Preventive ”BESIGYEISM” Continues to expose Museveni on the International Stage
19 May 2011 4 Comments
in FDC, international, Legal issues, Politics, Riots and genocide, security
Policemen stop Dr Besigye’s car near his Kasangati home yesterday.(Photo by Daily Monitor)
Friends
I beg to disagree with those who still think that president Museveni ‘wants Dr Besigye around’ to help him keep power after today’s announcement by the police of ‘preventive law’ or ‘preventive arrest’ as put by police spokesperson, Judith Nabakoba. Yes, this kind of measure by the police exists in the books of law and it basically means to prevent or to keep a big crime from happening again, the kind of event that could take another thousand of lives. It requires the police to stop crime from happening before it happens, and that’s a good thing. The bad thing, it seems to me, is Besigye is all treated as a potential guilty criminal rather than an innocent citizen. He has not committed any crime by ‘driving’ or ‘walking’ to work as an individual protest against the Museveni government, but police keep stopping him by citing ‘preventive law’ . This is one of the individual peaceful ways of demonstrating and legally speaking, the state can do little about them.
President Museveni ‘s proposal to change the constitution such that rioters or protestors are denied bail is also a violation of people’s rights, and I hope the NRM MPs, though I know that they won’t, resist the temptations to change the constitution for the sake of short term gains by the president.
What police actions,however, reflect right now is that president Museveni is so shaken at the moment by the events around him. Uganda is the first country in the history of sub Sahara Africa to demonstrate for more than a month against a sitting government.Black Africans are known to be cowards when it comes to repressive regimes, not anymore. If the issues fronted by the Activists for Change (A4C) movement are addressed by the Museveni government then this pressure group will just remain in name, as like most groups, but it seems the president is not ready to back down. All these actions show that president Museveni is uncomfortable with the FDC leader, Dr.Besigye, despite winning the 2011 elections.
I also think it was unwise for president Museveni to meet foreign diplomats and ask them ‘not to support opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye’’( according to the Newvision). This shows that the president has started seeing the real threat of being taken out of power by western nations as real and he cannot trust foreign diplomats anymore. But what does he achieve by meeting them? Not a great deal because big nations hate being ordered around by leaders of small nations. I can see the US and UK ambassadors angrily talking to themselves behind the scenes, after this meeting with phases like:’ what the hell does Yoweri think he is?’’. So, the whole thing is likely to back fire on him.
Yes, Museveni must have been advised to do this as part of a series of a public relations campaign against Besigye in the eyes of the international community, just like Isreal’s Benyamin Netanyahu did in December 2006 when he summoned 70 diplomats in Israel to a meeting to pressure them to join his country’s efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear program. It worked temporarily for the Israel on the international stage but it did not stop Iran from continuing with its nuclear program. I don’t know whether the Uganda ambassador was part of this meeting but at least we know now that president Museveni supports Iran’s right to nuclear technology.
Foreign policy is often very messy. Again, if you recall, Iran was holding Americans hostage when Reagan won elections. US was selling arms to Iran before it started selling the same weapons to Saddam Hussein. Militarily speaking, Uganda is not a threat to US or British interests in the region but it will be strategically important for any big nation in future. So the threat that Uganda poses is due more to their relationship with China than anything else
President Museveni’s twelve page statement on the 17th May 2011 was also another sign that things are not at all well behind the curtains. He specifically attacked BBC, Aljazera, Daily Monitor and NTV for cheering on ‘irresponsible people’ – meaning the protestors. The press is supposed to be a watchdog as far as government business is concerned but they are being muzzled out everyday by the president, and we don’t know how this is gonna end.
With the exception of the Daily Monitor, Sunrise Magazine and Observer, there is practically no source or analysis of news on Uganda national media that is worth reading. The rest of the media, if we are being honest, is a nauseating rude low-minded cesspool. Not only does it have no value, it is positively injurious to the wisdom and understanding of those who read it. For instance, Andrew Mwenda’s Independent has been recently boxed into a corner such that it was very painful to read his article on Besigye- saying that the later had a hammer in his hands to harm the police. I even no longer have the desire to read his articles like I used to. There is something unattractive about his newspaper page these days though I sometimes listen to the audio.
President Museveni was not clearly happy that Besigye got more attention than him on his swearing-in day, but anyway who wouldn’t? President Museveni expressed his feelings very clearly in his statement when he said:’’ The excuse of “big crowds” that held up Besigye for hours is a myth and a lie because I was the first to drive through that road after Kololo. Somebody had advised me to take shelter at Nakasero State Lodge until they had removed Besigye from the road. I rejected that view and went straight to Entebbe. I was able to see a few hundred people at Kibuye roundabout, at Najjanakumbi and Kajjansi, making FDC signs.’’ So who says that big crowds don’t matter in a politician’s life? With this, it is possible that people working with the president do organize buses to transport people to follow him whenever he goes as a way of appeasing the president. They know that big crowds mean a lot to him.
I wrote an article before the riots started- suggesting that Uganda tries to solve the current food crisis by adopting the Cuban experiment but it seems not to have caught the attention of those in power, and I assume that is why we are still having problems. So, like they say, let’s us leave the wise ones to come up with better solutions.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Semuwemba
–
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
http://ugandansatheart.org/
http://twitter.com/#!/semuwemba
http://semuwemba.wordpress.com/
USA is not yet sure of Besigye.That’s Why M7 is Still the President of Uganda
13 May 2011 4 Comments
in FDC, International Issues, Politics, Presidency, Riots and genocide
Folks,
It is believed in some quarters that the west or developed nations are not yet sure of Dr.Kiiza Besigye and that is why Museveni is still the president of Uganda but surely he(Besigye) would not be what he is today without their support. For instance, the UK government did a great deal to help FDC out financially in the presidential campaigns last year. Besigye attended the Conservative Party annual conference and was glad to show pictures of him and the Prime minister together on his blog during the campaigns.
