You are a ‘Ugandan’ not ‘Bugandan’ or ‘Busogan’ or ‘Bunyoran’ by Nationality
24 Feb 2012 3 Comments
in Bahima and Banyarwanda, Buganda, Bunyoro and lost counties, culture, cultures, federalism in Uganda
Folks,
Yes, Buganda, Bunyoro, Toro and Ankole used to be nations but not anymore. All the kingdoms are now part of a country called Uganda. So, one cannot officially be a Muganda or Musoga or Mutoro or Munyori by nationality. I think some of you need to join FDC soon because you may find their motto of ‘One people One Uganda’ very useful.
I love my Kabaka and everything called Buganda but there are things we have got to draw a line under if we are to find a way forward. Some of my Baganda friends may misinterpret this standing as anti-Kabaka but they are absolutely wrong. I have got no reason to appease any non-Muganda against Buganda. Kabaka Mutebi is my Kabaka and I wish he is given what he wants to help his people.
Yes, I understand why some people are finding it difficult to accept that president Museveni has done a number on Baganda . He has systematically weakened the Kingdom to the extent that our only option now is to fight for a federal system of governance despite the fact that he hates it too. Buganda kingdom has got all the mechanisms in place to embrace federalism unlike other parts of the country. If you remember, I one time wrote an article here showing that ‘Buganda is already a quasi state within a state‘
The kingdom has got all the structures in place to govern itself and I think that scares some people in the government, but this does not make Buganda a ‘state’ or ‘nation’ as some people are saying. The nations in the world are known because there are composed of permanent states. With one exception, the Vatican, the rest of the nations are formed by trans-generational communities. So, Buganda was once a nation with various tribes in it but this ceased in 1900 if my history serves me right. In 1960s, we fully became a nation called Uganda and I can’t foresee that arrangement being put in the bin soon.
Under the new world order, each person inherently belongs to a specific nation, and no-one can validly claim not to belong to any nation. So, most of the members of UAH belong to a nation called Uganda not Buganda. Our nationality is Ugandan, and that is what we fill in on our passport application forms.
Under the new world order, nations are usually not abolished, singly or collectively. No process which terminates the existence of any nation is legitimate. Nobody can abolish a nation called Uganda but people with power in Uganda can abolish any centres of power in the country, and this includes kingdoms (as Obote did in 1966).The world order of nation states shall never be terminated.
Yes, another nation may develop from an existing nation as it happened in Sudan( south and Northern Sudan) or Ethiopia and Eritrea, but there are less chances of this happening in Uganda at the moment because the Buganda kingdom has been ‘de-bugandalised’ with constant inflow and settlement of other tribes from other parts of the country. The present government has been one of the engines of this process and I cannot see this being reversed in anyway by any other government.
Conversely, all nation states claim that other groups do not possess that specific right to the territory in question. For instance, Irish nationalists believe that the ‘Irish people’ have a superior right to the island of Ireland, and that the Paraguayan people do not possess this right. They believe that individual Irishmen and Irish women are the bearers of this collective right, and that these individuals cannot be denied the right to reside in Ireland. But the difference with Buganda/Uganda is that Ireland has no indigenous ethnic minorities. So the definition of the nation is relatively simple.
Yes, historically Buganda was such a great kingdom and I think some people are still holding on that dream. For instance, Michael Twaddle, for instance, once described the Baganda as the ‘Chinese of Africa’ because of their historical modern ways of living in a non-western world. Winston Churchill also called the Buganda kingdom ‘a fairy-tale’ because ‘the people are different from anything elsewhere to be seen in the whole of Africa’. He later called Uganda ‘the pearl of Africa’ for reasons which are not far away from Buganda kingdom. Political parties were born in Buganda out of political movements. It is widely believed that Katikilo Nsibirwa was assassinated by the Buganda political movements because he was looked at as a stooge for the colonialists. Buganda had a party which united both the tenants and landlords which was called the Bataka party. This party was founded by Baganda intellectuals and it was the first to oppose the East Africa federation. Probably, I would not have been a member because I support both the Federalism in Uganda and the East Africa Federation though the former needs to be sorted out first. The Baganda old men had manners and they never abused people in public.
Anyway,there are several problems with the interpretation of nationality by some people in Uganda, not the least of which is that Baganda , Banyoro, Basoga,……….. are not tribes, but nations.
