This is why some people are defecting to NRM ahead of the 2021 elections!

It’s not surprising that some people are defecting to NRM before the ‘scientific’ elections organised by the chairman of the NRM, with an EC headed by Justice Simon Byabakama(NRM cadre). This is Mr.Museveni’s chance to weed out any opposition candidates that have been causing him headache for a long time and rewarding most of those sympathetic to him. There will be nothing like safe seats in the 2021 elections apart from, obviously, the presidency. For instance, I would not be surprised if the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, Hon. Beti Nambooze, et al, end up losing to surprise candidates from nowhere.

Museveni will definitely have a supermajority in the next parliament and a qualified majority in the local elections (LC1 to LC5). Anybody standing for MP and he has a good relationship with the president will definitely go through. This explains why there’s a lot of defections to NRM at the moment, because politicians know that, without rallies, it will be easy for Museveni to decide who wins and loses.

There won’t be a spoiler in the presidential elections among the opposition candidates, as some People Power supporters keep alluding to it that other candidates will spoil the performance or success of Bobi Wine. However, I can see Bobi Wine being given a better % at the end of the electoral process to make it look like he’s done better than Besigye’s first time, and to keep the hope among his supporters that elections will, eventually, remove Museveni and NRM from power. It will be a mistake for Museveni to embarrass Bobi as he did with Amaama Mbabazi in the 2016 elections by giving him 1% (132,574 votes) despite the crowds the latter was attracting.

This is what I suggested to FDC in 2019

The game plan for political parties must be beyond 2021 elections. There is no need for unity for purposes of elections, anymore—that train has left its station, already. Any party that unites behind a certain candidate now risks going into smoke after the 2021 elections. Every party should use presidential elections to sell themselves to the grassroots. As such FDC, which is the biggest opposition party, have five choices:

1- Persuade Dr. Kiiza Besigye to run as a presidential candidate again. This will help them to reawaken their support on the grass roots, since Besigye is already a home brand out there. Unfortunately, Besigye will only have to do this by appearing on various radio and TV stations, rather than doing rallies due to Covid19 guidelines. He could use these programs to sell his ‘defiance’ again, which was derailed by the coming of Bobi who has spent the last three years selling elections to the public. FDC has been weakened by the coming of Bobi and the formation of ANT by Mugisha Muntu.

2- Front a new face as a presidential candidate. This could be a problem considering the kind of elections we shall be having, and the little time left.

3- Not taking part in the elections.

4- Mass mobilisation of people to remove the Museveni government.

5- Negotiating with Museveni not to come back in 2026.

Without Foreign help, Museveni isn’t going anywhere any time soon!

Friends,
I don’t think anybody is in a position to dislodge Museveni militarily without foreign help. It’s just impossible and I’m sure even the Tinyefunzas know it. Museveni is a student of Uganda history and politics. As such he knows exactly what led to the fall of Obote 1 and 2, Amin and others. Their failure to control and strengthen the military was very central to their downfall and Museveni is aware of this. As a result, he (president Museveni) has been directly controlling and strengthening the NRA/ UPDF since 1986. We may call it unprofessional but it’s working out for him.

It’s just common sense that anybody who wishes to engage Museveni militarily must have to seek foreign assistance as unsuccessfully and allegedly PRA did with Rwanda after the 2001 elections. Without that, he will probably last in power as long as Gadafi, and yes, it looks like he has intentions of dying in power.

By the way, Museveni has also arguably got one of the best intelligence systems in Africa. He has got his boys and girls everywhere feeding him the information he needs. I tell you what, I sometimes log on Facebook and log out at the same time if my intention is to make a political comment, because it’s like bathing when you know you are being watched. And trust me, majority of the people doing this kind of work for the president never shit where they eat. They are so determined, focused and dedicated to the president. I don’t know what drugs he gave them but there are certainly working.

His women are everywhere in government institutions and, for some reason, they love him too. I’m not doing an Aroma Patrick (UPC) here but it will be bloody if Museveni is forced out power. Unfortunately, all the signs are that’s where we are heading! A lot of people (both in the opposition and government) are so much interlinked, intertwined, interworking……… with him such that it’s just difficult to separate an enemy from a friend. It’s all bwaise- katogo, you know.

It pains me to say this but there isn’t gonna be a people revolution in Uganda anytime soon. If it was to take place, it would have happened immediately after the 2006 elections because I strongly believe that Besigye won those elections. What we have got in Uganda at the moment is a population that has given up on politics of the country. They don’t know who to trust in terms of leadership. A revolution without a trusted leadership is more like genocide. It cannot be anywhere near the definition of a liberation. People will just kill each other for no reason.