David Cameron and Besigye seem to be on the same table as far as Uganda issues are concerned unless the oil deals change this relationship. The FDC 2011 election manifesto received a lot of input from the Conservatives such that some people accused the party of plagiarising it. I’m not a supporter of the Conservatives because i dont believe in right wing political ideologies where the poor means less to the person in power. I also partly believe in egalitarian societies.
The media in the UK seemed to be preparing us for anything in Uganda especially at the start of the ‘walk to work’ protests, and that is how the UK government usually works or at least it has been like that ever since I moved here. Whenever they are planning something, the media tend to be handy in terms of psychological preparations of the population. In addition, Rupert Murdoch who owns most of the newspapers here in the UK and USA is a big influence in the politics of both countries. He influences foreign policy through his media outlets. So when you start seeing Besigye stories in the Daily Mirror and The Guardian here in the UK on a regular basis then you know something serious is cooking. If I was Museveni right now, I would be spending more money in finding out where things have gone wrong than wasting time on those guys in the intelligence. They are feeding him more ‘poison’ than facts.
On the other hand, the Russians, French, Germans and Japans are usually in no- man’s land as far as foreign intervention is concerned in Africa. They tend to go with the flow. The Chinese are on Museveni’s side as they always side with whoever is in power. It is the Americans who have not supposedly endorsed Besigye and that is why president Museveni is still in power. The Americans seem to have a lot of influence on UK’s foreign policy but if shit hits the fan and Museveni is confirmed as a liability in the eyes of most Ugandans, the Americans can go with anybody. I can bet on that! Washington politics is so complicated for anyone to predict anything, though.
It is a fact that US has got more influence than UK on international matters but they need each other. When USA wanted to attack Iraq under Saddam, it needed some form of legitimacy to do so, and usually UK is always the first to support their foreign wars, and the vice versa is true. So, assuming UK wants to kick Museveni’s ass, more presumably because of Oil in Bunyoro, the Americans will not hesitate to support them because that is how international politics and diplomacy plays out- ”you scratch my back, I scratch yours”. All it needs is for Besigye and others to create a humanitarian situation in the country that requires foreign intervention and then that will be the end of Museveni’s dictatorship. Under international law it is permissible to act in self defense and it is permissible to intervene in another country’s affairs for humanitarian reasons. To intervene for other reasons is a war crime.
Besigye Supporter throws back a Teargas canister back to the police
Mr. Otunu is the weakest link among the top three opposition leaders. Yes, he has got international contacts and all that, but he is not popular on the ground. He is ”Mr.Smiley” and this does not sell in African politics. The US has a basic mythology that basically involves appeasement of some dictators, squeezing some and getting rid of others. For example, Bush used to give praise to Egypt’s Hussein Mubaraka very well knowing that he was a dictator, but when protests started they nicked him in the bud. Actually, there is nothing like a favourite opposition leader for USA unless if one is ready to protect their interests if helped to gain power. So the myth that Otunu is USA’s preferred candidate was built by him and the media in Kampala. It is something in the heads of those in Kampala but Otunu knows the truth now. He is a good guy,Otunu, but he is not anything more than just a UPC president right now.
Yes, Otunu was in such an influential position at UN but his position was not more powerful than that of Mohamed ElBaradei. The latter was the Director General of Internal Atomic Energy Agency and his job exposed him to the international media and influential people all over the world. But when it came to the Egyptian protests, he proved to be unpopular with the protestors and he ended up not providing the leadership desperately needed at the time despite seemingly endorsed by the Americans. The west abandoned him when they realised that he was not popular on the ground. The key here is being popular among the ‘’wananchi’’ before anything else.
Right now, there is no way anybody would form a transitional government in Uganda without Besigye in it, whatever his weaknesses, because he is more popular than the rest. Besigye’s biggest enemy now is not Ugandans but some FDC leaders and some in opposition who harbour leadership ambitions. They are actually not happy that he still has more ‘pull’ power than them after losing the presidential elections for the 3rd time and openly declaring that he was retiring as FDC president.
Overall, I can’t see the Americans abandoning Museveni soon because he is doing a good job for them so far. There are Uganda troops in Somalia and the US mission in Kampala is appreciating this gesture, but they are also keeping tabs on the situation on the ground. When they shout orders to him, he obliges without any resistance, for instance, they reportedly told him to abandon the homosexuality bill and he indeed did that; they allegedly told him to let Besigye go for treatment in Nairobi and he gave him a ‘weekly flight pass’ which he wanted to cancel later on. Nevertheless, if there is any sense that Museveni is losing control of things on the ground, the Americans will kick him like a puppy in the house. They are very good at it, just ask Brother Gaddafi who opened up his boarders to them and showed them where he even keeps needles.
To be honest, I don’t see Museveni going at the expense of the Americans. Obama has so far done well than Bush but he is slow to make decisions and that is his main weakness. He has captured more terrorists than Bush. He even captured and killed the biggest fish in Osama Bin Laden but I can’t see him directly declaring a war on president Museveni however much he presumably hates dictators. President Museveni is doing everything the Americans want. So why would they wanna get rid of him?
