pay off. She then got a job with some law firm in Kampala, i believe, as she was also working for FDC but it seems things did not work out for her. Was she expected to beg on streets or what? It was also obvious that FDC had started looking at her as a liability rather than an asset. You see, Kampala is not a joke! One needs to be street smart to survive there.

Then came Giles Muhame’s Chim- unfair- reports about her going back to NRM because of some disagreements she had had with the founders of the A4C group on Facebook. I think that was the time she decided to tactically cut her loses and decided to get a job with UN. Anyway, the thing about UN jobs is that they are not permanent. So, people should not read much into Anne’s job because i cant see her staying away from politics forever.

May be, if she had been bought shs.400m as Museveni reportedly did with UPCs big 4: Henry Peter Mayega, Hajji Wegulo, Chris Rwakasisi, and someone else whose name has gone out of my head, it would have been fair enough to look at as a traitor. But this is not the case. She applied for a job and she got it on merit. Then came the hurdle of getting clearance from Museveni. She then humbled herself and did what was necessary because she knew there was a possibility of Museveni denying her the chance to get this job, like he did with Olara Otunu( for UN Sec General), Honorable George Kanyeyihamba( for AU job), UAH’s George Okello( for AU job) and several others.

UN jobs have always been controversial especially when famous people apply for them. For instance, Bill Clinton was accused of buying the UN job when his then administration reached an agreement with Congress that would enable USA to pay $1 billion in back dues. Some people said that he was preparing to take over from Kofi Anan who was the Secretary General then. They said that he was doing it the hard way. They said that he could have followed Reagan’s lead and made a $2 million speech to Japan for services rendered. In the end, Bill Clinton also settled for expensive speeches & Bill Clinton Foundation rather than the UN job itself.

Museveni , on the other hand, was quoted by newspapers in Kampala saying that he was not interested in UN jobs and Mo Ibrahim $5m award because he’s so damn rich and also couldn’t identify anyone with a vision to take over from him. He said that he was a revolutionary whose salary is usually collected by his wife, who also happens to be an extremely rich lady. So, i guess they may end up donating it to poor Abbey at some stage.

Personally, i think we should not read so much into Mugisha’s job. I even don’t know why the Daily Monitor decided to make a meal out of it. It is insane! Totally insane!!!! They should apologize to Anne Mugisha immediately for intruding into her personal business, i think. But i think UN and other international organizations should review this policy as it looks like total blackmail to me. Probably, a guy like me don’t stand a chance for such a job because of my patriotic articles against some elements in NRM.

May be, we should move UN headquarters to China if the Americans don’t want to fix this for us when they are still superpower. If the United Nations moves to China, China will reap enormous financial and political power benefits, and will become the communications center and power broker of the future, while. America will become isolated from the rest of the world, and drift into a more agricultural state. How about that for promoting ‘blackmail’? The Americans themselves call this: “giving as much as you get” and sometimes, “if you’re going toss mud pies, don’t whine when you get hit’.

–

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Stalk my blog at: http://semuwemba.com/

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/semuwemba

Follow UAH at: http://ugandansatheart.org/

‘Cold War’ is Back but i Still think the Russians and Chinese will lose out

04 Dec 2011 3 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, international, International Issues, Museveni and NRM

vladimir putin

Wow! It looks like a stalemate between the west on one hand and the Russians and Chinese on the other in both Iran and Syria at the moment. The Russians seem so determined to hang on to Syria in the Middle East but they will eventually lose out. The west seems to be determined to go after Iran at some point which will eventually weaken their friends in Syria.

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

Saif Al-Islam cannot get a fair trial in Libya yet he deserves one

19 Nov 2011 9 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, international, International Issues, Legal issues, Museveni and NRM, Political murders, Revolutions

saif-al-islam-gaddafi

Dear folks,
Saif Al-Islam is in the hands of the Libyan authorities but I don’t think he is enjoying his food right now. A lot of people may not understand why I still support NTC after the way they handled Gaddafi on capturing him but let’s give them more time. To be fair, they are doing better than some people expected. Yes, militias are still independently controlling some regions but I’m still optimistic that the situation will change for the better. I’m not like the owner of the Independent Magazine, Andrew Mwenda, who has been exaggerating on capitalfm from the start that Libyans will slaughter themselves as it is in Somalia, as soon as Kaddafi goes. These guys seem to be a bit more organized and nationalistic compared to the Iraqis after the fall of Saddam Hussein or Afghanistan’s after the fall of the Taliban.

I’m, however, a bit worried that Saif Al-Islam may not get a fair trial in Libya because there are a lot of emotions running deep in the country as far as the Gaddafi family are concerned. The ICC still has an upper hand over this if they sense that Saif may not get a fair trial in Libya but the international laws allow the host country to try their guy first if they assure the ICC that he or she will be given a fair trial.

Let us also remember that ICC lost some kind of credibility as far as project ‘Saif-Al-Islam’ is concerned. The court was viciously ridiculed by critics after it “confirmed” Saif’s capture by rebels in August, saying it was in the process of bringing him to The Hague for trial. He embarrassed them when he appeared in a Tripoli hotel — supposedly under rebel control —later that day to lead a crowd of cheering supporters and foreign journalists on a tour of the city.

I don’t know which kind of evidence the ICC or the Libyans have got against Saif but by the look of things so far, it looks like the evidence is not as strong as the one Ugandans have reportedly got against our first son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Gaddafi tried to keep him away from military affairs as he was mainly responsible for the financial management of the country’s affairs rather than military or intelligence. It was the other brothers that were reportedly more involved in military and intelligence affairs.

That’s why I still think that president Museveni made a mistake to involve Muhoozi in the military because it is very easy for anyone to build a case against you if you are involved in matters of life and death. Already people are saying he is responsible for the death of people at Kasubi tombs and somewhere in Karamoja, and it’s kind of difficult for any judge to rule against that if your father is no longer in power. Judges are human beings like anybody else, you know.

So, I think Saif should be handed over to ICC but that is a real dream because there are people who want to see his neck on a platter. Even the two tribes: Gadhafi and Waffala tribes, that highly protected him, cannot protect him anymore while in Libya.

There is an argument that people like: Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi and their sons will never have a fair trial anywhere in the world. The end result is always the same: death. So, instead of wasting people’s time and money, they are usually eliminated on the spot. They are usually assassinated as soon as troops find them hiding in some cave, drainage or house somewhere. For instance, Saddam’s sons were shot down on the spot but their father got a ‘fair trial’ that ended with his death. The Saddam supporters could not argue that he did not get a fair trial; after all, he continually received 100 percent of the votes during Iraqi elections. They loved him there! On the other hand, Gaddafi and two of his sons were killed on the spot but Saif Al-Islam may also end up with another ‘fair trial’ with the same predicament as Saddam’s if he is tried in Libya.

What do you think would be the reaction in the U.S. if Osama bin Laden got a smart lawyer like USA’s Johnnie Cochran (RIP) or Uganda’s David Mpanga, and got himself acquitted like O.J Simpson. It is possible for anybody ‘guilty’ to walk out of the court ‘not guilty’ with a good lawyer. There is something in legal terms called “exclusionary rule” where even perfectly good evidence can be thrown out on the basis that it was illegally obtained. I don’t know whether we have got this too in Uganda but it is common in developed nations. A murderer who confesses his crime can still be acquitted simply because the cop forgot to read him his rights first.

Nonetheless, I personally still think people deserve a fair trial whatever the circumstances and I can’t see Saif Al-Islam getting one in Libya. Let us examine one historical trial in USA where Alger Hiss, an American lawyer who was one of the founders of the UN, was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 and convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. There was massive government misconduct against Hiss, including: 1. An FBI agent who knowingly lied on the witness stand, 2. the withholding of evidence by the FBI which would have acquitted Hiss, and 3. the infiltration of the Hiss defence team by the FBI. The Hiss defence team contained an FBI informant.

If any of these three major areas of government misconduct had come to light at the time, the Judge would have declared a mistrial and he probably would have prohibited any further prosecution of Hiss by the government. The single witness against Hiss, Whittaker Chambers, had changed his story many times, including his grand jury testimony, in effect making him guilty of perjury, had the government prosecuted him.

Hiss spent the rest of his life trying to clear his name, and struck pay dirt with the Freedom of Information Act, when, in the mid-1970s, the knowledge of government misconduct at his trial became public. Courts reversed his disbarment and he was allowed to practice law again.

Unfortunately for Hiss, when his case finally reached the Supreme Court, it was loaded with Nixon appointees. Rather than confirm Nixon’s deceit in convicting an innocent man, the Supreme Court let the Hiss conviction stand. Hiss died shortly thereafter (in 1996).

So, we all need a fair trial whatever our backgrounds. Hopefully, Ugandans treat the Museveni family fairly in case the Libyan experiment becomes a reality in Uganda some day.

Byebyo ebyange

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Nabakooba’s ‘’Bodaboda’’ Thighs may help us understand what beauty is.

05 Nov 2011 6 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, culture, cultures, history, international, International Issues, social issues, Women issues

Judith Nabakooba on a motorcycle downtown in Kampala

Dear friends,

It is well known that insecure men make fun of powerful women to hide their own feelings of insecurity. So I was not surprised at the pictures in the Redpepper newspaper showing police spokesperson, Judith Nabakooba, being ridden on a bodaboda, that raised a two-day debate on Ugandans At Heart (UAH) Forum. While I personally thought most of the male debaters were ‘crazy’ for not seeing the attraction in the smile always on her face, I saw nothing wrong in them finding her seemingly ‘big’ thighs the real point of discussion.

The fact is that a woman’s body has historically been a subject of regulation, discipline, debate and management. The woman’s body represents the place to project the memories and fantasies of racial,religious and cultural authenticity. Most African men tend to be attracted to the ‘big’ thighs and bums in women, and it is the main reason body image dissatisfaction, dieting, and disordered eating are more common in white than Black females. Racial differences exist in attitudes towards physical appearance and the stigma placed on weight gain and obesity. A black woman can be overweight but black men will still find her attractive which may not be the case with white men.

As a matter of fact, female beauty has always been so pervasive, so profoundly ambiguous such that we all interpret it differently. In her book The Character of Beauty in the Victorian Novel (1987), Lori Lefkovitz provocatively argues that ‘we have actually been trained to ignore descriptions of beauty’ (1984: 1), claims as applicable to the debates men tend to have everyday about women, such as Nabakooba legging it on a motorcycle in tight jeans. But I would argue that beauty has always been something we feel individually. Let me give you an example, I was told by some mates of mine about some beautiful girl in a place where my wife works, but I did not recognise her beauty the first time we met till when I came to appreciate her character( after some regular interactions between us). This girl may have been beautiful by default (because mum and dad are beautiful) but I only recognised her beauty after knowing her properly as a person.

This particular girl has long hair which even the Bible bases on to define beauty: ‘’If a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering’’—1 Corinthians 11:15, but I never appreciated her hair till when I started appreciating the inside of her, but then again, how do we explain the fact that some guys noticed her beauty before knowing her? Does this mean that we are different as human beings in this context?

Among the blacks, during the black Movement of 1960s and 70s, blackness was redefined such that afro centric or “naturally” Black hairstyles became associated with the authentic. As such, the only authentic Black hairstyles would be dreadlocks, afro, cane-row and plaits. However, this has changed tremendously in this century as most black women would love to look like other races. Eurocentric beauty standard of straight, long and flowing hair is now almost the dream of any black woman who visits a hair salon. They just hate the authenticity that defined them in 1960s and 70s. Even Nabakooba’s hair as she relaxingly looked on a ‘bodaboda’ (motor cycle) is not an authentic hair style. These changes have also been reflected in the way black women dress, talk, and smile or sometimes treat themselves in public. There is a semi erosion of Black/ African culture in all aspects of life.

One possible explanation about this change can be explained by Leon Festinger’s Social Comparison theory(SCT) that suggests that people compare themselves to others when they are not certain about themselves. Before slave trade, black hair styles were a reflection of cultural and spiritual meanings, and some of these historical styles are still in existence today, for example: twists, braids, Zulu knots, Nubian knots, and dreadlocks. When slave traders were transferred to other countries, they found it difficult to keep African hair styles, so they resorted to wearing head scarves or handkerchiefs atop their heads, something we still see in Afro- American ladies especially in some black American films.