If you send a few Ugandans now on streets with a mission to take out Museveni’s government, trust me, he will not even blink an eye to order the police and army to shoot them, even if the rest of his family were part of the protestors. The Buganda September 2009 riots would be a picnic in comparison. He will order for them to be shot, and if the Nganda Ssemujjus are making too much noise afterwards, he will compensate the families and even give them a state funeral if that’s what they want. I understand some people tried to bring in the ICC after the Sep 2009 riots but we are yet to officially hear from the ICC themselves about this.

Colonel Samson Mande was quoted recently in the London Evening post saying that Museveni can still removed through elections. I laughed my head off when I read this because I didn’t know Mande was this unserious and naive yet he has been talking a lot recently, especially after his reported meeting with Gen Sejusa in London. Which elections was he talking about? To be honest, I pity anybody putting their energy into the 2016 presidential elections. It’s a waste of time and resources, if you ask me.

I believe we’re going to get into this debate about presidential elections more at a later date, but I strongly believe that the electoral system in place let down Besigye in both the 2006 and 2011 elections. Journalist Andrew Mwenda is now a friend of president Museveni but he has written a lot of reliable several articles clearly showing vote rigging as a necessary evil in 2006 elections. Of course, I disagreed with him in some of his analysis but he was OK in others.

The most abominable aspect of the plans to rig the 2006 elections was their intent to keep Museveni in power at all costs. They did everything possible to control the election from the beginning till the end, and that made the whole process so disgusting. They put Dr. Besigye in prison for some good days as if some horrible winter was waiting for him on the outside; judges were threatened as later revealed by Hon.Kanyeihamba; people were being bought left and right with huge sums of money as some people later revealed, e.t.c

Basically, we face a real choice in this country between those who want to believe in elections and those who see them as a waste of time and resources as long as Museveni has the intent to keep power at all costs. It’s a dream for anyone to think that he (Museveni) will keep the playing field level so that everyone with a good idea, a dream of making it big and plenty of determination has a chance to make it.

Once again it seems that there is substantial doubt that the current Electoral Commission will do something any different from what they did in the 2001, 2006 and 2011 elections.

The principal conclusion in all this is that the 2016 elections should not even be in our heads. We should be thinking of other possible things to change the system in Kampala. There are a lot of options here minus the full scale war. I have never been a fun of wars, for some reason, after what I’ve seen of Museveni yet a lot of people sacrificed a lot during the Luwero bush war.

I believe that the Besigyes planned to use the 2011 elections as a platform to mobilise the masses against the government but the experiment was a total failure. In any case, Ugandans are now more hopeless than before. Besigye knew that Museveni wasn’t going to give up power, Museveni knew that he wasn’t gonna give up power, Ugandans knew that Museveni wasn’t going to give up power, but the Besigyes bent on the hope that the population will come in full force to demand for their rights, thus a people revolution. It didn’t happen and it won’t happen any time soon. Walk-to-work shook the government a bit but when they changed the tactics to hooting, I knew that they’d lost the motivation.

I don’t know what they are planning now but it doesn’t take a half brain for anybody to know that they aren’t thinking about elections anymore. Who could blame them, could you?

Abbey

Uganda has got a life president but some people still discuss M7’s successor

John Patrick Amama Mbabazi

Folks,

I think it is wrong for some people to measure Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi’s popularity in Uganda on the basis of his winning in one constituency or ‘winning'(‘rigging’) the post of NRM Secretary General. Unless a national poll is run, we cannot know for sure how popular Mbabazi is nationally.

I think Mbabazi is nothing without president Museveni and my assumption still remains:’ he will fall with the big man”. There is too much at stake here to promote Mbabazi as the next president of Uganda. He is undoubtedly an intelligent and serious man but I still cannot imagine Mbabazi as my president, but you never know. Uganda is one country where anything is possible.

Nonetheless, I don’t know what makes some people think that president Museveni is looking for a successor.   There are some NRM guys usually deployed to confuse Ugandans every time they are fed up with the Museveni or some stuff in the government. It was especially NRM journalists and sympathisers that wrote a lot of articles in the media and visited FM stations telling us that there is a succession war in NRM before the 2001 and 2006 elections. Some Ugandans bought it, and it kind of deflated the pressure the church leaders and Makerere students had galvanised against president Museveni. It is all a game to some of them and it is a bad game in my books. They cannot play this game indefinitely.