However, I can see Europe knocking him out if Britain does a PR on the whole issue. There is a strong sense in the UK that there is chaos in Uganda and the population has been prepared through regular media publications and reporting on Besigye and riots. We have been seeing this on BBC and Channel 4 news almost every week.
So don’t be surprised if things change faster than we thought especially if president Museveni continues with his policy of ‘chest thumping’ (e.g. I can’t share power with Besigye(NEWVISION) or I will create Vietnam(DAILY MONITOR)). President Museveni has not really helped himself as he keeps falling in Besigye traps all the time. Why is he acting the way he is acting now? Is it bad intelligence briefings or there is some unfinished personal business between the two? It is so confusing! He should let Besigye and his ”Activists for change” walk as many miles as they want without any police interference if he doesnt want to give them anymore ‘killer’ headlines.
Oil is basically president Museveni’s biggest enemy right now because even the rich businessmen in the world have assumingly started looking at Uganda as a ‘target’. If we did not have oil, he would have led Uganda till his death despite the number of Ugandans that have died and suffered under his regime. Some of these rich people are capable of financing coups and wars that topple a dictator in favour of the leader of their choice. For instance, I don’t know whether some of you have heard of a man called George Soros, a Hungarian born American citizen. He uses his vast wealth to meddle in foreign affairs. He helped to bring down three foreign governments; the Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, and Soviet Georgia. It is easier to bring down governments through individuals rather than wage a full scale war against a small country like Uganda.
At the moment, Besigye has got president Museveni where he exactly wants him: political rat hole. For example, Besigye generated more than 99 headlines internationally the day he was barred from boarding a flight from Nairobi back to Uganda, if anyone bothers to Google it. This is the dream of every politician all over the world. If I were an honourable head of state somewhere, I would not have bothered to show my face on Museveni swearing-in day. No wonder Zimbabwe’s Mugabe was the star man on the occasion in Kololo.
I know some Ugandans have got some kind of beef on Besigye but he still remains the best ‘olive oil’ to fry with at the moment. He has been subjected to a lot of things that even UPC’s Obote never did on Museveni in 1980s. Those who want change have now got a job to convince the Americans that he is the real deal. If they get convinced then we shall see some serious changes in Uganda even if Museveni remains the president for now. I highly doubt that president Museveni is capable of making a mistake to openly give a ‘finger’ to the Americans when they tell him to share power with Besigye. Museveni never jumps unless he is sure there are no thorns on the ground. So when the game is over, he will be the first to know it before most of us. He is not dumb, you know.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’ AND IMMORAL UGANDA POLICE LAWS MUST BE REVIEWED IMMEDIATELY
05 May 2011 6 Comments
in FDC, IPC, Legal issues, media in Uganda, Politics, Riots and genocide, security
Friends,
I’m still disturbed by the events that have unfolded in Uganda this month especially with the way the security officials handled the main opposition leader, Dr. Kiiza Besigye. I’m definitely proud of the people that have been marching in these so called ‘walk to work’ individual demonstrations, very disappointed by the people who turned violent, sad about the damage and death involved, and appalled at the police and army who have been attacking people with tear gas and bullets.
Ever since this happened, we have been washed with a lot of YouTube videos and this is the point where one appreciates technology because Ugandans abroad and those at home are somehow now connected to each other because of this. In some of the videos posted online, I watched the police, totally unprovoked; lob tear gas into groups of men, women and children which was totally unnecessary. Dr.Besigye was also sprayed with teargas by one Gilbert Arinaitwe as if he was spraying cockroaches in a car. It saddens me greatly that our civil right to peaceable assemble and demonstrate against the high food and fuel prices- continue to be violated by the security officials in Uganda.
What we have been seeing since last month is the end result of what happens when a government put profits before people and the planet, a point Mr.Robert Kabushenga,the Newvision boss, vehemently stressed in his recorded interview with the BBC World Service as a justification for tear gassing Besigye’s ears and eyes while in his car. Under the circumstances, one can only hope that the truth about the police record of human rights violations, and environmental devastation gets out to the rest of the world and the ICC does something about it. On this note, we must thank the international media especially the BBC and Aljazeera who have done a wonderful job in exposing all this to the world.
Guns and tear gas are supposed to be for self defence such that they should not be misused by either the police or individuals carrying them. In some states in USA such as California, one can register and get a license to carry tear gas. It basically involves an afternoon class where one learns useful facts about the capabilities and limitations of tear gas in self-defence. One’s right to protect oneself with this type of weapon is in no way infringed by the requirement to be licensed. It also make one feel safer to understand how to best use this type of weapon, what the legal implications are of using it, etc. But I’m wondering whether our security officials are subjected to this kind of training before they go out with tear gas on streets of Kampala and other cities, because from what I saw last month with the Uganda police throwing canisters of tear gas carelessly,it left my head pondering with a lot of questions. Protesters ran as the gas burned their eyes, noses and skin just because they are walking alongside their leaders.
Teargas is virulent and noisome and I’m wondering whether the gas used on Besigye was CS or CN teargas. CN teargas is used when the safety of children is at stake but I hear that some nursery school in Wobulenzi was also not spared with CS gas. CS teargas is not supposed to be used indoors but I hear it was the one used on Besigye inside the car. It is also not supposed to be used to force surrender because it is well known to induce panic in a confined area. Usually, it is CN teargas that is used to bring people out of buildings and cars. The good news for Besigye and his eyes is that I’m sure that they will recover back to normal because CS is less toxic but I were him, I would keep glasses on for future protection against police aggression. I also advice him to keep that ”white thing” around his arm for a long time as a sign of fight for freedom.It’s unfortnate that the government went ahead and repaired his car windows which were smashed because it would have been good for him to keep it that way for a long time for some political capital.All the same, his team should sue the Police for using CS tear gas on him inside the car and for causing bodily damage to him and his car.