SCT was also shown among black men in the 18th century where some resorted to wearing wigs just because it was fashionable for white men of the upper class to wear wigs at the time. I guess this explains why Michael Jackson (RIP) and his brothers used to wear wigs when their music band had just started up. It is something that started when blacks (slaves) got jobs in influential white homes or plantations. They adopted all sorts of white cultures in order to fit in.

Already some black women have started seeing beauty in the same way white folks do due to assimilation into mainstream culture and acceptance of mainstream culture ideals of attractiveness as thin. As a student of public health promotion, I should probably go with my brain on this one rather than emotions, by accepting that fat is causing a lot of health problems to people. May be this black evolution in definition of beauty may be a blessing in disguise as it will encourage healthy eating and also control the ageing process of our black women which wasn’t the case in the past.

I know its fashion to some people and probably most men like it, but I still think that women with big hips should not wear clothes that accentuate their girth. If you are a Muslim lady, try to ‘fashion-out’ with a ‘hijab’ as it may give you the same confidence as Nabakooba in tight jeans.

Byebyo ebyange

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

US troops in Uganda, Social Learning Theory and Gaddafi’s ‘Execution’

21 Oct 2011 6 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, Bahima and Banyarwanda, international, International Issues, Museveni and NRM, Political murders

Social Learning Theory

Friends,

Sending US troops to Uganda to reportedly hunt down Kony Joseph and LRA has not generated big headlines around the world. It has been done very quietly and I’m very suspicious about it. My only worry is that there seems to be no visible political reforms in Uganda, a situation that can lead to anything. Things are no longer looking good in Uganda and this is worrying me so much. When a situation is as bad as it is right now, the government becomes paranoid and starts killing and imprisoning its own citizens openly especially those that criticise it regularly.

Americans always side with the side that will make them look good back home, and in most cases, it is the people in case of a revolution. But if there is no revolution, they will always side with the people in power or government( and in this case, it could be argued that they are in Uganda to help President Museveni but not the people of Uganda).

Like in Libya, if a government disappears, new governments pop up virtually or automatically because that is simply in the nature of social life given current conditions. Obviously, when someone has been a president for such a long time, they tend to think they are different from other human beings, but the fact is that one day Museveni will not be president of Uganda, Mbabazi will not be PM or anywhere near government, and possibly another set of tribes will be dominating the economic and political sector other than Banyankole and Baganda, simply because society always evolves automatically.

This is the reason why I don’t believe in revengeful acts, murdering someone because i don’t like them and the death penalty because, apart from the fact that it is immoral, I know societies will always change whether leaders like it or not. For instance, If it was true that killing a dictator or a murderer gives more positive results, then states with a death penalty would have lower murder rates than states without a death penalty. That is not the case.

In Libya’s case, Brother Gaddafi(RIP) was a dictator but his execution wasn’t going to deter other dictators from doing what they had been doing. Dictators normally don’t change their behavior because another dictator has been killed. They would feel his death for a while and probably shade some tears in their bedrooms but they usually go back to feeling like ‘Napoleon’. President Museveni would remain a ‘barking dog’ despite what happened to Gaddafi. I challenge anyone to list the dictators who changed their behavior after another dictator was deposed and executed?

I don’t know whether some people are familiar with Bandura’s social learning theory( SLT) but it explains a lot about people’s behavior and how they learn to behave that way. Bandura argues that an individual learns by observation, imitation, and modeling. For instance, I watched a video ofMr. Gilbert Bukenya [former VP of Uganda] recently after being released from prison and I was astonished to see him still rolling eyes, like Museveni, while giving a speech in Kakiri trading centre- despite the fact that the media had been pointing out that he was imitating President Museveni and he should stop it.

Similary, dictators just learn to become dictators or monsters. Nobody is born a monster, I believe, though my lovely wife disagrees. My wife believes that some people’s bad behavior is inherited. She quoted some theories which I can’t remember now but she is convinced that some people don’t deserve to live in this world because they are monsters. I , however, disagree.

I believe every behavior is learned from somewhere. President Museveni surely must have a good side of him which if we had not allowed him to accumulate too much power in 1990s, we would have benefited from that good side. Children also learn aggressive behavior by observing others, but if there is negative consequences, there may not be any imitation.That’s why parents control what they watch on TV or see elsewhere.

NTC and NATO should not have killed Gadaffi.I think they intentionally eliminated him. They did not want a Mubarak circus in Libya but that worries us a lot about the kind of government NTC are gonna run. They should have given him a chance to stand trial, but then again, Brother Gaddy brought all this on himself. We wrote articles and posted them in the media and on our Uganda Muslim Brothers & Sisters( UMBS) forum where we have got members that were in direct contact with him- including Uganda’s ambasador to Libya, but I guess he never listened. Why couldn’t he give up power? Why did he choose to fight a war he clearly wasn’t going to win? Egypt’s Mubaraka is still eating sausages yet he is not different from Gadaffi(RIP). He is still controlling Egypt and the his trials from his bed.

I’m still sad about Gadafi’s death and i hope Allah forgives his sins but he never helped himself. He chose to walk through a landmine, and that was not wise.Inalilahi wahina ilayihi rajihuna.

Byebyo ebyange.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

M7 is not as ”Naive” as Gaddafi- He wouldn’t Stay and Fight Incase of NATO bombs

25 Sep 2011 1 Comment

by semuwemba in Africa, Lule and Uganda politics, Museveni and NRM, Politics, Revolutions

Julius Nyerere

Friends,

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

Why I think African Union Has Become Useless

11 Sep 2011 2 Comments

by semuwemba 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

All these Wars in Africa are more like ‘Investments’ to the Big Nations.There is always a catch

03 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba 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

African Union Have Embarassed Us Today.

27 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, International Issues

NTC leader,Mustafa Abdel Jalil

Friends,
It is unfortunate that the African Union(AU) have officially come out today to say that they wont recognize Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) as long as the fighting continues in Libya. Who the hell advises this body? As an African, I feel so embarrassed that we are led by these despots who don’t know anything about international politics. The way they talk in public is so embarassing. Why would they issue such a statement? What are they afraid of? What was the purpose of changing the name from OAU to AU,anyway, if we were not ready to emulate Europe’s EU practically?

Fortunately, I can tell you right now that most Africans no longer give a rat’s ass what our “good” dictators say to the outside world. On this note, I would like to thank the 20 African countries that have decided to formally recognize NTC as the new government in Libya. At least, they have shown maturity and we should applaud them.

These despots have got to accept that Gaddafi is gone and the world is changing. The revolutions sweeping the Arab world will one day sweep the Sub Sahara Africa. It may not happen today or tomorrow or next year but it will happen. I can bet on this! All the African leaders who have been grooming their sons and brothers or wives to take over after them- should dump these plans and start planning for their exit in an honourable way.

Gaddafi or Libya was the most active member of the African Union. Yes, our despots will miss Gaddafi’s money but it is time to move on. As the Baganda say:’ NALIMA AWAGONDA NAYE ATELA NANYUKA’’. It is horrendous for anybody to think that they could be president for more than 10 years. It is principally and morally wrong. There are loads of people out there who also want to become presidents, and they should be given a chance. African leaders should stop running their countries like family properties. It is so disgusting!

It will be a shame if the African Union pushes the new government in Libya back to Arab league. African needs Libya and the vice versa is true. All Arab states, including the Palestinian Authority, belong to the League of Arab States, which acts as a regional body similar to the Organization of AU or the Organization of American States, which work together on issues of common concern. Gadafi had pulled Libya out of the Arab league and he had invested over 40 billion dollars in Africa states. We should not lose this cooperation.

By the way, it is also a shame to hear that some African states opposed to NTC are planning to nationalize the Libyan investments in their own countries. This literally makes them thieves. Hope Uganda is not among those countries that intend to steal Libya’s wealth- OKULILA MUKAVUYO. This money belongs to Libyans not anybody else. Let Libya develop itself and many Africans will get jobs there instead of migrating to only Europe or USA. Libya is a rich country with a lot of oil and we will all benefit one way or the other. The western countries will benefit more because they invested in this war and would like returns on their investments, but Africans will also benefit in one way or the other.

So from today onwards, regardless of whether the Uganda government recognises the NTC or not, I personally recognise them as the legitimate new ‘boys’ on the block. They are welcome to deal with me any time they want evenif i’m a nobody. They should not worry about Gaddafi’s friends in AU anymore.

Byebyo ebyange

Abbey

Nobody knows who Exactly killed Fred Rwigyema but I highly doubt if Museveni was involved

23 Aug 2011 6 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, East Africa, Museveni and NRM, Political murders

Gen Fred Rwigyema

Friends,

I highly doubt whether NRA killed Fred Rwigyema as has been speculated by some people on several forums. Fred Rwigyema was so close to Museveni for him to kill him like that. Why? He was among the first 27 who attacked the Kabamba Military School to get hold of weapons to fight Obote’s government in 1980s. He had been a member of FRONASA before this attack. FRONASA was created in exile in Tanzania in 1973. Fred was in Tanzania with Museveni throughout the struggle against Iddil Amin in 1970s. He was never sent to Mozambique to do military training as the Augustine Ruzaindanas.

Paul Kagame and Rwigyema stood by Museveni during the UNLA/UNLF days even when he was terribly defeated in the 1980 elections. They were both among the original members of UPM in the 1980s. Fred Rwigyema was reportedly a people’s person in the NRA. Actually one Ugandan based in Australia, Dr.Kipenji Owor, wrote on Ugandans At Heart( UAH) forum to say that Rwigyema was Museveni’s personal driver during the 1980 campaigns.

Fred Rwigyema headed the RPF assault on Rwanda. He was deputized at the time by Lt.Colonel Adam Waswa, and five other majors: Peter Banyingana, Christopher Bunyenyezi, Samuel Kanyemera, Paul Kagame and Stephen Nduguta.

RPF have never officially told anybody who exactly killed Fred Rwigyema. When Fred Rwigyema was killed, his death was kept a secret for a while. He was killed on the second day of the RPF attack on Habyarimana’s forces. He was the only casualty on that day. Can you imagine the commander of an army being the only casualty in such a war on their 2nd day of attack? I think these are the questions that make some people to think that Museveni and Kagame had something to do with it but I highly doubt Museveni’s involvement in this. Museveni was very close to Fred Rwigyema. I also don’t think Kagame was directly involved because he was on study leave in USA. But you never know with these situations though I guess both Museveni and Kagame know who the real killers are.

One theory on how Fred Rwigyema was killed is that he was shot by his 2nd in command, Major Banyingana, after a quarrel over military tactics. Banyigana and his friend, Bunyenyezi were later tried and shot by an RPF military court on orders of Paul Kagame who had then taken command of the organization. This version was supported by even the French government at the time going by the interview given by the French diplomat at their embassy in Kampala on 28th January 1991.

The second theory is that his killers are still alive and free in Rwanda. And this is based on an interview Teddy Ssezi-Cheeye of the Weekly Topic/Uganda confidential, who is now in Luzira prison over corruption charges, reportedly had with Major Peter Banyingana inside Rwanda on 5th October 1990. If Banyingana was not killed as we were made to believe then who exactly killed Fred Rwigyema? Teddy claims to have seen him with his own eyes.

So, basically, we don’t know who killed Fred Rwigyema but there are a lot of theories flying around among the Rwandese. Like most political murders, those who are sent to do it get eliminated straightway, and those sent to eliminate them are never told why they are doing so.

Abbey.K.S

Museveni’s State Visit to Rwanda Reignited the Debate about the Assasination of Habyarimana

31 Jul 2011 9 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, Bahima and Banyarwanda, international, luwero war after 1980 'theft', Political murders

Juvenal Habyarimana

Friends,

Museveni’s four-day state visit to Rwanda again reawakened debates about Rwanda and genocide especially the assasination of former Rwanda president, Habyarimana. The truth is that nobody knows who exactly assassinated Habyarimana. There are a lot of theories around this.

The French

The first one was the one reported by Belgian journalist, Colette Braeckman , who wrote that Habyarimana was shot down by two French soldiers. The French military structure was still in place before they left Rwanda in 1993.

Belgians

Then there was another theory by the former Rwandese ambassador in Kinshasa, Etienne Sengegera, that Habyarimana’s plane was shot by the Belgian soldiers. He accused the Belgians of corroborating with the RPF to bring down Habyarimana’s government. He made an observation that airport perimeter, including Masaka Hill from where the missiles were fired, was patrolled by the Belgian UNAMIR soldiers. But he forgot to mention that the same area was also patrolled by the Habyarimana’s Presidential Guards.