President Museveni himself has not helped the situation at all as he keeps enjoying this game endlessly, and now some of NRM supporters are at it again. In his 1996 election manifesto Museveni wanted the point inserted that he would only stand for one further term but how many terms has he had since then?

Museveni has never had any intentions to hand over the presidency ever since he came to power. But he knows how to calm down nerves down by telling those close to him every time there is an election- that he’s standing for the last time. He did so in 1996, as I earlier stated. He again did so in 2001 elections. In his 2001 election manifesto, Museveni declared several times that he would contest ‘for a last presidential term’ and also put ‘in place mechanisms for an orderly succession’.

In 2008, Museveni is reported in the press saying ‘I am not going anywhere’. He stopped pretending since 2006. In the same year (2008), he was quoted as saying when asked about stepping down: ‘It’s me who hunted and after killing the animal, they want me to go, where should I go?’

During the 2006 presidential campaign, he had this to say: ‘You don’t just tell the freedom fighter to go like you are chasing a chicken thief out of the house.’

While addressing a meeting of NRM MPs from the western region, Museveni declared firmly ‘If you shy away from me, I will also shy away from you’.

In June 2007, at a major retreat for NRM MPs, a number of MPs wanted to discuss who should be the presidential candidate in 2011. But at Museveni’s insistence debate on the succession question was removed from the agenda.

So, we should not waste any more time on Museveni’s succession project because we have got a life president, and we should come to terms with it.

Jesus, if Museveni is to go, we don’t need people who have been helping him to stay in power indefinitely as if Uganda only belongs to them, and Mr. Mbabazi is certainly one of those that have helped to cement this dictatorship. Why would anyone feel that Mbabazi will do anything different from what his boss has been doing?

By the way, those who think that Mr. Mbabazi can only come in as a stopper waiting for ‘’president’’ Muhoozi to take over, are day dreaming. The moment Museveni helps  Mbabazi to become the president of Uganda, the former will not be going anywhere soon. Who wants to stay in paradise for a short time in Africa unless if one is a prophet, and I think even president Museveni must be thinking about it. Even loyal servants sometimes stab their bosses in the back.

Mbabazi’s popularity VS Besigye’s

Most of the NRM guys despise Besigye but they like using him as the standard to compare other candidates at local level. Which constituency did Museveni win before he became the president of Uganda?  The whole intention of all this is to portray Besigye as a very unpopular man who should have become a MP before he stood for presidency or who ‘jumped the queue’ (to quote from the ‘popular’ Mbabazi). The Norbert Mao supporters tried the same nasty approach in the 2011 presidential campaigns to portray their candidate as already more popular than Besigye because he had been in parliament for ages( 9 years to be exact), but the later still did better than the former.

Besigye may be quitting the FDC presidency but he is not quitting politics, I believe. So, we are likely to see him around for a long time unless the man upstairs calls him. He has done well nationally since he started standing against Museveni in 2001. Museveni’s numbers, on the other hand, have been declining (if we disregard the ‘useless’ 2011 elections). Museveni’s numbers had declined from 5.1 million in 2001 to 4 million in 2006 while those for Besigye had increased from 2 million to 2.4 million over the same period.

There is a belief in some circles in Kampala that Museveni was forced to change the term limits because of Besigye’s popularity in 2001 elections. There is also some unsubstantiated information that Besigye won both the 2001 and 2006 elections despite the results that were officially pronounced by the Electoral Commission.

The way Besigye performed in 2001 elections was an eye opener for Museveni such that he saw no NRM candidate capable of beating him in 2006 other than himself. Yes, ‘popular’ Mbabazi was in government but he wasn’t seen by his boss as more popular than Besigye. Besigye campaigned in 2001 for only 5 months and he did unbelievably well despite the violence and an array of electoral irregularities impeding a fair contest. As such, term limits on presidency were removed in 2005 to prepare for a Museveni presidency in 2006.

In 2006, the judges were intimidated not to order for a re-run. These are now facts and on record. So, how can anybody compare Mbabazi to Besigye in terms of popularity?  By the way, I have got a feeling that Besigye will come back as a presidential candidate in future at some point. It is a just a feeling but worth noting if you are an NRM supporter. And if he stands, Museveni will again have to convince the NRM guys that he is the only one that can take him on. Can you really see Ugandans voting for Mbabazi and discard the man who has been bracing the teargas regularly to change what has gone wrong?