What the police in Uganda should know is that everything an officer does is supposed to have merit in the investigation. The police officer is the very first stop in an offender’s long trip through the judicial system. The job of a police officer is to prevent crimes where possible, investigate crimes that have occurred but the job of bringing a suspect to justice lies with the prosecutor and the courts. But I was gobsmacked when I watched some of the videos showing police officers on streets acting as politicians especially one video that showed a cop accusing Besigye of owning a petrol station yet he is demonstrating against high fuel prices.
Some NRM supporters have unsurprisingly come out to defend Arinaitwe’s actions to the extent of saying that he would have been within the law if he had killed Dr.Besiye, but my understanding is that it is not the job of a police officer to kill an unarmed person unless that where they take it. Yes, When the shit hits the fan and a deadly force situation has presented itself, it needs to be ended quickly to protect not only the lives of innocent people, but also the life of the officer, but i have rarely seen these kind of demonstrations in Uganda that warrants any officer to shoot in the head of a two year old baby, as was the case in Masaka last month. It was just sheer luck that nobody was killed during the Arinaitwe-Besigye saga and it wasn’t for the lack of gunmen in uniforms trying. Honestly, Laws should not be in place to make it easier for a police officer to shoot people who not armed with anything such that if we have got such a law in our Police Act, as i have been made to believe, then it should be reviewed immediately.
In the UK where I live, most police men don’t carry rifles for many reasons and not the least of which is the incurred liability that a high powered weapon would cause if it is accidentally used. If one walks around with a gun 24/7, it is so likely to go off just out of panic, and such incidents kill the trust between the civilians and security officials.Civilians are under no obligation to make the job of a police officer easier, nor is the public at large. The solution here is to make sure that police officers don’t enforce unconstitutional and immoral laws, thus giving the public cause to lose all respect and esteem for them. Civilians are not obliged to lay down their rights, including their lives, for the sake of aiding people conduct a job that is largely reprehensible and clearly wrong(especially if the Police Act ,Section 32 and 36, chapter 303, still stands). We want ‘peace officers’ not just ‘law enforcers’.
Police should not expect automatic cooperation from civilians, no matter how objectionable the intrusion into our lives. Gilbert Arinaitwe’s sort appears to feel they are above the rest of us in authority, and by extension, value. As a result, they have made the police to look like a symbol of interference and literal evil yet police officers are supposed to be public servants and people as their bosses. I understand being a cop is a hard and thankless job but you don’t expect people to be so vacuously inane that they would thank you for punching their faces, kicking their ribs in, whether literally or figuratively. How can you possibly think that people would cotton to wholly unreasonable restrictions on their lives, like a simple individual ‘walk to work’ protest to Kampala or Jinja or wherever? Even some of the painfully docile opposition leaders don’t like it and i have seen then making some noise.
Good people don’t’ despise cops or security officials for no reason. Good people don’t want to waste the energy to despise the police. Surely, General Kayihura must understand this. The root cause must be identified immediately, which I have done in general terms above, and corrected. However, when given no choice, they do what they must and that is what Dr.Besigye and others are doing.I’m still hoping of organising a football game between Besigye and Museveni side,if they give me a go ahead, as a way of ending this stampede.
Byebyo ebyange banange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
http://ugandansatheart.org/
http://semuwemba.wordpress.com/
WILL MUSEVENI’S KAYUNGA RALLY MAKE BUGANDA LOVE HIM AGAIN?
06 Feb 2010 10 Comments
in 2010-2011 elections, kingdoms, Politics, Riots and genocide
Friends,
There’s a lot at stake in the debate that involves president Museveni’s confirmation that Bugerere is part of Buganda – our freedoms of movement and speech and the future of this country. This is one we cannot pass up. My grandfather always told me that if you couldn’t say anything nice about someone, don’t say anything at all! He also told me that the most important thing about politicians was not what party they represented, but whether you could trust them. But I’ve been breaking his advice about saying things about people ever since I picked some interest in both Obote and Museveni presidency and their relationship with Buganda. Obote broke a lot of laws during the 1966 Buganda crisis as Museveni also did last year before and during the Buganda riots. As a result, we have ended up with a country where president Museveni is the top law. When he says, ‘don’t go to Kayunga, you don’t dare go there’. As a result, minister Kivenjinja was not afraid to tell us that the Kabaka must seek permission from Sabanyala or Sabaluli before going to Kayunga despite confirmations from the president at his rally in Kayunga yesterday that Bugerere was part of Buganda. Going by his constitutional interpretations at the Kayunga rally, then I can categorically say that Buruli is also part of Buganda and Brother Kivejinja was used. The point here is that without law, we have the rule of men who do the “right” thing and ignore the law in places like Bugerere and Nakasongola and get away with it.
The relationship between president Museveni and Buganda can be compared to a woman who tells a man in the face that ‘I’ve fallen out of love with you’ but the relationship just keeps going either because they have got a kid together or the man is still in love with the woman and cant just let go. But the question I always ask guys in this situation is that ‘would you still love her if she cheated on you and ran away with another man and stole all your money? Museveni has been cheating on Buganda by having an open affair with Bunyoro, Baluli and Banyara against Buganda. That’s why sometimes I get astonished when I hear people who tend to love him or hate him without any complicating shades of gray. May be Museveni has got USA’s former president, Reagan, ability to make the people love him even as they hated their misery. Personally, I can compare Museveni’s rally in Kayunga to a rich man who rather take pictures with poor children than feed them.