These two theories look so far away from the truth because there was no European country that wanted Habyarimana dead at that time. This leads us to two more theories.

RPF or Tutsis

There is a strong belief among sections of the Hutus that Habyarimana was killed by the Tutsis fighting from Uganda but Hutus were not the one that initiated this theory. It was unfortunately started by a group of fellow Ugandans based in USA called the Uganda Democratic Coalition. This group was mostly made up of northerners (mainly Oboteists) and they hated president Museveni. They are the one that started this rumour. This group accused the Americans of supporting both Museveni and Kagame in their endeavours to dominate Sub Sahara Africa.

Unfortunately, this rumour was picked up by some Hutu high-profile personalities, specifically the late president’s wife, Mme Habyarimana, and her advisor, Captain Paul Barril. Barril used to portray himself like our General Tinyenfunza, as in like above the law, because of his close contacts with the first family. Barill appeared on 28 June 1994 on the French TV and made wild accusations that RPF had killed Habyarimana from their Masaka Hills. But the fact is that the Masaka Hills where the missiles were fired, was not then in RPF hands. The RPF battalion was housed in the parliament building, which was several kilometres away.

Kagame and Museveni pics - the herdsmen or Kiboko squad?

HUTUS

Like I have always said, when one looks at all the evidence before us, the likely group of people that might have killed Habyarimana are his fellow tribesmen. In Habyarimana, they saw a man who had become more of a liability than an asset to their cause. The AKAZU are the group that might have eliminated their own man. They most likely feared that the president was going to give in to the provisions of the Arusha agreement. Habyarimana’s presidential Guards must have been involved in this plot because they were the ones patrolling the Masaka hills where the missiles were fired.

These guys had planned the genocide in advance and Habyarimana’s death was just the ‘match box’ they need to light the fire. One Hutu magazine had earlier on published a statement with several hit targets:’’ by the way, the Tutsi race could be extinguished’. In 1994, one Hutu extremist, unfortunately a Muslim by religion, Hassan Ngeze, wrote articles in KANGURA predicting the death of Habyarimana in March 1994. He also mentioned that his killers would not be Tutsi but Hutu.

Habyarimana just like Museveni came into power through violence. While Museveni’s violence was justified because he had to get rid of Obote Dictatorship and had a convincing democratic plan on paper, Habyariman’s was not because his coup did not have any democratic plans ahead. Habyarimana came into power when the order of the day in East Africa was getting rid of presidents through coups. Amin ousted Obote in 1971 and Habyarimana did the same on Kayibanda two years later.

Both Habyarimana and Museveni introduced something called ‘the Movement’ when they came into power. Everyone in their respective countries was required to be a member of this so called ‘Movement’.

Habyarimana hated the ‘tutsis’ just ,as it is claimed by some people though I’m not sure, that president Museveni also hates some tribes in the north. Habyarimana had only one Tutsi in his cabinet, one ambassador in the Foreign Service, and two deputies in the national assembly. He kept a picture of Tutsi huts in flames in his presidential house. Habyarimana, just like Museveni, was also friends with the Bakiga communities

I highly doubt whether Habyarimana’s wife was involved in his assassination because she and her family benefited a lot from his regime and Habyarimana’s death would affect them most. Agatha Kanzinga was almost the second most powerful person after her husband. It’s like Janat Museveni plotting the assassination of Museveni right now. So I rule that one out completely. She had a lot to lose.

I know that this is a very sensitive topic especially among our brothers and sisters from Rwanda but I believe we can get nearer to the truth if everybody starts telling the truth without any emotions or tribal sentiments involved. What happened to Habyarimana may also happen to Kagame if he does not find a way of reconciling with his fellow Tutsis in exile. They need each other in a small country like Rwanda which is as small as Bugerere in Uganda. Kagame should also put more effort in reconciling both the Tutsis and Hutus to avoid any possibility of a future genocide. The most important thing is to make sure that all groups feel like they are free in their own country. Nobody should be made to feel like a foreigner in their own country.

As for Uganda and Rwanda relations, I’m happy that both leaders have decided to bury the hatchet and the two countries are ready to renew their friendship because we have got a lot in common with the people in Rwanda. Let’s hope that Museveni four days in Rwanda will only bring more fruits to this new-found relationship.

Byebyo banange

Abbe.K.S

Africa Addio’ / ‘Farewell Africa’: a documentary film about the decolonization of Africa,

18 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba in Africa, Documentaries

Africa Addio’ / ‘Farewell Africa’ is a documentary film about the decolonization of Africa, made by the Italian film directors Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi.

It is a masterpiece with beautiful music, composed by the Italian composer Riz Ortolani. ‘Africa Addio’ is one of the best and most exposing documentary ever made about what happened in several African countries directly after decolonization, but because of political correctness the masses never heard of it.

In the USA a censored version called ‘Africa Blood and Guts’ was released, which was deliberately stripped from the original music and the powerful message of ‘Africa Addio’ – so the sensors were able to portray the destruction, cruelty, savagery and genocide performed by the Africans as a ‘struggle for indepence’.

The film is edited with a style that numerous reviewers have deemed to be a “pro-white European” and “pro-Colonialist” slant as seen during the first wave of what became endemic African revolutions. Some object that the film makes virtually no references to past atrocities and exploitations committed by European colonialists and instead focuses mainly on the atrocities and crimes committed by black Africans.

However, as the film documents the transition to independence in the 1960′s of a number of African countries and not the history of these countries it is unclear what the relevancy of this objection is. Furthermore, although the majority of the violence documented is between blacks, black on white and white on black violence is equally documented. For instance in the scene where white mercenaries liberate a missionary.

In the promotion of the unauthorised American version of the film, opening subtitles and subsequent narration clearly inform the viewer that the sole purpose of this film is to serve as a monument to colonial-era Africa:

“Europe has abandoned her baby,” the narrator mourns, “just when it needs her the most.” Who has taken over, now that the colonialists have left? The advertising announces: “Raw, wild, brutal, modern-day savages!”

Who are the Nubians in Uganda? Where did they come from?

24 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba in Africa, Buganda, culture, cultures, history

Nubians started as a colonial army in Uganda recruited in the upper Nile region(South Sudan) by Emin Pasha before they were integrated into the civilian communities in Uganda.This happened way before the Mahdist rebellion in 1882.But they later qualified as a tribe since they developed a culture,language and religion. All the original Nubians were Muslims. The Nubian language is a variant of the Arabic.OLUNUBI spoken by the Banubi in Uganda as a language is some kind of modified Arabic and all the original speakers served under Gordon, Samuel Baker and Emin Pasha.The numerals are in Arabic.

Islam was used as a determinant to recruit the tribes in the Nile region which some scholars came to call Nubinisation. Emin Pasha Himself later converted to Islam while recruiting Nubians in Sudan.The original Nubians used to be called Sudanese the moment they crossed to Uganda and were integrated into the Uganda society as like any other immigrants. They were called ‘SUDANESE’ at that time when they entered into all sorts of agreements with Lugard.

They came as mercenaries to Uganda to fight alongside the British.Captain Fredric Lugard hired or used the Nubians in 1891 to bring the whole of Uganda under British control. They were specifically used by the British to fight the Banyoro who had resisted the British rule. Majority of them eventually settled in Buganda where they were already military barracks particularly in Bombo(Buganda) and some later integrated into the East African army called King’s African Rifles in 1901. They contributed a lot to the First World War.The first Kenyan police was composed of mostly Nubians.

Eventually, land was given to them in Bombo under the Buganda Land Law of 1908.Other Numbians were settled in different parts of the country especially the north. Those who settled in Bombo became land owners under the Buganda government.They accepted to be intergrated into the Buganda system and pay allegiance to the Kabaka of Buganda. A Nubian exheadman was appointed a Gombolora chief and they had to pay tax to the Buganda government.

In 1893 when the Baganda Muslims were dissatisfied with the British, the Sudanese or Nubians supported the former (Muslims) out of Muslim brotherhood. But the British acted swiftly to break this alliance by disarming all the Sudanese in Buganda and also deported their leader back to Sudan.

Nubians initially did not want to be part of Buganda. They wanted to be independent of Buganda yet Bombo where the majority were staying had become part of Buganda’s crown land. For instance, at one time 50 Nubians refused to pay tax to the king of Buganda and as a result 4 of their leaders were arrested. The fact was that the Nubians did not want to go back to Sudan but at the same time they wanted to be independent of Buganda. But In the end, they accepted to be part of Buganda

On that background, a Muganda who converts to Islam is not a ‘Nubian’ though Muslim Baganda lived a ‘ love – hate ’ relationship with the Banubi before the Nubian question was settled by the British. To be honest, I’m still not sure whether to call Banubi a tribe on its own because these were a mixture of different tribes. It’s like calling the BASWAHILLI or BAKYOTALA a tribe on its own. Both these groups are identified with Islam. Most of the Kakwas and Luguburas in northern Uganda who converted to Islam also came to called the Nubians. Some Nyoros were also ”Nubinised” after the Nubians helped the British to defeat the Banyoro. I think this is how some Banyoro became Muslims. As for former president, late Iddil Amin and Kakwas, they are found in both Sudan and Uganda.

Up to now I don’t know why the British colonialists settled on calling the Sudanese who migrated to Uganda, under the watchful eye of captain Lugard- Nubians, because the whole term meant a mixture of different tribes that went through a certain procedure to become abanubi as I explained earlier on. Again, how can we compare the Nubians in Uganda with the true Nubians of Upper Egypt, northern Sudan and the people residing in Nuba Hills in Sudan.

The original Nubians and their true ancestors may all be dead. What we have got now in Uganda is ‘diluted Banubi’ following the Nubian culture, religion (Islam) and dress.

I think the true or ‘concentrated’ Nubians lived in the north of Khartoum, up to the border with Egypt. While Nubian males here spoke Nubian languages at home, they tended to have a strong command of Arabic since they came from communities in which economically motivated migration to Egypt, and later to Khartoum and other Sudanese towns. Most of the tribes in northern Sudan(Darfurians, Nubians, Beja and Beni Amer) are all Muslims: the majority of Nuba are Muslims though their predecessors were Christians. The last Christian king of Nubia came to the throne early in the fourteenth century and was succeeded by a series of Moslem puppet kings imposed by the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt. They (Christian Nubians) used to put black crosses on their foreheads. Nubian king Silko was the first Christian king.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

http://ugandansatheart.org/
http://twitter.com/#!/semuwemba
http://jjanguonkwekule.blogspot.com/
http://semuwemba.wordpress.com/

Presidential Age Limit Should Be Scrapped From The Constitution

24 Jun 2011 6 Comments

by semuwemba in 2010-2011 elections, Africa, parliament, Politics, Presidency

Dear Friends,

I may sound a bit weird on this but I think age limit should not be applicable to leaders born before the computer age. This is something i have been thinking about for a while. In all honesty, I find it awkward to ask an African man their age because most of them don’t know when they were born exactly. Just look at our African footballers in the premiership, some of them look older but you find the media here in the UK reporting their age as in 20s. Every time I used to watch Kanu( Nigeria footballer) on the pitch- when he was playing for Portsmouth, I used to see an old man in his late 30s but the media reported something less than that.

I just wish people lay off age limits as far as presidency and the current generation of African men are concerned. Most Africans don’t know when exactly they were born. So there is a possibility that president Museveni may even be younger or older than 63. The reason for ending Museveni’s perpetual presidency should not be based on his age but on his ability to lead the country. As far as I know, Museveni should not have stood for presidency in 2011 because I think he has lost the credibility to lead the country but I would not pin this on his age or something like that- because it’s kind of a useless argument.

No wonder, age is literally becoming even useless in the western countries as I have seen kids here who are supposed to be 16 years old but they look like they are in their mid 20s. Age should not be a determinant for the presidency, and I think it should be scrapped from the constitution for now. Let’s just restore presidential term limits but leave age out of it. We are Africans and most of us don’t know when exactly we were born.