Besigye may have a chance with a ‘popular’ Mbabazi( NRM). You see, it is now a fact that rigging has been part of Uganda elections since 1980s but sometimes it may difficult  to rig and later win an election with a weaker candidate. That’s why NRM has kept Museveni or rather he has kept himself running against Besigye for a long time, because he does not see so many options in his own party.

For instance, in Zambia, Keneth Kaunda was controlling the electoral system  for decades ,as president Museveni has been doing the same in Uganda, but he was eventually defeated because he could not inflate the numbers as much as he wanted in his last election. Similarly, despite his weaknesses, Museveni has got some popularity in rural areas and there are pockets of people in urban centres that still love him, but i cannot see any reason why anybody would want to vote for Mbabazi, for what really?

I may be wrong about this, and I don’t mean to sound like I’m undermining Honorable Mbabazi’s authority or power- because I know he is extremely powerful and all that, but I don’t see him standing a chance, moreover, against a giant Besigye. Phewwwwwwwwwwwww! He can only win if Kiggundu does it like he did it in 2011 and came up with surprising results.

So, Besigye would have a chance to get into that statehouse if NRM presents Mbabazi as their leader. But popularity never takes anybody to statehouse in Uganda. Otherwise, Besigye would be president by now.

I don’t hate Mbabazi at all, and I would probably learn a lot from him if I was working for him because he is an elder with experience. But NRM should also reflect on this:’ would he the best person NRM can offer to replace president Museveni?’ If he is, then NRM does not care what Ugandans think about them and can do anything they want, which begs another question of why we are wasting money on presidential elections.

One of president Museveni’s aides, Aisha Kabanda, wrote: ‘Mbabazi is definitely an outstanding character……..’

Our nation is facing crises on several fronts at the moment, the resolution of which will require the steady hand of a statesman in possession of outstanding character, but I don’t think Mr. Mbabazi is that person. What can he really do which would be any different from president Museveni’s yet he is his close partner in crime? As the Baganda say: ‘Mbulilra gwoyita naye…..’, or ‘birds of the same feathers flock together’.

Look, some Ugandans can say anything they want to support such a character but Mr. Mbabazi’s image is so tainted. Do I need to remind them that in 2008 the parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises probed a controversial UShs.11 billion ($5.5 million) land transaction between the NSSF, and Amama Mbabazi.  The majority report found him guilty of conflict of interest and influence peddling in the NSSF land deal, recommending sanctions against him and other involved officials. President Museveni had to call a special cabinet meeting with intentions of saving Mbabazi from imminent parliamentary censure. NRM MPs were also later summoned in statehouse and given orders on how they were gonna vote on this issue.

As a man with an otherwise’ good’ character and impressive history of employment (as Aisha Kabanda put it), it is little wonder it took the president to persuade the MPs and his cabinet to save his job, right?

Aisha also asked:’ is he worse than any other President Uganda has ever had? ‘. Neither She nor anyone knows what Mbabazi will be like because he is not a president yet. So, I don’t know why she was comparing him to past presidents we have ever had. May be, she meant president Museveni, right?

Anyway, I don’t know why we are even wasting time on him because president Museveni is not going anywhere soon, I guess. That is why I think we are wasting time discussing Museveni succession project- especially Mr. Mbabazi. There is no succession or successor any time soon. Mbabazi will retire with Museveni unless the constitution is changed in 2021 to allow the 70 something old to stand for presidency.

Abbey Semuwemba

Museveni Will Not Give Away Mabira. He is Simply using it to take ”Economic Heat” off himself

Dear friends,

Mabira forest is back in the news and, this time around with a seemingly determined president who is ready to give away part of the forest for sugar cane growing. Speaking as someone who grew up on a farm in Bugerere, and who lived somewhere nearest to Mabira forest at Kangulumira, I would have to say president Museveni don’t have a clue about the environment. President museveni’s argument that giving away part of Mabira in 2007 would have prevented the current rise in sugar prices is so simplistic. His insistence that he will give away Mabira regardless of people’s cries is another confirmation that big people with big power do big evil and know they are doing it.

Yes, some people have argued that Mabira is just one forest in Uganda and in any case, it is very easy to replace a forest but Isn’t that like saying that because an individual locust doesn’t mean to wipe out the entire crop that we should try to stop the hoard of them. Cutting down trees or rain forests, bodes ill for the long-term survival of the human species. Some 25% of the world’s oxygen is generated in the rainforests. As a matter of our own survival it is imperative that every resource not be used up, but that instead sustainable methods be implemented.