All I know is that Buganda loves political power not Museveni. For the time being Museveni’s a source of it though he won’t always be. That doesn’t require Buganda to love him in any way that that term is ordinarily used. All Buganda needs to do now is to be like our normal women in the world. A woman must make herself wanted, desired, hard-to-get- that’s the whole appeal of womanliness, that she’s not easy because she is the sought one; the final decision rests with her, not with the man. A woman who lets all these creeps do her is just an idiot.
Buganda’s assumed woman role will take her very far, after all – behind every great man there’s a woman telling him he’s wrong. Women know what irks and frazzles men, and they vote accordingly. It is a reasonable speculation; Bill Clinton would not have been elected President if Joey Buttafuoco had decided to run in the Democratic primaries.
Therefore, between now and 2011 elections, Museveni is gonna pull all the tricks in the book to win Buganda’s hearts again but they should be on guard. Like they say, for some elected officials, winning an election is like an overdose of steroids. They suddenly feel all-powerful, invincible, and above the law. They believe churlishness and bullying prove their might. They treat other people with contempt. Since the current men in statehouse are wicked and will not keep faith with Buganda, you need not keep faith with them whatever they promise you.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom
President should reconsider and open up the closed stations
13 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in 2010-2011 elections, media in Uganda, Politics, Riots and genocide
Africa
Thursday, October 01, 2009
By: Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Dear editor,
I know president Museveni is very angry at the moment but leaders of Uganda’s independent media council should have come out sooner and put their cards on the table when the five radio stations were closed and Bimeza were banned. This is the meaning of promoting institutions. Just holding a public dialogue is not enough and may not achieve that much under the current political environment.
The government brought in the Press and Journalists Act (1995) and a major point of contention under this legislation was the provision on regulating media practice by restricting it to journalists only. I believe journalists have been self regulating ever since this act came into place but as a young media in Uganda, the state should not be so strong on where mistakes are made by the media houses.
The banning of Bimeeza has been on the cards for a long time and measures should have been in place from the independent council on how to protect this big part of journalism. In 2002 the government threatened to ban bimeeza, claiming that during these public debates and talk shows people were not observing ethical standards and that the broadcast licences issued were being misused. Media houses responded by starting to hold these debates within their premises apart from radio one which continued to hold public debates at its drinking joint (Club Obligato). Buganda’s CBSfm has been observing these laws very well and sometimes they could interrupt callers who appeared abusive to the president or NRMO but obviously this has not been enough for some people. Iam reliably informed that CBS were not breaking any laws on the day of the riots. Soldiers just acted on impulse to switch off some of these stations because of what was going on, and now the president is using them as bargaining chips during his dialogues or predicted meetings with Kabaka.
Ebimeza have been banned because they are dominated by the opposition and human rights activists despite being few in numbers compared to NRM cadres. In all honesty, I think Mr.Museveni needs more of these Bimeza now than before if he can get better NRM cadres out there to sell him. The only reason he has banned them is because NRM cadres are not doing a good job. The opposition seems to have some leverage in this department and this is not good in his books.
I think the regular use of YouTube to communicate to Ugandans in diaspora is a direct result of the closure of radio stations (CBS FM and SUUBI FM).Ugandans abroad have been listening to Suubi FM online and they are missing this. People are now finding other ways of communicating to others and this is going to lead to a lot of underground rumours (OLUGAMBO) as it happened after the 1966 crisis when Obote abolished kingdoms.
The truth is that Ugandans in general are missing programmes like: Ekimeeza and Spectrum of Radio One; Capital Gang of Capital radio; Parliament Yammwe, Kiriza oba Gana and Mambo Bado of Central Broadcasting Service; Simbawo Akati and Gasimbagane ne Banamawulire of Simba FM; Hard Talk of Monitor FM; Katuhurirane of Radio West, and others. Banning all these programmes by the state was unnecessary because it drives all this communication underground which can be dangerous.
Please the government needs to accept the media as a public sphere, where all voices can be heard. Now my grandfather is missing CBS fm and his rights have been violated by the very state that is supposed to protect them. He finds other stations boring and his rights are not even fought for by the likes of vice president who supported its closure.
Please I ask the president to reconsider and reopen up CBSFM and other stations since we are told he is the only man who can do so. Bimeeza should also be allowed back on radio stations because this is some form of therapy to some Ugandans frustrated with the system.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom
Police brutality unnecessary
11 Dec 2009 1 Comment
in Politics, Riots and genocide, Uncategorized
Police brutality unnecessary
Thursday, 10 December 2009 16:28 katende Bob Roberts
User Rating: / 2
PoorBest
I keep wondering why the Uganda police always get their tear gas out whenever there is an attempt by the opposition to demonstrate or group up against any government decision. We are so saddened by the incident in Hoima where the police, totally unprovoked, lob tear gas into groups of men, women and children who were just happy to see their hero, Dr.Kizza Besigye.
It was totally unnecessary. It saddens me greatly that people’s civil right to demonstrate or welcome a leader of their choice in their respective regions is being denied to them by the state organs particularly the police. And it’s certainly no justification for calling the opposition violent, not when they have been recipients of violence several times.