The reason why I’m saying that it should be removed temporarily is because we have got people with leadership ambitions but they don’t know when they were exactly born. So, the more we keep it in place, the more we force people in this category to either keep unnecessarily deceiving us about their age or finding ways of changing the constitution to protect their rights. This article or whatever about age limits for presidency makes our constitution to look a bit unconstitutional, i.e. it is discriminating people who don’t know their DOB yet it was not their fault. I’m surprised there is no lawyer who has gone to the courts yet to challenge it.

It is not like here in the developed nations where every child born or dead has got to be registered with the registrar’s office. Even ladies who have still birth have to register such babies. One cannot burry them before they are registered. So the issue of DOB is easy for them here in developed nations- unlike us.

In Uganda, people manufacture birth certificates on Nasser road when some people request for them because they don’t have any and don’t know when they were exactly born. It is only kids who have been born in this computer age that will be ok with age limits in the constitution but not people in our generation. For instance, that baby whose mother was pregnant and she was shot during the ‘Walk to work’ protests, he will know his age because it is in every computer in the world. I think some Ugandans on the Ugandans At Heart(UAH) forum nicknamed him ‘RISASI’’ if my memory serves me right. But what about guys who were born when the only thing governments in place were interested in was how to murder Baganda, Westnilers and keeping themselves in power?

Yes, I know there is a risk of some people misusing this well intentioned gesture but that is a risk we gonna have to take to protect the spirit of constitutionalism in the country. We should not look at this issue in the Museveni angle alone because with him, he can change or bring any articles he wants in the constitution regardless of what Ugandans want. This plan is merely meant to save the very constitution we are trying to protect from some form of unconstitutionalism.

Some people have accused me of suggesting this for the benefit of ‘my boss”(whatever this means). First of all, President Museveni is not my boss because he never brings any cent on my account. Actually, he has never brought any cent on my account.

Secondly, there is nothing novel or radical about this idea of scrapping presidential age limit. People who came with the 1995 constitution reportedly consulted people during CA before they came up with all this stuff we are reviewing now, but I can tell you right now that nobody consulted me or any of my friends. So I don’t know what they based on to come up with some stuff in the constitution. If you ask me, I would tell you that Uganda has got a good constitution but some things need to be reviewed, and I think this is one of them.

It was selfish for the parliament to remove presidential term limits and I think they should be restored, but age limit should be temporarily put to bed and rest.

Abbey

Uganda should pick a leaf from Ghana

20 May 2011 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba in 2010-2011 elections, Africa, Politics

Uganda should pick a leaf from Ghana
Wednesday, 19th August, 2009

EDITOR—Government officials who have Uganda at heart should consider why the Electoral Commission reforms proposed by the opposition need to be adopted as soon as possible.

Let us examine the Ghanaian experience of 1992 and 1996 presidential and parliamentary elections in comparison with Uganda’s. The 1996 presidential and parliamentary elections returned Uganda to constitutional rule after 10 years of semi-military rule.

In Ghana, it was almost a similar experience under Jerry Rawlings till they had the highly disputed 1992 presidential elections. What the Inter-Party Coalition in Uganda has recently proposed in the EC reforms document is almost the same as what was proposed in Ghana by the leading opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), after the 1992 experience.

The NPP had published a report, The Stolen Verdict, in May 1993, listing numerous alleged irregularities.

Unlike in Uganda where we have had so far had two highly irregular elections (2001 and 2006) with two court cases to back it up as evidence, the NRM government has not yet adopted the EC reforms. Ghana under Rawlings did not wait for another ‘embarrassment’ as they adopted the EC reforms immediately after the 1992 elections.

In fact, some of the necessary reforms had already been agreed upon before 1992, approved by a referendum in April 1992 and came into force in January 1993. Before the reforms, Ghana’s EC was suspected to be as partisan as Uganda’s but the reforms gave it independence and specific powers.

I hope we shall also see this in Uganda. Just like in Ghana, the EC reforms in Uganda need to focus on the voters’ register because an inaccurate one leads to many irregularities which, among others, include: under-age voting, stuffing ballot boxes and other ways of inflating the votes.

In Ghana, the EC compiled a new voters’ register in October 1995, with the registration exercise being monitored by party agents, and with the lists subsequently being exhibited at registration centres for examination by voters and parties.

This yielded a register of 9.23 million names. It then conducted a supplementary registration exercise in August 1996 for those who had in the meantime reached the voting age of 18 or who, for some good reason, had been unable to register in 1995.

Uganda’s EC does not appear to be independent as it is President Museveni that directly appoints it. In Ghana, the Fourth Republic constitution and the Electoral Commission Act of 1993 contain explicit provisions designed to secure the independence and autonomy of the new EC.

First, it was specifically not to be subject to the control or direction of any person or authority. Second, its seven members were to enjoy security of tenure of office: once appointed, they could not be dismissed except for reasons of infirmity or insanity confirmed by an independent medical board.

Third, the EC’s expenses were to be charged directly on the Consolidated Fund. The Ghana EC provided all voters with voter identity cards and party agents witnessed the counting of votes.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/691708

Uganda’s Population Should be Controlled because it’s Likely to Bring us Problems in Future

11 May 2011 1 Comment

by semuwemba in Africa, Agriculture, Economics

Uganda is among the ‘time bombs’ that are gonna cause the world problems if the current population growth is not checked. Population explosion, in my view, is going to be one of our biggest problems in the next century, but it’s never discussed in the media which is very unfortunate.

Uganda’s population now grows at an average annual rate of 3.5 percent – the highest ever, despite the war in the north which was going on there for almost 20 years and claimed a lot of lives or the tragedy at Bududa(Mbale) last year. The main questions we should ask ourselves without even going into numbers that may confuse the lay people are: Do we think the world is facing an over-population crisis? Do we think Uganda is/will contribute to this crisis? And do we think Uganda will be so much negatively affected if it does nothing about its population growth?

Clearly there are a lot of Ugandans that live in extreme poverty such that the current rise in food and fuel prices have made the situation worse, and to some degree, poverty is both a cause and an effect of over-population. A cause, in the sense that the country is involved in little industrialization and underutilization of resources which makes most people to work hard on land for food. That, combined with high levels of disease and infant mortality, tends to favor an increased birth rate. For instance, I have interacted with some couples in Uganda who argue that a man should have at least 6 kids such that when on loses 2-3, at least one has got some remaining ones to fall back on, but what if all of them do not die?

Poverty can be considered also as an effect, since in highly populated areas with little wealth being created, each new birth means that the available wealth is distributed among one more person, thus further impoverishing the population as a whole- One more mouth to feed. That is why I argue that men with no enough money or wealth should have less kids with one wife , but if they want to marry or have extramarital affairs(which is immoral but it happens), they should go for either women who are branded ‘KKD’(Uganda street term that means old ladies) or those who are not at all interested in having children or forget about women altogether. There is no point having kids you are not in position to look after.

On the other hand, in developed nations where mechanized and scientific farming has reduced the need for farm labor, and where medicine has improved the health of the people (and made possible artificial contraception), the birth rate is comparatively low, and the demographics of the population shift towards a longer life. The increased opportunities made possible by affluence also cause many women to delay starting their families, and prompt some to choose career over motherhood.

There are 650 acres in a square mile. Each person deserves an entire acre of land unto their very own lonesome but this is not usually the case. The world population is now approximately 7 billion. Hmmmm…. gotchy’all smiling wide now as you break out those calculators, but i’m not gonna do any serious maths because i’m not good at it.But we gonna do some figure analysis.

Uganda is a country covering 236,040 square kilometers (91,136 square miles) with a population estimated to be at 34 million this year. 15.39 % of the total area of the country is water. The population per square kilometer was only 241 in 1999 (93 per square mile) but this has increased tremendously, a reason why land is becoming the most valuable asset in the country.

A certain % of our national land is also allocated to forestry, like for instance, Bwindi National Park which covers over 128 square miles in size; Kibale national park which is about 475 square miles; Queen Elizabeth National Park which is 770 square miles; Lake Mburo National Park- 230 square miles. Basically, because of the rise in the population, all these wetlands and forestry are being targeted by both the government and the landless.They wrongly see them as ‘idle’ land. As a result, the people themselves are creating another big problem called CLIMATE CHANGE.

One could argue that 11.6 million square miles in Africa could fit almost everybody on the continent but the reality is because India and China have already messed up their countries with over population, their citizens are now targeting the less populated regions in the world including Africa. Like, for instance, the last time I was in Busoga(East of Uganda), I saw a lot of Indians now owning land and they are a threat to the locals there involved in sugarcane production. Before you know it, the Chinese will follow them, and there are seriously buying a lot of land in the villages on the cheap. Their respective governments are sponsoring them financially in their endeavors abroad because they want create space. Attempts to reduce the population have also spawned things like China’s One Child Policy. They are going to be staking claims to Africa’s resources more and more as their population grows.There is a serious scamble for land and resources in Africa from Chinise and Indians.

The population explosion is adding approximately 1billion people to this planet every decade. That’s nearly the entire population of China. So what will happen to Ugandans in the next 20 years if their own population keeps growing the way it is now? If the current president cannot handle a food crisis of a population of about 34 millions, how will they do it when the number doubles in the next 15 years?

So it is both logical and workable to conclude that to make our lives better, we must control the population of a developing Uganda. Obviously, this has to be done hand in hand with an increase in the spread of technology, information, and education in the country, and to work hard to raise the standard of living there in partnership with the local population. Because just handing out and extolling the virtues of birth control while people are still pulling pillows by hand and cooking over firewood is not addressing the underlying problem.

Abbey Semuwemba

Doing Ms Public Health Promotion at Leeds Metropolitan University

United Kingdom

Uganda Government Should Stop Fighting Facebook,Twitter and other Social Networks

22 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba in 2010-2011 elections, Africa, Corruption, culture, cultures, media in Uganda, Museveni and NRM

Engineer Mutabazi,chairman of UBC

Dear friends,

I was reluctant to join Facebook and Twitter because i love my privacy so much till when some friends of mine at work convinced me otherwise, and I think I made the right decision. Facebook is hot and all especially if one likes networking. The first few months saw me connecting with my many cousins in USA whom we had never met physically, considering that my grandfather has got more than 16 children.

Facebook has more than 600 million users and was founded by a Harvard graduate, Mark Zuckerberg, with the help of his fellow computer science students. I’m even older than him as he was born in 1984 but he is richer than even the self confessed rich president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, with an estimated wealth of 13.5 billion dollars. I found one of the facebook co-founders, Sean Parker; to have an interesting history in social networking that stretches way back when he was 19 years old at a time he founded the music-sharing site Napster. Sean later became the first facebook president in 2004 but he has since left the company, though he remains a shareholder there.

Both facebook and Twitter started when I had already moved to Britain. Jack Dorsey who started Twitter is also a fine young man who is just 35 years old.My funny analysis of Twitter is that it obviates the need for discussion, analysis and debate. In short it requires little mental activity for people with short attention spans. It makes one think they’re part of something, without ever having to think about what it is they’re part of.

Unlike African leaders who have started fighting social networks, the guys in the west have found facebook and Twitter to be good political tools. Barack Obama got more than 1.5 million users during the US presidential elections and this played a crucial role to his election as president of US. Sarah Pallin and other Republicans have got accounts on both Twitter and facebook.

Here in the UK, the government is driving an IT dominated policy from the NHS, police to community led projects. More than 100 MPs are facebooking; Parliament and 10 Downing Street have channels on YouTube.com, and the Conservative party host ‘webcameron’.

Businesses have found social networks to be a real revelation which has increased things such as direct marketing, consumer profiling and the targeting of services. The data collected on facebook, for instance, is better than that collected through market research surveys or telephone polls.

Social networks are basically dangerous to the very people using them as there is a lot of disclosure of personal information that can be misused by bad people out there. I wish there is a way social networks would minimise personal information disclosure. This is where I have got a problem with facebook because they can easily pass on personal information to a third party without your authority. Their Privacy policy explicitly states that the company is willing to pass on the data posted by users on to third parties. Through selling information and advertisements, facebook was valued at US$15 billion when Microsoft invested $240 million for a 2 per cent share in October 2007.