What use is short-term success if it guarantees long-term failure? Isn’t it better to implement methods that are good for us now and later? The fact is that cutting down a forest affects the environment. If we lose forests, we lose the fight against climate change. Global warming and increased temperatures are causing higher winds as well. I read somewhere that Sahara Desert was once a rain forest before man started heating the earth with campfires to cook meat, and suddenly the Desert formed. In this 21st century, we are doing a lot of things to destroy these forests. For instance, we’re ruining the rainforest by using too much toilet paper. It may sound funny to a lot of people but it is true. The sky is just falling into pieces on a daily basis and we are doing very little to revert the process.

For Mabira Forest, there was an abrupt forest loss of about 24%  between 1976 and 1986 (27,421 to 20,977 ha) due to encroachers. I guess the rebels against Iddil Amin and Milton Obote 2 governments might have also cooked a lot of food in the bushes using firewood at the time. The encroachers originated from the neighbouring districts of mainly Kamuli and Iganga. The trend of encroachment was reversed between 1988 and 1989 when all the encroachers were evicted and an ambitious programme of rehabilitating the forest through re-afforestation was embarked on by the forest department in 1989. We are now surprised that the same government that saw the need to protect the forest is now gearing towards destroying it.

Fact is, the economy is entirely too large and complex for human minds to comprehend. Government policy does have noticeable and to some extent predictable effects on the economy. President Museveni ‘cleaned’ up the treasury during this year’s presidential campaigns and he has been dishing out a lot of money to save his  men , particularly, Basajjabalaba, whose businesses are always in trouble. May be the money has run out, and now it is time to dish out state land. Our Nation is being sold down the river to save Museveni’s legacy of mismanagement of resources.

Mabira is a tourist attraction and it cannot continue to generate us income with leaders who see it as a cancer to sugarcane production. Mabira is endowed with about 312 trees and shrub species. Approximately 47% of Uganda’s tree species grow in Mabira, including five rare species. There are more than 287 birds including the threatened Nahan’s francolin (Francolinus nahani); 23 small mammals, vervet monkeys and baboons as well as two arboreal primate species; 218 butterfly species and 97 large moth species. It is illegal to practice medicine without a license in Uganda. It is too bad that Museveni, simply because he is president, is given a license to manage forests he knows nothing about, and cares even less about.

It is suspected that government’s interest in Mabira is mainly Timber. The timber companies usually cut down the large, mature trees for their profit and what Museveni is attempting to do is let loose the timber companies to make the environmental decisions for us all. Both the timber and sugar companies are simply taking advantage of a poor nation with a corrupt system. Which stable country really gives out land like that as if we are a charity case? They also pay peanuts to the Basoga who are doing most of the sugarcane growing but because our people are poor, they still go along with it.

Profits by definition, are the difference between the market value of a product and the cost of its production.  Paying workers little and selling the fruits of their labor for a high price is one way enormous profits can be generated.  For instance, if Madhvani can sell a 20 kg sack of sugar in the South Sudan for $150, made in Uganda for about $7 in labor and materials, then the  labor was actually worth many times what the  laborer was actually compensated for the work. Nonetheles, SCOUL  is the least efficient of Uganda’s three main sugar producers – the others are Kakira and Kinyara. Their demand for ‘free’ land is abysimal and should be rejected by all free minded Ugandans.

What the government should do is to turn people already owning land around Mabira and sugar factories into fulltime and -state- supported sugarcane growers. There are a lot of people who own large pieces of land in these areas but it is idle. By transmogrifying a group of such people into market-oriented consumers and laborers in factories, they become sources of Profit. In Mabira Forest, many of the deforested portions were turned to smallholder agriculture (sharp increase of agriculture in 1986 and 1989 compared to the 1970s).

There is plenty we can do now to preserve human livelihood both now and later. Education, international cooperation,  debt forgiveness, technology transfer, introducing  sustainable farming methods, setting aside more protected  lands, passing and enforcing laws that both protect the  environment and encourage economic growth, providing job  training, follwoing the Cuban experiment, etc. All this would be much cheaper in the long run than sitting twiddling our thumbs and then having to pay the price later.