I know there are a lot of folks on here that don’t understand this but teargas is chemical warfare, and therefore it should not just be used irresponsibly. The effects of tear gas are immediate It is virulent, noisome and irritating that even in a fresh air out of doors situation, it is guaranteed to cause people to flee from its presence simply in order to be able to breathe ,but some governments use it to repress the voices of those opposing their leadership. For instance, the South Korean government is the world’s largest consumer of tear gas, to repress the people who hate the government that has sold out to foreign interests.
Tear gas may be dangerous through long-term exposure. Physical effects of this tear gas are felt almost immediately and these include: severe burning in the eyes, involuntary closing of the eyes, copious tearing, extreme burning in the nose, tendency to breathe through the mouth, extreme burning in the throat, coughing, consciousness of pain, holding of breath, breathing and heart rate slows down, blood pressure rises, circulation on the periphery of the body shuts down. In some cases there can be mucus secretion, nausea and vomiting, also burning sensations on the body in places touched by the hands. Recovery quickly follows after an affected person is immersed in fresh air. Tear gas is not known to have caused any deaths or permanent injuries; however its use has been banned in some American military operations.
The heartlessness of the NRM Government in subjecting innocent children to tear gas is so hurting. Most of these kids just turn up because they have seen so many cars passing on the roads in their areas or just to have a gaze at leaders like Besigye. They are innocent but this does not stop the Uganda police from tear gassing them. I wonder what the Geneva War conventions says about this because this is clearly illegal…you cannot use tear gas on people just excited to see a leader in their region? But the Uganda police is not afraid to use tear gas on kids….and babies.
In the civilized world, when a government is faced with a hostile people, the police are called in to form a barricade, if this proves insufficient to keep the peace, water cannons are used, then onto tear gas, and if this still is not enough to control rioters the police may use rubber bullets to disable their targets. In the extreme case police may resort to live bullets and shoot at the legs and in the extremely rare case when this may fail to stop the most determined opponent…shoot to kill if life of a police officer is directly threatened. This is the definition of “Minimum force Necessary” which is totally different from Museveni’s directives of ordering the security organs to shoot anyhow after the Buganda riots without following all these steps. It is totally wrong.
Now since this is developing into a pattern of recklessness on part of the Uganda Police, I request all Ugandans who turn up to welcome their opposition leaders to buy themselves masks (gas masks, goggles, scarves, scuba masks, filter masks, and sunglasses) as these can serve to minimize the effects of tear gas. This situation may become worse as we approach the 2011 presidential elections.
On the other hand, I request the government to stop using tear gas irresponsibly because it gives a bad international image to our country. Uganda’s image has already been badly damaged by the recent September 11 riots, and before we have even recovered from that, police is at it again. It is not good for the country.
*Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba*
*UK
N.B. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of Independent Publications Ltd.
source:http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php/component/content/article/106-myblog/2256-police-brutality-unnecessary-
Rwandan genocide wasn’t caused by radio RTLM(part 2)
13 Oct 2009 Leave a Comment
in kingdoms, Riots and genocide
Dear readers,
Yes, there is a lot of literature to back up arguments that radio RTLM was responsible for the Rwanda genocide but like i said two weeks ago, a genocide has never happened anywhere I know in the world unless it is supported and caused by the government in power. So this thing of a radio caused the genocide is an escape route for those who are supposed to prevent it in the first place. In the case of the Rwanda genocide, the United Nations and other big nations sponsored a lot of research after the genocide that supported your view because it gave them escape routes for their responsibilities. Former president of USA, Bill Clinton, may be a darling to Africans but he stood aside and watched while Rwandese were butchering one another and this will never be forgotten.
RTLM may have been the key thing that helped transform the genocide from a state-led campaign into a nationwide project but media alone cannot account for citizen mobilization during the genocide . The same thing can be said of CBSfm radio during the 11th September riots in Kampala. There were underlying causes that made the youths to protest or riot last month and these are the ones that the government in power needs to address instead of blaming it all on the media or bimeeza.
Several people have biasely blamed RTLM for the genocide in Rwanda but it should not be forgotten that military officials had separate communication networks, and moderate Rwandans were not convinced by such broadcasts .It’s the governments in power that push people to kill and hate each other by continuously dividing the population. For instance, if the Banyara and Baluli had for years accepted to be under the Buganda sphere of influence, what the hell could attempt a national leader to awaken up and support historical grievances within this community. It still beats my understanding up to now. National leaders should instead work towards uniting all people they lead and resist any temptations to divide them. It never occurred to me that one could be called Semuwemba when he is actually a Mukoki or munyala or mululi ( and not real muganda) until when I started reading the so called ethnic propaganda in newspapers and on this forum.
During the Rwandan genocide, radio RTLM did not reach all areas of Rwanda where violence occurred and very few people had access to it. This is backed up by United Nations statistics that indicate that less than 10 percent of the Rwandan population in 1994 owned radio transmitters yet the genocide spread like fire. RTLM broadcasted in very few rural areas despite the fact that more than 90% of the Rwandan population was in rural areas.
Similarly, after Buganda/Uganda radio CBS was cut of air on 11th September, riots continued for another day in different parts of the country.I don’t think a man in Luwero was ordered to riot by CBS other than their own individual convinctions that something needs to be done to express their hunger towards the government. Probably, if CBSfm had remained open, the Kabaka or the Katikiro would have had a voice to call upon the youths to stop doing silly things like torching Banyankole businesses or forcing non-baganda to sing the Buganda national anthem.These things were not thought through by those concened. The government just acted on impulse and in the process ended up disregarding the laws in place about radio closures.