Yes,I am for freedom of information but do believe in some control of the internet by the administrators[ not the government] to safeguard children. Parents should also take it upon themselves to safeguard their kids against looking at big hairy pink twats on the web (God forbid!). Because i value freedom and information sharing, we started a Google forum called Ugandans At Heart (UAH) but we do not ask members to disclose their true identities to us if they don’t want to – as we don’t want to be responsible for anybody’s security online. What we clearly do is to encourage better debates and interaction, and ask a lot of Ugandans to join us. We believe in ‘Metcalf’s Law’ that states that the utility of a network is equal to the square of the number of users. What it means is that the more users that a network has, the more useful it is. We are not driven by profit motives as we draw no money from anybody. We only ask for online financial support from our members when we need to buy more space on our blog though this has also been a big mile stone to climb as only about 2-3 people contribute whenever there is any financial necessity.

UAH is still mainly Google based and it is for only a few Ugandans that can access the internet. We have not been as lucky as Mark Zuckerberg to get big funders to enable us expand this network into something bigger. We hoped that since few people can access the internet in Uganda, we could start up a radio station, TV or print newspaper to reach out to the biggest part of the population, but our dreams have remained just dreams because nobody is willing to invest in it. Mark and his buddies formed facebook for the benefit of other Harvard students but it later expanded into a bigger network because some rich Americans were willing to put money into it. Among the first facebook investors was a guy named Peter Thiel who also happens to be the founder of PayPal. He was an early investor in Facebook and LinkedIn, another popular social-networking site, and is a board of directors in both companies. Surprisingly, he majored only in philosophy rather than IT at Stanford University unlike Mark Zuckerberg who studied both psychology and computer science. May be this is something to give psychology students something to smile about.

Nonetheless, i dream of a pro-democracy media outlet for Ugandans or Africans in general- something that can replicate more of what Aljazeera is doing in the Middle East and North Africa. Individuals have come to learn that they can be sources of information and this kind of information is more believed by the population than something reported on some state TV or newspaper.

In Uganda, investors neither support young people with brilliant ideas nor do anything they think may not be in line with government interests. Our government has started looking at social networks as a threat to their politics of oppressing the masses. Freedom is something most Ugandans have never experienced since independence such that having an independent media will open their eyes to what real freedom is, not the phony freedom the politicians talk about. FaceBook and other social networks are proving to be a more effective weapon than guns against repressive regimes. Some people have acted a film out of appreciation for facebook called ‘’The Social Network’’. It went on market in 2010. May be one day, we can get someone to act a film or drama and call it ‘Ugandans At Heart’, who knows?

All I know is that we should continue to fight for freedom of information laws in Uganda because they are the key to assuring it that government business is transparent; and they offer citizens a chance to find out what their government is doing. But what the Uganda Communications Commission boss, Godfrey Mutabazi, is doing in regards to ordering the shutdown of facebook and twitter during demonstrations, is so wrong at so many levels. Unfortunately, the same Mutabazi is the boss of Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC), and he has again shown his muscles this month by warning the media on ‘’ walk-to-work coverage’’. He is the same man who was officially responsible for the closure of four radio stations in 2009 during the Buganda riots.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
UK

How Africa Will Remember Gaddafi When He Goes

07 Apr 2011 5 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, Corruption, international, kingdoms

Dear friends,

Though I’m still hurt by lack of luck that keeps befalling my team, Chelsea FC, in the champion league as we have been witnessing for the last four seasons, I cannot say the same for Libya leader, Muamar Gaddafi. He brought all this on himself by denying political freedom to his people.

Gaddafi survived sanctions through UN resolutions: 731, 748, and 883 imposed on him in 1992, but I don’t see him surviving this one. There is a lot at stake here and I believe he knows it. People just want him out for good this time. The rebels have started selling their oil but he cannot because of sanctions. He cannot maintain this situation forever and I think it is just a matter of time before his government falls.

Sanctions created more problems for him than even Reagan’s military campaign of 1986, and he (Gaddafi) did a lot to get them lifted. So he knows that he cannot survive for longer despite US withdraw from Libya. NATO and sanctions will cripple him more whether US planes are flying in the air or not. That’s why Obama is not so worried because he knows that in the long run, Gaddafi will fail to hold on to power. His worry may lie elsewhere in the home politics as it seems the President of USA does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation, but Obama may argue that he was fulfilling the UN mandate.

Libya is not having problems winning its war against the rebels because of the less numbers in the army or its small population. If anything; the Libyan army is about 90,000 in size which is ok if well equipped with modern weapons. Remember, some people keep telling us that Yoweri Museveni started his war with 27 men, a figure I always find hard to believe, because FRONASA had built itself to a size of about 5000 soldiers before it was integrated in the UNLA army. So where were the rest of the FRONASA guys when their leader declared war on Obote after the disputed 1980 elections?

That aside,the Benghazi rebels have not quickly made any successful attempts to drive Gaddafi out of power because they are ill-trained, lack modern weapons and NATO is not yet ready to directly fight the ground war for them. Gaddafi too is not going to win this war because his weapons are no better than those of coalition forces. Libya posses a lot of Russian made military equipment that needs repair or servicing and they could not do this properly during the period of sanctions. Actually, Russia made more money in selling arms to Libya more than any other country. It is thought that the Russian deals to Libya amounted to over $19billion between 1970 and 1991. Russians were the one that constructed all military and industrial sites that have recently been destroyed by USA and British air forces, and these sites alone cost Libya more than $2billion to be constructed.

After the sanctions were lifted in 1998, Libya got in touch with Russians to see to it that some repairs were done on their military equipment but Gaddafi did not order a lot of new equipment because he still owed the Russians about £3b. Nevertheless, a joint commission on military and technical cooperation was established in 1999 after a visit to Tripoli by Russian Vice premier,Iliya Klebanov. So i believe some repairs were done but Libya’s equipment cannot easily match those of USA, France, Britain and other countries bombing it now.

So, winning a war in this modern era is all about military technology, better tactics and organization but not necessarily numbers.For instance, about 300 US well armed soldiers can easily destroy Uganda’s army of 50,000 basically because of better weapons and organization. However, Libya’s military technology was much weakened during the period of the sanctions. According to the World Bank, the sanctions cost Libya $18 Billion worth of oil revenue. The UN-imposed asset freeze also placed off-limits several billions of dollars in assets, especially the funds Libya held in dollar denominations.

Africa and Gaddafi

All indications are that Gaddafi is going to lose this war and there are a lot of angry faces among African leaders especially those who have been benefitting from the generosity of Tripoli and those who have been in power for a long time. For example, Gaddafi gave Niger a grant of $2m in March 1996 and his relationship with Niger has been strong since. He donated 200,000 dollars to Mali for development and defense in the same year. He has been allegedly financing presidential campaigns of several African presidents including president Museveni. He has been a rock for most African cultural and Muslim leaders for the last three years.He has been financing a lot of cultural and religious projects including our mosque at Old Kampala. He has invested millions of dollars in more than 19 African countries.

He has been the biggest financier of both OAU/AU meetings and so many people will miss his money when he goes. He donated 2 million dollars to the president of Burkinafaso, Blais campaore, as his contribution to organizing the OAU meeting in the early 1990s. He donated 4.5 million dollars to OAU to boost its treasury in 1999. He financed the OAU summit in Togo in 2000 where he called for a United States of Africa (USA) and African Union (AU).His dream of USA has brought him into serious misunderstandings with leaders such, president Museveni, who are against the idea.

Gaddafi’s journey of building relationship with the African leaders started before even the sanctions were lifted. He sponsored a lot of rebellions in Africa including Museveni’s NRA in Luwero and Mandella’s anti-Apartheid war in South Africa. Both leaders have been in his good books for such a long time. For instance, on 17th October, Museveni put on his shoes and jetted to Libya to show comradeship to Gadaffi. He visited Libya again in autumn of 1998 before Congo’s Kabila Laurent-desire. Let us remember that it was Gaddafi who financed the over 1000 Chad troops during the Congo crisis. Nelson Mandela also joined the Tripoli bandwagon in the same year (1997) before going back again in November. Just like Nigeria’s former president, Abacha, Mandella also awarded Gadaffi with South Africa’s highest medal when Gaddafi visited him in South Africa at some point.

Gaddafi is the brain behind the formation of COMESA. Gaddafi convened a meeting of Sahel and Saharan states in 1998 which was attended by presidents of Niger, Malie, chad and Sudan. This summit resulted into the formation of COMESA (Community of the Sahel and Saharan States).

Africans may not have helped Gadaffi much in the current crisis but they surely played a crucial role to get sanctions lifted off Libya in 1998. In June 1998, all African states at the OAU summit in Burkinafaso announced that they would cease complying with the UN sanctions against Libya. UN later agreed to hold a debate on Libya’s sanctions on March 1998 after pressure from Gadafi’s friends in Africa. In the same month, Libya defied the UN air sanctions by flying100 of its pilgrims to Mecca for Hajji. Because of Africa’s solidarity with Gadaffi, his wish for the Lockerbie dispute with US and Britain gave him a breather as the International criminal court of justice ruled that the trial is held in a third state with a Scottish judge presiding.

Overall, Gaddafi will be remembered by most Africans as a ”great” leader but who denied political freedom to his own people. He supported a lot of revolutions on the continent, but his zeal to turn Libya into a family property, like most African leaders, has let him down. With majority of Libyans on his side, he would have survived this situation regardless of whether the big nations are after his country’s oil or not.But as it so happens with most dictators, he has stepped on a lot of toes over time and people are vying for his blood. As a Muslim, i dont wish for him to be killed but it seems he is ready for it as the rebels close in on the Libya’s capital city.

Sorry, Brother Gaddy! You gonna lose,mate.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

United Kingdom

Cuban Experiment Should be Adopted to Divert the Food Crisis in Uganda

31 Mar 2011 15 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, Agriculture, Economics, international, International Issues

Dear Ugandans,

The current rise in food prices is a problem which we are capable of solving ourselves especially if all the stakeholders are committed to the cause. The food crisis problems go well beyond the Uganda borders as it is also a marginal problem even here in the UK where i live such that I have registered with several supermarkets online to help me compare prices before I do my home shopping.But with fertile Uganda soils, surely we can do better with the support of the current government.

The causes of the sharp price rises in 2007 and 2008 seem to be almost the same as those in 2010: increased global demand, rising fuel prices, biofuels production, export restrictions, crop failures, financial speculation and dwindling stockpiles. Biofuels, for instance, has been adopted by several governments as a way of reducing dependence on fossil fuels and cut greenhouse emissions by providing subsidies for crops used in biofuels. Some of these governments include: Brazil’s use of sugar for ethanol, Europe’s use of oilseeds for biodiesel and increased US production of corn-based ethanol since the 2005 Energy Policy Act.As a result, the bill for global food imports will top $1,000bn this year according to the United Nations figures.

With China and India now trying to live a standardised western life, the consumption of meat has increased tremendously worldwide considering that both countries have got more than 2 billion people to feed. International figures show that about eight kg of feed is required to produce 1kg of beef and 2kg for every 1kg chicken. This diverts grains from human consumption and forces up prices. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that using an acre of land to raise cattle produces 20 pounds of protein, compared with 356 pounds for one sowed with soybeans. So, one can imagine how the farmers doing cattle rearing in areas like western Uganda balance up food production with animal keeping at the same time.

The Chinese and Indian populations alone consume more food than the whole of Africa. A global conference on food security in Rome a couple of years ago noted that China had been a net exporter of cereals since the late 1990s, and India a net importer only during one year in the same period. Both countries have increased imports of oilseeds, meat and oil in large numbers. So their populations are basically starving the rest of the world. So I hope the government does not give away our land to the Chinese and Indians when they come knocking on our borders whatever the deal they bring to us because we also gonna need that land with a higher population growth in our country.

The problem in Uganda is that many youths have moved into cities because farming is being looked at as a non- starter. So there is a lot of idle land in rural areas, and I think the government needs to do what fidero Castro did during Cuba’s oil and food crisis. The Cuban government facilitated all families with seeds and also set up markets where people can sell their produce. Farming became more paying or profitable than even a job in the president’s office. Food was grown everywhere including the home gardens. Farmers all of a sudden became the rich men and women of Cuba. The government provided credit, research, and extension for low-input agriculture to a well organized rural population.

The government should not to be attempted to starve off Small farmers from their land in an attempt to solve this crisis. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, only 8% of landowners were controlling more than 70% of the land, with U.S. owners controlling 25% of all Cuban land. But the revolution changed all this and when the food crisis set in, Castro was never attempted to reverse this process. He instead empowered the small land owners and facilitated them in areas such as provision of fossil fuels, fertilizers, and pesticides. So basically, subsistence farming is not the problem here, after all, Subsistence farmers make up 75% of the world’s poor and they often gain less from price increases than they lose to increases in the price of inputs and other costs of production.