In all my time I never really thought about my nationality till now and I don’t think many of us did, because I’ve always taken myself to be a Ugandan( not Bugandan). This does not mean that I don’t treasure our kingdom but it’s amazing how one can just assume that everyone treats certain aspects in the same way.
Now that some people are talking in terms of ‘old stone age’, I have been forced to look at the stratigraphies of the Old Stone Age to see how this is related to their argument, which usually look as follows: modern man (homo sapiens); Neanderthal man (homo sapiens neanderthalensis) and Homo erectus (invents fire and is considered the first intelligent Man). My question to them: how old is the earth? How old is Uganda? Uganda is a result of the evolution of all the kingdoms (which they prefer to call nations) and there is no going back. Evolution is a fact just as old age is a fact. Yes, England came to be called England because of a combination of several nations, and that is evolution. Uganda evolved differently and I think we have got to move on instead of blaming colonialists.
By the way, even the democracy we are following is ‘colonial’. Are we going to drop it and move back into ‘stone age’ political ideologies? When are we going to stop this victim blaming?
We already have ‘stone age’ economies; ‘stone age’ leaders in suites with a thin glaze coating of just enough cell phones(MTN, Walid,. e.t.c) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and now some of you want us to look at our nationalities in a ‘stone age’ format. Let’s be proud of being Ugandans, at least, despite the fact that our leaders try so much to make us feel otherwise. This does not make us love our kingdoms and kings any less but it shows we have got ‘Uganda at heart’. We should put our energies in fighting for federalism for all regions in Uganda. Buganda and other kingdoms can still be great if the sons and daughters of the respective kingdoms are committed to revive them.
In Britain, the north is kind of marginalized but the Yorkshire people are so proud of their region such that the rich men there have done everything possible to close the gap between them and the south. For instance, the two guys that own ‘MORRISON’ supermarket are Yorkshires and until recently, most of their supermarkets were based in the north. London wasn’t an attraction to them till when they bought ‘Safeways’ supermarket a few years ago. There is Yorkshire tea, Yorkshire water (one can drink it from the tap without boiling it), e.t.c. Similarly, we should find a concrete plan to help kingdoms and draw a line under certain things we cannot change. May be one day, we shall be having: Buganda Tea, Buganda water, Buganda Soda, …………. if the ‘stone age ‘thinking is wiped off from our minds.
Overall, I think we need to find a way of keeping our great kingdoms within Uganda without necessarily denouncing our nationality and the best I can think of right now is fighting for federalism.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
The Murder of Charles Ingabire reminded me of my grandparent’s ordeal in Bugerere in 1990s
04 Dec 2011 7 Comments
in Bahima and Banyarwanda, Museveni and NRM, Political murders
Charles Ingabire, editor of the Inyenyeri News
Dear friends,
It was very sad to learn of the murder of Rwanda journalist, Charles Ingabire(RIP), who was gunned down in Kampala on 30th November 2011. He was a known critic of Paul Kagame, and if it can be proved that the state of Rwanda is responsible for the death of this journalist, it is the responsibility of every African to make it a life mission to make sure that the culprits are brought to justice. I have always admired Kagame’s leadership compared to other African dictators but I think this is one of his weakest points, i.e. killing his political opponents abroad instead of calming things down. This is where Uganda’s Museveni is better than him, i.e. at least, he kills some and bribes some. Killing is allegedly a last resort for Museveni, at least. He uses mainly ‘amafalanga’[money] to cool down political opponents which is ethically wrong but it is effective and saves lives. Otherwise, people like UPCs Hajji Badru Wegulo and Henry Peter Mayiga, NRM’s Eriya Kategeya, former chairman of FDC who replaced late kiggundu, and others, would all be dead. But the president reportedly paid them off to stop opposing him and that was the end of the story.
I would not say that I would not be looking over my shoulders while in Kampala because Museveni is more of a ‘MAFALANGA’ guy compared to Kagame who targets the part between the eyes, but all I know is that Museveni and NRM do not kill their opponents in broad day light unless if you are protesting on streets as we saw with the ‘Walk to Work’ this year, and he only eliminates serious opponents but then again, I may be killed by some people to prove otherwise. Please don’t kill me. OK!
Secondly, I have a feeling that Kagame is a very emotional, no- nonsense, unreasonable guy compared to Museveni. The later, on the other hand, is reportedly a good listener, very patient, and knows how to control his anger and emotions. In other words, he can kill you when you least expect it, he can be easily become anybody’s friend or he can easily sense danger before other people. I don’t know whether this makes him more dangerous than Kagame because of the unpredictability around him, but I think he is the best political strategist Uganda has ever produced.