All in all, governments have a got a responsibility to ensure that media freedom is protected.The media has also got a responsibility to self regulate and follow the laws of the land. The state have also got a responsibility to serve the people they lead fairly because unfairness normally leads to packaged bitterness among the population. This bitterness can sometimes come out as a volcano if people have been pushed so much on the walls. I think this explains the riots on september 11th in Uganda. The whole thing had nothing to do with radios or Bimeza in Uganda. That is the truths.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Bimeza should never have been banned in Uganda
30 Sep 2009 1 Comment
in Entertainment, Politics, Presidency, Riots and genocide
Dear readers,
I know the president is very angry at the moment but leaders of the independent media council should have come out sooner and put their cards on the table when the five radio stations were closed and Bimeza were banned. This is the meaning of promoting institutions. Just holding a public dialogue is not enough and may not achieve that much under the current political environment.
The government brought in the Press and Journalists Act (1995) and a major point of contention under this legislation was the provision on regulating media practice by restricting it to journalists only. I believe journalists have been self regulating ever since this act came into place but as a young media in Uganda, the state should not be so strong on where mistakes are made by the media houses.
The banning of Bimeeza has been on the cards for a long time and measures should have been in place from the independent council on how to protect this big part of journalism. In 2002 the government threatened to ban bimeeza, claiming that during these public debates and talk shows people were not observing ethical standards and that the broadcast licences issued were being misused. Media houses responded by starting to hold these debates within their premises apart from radio one which continued to hold public debates at its drinking joint (Club Obligato). CBS has been observing these laws very well and sometimes they could interrupt callers who appeared abusive to the president or NRMO but obviously this has not been enough. Iam reliably informed that CBS were not breaking any laws on the day of the riots. Soldiers just acted on impulse to switch off some of these stations because of what was going on, and now the president is using them as bargaining chips during his dialogues or predicted meetings with Kabaka.
Ebimeza have been banned because they are dominated by the opposition and human rights activists despite being few in numbers compared to NRM cadres. In all honesty, I think Mr.Museveni needs more of these Bimeza now than before if he can get better NRM cadres out there to sell him. The only reason he has banned them is because NRM cadres are not doing a good job. The opposition seems to have some leverage in this department and this is not good in his books.
I think the regular use of YouTube to communicate to Ugandans in diaspora is a direct result of the closure of radio stations (CBS FM and SUUBI FM).Ugandans abroad have been listening to Suubi FM online and they are missing this. People are now finding other ways of communicating to others and this is going to lead to a lot of underground rumours (OLUGAMBO) as it happened after the 1966 crisis when Obote abolished kingdoms.
The truth is that Ugandans in general are missing programmes like: Ekimeeza and Spectrum of Radio One; Capital Gang of Capital radio; Parliament Yammwe, Kiriza oba Gana and Mambo Bado of Central Broadcasting Service; Simbawo Akati and Gasimbagane ne Banamawulire of Simba FM; Hard Talk of Monitor FM; Katuhurirane of Radio West, and others. Banning all these programmes by the state was unnecessary because it drives all this communication underground which can be dangerous.
Please the government needs to accept the media as a public sphere, where all voices can be heard. Now my grandfather is missing CBS fm and his rights have been violated by the very state that is supposed to protect them. He finds other stations boring and his rights are not even fought for by the likes of vice president who supported its closure.
Please I ask the president to reconsider and reopen up CBSFM and other stations since we are told he is the only man who can do so. Bimeeza should also be allowed back on radio stations because this is some form of therapy to some Ugandans frustrated with the system.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom
Suharto Vs Museveni in CBS fm AND Suubi fm saga
30 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in Entertainment, kingdoms, Riots and genocide
Dear readers,
The solution lies in president Museveni or whoever becomes the president in 2011 to start listening to the people they lead.All this arrogance of ‘i can do anything i want as long as I’m in power‘ should stop.Suharto (who came to power in 1966 in Indonesia) also had almost similar media measures as Museveni has put up in Uganda but he was brought down after three decades in power.
For instance,the Kedaulatan Rakyat daily in Yogyakarta was once ordered by telephone (typical in the then popular ‘telephone culture’) not to print reports about the collapse of a stage built over a swimming pool belonging to a bupati (regency head), who had been hosting a traditional ceremonial meal. The incident was caused by a live concert given by a group performing dangdut, a popular local style of music. The second case, also involving the Kedaulatan Rakyat, was a ban on printing news about a plane which crashed in Klaten, a town close to Yogyakarta. They were never told the reason behind the ban.
Suharto did everything in his powers to intimidate the media as we are witnessing today in Uganda but as they say:’even good or bad things come to an end’. As long as a leader does not respect the wishes of the people they lead, then you know we have got a problem.If people want their CBS and its representing the views of the people, then this should not be a problem
Radios were not spared either during Suharto:
1. The editor of CDBS FM in Bali was summoned by the local prosecutor’s office; he was even told to report to that office every day for a period of time. This was due to a prediction by the station that unrest would occur during the forthcoming elections (1997).
I can see this happening to any of the media outlets in Uganda before the 2011 elections. I put my money on Mwenda’s independent after that cartoon trouble that has led to Mwenda being charged with sedition
2. Periodically, the officials from min of information summoned representatives of all private radio stations and informed them of violations. They once accused Radio Arbes and SIPP, its sister station, of misdemeanors without giving a clear explanation or writing an official letter.