The UN calculates that 22 people can be fed per hectare of potatoes, 19 per ha of rice, and just one or two for beef or lamb raised on 1ha. So what I suggest is that those with idle big land in Uganda should get into some form of temporary agreements with the landless to allow them to grow food. Such agreements can be administered by LCs and other local leaders to save time. For example, when the 2008 food crisis set in, rising food imports cost Cuba over $1 billion. In response, Cuba’s National Assembly of Popular Power enacted Decree Law 259, which authorizes municipal Agricultural Commissions to distribute idle lands to state entities, cooperatives, and any individual Cuban citizen physically fit for agricultural labor. Landless individuals can now request and receive up to 33 acres of land, while those who already participate in agricultural production in some form can receive up to 99 acres. An Associated Press report ( 13 August 2010) cites major progress made as it relates to Cuba’s cutting of agricultural imports: having spent $710 million in U.S. food imports in 2008, this figure was reduced to $528 million in 2009 (a 26% reduction) and for the first half of 2010 this figure has been reduced to $220 million (a 28% reduction if it stays on course).

Obviously, the Cuba government has also spent a lot in agricultural scientific research institutions to produce those admired results. But our government is not so much bothered about this area such that one of my younger brothers who graduated with a first class degree in Agricultural science at Makerere university- a couple of years ago, is now doing network marketing with some company in Kampala because he reckons he could make better money there.I unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to go for his postgraduate studies and i have given up.

Anyway, because of the above policies, Cuba has become one of the few countries with the capacity to implement food sovereignty despite experiencing three catastrophic hurricanes in 2008 alone, and the persistent U.S. hostility towards its national interests.

So unless the government stops wasting money in stuff such as aircraft jets and presidential pledges, and diverts most of this money to agriculture and education, we have not seen the end of this problem. If the government does not address the food shortage in the country urgently, we are likely to see the start of food rebellions in sub Sahara Africa. For instance, violent protests broke out in many countries in 2008, resulting in nearly 200 deaths and helping to unseat governments in Haiti and Mauritania. Families should also be encouraged to produce fewer kids. Why should a man with no house or land produce more than 2 kids when still in that situation? With due respect to polygamists, men with no money should not attempt to marry more than one woman or women who want more kids if they have already got some.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

United Kingdom

Whatever Gaddafi Has Done For Africa, It’s Time To Let Him Go

28 Mar 2011 3 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, International Issues

Gaddafi under siege

There is always a price to pay for freedom. Those advocating for the removal of dictators in Africa and Middle East, and at the same time seeking western help, should be ready to ‘pay’ something in return. The west always asks for a return on their investment in any foreign venture. In the case of Libya, therefore, it isn’t reasonable to say it has absolutely nothing to do with oil, since practically all of the ‘big boys’ politics in the Arab region revolve around keeping the crude flowing. But at the same, let us not lose the focus of fact that these people in Benghazi and other parts of the country are yawning for political freedom more than anything else. No argument can possibly convince conspiracy theorists about this but as someone who wants every Ugandan to feel free while in Uganda, I know how much it means a lot to people pursuing this agenda.

I hardly consider America or the west in general innocent. I try to keep a realistic attitude about most things. But I definitely come down on the side of determined military action against any leader that oppresses his people. For instance, When the US bombed the Red Cross building in Afghanistan they first claimed “human error”. But later the Senate claimed that it was on purpose because the Taliban were going into there to get food.

USA has more than 761 Military Bases across the planet. When Romans were commanding the world, they had 37 while Britain had 36. It is true that USA is building an empire around the world and some countries are going to fall victim to this but we should not even attempt an inch to defend leaders oppressing their own people just because they are doing some good things for us. Ever since UN was formed, USA has been involved directly in wars in Iraq, Haiti, Panama, Grenada, Laos, Cambodia, North Korea, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Somalia, Dominican Republic, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya (twice), Lebanon, North Vietnam,e.t.c. Some of these interventions are clearly because of USA interests, particularly oil, but some have helped to create better conditions for the citizens of those countries.

Basically, all this proves that there is some ”bullying” and double standards going on in some of these interventions but we must also admit that some of these leaders where US and others have been involved in action, do not deserve to lead any human being on earth. My major drive in all this is that everybody should be free in their country. I have no love for dictators at all whether they are fellow Muslims or not.

Nevertheless, Gaddafi placed the target on his own head when he led a campaign to suppress any opposition in his country. In 1980, Faisal Zagallai was shot at by a Libyan agent in Colorado and he ended up blind. In Britain, during anti Gadafi demonstrations, 10 Libyans were shot at by Libyan diplomats that ended with the death of a police woman, Yvonne Fletcher. There were other plots that were foiled if you bother to do some research on your own. I know that there was a plot to kill some dissidents in Mecca in 1984 but it was foiled. Fathi Eljahmi was imprisoned in 2002, released in 2004 and ‘eliminated’ in 2009 for being a political activist.

I will ,therefore,weep no tears for Gaddafi’s loss of power though I don’t want him to get humiliated or killed in the same way as Saddam Hussein. I do recognize that war inherently contains the irony that one cannot really remain morally pure when conducting it. I do think that the blood of civilians in Libya should be a responsibility of all forces involved in this war, and that the international forces need to win and win as quickly as possible to minimize the repercussion to innocents.

I’m not a pro-west activist as some of you may end up portraying me. I love my religion and Africa in general, and I would like everybody to feel free and be able to do anything in their country without silly threats from leaders. I admit that I have got a lot of issues with most African leaders just like I have got issues with some western policies towards the developing nations, but in this instance I support the western intervention in Libya.

Yes, I’m aware of what Gadafi has been doing for Muslims in Uganda , Burundi and other countries, and I’m sure the guys at old Kampala are feeling more of this saga financially than anybody else, but the guys fighting Gaddafi in Benghazi are Muslims too. May be , it’s high time some Muslim leaders at old Kampala started establishing contact with the National Council in Benghazi to let them know that they have got a religious obligation to continue with Gadaffi’s financial support and pledges to Muslims in Uganda. What the outcome will be, I don’t know, but it’s not worth crying over spoilt milk.

The big nations no longer fighting wars among themselves in the same way they fight the small nations. That is why we have got UN and other international organisations to avoid another world war. For instance, if USA is to put trade sanctions on Britain or China, it will have more effect on the leadership in Britain and China compared to the leaders in developing countries. In developing countries, sanctions means a punishment to only the poor people but it never affect the leaders themselves. So, military intervention is the only way to get rid of such despots in Africa and Middle East. You can get lucky with demonstrations as was the case in Tunisia and Egypt but I can’t see this happening elsewhere in Africa.

The big nations tend to do favours among themselves when it comes to taking decisions at UN. For instance, Russia and Germany may have abstained from voting for the UN resolution 1973 but they did not use their powers to veto it because they were promised something by those who voted for it. This kind of work is mainly done by respective state UN ambassadors and international lobbyists. So, I don’t envisage any military intervention in China or any of the big nations as long as I live unless if we get another mad man like Hitler, again.

The truth is that Brother Gadaffi is not milk and honey. May be Libya will become more developed and better when he goes. May be Muslims will benefit more from the changes in Libya than before.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Libya’s Investments in Africa aren’t a threat to the West, unlike the Chinese and Indians

23 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba in Africa, Agriculture, Economics, international

Libya investments in Africa are not really a threat to the west. There are only concentrated in a few countries that are friendly to Gadaffi and his sons, and some of these countries are not so strategic in terms of western investments and interests.Gadaffi’s investment in Africa will not even sadly help him to remain in power because Libyans just want political freedom. Everybody wants to feel free in their countries which is not the case in most African countries. It’s China and India investments that are a threat to the west. Actually, even India is not yet a real threat but China is a bigger threat. China is now the 2nd biggest economy in the world after overtaking Japan. USA still remains the biggest economy and superpower and it is likely to remain so for another 10-15 years.

China in Africa and elsewhere

The Chinese are giving out loans to Africa without conditions unlike the west. China would have been already a great nation if they had not disconnected themselves from the rest of the world. Their earlier kings had a great vision for the country but those who came immiediately after them had no vision.

Economist used to predict that China would need to wait till 2026 to overtake Japan as the 2nd biggest economy but the Chinese have officially done so in 2011. Please look at the statistics. They are now telling us that China will overtake USA by 2020 but we don’t know this for sure. It is also believed that China will overtake USA in terms of scientific research by 2020.

Japan knew that China were at their arses all the time and that is why they stopped loans to China out of fear, but also at the instigation of the US. They knew that they had a serious competitor at the side. It has already beaten Japan to Brazil and Russian oil. So a Europe- Japan- USA partnership Vs China may slow down the Chinese if it works.

The Chinese are everywhere directly or indirectly. For instance, most UK and USA manufacturing companies have moved either to India or China. I used to buy a party dress for my 3 year old daughter for £19 in the ‘’NEXT’’ when it was still made here. Now I pay £8 for the same dress made overseas from this high street shop called ‘’PRIMARK’’. Actually, even in your USA, Examples are all around you. All you need do is look at the products to see where they are made. Walmart has lots of people buying the stuff because it can sell for less.

China is now a ‘friend’ of almost all African countries. Sudan supplies 3% of China’s oil needs and as a result, China has invested more than $3b in the country. Chinese are friends of Zimbabwe and Congo such that they are exploiting almost all minerals in those countries as Africans are looking on. In Uganda, for instance, the Chinese have built a lot of buildings for the state-e.g. Nambole stadium, Presidential State House, Presidential offices under construction behind the National parliament, ministry of foreign affairs building, e.t.c

Chinese Population

The problem with China is its population which is likely to put pressure on all of us. Food supply is critical, as for any nation with a huge population. We only see starvation now when the place has degenerated into the most obscene levels of civil war and civil chaos, but people should stop having lots of kids. This is something the President Museveni should also look into in his next 5 years if he wants to be remembered as ‘somebody’.

Because of Chinese and India huge population, both countries are now leading pioneers in land grabbing in all developing nations. They buy land in small nations and gazette it for food production. Already some Ugandans living in Busoga region are feeling the pressure on their land from Indians who have started up a sugar-making factory in the area. The huge populations of China and India, and elsewhere, will also demand a Western standard-of-living as their countries develop more, putting more pressure on “growth”.

Chinese and Indian populations are a problem to all of us. Because of their populations, the demand for basics such as food, oil, water, transport, ….. is exceeding the supply. China, for instance, are now 1.3 billion (1320 million people) and they consume more oil and drive more cars than anybody else on earth apart from USA. The more China develops, the more their population will demand to have a standardized-USA lifestyle, which will mean more demand for cars and oil. Let’s us remember that USA is only about 300 million people compared to China’s 1320 millions. China and India’s massive consumption of resources is already having a huge impact upon the environment and food production, and all these are population-induced.

Yes, and there was a whale oil shortage last century which threatened America’s energy needs. This promoted USA to go into cooperation with any country in the world regardless of the autocratic nature in these countries. Actually, it made the west realize that oil is one item that mainly controls the world economy such that it is in their unwritten policy to do anything necessary to get it, using all means at their disposal, a reason I believe Gadaffi will not survive whatever he is doing now.

China itself knows that their big population is a real problem such that they have come up with measures to control it, and these include: mandatory abortion and sterilization, female infanticide, and incarceration of uncooperative parents. I think they have also started taxing parents that have more than 1 child in urban centers.

Yes, a big population has its advantages but the disadvantages outweigh them. One of the advantages is the near-limitless supply of slave labour. All western companies are moving their manufacturing base to India and China because they pay peanuts to the workers there compared to the people in their own countries. One could argue that this creates jobs for the people in those countries but at the same time, these countries where manufacturing is done are affected environment-wise and also become dumping grounds for toxics.

Ironically again, China’s not being a democracy gives it advantages over the U.S and western nations. It is not hobbled by laws which govern human rights or environmental degradation.