Kagame comes across as a sadist/ mafia: he can easily put a bullet in one’s mouth without thinking twice. I’m sorry to say this but I think most Rwandese/Banyarwanda (35 years and above) are like this. Their past especially the 1994 genocide has had a big effect on their value of human life. They find killing someone so easy compared to other nationalities in Uganda. I have watched documentaries about the genocide but the stories there are so horrible.
Let me tell you a story that happened when I was doing my O’ Levels. I used to help out with the management of my grandfather’s farm in Bugerere during the vacations. We employed a lot of Banyarwanda as our ‘Balalo’[herdsmen]. So, one day one of my uncles from Canada, Dr. Abdullah Kirumirah, visited us in the village. During those days, whenever someone’s son or daughter from abroad visited, the whole village got to know about it. So when Uncle Abbey (as we used to call him) arrived, I personally had to take him around the village to say hello to almost all the elders in the village.
Hajjati Mayimuna Nabagereka, my grandmother
To cut the whole story short, there was this group of men who used to rob people’s homes at night. One of the boys in that group called Katende Mabilizi, was very well known to our family because he used to work for us in our shambas. My grandfather had a policy of treating workers and the family members as the same: we could eat the same food; share milk; some slept on boys’ quarters, e.t.c. We even used to treat former employees as part of the family.
So, the third day uncle Abbey was at the village, this boy Mabilizi managed to sneak into the house, got himself under one the bed of one of my cousins, and later opened up for other robbers in his group to come inside our house. Like I said, Mabilizi was known to us but we did not know that he had joined this gang when he left our home. In any case, his father was a good friend of my grandfather, and I also used to treat him as a friend.
On that terrible night, his gang friends first broke into my grandparents’ room and started chopping their bodies in pieces demanding for Canadian dollars. Mabilizi had locked us up in our rooms while we were sleeping. So we could not come out to help at all yet we could hear the noise and screams from our grand’s bedroom. Actually, the thumb of my grandfather was chopped badly such that we had to fly him to USA to repair it later on. Mulago could not fix it. He sustained serious cuts on the head and arms too. I even don’t want to remember this because there was a lot of blood in the bedroom before our Banyarwanda/ Balalo came to my grandfather’s rescue. There was never any noise from grandma as she was the first to be silenced.
Fortunately, one of the ‘Balalos’ managed to break the window to my grandfather’s room from the outside. So the thieves run away but my grandmother was assumed dead because she lay on the floor breathlessly with a serious deep cut on her head. Uncle Abbey later came out and found some pulse on her but we had all thought that she was already dead. So, we rushed them to Nagalama hospital before they were transferred to Mulago.
The following day, the whole village (Kisega, to be precise) was hunting down the gang leaders including Mabalizi. The mother of the gang leader helped us to track down his son as we found him hiding in some hut somewhere in a forest. He had built a hut for himself in the bushes and it was only his mother who knew about it. He was dragged out and the decision was made by the villagers to take him to Kangulumira police station.
While on the way to police station, one of our Banyarwanda ‘Balalo’ got his pang out and cut his throat in broad day light, as if he was cutting a goat’s head. I still remember his first name as ‘George’ but he actually looked like Kagame in the face. He used to be the head of the ‘Balalo’ but he was as tall as Kagame, and he used to keep a smile on his face. I will never forget his face. The gang leader died immediately and his body was left in the middle of the road by the villagers for almost a couple of days.
My grandfather made it 100 years old in 2011
It was the saddest moment of my life ,i.e. watching both my grandparents/guardians in pain in Mulago hospital for over a month. We could not transfer them abroad straightaway till they had gained some energy and life in them. My grandfather had lost his memory as soon as he was discharged from Mulago. He had developed some form of mini-dementia but the experts in USA did everything possible to help him get back his memory. With God, everything is possible. He celebrated his 100th birthday this year. My grandmother came off worse as there was a large concentration of blood around her brain and she could not talk. So, she was taken to Canada with my uncle as soon as she left Mulago.
I believe there are lots of families out there that are facing such ordeals everyday because there is no security and hospitals in their regions. Instead of the government investing in police departments, they have instead allowed people like the president’s brother, Salim Saleh and Prime minister’s daughter, Nina Mbabazi, to start up security firms that fill in this void in urban centers, but people in the rural areas have been left with no teeth to bite anything. As a result, so many Ugandans lose their lives carelessly because the nearest hospitals are miles away and have no means to reach there. It is really sad.