This has already happened in Uganda. The govt threatened to ban bimeza in 2002. Several FM presenters have been summoned to the police stations and by the people from the Broadcasting corporation.Radio licences have been revoked every now and then
3.Radio station Dikara Bawana was charged with producing a program that contravened the SARA doctrine. SARA stands for Suku,Agama, Ras, dan Antar Golongan, which means, ‘Ethnicity, Religion, Race, and Groups’. Any discussion of these four issues constituted a very serious taboo on the Indonesia media scene.
I think we have already seen this in Uganda. You discuss federalism as a Baganda wish only may land one in trouble because the 1995 constitution bans journalists from discussing issues that promote any form of tribalism.
The Suharto administration was very serious but the media especially the local ones resisted all these intimidation measures till when the regime was booted out of power.
Radios didn’t cause the genocide in Rwanda(part 1)
30 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in Entertainment, federalism in Uganda, international, Riots and genocide
Dear good people,
What happened to our brothers and sisters in Rwanda is regrettable and hope it never happens in Uganda but so many factors led to the genocide in Rwanda, and therefore it cannot be compared to CBS and the recent riots.It cannot be entirely the propaganda spread by the radio RTLM alone that caused the genocide in Rwanda.
That said, there is some evidence of conditional media effects and that Radio RTLM catalyzed a small number of individuals and incidents of violence, framed public choice, and reinforced messages that many individuals received during face-to-face mobilization.
On the other hand, i have received information that on the day of the riots in Uganda, CBS radio broadcasts were not racist or tribalist in nature or openly inflammatory as was the case during the Rwanda genocide. But if there is any presenter or moderator of CBS or Suubi FM who was calling Baganda/Ugandans to slaughter Banyankole, then he or she deserves punishment.
The problem with policy makers in Africa is generalizing debates on genocide.In policy circles, debates on how to contain the genocide often focus on jamming the radio which is not right. Genocides are caused mainly by long term problems in the country which leaders tend to ignore for a long time. Just closing a radio station does not remove these problems. Without sounding seditious, i think you all know why some Ugandans feel aggrieved by the Banyankole in Uganda right now. The leaders need to address the root causes of this and probably radio stations will have no reason to talk or discuss about it anymore.Closing a station just burries the issue in people’s minds and hearts.
Again, in comparison to Rwanda,Radio-Télévision Libredes Milles Collines (RTLM), which began broadcasting in July 1993, was owned and controlled by Hutu hard-liners within the ruling regime who ultimately organized the genocidal violence . Before the genocide,RTLM broadcast a steady digest of belligerent, nationalist, antirebel, and often openly inflammatory statements. During the genocide, RTLM announcers encouraged listeners to fight, and in some cases, the announcers broadcast names of individuals and places, which were subsequently attacked by citizen bands.
CBS on the other hand is a radio which is privately owned and nobody in the ruling party(NRMO) has got a stake in it. It is easy to control and close if the government wants to.It only encouraged people to go and attend the Kayunga function in big numbers and i see nothing wrong with this. This was all politics, my friend.
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.They have got all the mechanism to stop it from happening. So CBS should be the least problem for anybody in Uganda. It’s just CBS gets more audience than the state owned radio, Radio Uganda, and probably the government does not like it.
Let us also not forget that the Tutsi-led rebels, who were fighting the government in a war that began in 1990, operated a station called Radio Muhabur.I’m yet to find out whether their radio also promoted genocide but all indications are that a genocide is mainly caused by the government in power as was the case in Rwanda. Radio stations have got a responsibility to report what’s happening during a genocide or riots and probably this is what CBS, was doing on ,9th,10th and 11th September 2009.
Nze bwendaba
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Buganda’s CBS fm is not comparable to UNITA’s Guerilla radio
30 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in kingdoms, Politics, Riots and genocide
Yes, Savimbi’s clandestine radio played an important role in the 30-year war in Angola.It provided UNITA rebels broadcasting, provided a means of recruiting supporters, sustaining rebellion and appealing for external support . This is totally different from CBS since Buganda is not in some form of armed struggle against the government. However, CBS can be used by the Kingdom and the state to communicate important messages to Ugandans as has been the case for a long time.
What is similar here is how radio stations in Uganda owned by the state and NRM people do not say so much bad things against the governemt in power or the president. Radi stations owned by the likes of the vice president and others always refrain from criticizing government violations such as corruption and censorship. This was the same during UNITA days when the Angola state owned radio publicized Savimbi’s human rights abuses only without saying anything bad against the state. We need to strike a balance here if journalism is to be respected as a professional in Uganda.This imbalance has made people to stop listening to state owned radios.
As with other clandestine broadcasters, Savimbi’s station did not reveal the location of the transmitter relaying its programmes. In this case, however, the main reason for concealment was UNITA’s alliance with South Africa, which provided the rebels with a secure base to carry on their propaganda war as well as the military means to rebuild their guerrilla forces, which had been largely destroyed by Angolan and Cuban troops three years earlier.
On the otherhand, CBS radio is not a clandestine radio at all. It’s purposes are well published and it had a licence to carry its duties officially in Uganda before it was revoked 2 weeks ago.
Lastly, Savimbi’s Voice of the Resistance of the Black Cockerel (VRBC or VORGAN) served as the main propaganda channel for his National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in its 30-year war against the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). On the other hand, I highly doubt whether the Kabaka is using CBS for Buganda to secede from Uganda or fight for buganda independence because this will be breaking the rules or the Press Act 1995 as written in the Uganda constitution.Yes, Some Baganda may raise this issue but majority of Baganda are agitating for federalism and this is where I fall.
Byebyo munange
Abbey