Overall, we need to control our populations because the disadvantages they come with outweigh the advantages. Food production in Uganda does not match the population increase in the country. We are now 31 millions and this is likely to double in the 20 years if it is not checked, but how many of us have bought land in the villages to start serious farming? Just think about it. If any disaster strikes Uganda at the moment, we may find ourselves begging the Kenyans for food because there is less food in the country

The Law of Diminishing Returns is starting to operate in many areas of human activity, so take heed of, eg., extreme and erratic weather, as one indicator that all is not well. The recent earthquake in Japan has so far sadly reduced the world population by more than 20,000 people. It is always sad to lose human life but things like wars, conflicts in Africa(e.g,Libya,Egypt,Yemen,Kony, Darfur), man killing man daily, ……… may be happening for a reason. May be God is telling us something we don’t know.

Anyway, USA is doing everything possible to stop China from overtaking them, but will they be successful? Nobody knows for sure but we should never underestimate the Americans. They have always got something up their sleeves. Well, all great powers and leaders thrash around at the end; the trouble is they never see it coming, like an old boxer.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Museveni’s Statement Will Not Change things in Libya

23 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba in Africa, international

Museveni’s long statement on the link: http://ugandansatheart.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/museveni-on-libya-military-action-he-blasts-the-west-for-double-standards/ , made me feel for him in the same way I used to between 1986 and late 1990s. It was a good statement, very well analyzed, but from a ‘damaged’ leader. I wish he had not changed from the Museveni i admired. That statement would have been respected if it was from, say Nelson Mnadella, but not from the Museveni of today.

But I give it to him that he has got courage to write such words at this difficult moment because that statement may be the beginning of the end of Museveni’s regime. I’m sure western leaders have read it and have scribled down some notes. The thing is,there is a serious struggle for oil going on all over the world and my feeling is that Libya is just the beginning of the process in Africa. Like I said, whoever presides over a country with oil should get worried, and I think president Museveni’s statement is a true reflection of that.

Everyone wants a piece of Libya’s oil such that those who are not participating in the ‘no-fly’ zone are likely to lose out, and they are very bitter about this loss. For example, Russia’s failure to participate means that they are not gonna be part of the Libyan cake. France, Britain and USA are already working out a national program with the rebel government in Benghazi. Actually, Hilary Clinton pointed out at her press conference in Paris yesterday that USA is in touch with one of the rebel leaders on an hourly basis. The French president has got another reason to smile about his involvement in Libya- his ratings at home have improved considering that he has been having a lot of problems. In Britain, both the Prime minister and the leader of the opposition are in agreement on this and are supporting each other.

The problem with the African Union is that it is dominated by anti-democracy leaders such that they have no moral authority to intervene in the conflicts in Libya. Mugabe, for instance, he is a known murderer who killed the Ndebeles like insects, and now he has started killing people in his own tribe, the Shonas. President Museveni himself ordered the shooting of more than 30 Ugandans in September 2009 yet they were not armed. So I guess , I get a bit uncomfortable when I see such leaders coming out now to defend Brother Gadaffi, evenif their intentions may be good.Such leaders have lost credibility on the international stage and I think things are beginning to take shape now.

The truth is that Gadafi is gonna go. It is just a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’. What has delayed it is that the international community is not as united on certain issues as it should be, and the rebels in Benghazi seem to be weaker compared to Gadafi’s forces. For instance, Turkey and France are against the handing over total military control to Nato forces yet Britain, USA and others are ok with it. Russia’s Putin has also issued a statement today that seem to suggest that he is totally against the military intervention in Libya, though my feeling is that he seems hurt to see that Britain , France and USA have got one leg over Russia in Libya. Let us remember that Putin is the most powerful man in Russia such that his word normally sends ‘butterflies’ in the skins of world leaders. Forget about Museveni’ s statement because it has no effect on world power stage, but Putin is a force in world power.

Abbey

Tunisia May Not Happen In Uganda Sooner.

19 Jan 2011 2 Comments

by semuwemba in 2010-2011 elections, Africa, FDC, Politics

What happened in Tunisia will not happen in Uganda sooner. Most of the elites and the youths in our country, who would probably champion this kind of thing, are what I call’ background noise’. They make noise at the background but are never interested in any form of action. Even simple things, like raising funds for a political cause or participating in political debates, fail at their inception because there is total lack of commitment from the elites of today in our country and abroad.

Secondly, We have allowed the government to pander to most of the new kids born under NRM, encouraging them to believe that they don’t really have to change leaders just because Museveni is a great leader, a hero, to be precise — that they can just go on living the same way they have been living as if NRM has got a Godly mandate to lead Uganda. For example, president Museveni has recruited a lot of young people into his NRM ideologue such that they are those who are willing to die for him. They have been instituted into banks, businesses,statehouse, and other state apparatuses, and the real purpose of all this aid is to support the government’s massive political oppression of the Ugandan people. One of president Museveni’s prime targets have lways been the young, just as they were with the Nazis and the Hitler Youth Movement. I know a few young men I studied with at Kibuli S.S who have alot of potential but are now singing ‘Long Live Museveni’, and they look at guys like us as ‘people who don’t know what we want’. Few young people can see through this humdrum ruse, and it is likely to continue for some years.

We have reached a point whereby changing a government in Uganda, in the same way as it happened in Tunisia, will only destroy everything that we hold dear. A revolution in Uganda would likely create another dictatorship if it happens now. For instance, Napoleon was lucky to be born in the enlightened age of the French Revolution, but he took a good thing, a people’s revolution, and corrupted it for the neocons of his time. I can see a similar sort of thing happening in Uganda again as it happened with the coming of NRM in 1986 after kicking out dictator Obote.

NRM is the product of UPC evolution, not revolution, and it in itself is less dynamic and changing. I say it is evolution, because no matter what highly structured economic and political system was set up, it eventually all comes down to one entity exchanging something of value with another entity. The Uganda people’s problems are so deep that it would take a miracle from God to solve them. Religions and tribes, for instance, have divided us more under NRM than any other time after independence.We dont even have a national language as everybody prefers to speak their own.

Tunisia, on the other hand, is a typical Islamic state – the constitution mandates Islam as the official religion and no other religious parties are allowed -effectively banning other religions. 98.9% of the population are Sunni Muslims , not even Sufis are welcome. So religion is a big factor that can easily unite them for any cause.

Nevertheless, the ouster of Tunisian President, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, is the clearest indication that change is coming to most of the Arab and African states.What happened in Tunisia started in December when a 26-year-old fruit seller set himself on fire to protest mistreatment by police. Nobody envisaged that it will lead to the overthrow of government. We have already seen demonstrations and riots in Egypt, Algeria, Uganda and Jordan in the last couple of years. So something is happening but nobody knows how it will end in Uganda if we are to have riots or demonstrations again.

First, any sort of sudden revolutionary spasm will be triggered by a spark. It will be one instance, seemingly trivial and lost in a sea of abuses and injustices. And chances are it is likely to start from Buganda before it spreads to other parts of the country, going by the current tension between Mengo and the central government.It will be like that incident in US drama, ”Prison Break”, where prisoners riot and the female doctor, Sarah, was still stuck in the prison premises. I remember some black guy saying something like:’it is coming off puppy”, while pointing at the female doctor. Let me hope that Museveni wont be the female doctor when it is ”coming off”, if it ever ”comes off”.

Abbey

Museveni’s Assassinations Claims are Giving me Sleepless Nights!

28 Dec 2010 5 Comments

by semuwemba in 2010-2011 elections, Africa, Bahima and Banyarwanda, East Africa, luwero war after 1980 'theft', Museveni and NRM, Obote and UPC, Politics

Dear readers,

The recent revelations in Assange’s Wikileaks and Timothy Kalyegira’s Uganda Record about how president Museveni is worried that he may be assassinated by Libya’s Gaddafi, have brought me some sleepless nights. Political assassinations are not something we should encourage on our continent. Museveni may be a bad leader for us now but assassinating him can plunge our country into some form of endless violence and conflicts ,as happened in Rwanda after the assassination of Habyarimana. We don’t need that at the moment, and I certainly believe that Gadaffi does not want Uganda to end up in that state.

I have no connections with Uganda intelligence but I still believe that president Museveni just panicked to the extent of seeking US help; because he pushed his buttons too far as far as Gadaffi is concerned. To be fair to Gadaffi, I’m one of those who really dream about a United States of Africa (USA), an idea Gadaffi is championing now and trying to sell to other African leaders.

Gadaffi is not someone anyone would wish to mess with because he has shaken big nations such as USA before and they did not like it. So it’s not wise for Museveni to start pumping his testosterones publicly when engaging such a character. We need to find a common ground as far as Libya is concerned.

Nevertheless, something interesting is boiling up in all these assassination reports though we don’t know if there are true or not: President Museveni’s end looks to be nearer but how will it be? I think that is the question on most people’s minds because our president has been in power for so long.This has forced me to compare President Museveni and Habyarimana, and see if there have got any similarities or differences, though i pray that the ending is not the same.

Habyarimana just like Museveni came into power through violence. While Museveni’s violence was justified because he had to get rid of Obote Dictatorship and had a convincing democratic plan on paper, Habyariman’s was not because his coup did not have any democratic plan ahead. Habyarimana came into power when the order of the day in East Africa was getting rid of presidents through coups. Amin ousted Obote in 1971 and Habyarimana did the same on Kayibanda two years later.

Habyarimana hated the ‘tutsis’ just as it is claimed by some people though I’m not sure, that president Museveni hates some tribes in the north. Habyarimana had only one Tutsi in his cabinet, one ambassador in the Foreign Service, and two deputies in the national assembly. He kept a picture of Tutsi huts in flames in his presidential house.

Habyarimana, just like Museveni, was also friends with the Bakiga communities. It is actually claimed in some circles that Habyariman was a mukiiga not a true munyarwanda.Bakiiga were Museveni’s allies in Luwero bush war though some have started falling out with him.

Habyarimana’s end came through assassination and this is what is worrying me as a Ugandan if such a scenario was to happen to Museveni. I think some sections of the Hutus in Rwanda and the Tutsis in both Uganda and Rwanda masterminded the assassination of Habyarimana. When RPF was launched in 1987 in Kampala, one of their main aims was to force the return of Tutsi back to Rwanda whether Habyarimana wanted it or not. There were to do this using all the necessary means. General Rwigyema joined RPF in 1988 and later about 4000 Tutsis also deserted UPDF for RPF with the sole purpose of fighting the Habyariman government.

On the other hand, some sections of the Hutu radicals in Rwanda were not happy with the Arusha agreement of August 1993 that provided for the establishment of a broad based transitional government that would include the Tustsi. But the truth was that even Habyarimana never believed in this agreement becuse he was a tutsi hater. He just signed it to buy himself time to organise his ‘house’ and probably the hutu radicals knew it as well. So why would they kill him? But then again most of the evidence points to the fact that the Hutu radicals may have killed him. For instance, on 03/04/1994, radio Mille Collines warned that ‘a little something’ was about to happen before Habyariman was killed two days later. This is all confusing because how can a radio make such an announcement and nobody in the intelligence took it seriously. May be the radio was warning Habyarimana. Who knows?

As a Ugandan, I just hope that president Museveni and brother Gadaffi find a way of sorting out their differences very soon because it is not certainly good for Africa if these two guys continue to be on a collision course. Gadaffi is now an old man and a bit wiser. He is not like the Gadaffi of 70s and 80s who used to kick ass all the time. So Museveni should take advantage of this to mend fences with Gadaffi as soon as possible. Personally, i don’t wish president Museveni to die that way and that is why I urge him to improve Uganda foreign relations with our neighbors very soon.Under this environment, anybody can do something to our president right now,very well knowing that fingers will be pointed at Libya.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Female Circumcision is still a Big Worry for the World that requires urgent attention

04 Dec 2010 12 Comments

by semuwemba in Africa, culture, cultures, East Africa, health, international, social issues, Tribalism

Sabiny girls after the circumcision ritual in Bukwo district(Courtesy of the Newvision)

Dear readers,

The article on the front page of Newvision on 04/12/10 showing pictures of sabiny girls that had been circumcised is justifiably one of the biggest cultural outcries so far in this year’s presidential elections. Female circumcision is a global problem and I think international organisations such as WHO need to urgently put it on their agenda in future conferences to be held and seriously try to do something about it. I remember watching a documentary on channel 4 here in the UK, a copy I kept up to now, that showed that some Muslim societies ,such as in Egypt, also practicing this evilness in the name of Islam. Female circumcision is done by removing the tip of the clitoris because it is believed that women should not enjoy sex but are to serve only to pleasure the man and have children. These female mutilation things are not a part of Islam. They’re just cultural traditions of a bunch of Arabs who happen also to be Muslim. But it’s sort of like American slaveholders who were Baptists. Slavery isn’t really a part of the Baptist creed even if some slaveholding Baptists thought it should be. There is nothing in the Koran that justifies this behaviour or requires it. CNN one time also ran a series that showed girls being circumcised but there was nothing Islamic about it.