Since that day, I give myself an arm’s length whenever I see a Munyarwanda who has got a pang or knife or those long sticks of theirs. Their faces are beautiful but their minds need serious counseling. They can easily kill anyone. May be Kagame finds it easy to order for the murder of anybody because of his past? Just think about it! Will African leaders ever find a different way of treating their political enemies other than killing or poisoning them while in prison? Why do some people cheaply look at human life? Why do they find it easy to kill someone?
May be I’ve generalized a little bit about the Banyarwanda/ Rwandese but frankly it is the feeling I have got for the present generation of Banyarwanda/Rwandese because they have all been affected by the genocide. I, however, have hope in their kids. They will hopefully value life more if we don’t get another genocide in Rwanda.
Anyway, let me end this by sending my condolences to the family of Charles Ingabire. Nobody deserves to be killed like that. The decision to have a life was taken out of his hands by some people with ugly hearts and minds. Till when we find a long lasting solution to such people, the society will continue to lose young people, such as Charles [RIP].
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
US troops in Uganda, Social Learning Theory and Gaddafi’s ‘Execution’
21 Oct 2011 6 Comments
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
Museveni’s State Visit to Rwanda Reignited the Debate about the Assasination of Habyarimana
31 Jul 2011 9 Comments
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
Museveni’s Assassinations Claims are Giving me Sleepless Nights!
28 Dec 2010 5 Comments
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.
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’.Museveni’s Movement is now a political party and enjoying most of the state benefits.
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
Majority of Ugandans generally hated UPC’s Obote
25 Mar 2010 81 Comments
in 1980 Uganda elections, 2010-2011 elections, Bahima and Banyarwanda, Buganda, kingdoms, luwero war after 1980 'theft', Obote and UPC, Politics, Tribalism
Obote and Sir Edward Mutesa before kingdoms were abolished
Dear friends,
I have always found articles in the media written by Mengo officials, such as Buganda’s Attorney General, Appolo Makubuya, about the relationship between Obote and Mutesa11, very interesting. And i think It is very wrong for some people to argue that Baganda generally hate Acholis or northerners in general. Baganda are very welcoming people and they have welcomed everybody starting with every name in the alphabets from A- Z including the Acholis. The person to blame for attempting to create divisions between the Baganda and the northerners was late Obote, but good enough he is dead and ,therefore, we can afford to move on or repair the damage he left behind if Museveni also goes sooner.
The truth is that Obote seemed to have had some banter to settle with Baganda. For instance, In a speech broadcast on radio Uganda, obote told a rally held in soroti in 1981 that if the baganda did not behave themselves, they (the Acholi-Langi alliance) would do to them what they did to the west Nilers in 1980. Secondly,Phares Mutibwa in his book ‘Uganda since independence’ also wrote that at Kololo(outskirts of Kampala city) , one Acholi soldier wrote on the wall:’killing a muganda or a munyankole is as easy as riding a bicycle’.
Nevertheless, the Acholis have never forgiven Obote for dividing the Acholi district into Simba and Moto Moto factions because he wanted to prolong his stay in power. Obote wanted to keep them fighting each other since a unified Acholi would worry his leadership and he was right when one looks at what happened at the later stages of his leadership. Obote depended on rival factions within the party to lead UPC for a long time. In Toro, he clandestinely supported a rival UPC group called ‘KAGOROGORO’ under Rwambarali against another one under Samson Rusoke. That is how he run his shows in UPC for a long time till the day called ”Mulindwa” happened in 1985.So why should Baganda continue to hate the Acholis who also later realised that they were just being used by Obote?
It is very unfair on the rest of Ugandans who hate Obote and UPC when someone just picks only on Baganda. Obote’s injustices did not limit themselves to Buganda borders alone such that when Dr.Otuunu or any other UPC leader is apologising, s/he may find himself doing it to the whole country apart from Lango. Obote was not only hated in Buganda but the rest of Uganda and the following may explain why:
Sedition charges started with Obote and Museveni just polished it. Sedition charges did not start with president museveni as he learnt that from one of his predecessors, Dr. Milton Obote. Journalists and the media were some of the biggest casualties of the government’s sensitivity to criticism during Obote and now Museveni.
Black Mambas started with Obote not Museveni. When president Museveni sent the ‘black mambas’ in the case of Dr.Kiiza Besigye and other PRA suspects Vs the state of Uganda, and black mambas surrounded the court, he was just polishing what he had been taught by his political master, Milton Obote. When Obote stole the 1980 elections just like most political thieves, he started manipulating the judiciary as a way of keeping himself in power. Lawyers who tried to represent people in courts were intimidated, detained or killed. For example, Cprian Kawoya was abducted from the high court while the court was in session and later murdered by Obote’s ‘black mambas’. Other lawyers killed or tortured under similar circumstances include: Hon. George Bamuturaki, Gideon Mutanga, Sewava Sempala,e.t.c.
UPC was the first party to ban political parties in Uganda under Obote 1 in 1968 under the famous Lugogo ceremony.So, when Museveni came into power in 1986, he did the same thing till 2004 when multi partysm got a breather after donor pressure and court cases fronted by DP and UPC.
Makerere students generally hated Obote because he used the campus to spy on students, intimidate and kill students. The Obote army intimidated and killed a lot of students at Makerere university in the 1980s purely because they wanted to devise ways of either UPC dominating the Guild or closing it altogether if UPC couldn’t have it. At one time, one George Bwanika was shot and damped in Namanve forests. UPC used the offices of the then Dean of students, George Kihuguru and the Deputy Vice chancellor, Gingera-Pinycwa, to plung the whole university into chaos with the help of obviously the army.
However much I admire the political acumen of Dr.Milton Obote, he made the gravest mistake of attempting to weaken Buganda by attacking the Lubili in Mengo in 1966.Obote himself is on record saying that was his lowest point in leadership.
A lot of Ugandans were killed under his watch between 1980 and 1984. For example, Hajji Abbasi Kibazo: Chairman Uganda Taxi OPERATORS Cooperative Union. He was arrested from his office in Kampala and taken to Makindye Barracks where they did what Kampalans call ‘OKUMUMIZA OMUSSU’ (murdered). Actually, he failed to protect the Ugandan population in Luwero when he was ‘legally’ made a president by a UPC chaired Electoral Commission after the 1980 elections. So many Ugandans lost their lives in Luwero and elsewhere because of the NRA rebels that cropped up after these elections
Obote was the man who started coups in Uganda by illegally ousting President Sir Edward Mutesa in 1966. This same year he illegally abolished kingdoms and is partly responsible for the death of Ugandans in the Lubili attack of 1966.
He is responsible for militarisation of politics in Uganda and this is exemplified by so many examples in his government (Obote 1 and 2). He also started the tribalisation of the army in Uganda when he recruited a lot of his tribes mate in the Uganda Army after taking over from DP’s Ben Kiwanuka.
He is responsible for producing a 1967 constitution that makes the offices of the Vice president and prime minister not independent of the presidency. The president can fire the VP and prime minister any time and this was started by the changes brought about in the 1967 constitution. The 1962 consitiution had separated the powers of the president, vice president and Prime minister but Obote changed that, and no president has rectified this up today.
It is also believed that president Obote did not want the Islamic University in Mbale to be built while he was in power. These allegations were made by president Museveni at one of the Mbale University’s graduation ceremony. Museveni also reportedly said that Obote did not want Uganda to be a member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). Obote’s reason, according to Museveni, being that the two were linked to Idi Amin.
Obote was the politician who started the ‘TEMANGALO’(Corruption) environment in Uganda though it is arguably believed that NRM has been worse in this department. For instance, the GOLD ALLEGATION scandal of 1960s was the start of pure state corruption in Uganda and if it had been punished properly, probably it would have set a good precedent in Uganda politics. Another example is when Prime Minister Kintu Musoke attacked Obote for having bought a government house on Prince Charles Drive in Kololo at a giveaway price. The prime minister wanted to prove that Obote was the first politician to purchase a government house and to convince the public that it was therefore in order for President Museveni or his brother Maj. Gen. Salim Saleh to purchase the same house. Let us also remember that Uganda House was built using tax payers money though this could not be proved properly in the courts of law.
Apollo Milton Obote is the only party leader the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) had before he died. Remember UPC was established before even Uganda got independence. But you going to find a lot of UPC supporters asking a man who has been a leader of FDC party since 2005 to step aside because he has served one term.
Obote used men like Rwakasisi to terrorise Banyarwanda in the 1980S. Actually, some registration schemes were started in towns like Masaka headed by some guy I have forgotten. Surprisingly, Rwakasisis is now ‘reformed’ and a state buddy of president Museveni. He is one of the presidential advisors on security.