Cutting of the woman’s clitoris is so wrong because it affects her sexual enjoyment and satisfaction. It even makes me sick when I watch some people defend this inhuman behaviour because to defend this behaviour is not only ignorant, but just as inhuman and grossly irresponsible as those who teach it! The whole exercise turns a woman into simply a domestic servant and baby factory. I agree that there should be freedom of cultural thought but certain rituals are detrimental to people and shouldn’t be carried out especially on minors who can’t give proper consent.

Unlike male circumcision, there are absolutely no medical grounds for female circumcision. Male circumcision is practiced by both Muslims and Jews. Historically, Roman emperor Hadrian tried to ban this practice among the Jews as he believed that it stopped them from assimilating with the Greeks and Roman but he found himself with a war on his hands.

It’s true that circumcision is a painful experience as it was done to me when I was above the baby stage. My grandfather who was my guardian deceived me that they were taking me to Kampala city for a ride but I woke up in Kawolo hospital with some pain on my penis. I remember this pain very well because I was a bit older when it was done but I don’t think babies do remember this pain when they grow up. Yes, when there are still babies or infants, they feel and express this pain in stereotypic ways involving vocalization, facial expression, body movements and autonomic activity but they later become OK and smile normally. The wound heals normally without undue bleeding or infection, and the outcome will just be a ‘normal circumcised penis’.

One does not need to be circumcised or uncircumcised first to know the advantages or disadvantages of male circumcision as there is a lot of literature out there about this issue. For instance, there is a big body of evidence that shows that most women prefer circumcised penis for appearance and hygiene. Furthermore, some women are not attracted to the smell of the uncircumcised penis.

Let me elaborate: when a man has got that foreskin still intact on their penis, he feels greater sexual sensation during sex due to the greater sensitivity of the protected glans, and that the foreskin is an erogenous zone in itself. A foreskin and its full complement of ‘neuroreceptors’ (as scientists call them) can easily make the uncircumcised man to come or ejaculate very fast thus leaving a woman in limbo. My understanding is that, because of the protection of the foreskin, the glands of the uncircumcised penis are more sensitive and thus more stimulated. One could deduce that therefore the circumcised penis results in prolonged pleasure due to reduced sensitivity. Since circumcised men have no feeling in their foreskin (in fact, no foreskin at all), the only form of stimulation comes in the form of pressure on the head and the shaft of the penis, and in the orgasm itself. This helps the uncircumcised to prolong during love making and thus helping the women to enjoy the whole game for longer.

Uncircumcised men also often experience pain during their first sexual act while circumcised males do not. This is because the ‘frenulum’ is removed, along with the foreskin, during the circumcision operation. The uncircumcised penis contains a certain piece of skin called the frenulum – that is attached to both the prepuce and the glans of the penis. The frenulum serves the same purpose as the hymen in virgin girls/women, i.e. as a barrier to unwanted or premature sexual activity. During the first act of intercourse (or masturbation), the frenulum is torn from the mucous membrane that keeps it in place, a change that subsequently allows the foreskin to be fully retracted over the entire ‘head’ of the penis.

Uncircumcised men also have to deal with foreskin infections a lot more frequently because of the growth medium the foreskin provides them little bugs. A circumcised penis is easier to keep clean.

There is also evidence to show a lower occurrence of cervical cancer of women married to circumcised men because it (Cervical cancer) is associated with herpes, which is one of those STDs that is curable. Male circumcision also helps preclude a rare kind of penile cancer in males. There is a slightly higher risk of HIV in partners of uncircumcised men due to the human papillomavirus but this can be alleviated with proper hygiene.

Because of the above advantages, there is a wide spread acceptance of male circumcision in the developed nations especially in the United States in comparison to female genital circumcision which tends to be more selfish than anything else.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Being a former Student Leader does not necessarily make one a presidential material

30 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment

by semuwemba in 2010-2011 elections, Africa, FDC, IPC, Museveni and NRM, Politics, Presidency

Dear readers,

We will never know if FDC’s Kiiza Besigye lost or won the 2001 and 2006 elections because of the rigging that was reportedly involved in both elections. This rigging is partly mentioned in Dr.Kobusingye’s book: ‘The Correct Line’. So it’s unfair for one to justifiably determine Besigye’s failure in politics basing on the elections that were reportedly rigged unless if some people wanted him to fight his way to the top, just like Museveni did, by waging a war against the government. But then again, the same voices would end up accusing Besigye of ascending to power using primitive means of violence. So what do these people exactly want, a conference room and aeroplane politician, like Mao, or the guy who bends it like Beckham, such as Besigye?

Some Mao supporters have also been telling us that he was born a leader and that’s why he has a story to tell, and that it was not by mistake that he was Head prefect at Namiryango and later on, the guild president at Makerere University. But the fact is that Norbert Mao’s story in leadership is one of those that can send anyone to sleep because it does not really involve anything extra ordinary. First, anyone with sheer luck can easily become a guild at Makerere University or MP in Uganda. It’s not rocket science or such a huge responsibility as exemplified by some of the sleeping MPs in the parliament. With due respect to our MPs, I think so many Ugandans are probably more qualified to be MPs in that parliament than the ladies and gentlemen there. So I don’t think there is any big deal there as far as Mao’s CV is concerned. He only became Gulu chairman with the help of FDC and UPC but he is probably too arrogant to publicly admit it.

If presidents were picked based on their prior performances as student leaders, then we would have had many of those in Uganda. Uganda got its independence in 1962 and we have had more than six presidents but none of those were guild presidents,partly because student politics tend to be totally different from the national politics. So I was amazed to watch Mao on YouTube making this a big deal in one of his rallies as if he won some sort of a lotto by having one leg over late Mayombo while still at the university.

Mao’s guild presidency story at Makerere University is more of a fable than anything else. I don’t know of many student leaders that have made it to the top office just because they were student leaders. More importantly, I don’t know of any great leaders of the world that became so because there were student leaders prior to that. At least, I know George Washington,Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Churchhill, Nyerere Julius, Mandela Nelson, Kenyata, Obote Milton, Sir Edward Mutesa, Kwame Nkrumah, Fidel Castro, Gadaffi(Libya) and others in that category were not some university student leaders. Bill Clinton was a student leader and musician in primary and high schools but I don’t remember watching a video of him on TV telling people: ‘you see me here, I defeated MN at university elections when a few people expected it and now I want to make KB and YM history’’.Nyerere founded a group to bring together TZ students at Makerere University but I don’t think he went around singing about it when campaigning at rallies in Tanzania, and I’m sure he made it to the presidency because voters looked at other things other than his student involvement at MUK or Edinburgh universities

Jan Bubenik was a student leader during the Velvet Revolution but he did not make it very far in Czech politics.

Li Lu was a student leader who later turned himself into a politician and an activist after going to exile in USA, but that did not bring him anywhere near the presidency or prime ministerial offices in China. Actually, after going into exile, he only managed to sneak back into the country this year in September, under the wings of US billionaire, Buffet, for the Chinese car manufacturer annual business meeting in Shenzhen. The government saw no need to arrest him since he was bringing them business and profits instead of politics. Li is actually spending most of his energy in business and working closely with Buffet instead of wasting time with Beijing politics. He has tried to make peace with Beijing after realising that some times dogs can only be chased by fellow dogs, something which will take some DP supporters a long time to understand.

Another famous former student leader in USA called, Sam Brown, was only very instrumental in helping one of the Democratic presidential candidates, Kerry, in raising funds in California in 2004 but he never became a president. He also served in Carter and Clinton administrations.

In France, there was Daniel Cohn-Bendit who was a student leader of the May 1968 student protests in Paris. The best he could become was an MP for some party but not the presidency.

In Britain where I live, Margaret Thatcher was the only student leader who made it to the Downing Street as PM but Labour’s Charles Clarke looks like he will never be anything bigger than a cabinet minister in politics despite his endless campaigns on TV against Gordon Brown when he was prime minister.

In Iraq, Iyad Allawi was a student leader in Britain in 1960s and he only became a PM because of his connections to CIA and M16.He established these links when he started opposing Sadam Hussein.

As for his being Head prefect, Mao should not be mentioning this on rallies too because there are lots of head prefects I know who are now grassing. Actually, these things of ‘head prefect’ or whatever don’t really matter that much or determine anybody’s future prospects or potential. President Museveni was reportedly one of the bumless and unrecognisable boys at Ntare Sec School -constantly involved in political debates but he is now our president. Late Obote was a university drop out but he died being called a president and a doctor. Sematimba peter is a school drop out but he may become our city mayor if Lukwago and Mbaike don’t sort things out.

So ,it would only be reasonable if Mao stops wasting time attacking Besigye because he is not going to become anything bigger than Besigye, at least not in the next 15 years, unless if he later decides to join NRM.

Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

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Healthcare should be a ‘Right’ to all to reduce Social inequality

01 Oct 2010 10 Comments

by semuwemba in 2010-2011 elections, Africa, Economics, health, Politics, social issues

Dear friends,

The news that most of the parts of the Busoga region in Eastern Ugandan are now infested with jiggers is mind blowing and embarrassing to all of us considering that Busoga has been voting President Museveni and NRM in big numbers since 1996. For those who don’t understand what jiggers are, it’s a special pathological condition, caused by fleas of the genus Tunga. A jigger is also called chigoe. A jigger often attacks the feet or any exposed part of the human body, and when it burrows beneath the skin, it produces great irritation. When the female is allowed to remain and breed, troublesome sores result, which are sometimes dangerous. Most people in the developed nations know a jigger as a bartending tool used to measure liquor not as a dangerous insect as it is in Africa and Asia.

Now, as someone who partly grew up at a small village called Kisega( Kangulumira in Bugerere), I saw on a regular basis how jiggers affected people and what a lack of healthcare does to people. The next two major hospitals from Kisega are a lot of miles away at Nagalama and Kayunga towns. Health centers in the area are too ill-equipped to handle major health problems. As such I think health care should be designated as a special ”right” to everyone in Uganda, and probably the whole of Africa.I’m saying that heath care should be as much a right as life, liberty, and happiness because I don’t believe that only people with money should have X number of hours of a Doctor’s time available. Health care should be accessed too by people who can’t afford life-saving treatment because their lives are not worth less than those with a lot of money. Why should health care be any different from police, fire or military protection? Would one want one’s house to burn down because the neighbor paid for fire protection and one did not? Everybody needs a doctor at some time, just as everybody needs roads and schools and fire protection. These are things that only a government can supply to the people they represent.

Yes, I acknowledge that none of those things magically appear just because I say people have a right to them. No one has an unconstrained “right” to as much medical care as they think they need, just as no one has a right to a private public-funded tutor for their kid or a right to have a personal fire truck and firefighter always parked outside their home. But I think the government needs to find a way to make sure that the less privileged can access medical care as the wealthy ones. The picture in the Monitor Newspaper of the woman struggling to feed her kid when they are both suffering from jiggers is so upsetting, yet most of these conditions are treatable and preventable. As UK epidemiologists, Professor Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett also said in their book entitled’ The Spirit level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone’, social inequality is one of the causes of the poor health due to a big gap between the poor and the rich. As such, I think health care should be as much as a right as like free speech and like free speech has limits but in general is unrestricted. Cosmetic surgery, for example, might in general not be considered health care. If one wants to look 20 years younger it’s on one’s dime.

A feet affected with Jiggers(image sent by Otto Patrick)

Historically, National health care programs were first instituted by Otto von Bismarck in imperial Germany in 1883 before it later spread to the rest of Europe. In USA, former president, Harry Truman, proposed it to the Congress following World War 11, before it was defeated by a coalition led by American Medical Association. In his message to Congress on Nov. 19, 1945, Truman asked members to support his Economic Bill of Rights which included the “right to adequate.

For the meantime, I advice people in Busoga to put on Leather or rubber shoes which could shod their feet from jiggers at least as we wait for the government to address some of the social inequalities in our society. Jiggers will always be a problems as long there is still a big gap between the poor and rich.

Byebyo Ebyange

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

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