It’s an open secret that UPC under Obote rigged the 1980 elections and that marked the beginning of rigging in Uganda politics. It had never happened before. That’s why we are not surprised that even when Dr.Otuunu won the UPC presidency and beat his opponents fairly, some UPC still stuck with the 1980 mindset are telling people that he rigged.
As for why most Ugandans hate UPC more than the British, it is because these were colonialists who came in Uganda, did whatever they had to do and later packed their bags at the end of colonialism. They left a very good development program in 1960s (that included among many things the building of hospitals, for Obote 1 which he partly implemented. Uganda is now an independent country though we have failed to be economically independent. Donors are still pulling the strings as we have all seen with threats of cutting aid if Africa does not embrace homosexuality. Africa has got a lot of natural resources and it should be in a good shape now economically but our post independence leaders let us down.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Why Ugandans should not vote for Mao in 2011
26 Feb 2010 44 Comments
in 2010-2011 elections, Bahima and Banyarwanda, federalism in Uganda, kingdoms, Obote and UPC, Politics
Dear friends,
I was watching a film titled ‘Schindlers’s List’ with my wife last week and she ended up crying at the end of it. The movie is about the horrors of living in a Nazi or Hitler dictatorship and the way the Jews were humiliated and killed. It portrays a kindness of the human condition that many people, today, are not that happy with. It is indeed a depressing film though I would recommend it to anyone. After watching this film, my mind just switched straight to the president of one of the DP factions, Norbert Mao, and what the people of northern Uganda have endured for the last 20 years since Museveni took over in 1986. Mao is quoted to have said in the Sunday Monitor newspaper on 21st February this year:’……… We are either full citizens, equal to all others, or non-citizens. The idea of the Nile State is actually a challenge to the Uganda government that we did not choose to be Ugandans ……….’, in response to a question he was asked regarding his known agenda about secession of northern Uganda from Uganda.
Yes, the people of northern Uganda have gone through an ordeal and the rest of the country feels for them but at the same time, we want them to remain Ugandans. The Jews suffered under Hitler more than any race I have known in history after the abolition of slave trade, and probably they had a reason to ask for a ‘special home’ of their own after world war 11, but the people in the north already have a home in Uganda.
If Mao’S DP faction win Election 2011, the Uganda, which our forefathers fought to make one, is in very serious trouble. Mao is in the danger of favouring his region against others as we have come to witness in president Museveni’s regime recently. Mao’s secession propaganda has been known for a while and therefore it would be very wrong to make such a person a president of the whole country at a time when we are already more divided than before. We should support presidential candidates that support federalism in Uganda and not those who support both federalism and secession.
Comparing Mao to Obama?
It is also very wrong for some Ugandans to keep comparing Mao to president Obama since the later has never been a secessionist. Probably, it would be fair if Mao is compared to the current Republican favourite, Sarah Pallin. They are both young and supporters of secession projects. Sarah Pallin used to be a member of the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP), a fringe political party that advocates the secession of Alaska from the USA. Just months before Palin was announced as McCain’s vice-presidential nominee, she delivered a videotaped address to the AIP’s annual convention.
DP needs to be careful with Mao’s agenda because their party might have been penetrated by Mao’s secessionist groups. Rumour has it that Sarah Pallin may have been planted in the Republican Party by the AIP despite the initial denials by the McCain’s camp when she was introduced to the national stage in 2008. There was a national convention in 2007 of secessionist groups where Vice president of AIP said that his party would seek to “infiltrate” the Democratic and Republican parties with candidates sympathetic to its secessionist agenda. Similarly, any sane Ugandan needs to question the motives of Mao in DP because he may be using the party to push his own personal agendas.
Do we ever learn from history?
I’m still surprised that leaders never learn anything from history. When Obote came back from his exile in Tanzania in the 1980s, he asked the opposition where their Generals were. He also promised to apply the ‘law of Moses’ to the Baganda and Banyarwanda whom he hated so much. The northerners were dominant in Obote’s army(Obote 1) and UNLA(Obote 2). Then Museveni convinced the Baganda that we need to get rid of Obote to sort out what went wrong in both Obote 1 and Obote 2. However, I’m surprised today to see that the same mistakes Obote made are the same ones president Museveni is committing . He has geared his politics towards weakening the kingdom of Buganda. He has encouraged the formation of various chiefdoms in a country that had not more than four recognised kingdoms at independence in 1962.We are basically more divided as Ugandans than before such that we don’t need another president who will make this situation worse.
I’m also surprised that Israel is subjecting almost the same ‘slave’ treatment to Palestines which is almost similar to what they went through under the Nazi dictatorship. Isreal has been supporting secessionist movements in Sudan, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon and any secessionist movements in the Arab world which Israel considers an enemy.
Is Mao a threat to Museveni?
I think the opposition in Uganda are more confused than I thought. I can assure you right now that so many people in the rural areas don’t even know Mao. At least, I know for sure that my grandfather and grandmother don’t know this guy. With Mao at the helm of Opposition in 2011, we may as well switch our attention to 2016 because Museveni will win that one hands down, without any necessary rigging.
The opposition already have a brand in Dr.Besigye and they are wasting it just because they have seen a new kid on the block. This is not the time for novices (to borrow from Gordon Brown’s description of David Cameroon last year). Mao cannot give M7 any sleepless nights. To be honest, if I was NRM, I would do anything to get either Mao or Mugisha Muntu as M7′s opponent in 2011 because they cannot keep the ‘big man’ on his toes.
Because Mao has been elected DP president by one faction of DP, he is gonna affect the fortunes of the IPC candidate in the north since some people in the north believe in him. With this, Museveni does not need to win the north to remain the president of Uganda come 2011 since Mao has already done the job for him.If DP-Mao fields candidates in Buganda in 2011, then the Buganda opposition vote will be divided between the IPC candidates. It will the same everywhere if Mao goes ahead to think in terms of ‘ONLY DP’.
However, If Mao is elected the IPC candidate I will go easy on him but I won’t have any hope in the 2011 elections either. I don’t know whether it’s just excitement or what but Uganda politics right now cannot be sorted out by the likes of Mao.
We should all strive to keep the’ one country, one people project’ in Uganda despite the challenges in the country at the moment. Buganda and north have made it clear that they want federalism and I see no reason why some politicians want to twist people’s minds toward secession. It would serve Mao best if he comes out now and denies secession claims before 2011 as Sarah Pallin did when she shot to the national stage in 2008.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
UNITED KINGDOM
Museveni’s mission is a lesson to Rwandese Haters
09 Feb 2010 4 Comments
in Bahima and Banyarwanda, international, luwero war after 1980 'theft', Presidency
Ugandans,
Please be careful not to get sacked into Museveni’s book:’sowing the mustard seed’, because it can have an effect on anybody after reading it. It shows a man who was on a mission from day one.It’s interesting because most people are only born with ambitions such as becoming a doctor, teacher or nurse or something like that- which are just straightforward careers but Museveni’s book portrays him as a man who wanted non of the above ‘give me a desk, suite and a pen’ careers. That’s why I keep telling people that ‘love him or hate him’, Museveni has got the ‘Reagan ‘ effect on the people of Uganda. Reagan also had that effect on the Americans despite keeping them in miserly. That’s why im not surprised that an FDC man like you is giving Museveni credit where it’s due.
May be this should be a lesson to people like Mr.Edward Mulindwa of Toronto- who keep portraying Rwandese immigrants in Uganda as scumbags. Yes,Museveni and Mugisha Muntu may have a Rwandese background but we should move ourselves above that if we are to move forward. The Californians voted for somebody with dual citizenship as their Governor’s in Schwarzenegger and there is now a movement pushing for the amendment of the US constitution such that he could ran for president in future. They want specifically Article II, which holds that a president must be a “natural born” citizen to be amended.
I don’t know if Museveni came to Uganda with anything apart from the clothes he had on but he has made himself somebody in the Uganda history and nobody in their right minds can deny this. I read somewhere that at least Schwarzenegger arrived in America with little more than a gym bag but he became a Hollywood star with lots of money and later a governor. So instead of people showering abuse to Rwandese immigrants in Uganda, may be we should instead do something about lives and compete with them.Abanyarwanda joined Museveni’s bush war in Luwero because they Obote and Rwakasisi was up inn their necks.Museveni gave them a home in Luwero. They later found a home in their country buy figthting Habyariman government. Abanyarwanda are still on a mission to strengthen their position in the great lakes region because they know that whatever they have achieved so far can easily be thrown out of the window. We should all be a mission or target human beings.
Nze Bwendaba
Abbey