Personally, I still don’t believe that Museveni will risk giving away Mabira because what happened on April 12th 2007 will be made to look like a picnic if he goes ahead with this idea. He has tactically created a situation that takes the heat completly off him as the economy is in a totally bad shape. So people have simply forgotten other issues and everybody has jumped on Mabira. Anyway,the Mehta family should look for the 17,540 acres elsewhere, and they need to pay for it. It should not be free as it looks the case now with their current and past demands. In any case, it requires an act of parliament for Museveni to give away this gazette state land. I don’t believe that all the current NRM MPs will allow themselves to be used again and again just because the president serves them food and wine whenever they visit him at State House under these circumstances.
—

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

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

Presidential Age Limit Should Be Scrapped From The Constitution

Dear Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abbey

BESIGYE POLITICAL SHOW IN THE USA WAS INTERESTING

Dear friends,

It was interesting to watch Dr.Besigye on straight talk, a political show moderated by Shaka Ssali, a Ugandan working from Washington. The show showed that Besigye has eventually come to learn that Uganda presidents are decided from Washington not Kampala as he used to think. I’m happy that Besigye followed my advice (if he read it on UAH) and decided to keep that ‘’white thing’’ on his arm because it makes a big political statement to anybody who meets him or sees him on TV. On the show, the Uganda government was represented by Mr.Nyago Kintu, the Deputy private secretary to president Museveni , whose picture I initially mistook for that of a lady when I had just switched on TV to watch the program. For those of you who missed the show, I’m going to pick up a few pointers which I generally found more interesting:

Partisan Electoral Commission

 As expected Shaka Ssali started his questions to the panelists by asking both of them about the just concluded presidential elections. If I was giving marks, I would give Besigye 80% and Nyago 30% in the way they handled their questions. Without wasting time  a lot of time on a piece of meat because it will make the soup cold( as Baganda say), Shaka Ssali asked Dr.Besigye why he keeps calling the Museveni government ‘illegitimate’ yet the president overwhelmingly won the elections with almost 70%.

Besigye responded by saying that elections were not free and fair and that FDC have got empirical evidence to show this but they intentionally decided not to go court anymore. He said the current Electoral Commission (EC) was appointed by Museveni and can sack it any time he wants. He continued to say that all the three elections he has participated in since 2001 have not been free and fair, and the court records are there for everybody to say. He said:’’ all judges of the Supreme court unanimously agreed in 2006 that the elections were not conducted according to the law…………. what divided them was what to do with the election, and they based on this to uphold  the election which was totally a contradictory decision’’.

Besigye also verified that he was already a supporter of UPM and Museveni before the 1980 elections in which DP was rigged out by UPC. He said he knew Museveni and UPM had no chance of winning the 1980 elections because UPM was set up a few months to the elections, and the party did not even have a recognized national network. He said that he believed in Museveni as a genuine leader at that time but he never immediately followed him in the bush when he declared the war against the Obote government.

Just to emphasize this point, Besigye clarified that when Museveni rejected the results that were released by an EC that was chaired by a supporter of UPC, Besigye agreed with him though it was not the votes of UPM that were stolen.

He also emphasized that he does not regret the decision he took then to later join Museveni in the Luwero bushes to fight the then government. He, however, said that he has not considered such a decision for the last 10 years he has been opposing museveni. Everything he has done has been within the law. On the contrary, Besigye said: ‘’Museveni violates the constitution whenever it suits him’’. For example, he quoted a statement made by Museveni while he was addressing a press conference at Rwakitura where he said: ’’Besigye will not demonstrate in Kampala’.

Kintu Nyago, on the other hand, said that the EC is an independent body whose members are appointed by the president but they have to be vetted by the parliament for approval. He said that in USA where the show was being held, judges are appointed by the president but it does not mean that they are partisan. At this point, Besigye interjected and said: ‘’ the USA president has no powers to dismiss any judge as it is the case with the people at Uganda EC’’.

Kintu Nyago continued to say that the elections were free and fair and that Besigye is just a sour loser. He quoted the European Union and Africa Union (AU) reports that verified the 2011 election as free and fair. He actually said he respects the opinion of the AU more since ‘it matters most to me being an African’’. At this point, Shaka Ssali came in to say that he has also read both reports and they indicate that the political field was not leveled especially if one reads between the lines.

Retired Justice George Kanyeihamba

Kintu asked Shaka Ssali to verify his statement, and at this point the later said that he had hosted retired  Justice, George Kanyeihamba, on the political show about a couple of times and he said the same thing as Besigye for both 2006 and 2011 elections. ‘’Kanyeihamba said that the 2006 elections would have been cancelled if one Joseph Mulenga had not settled for a promise of a job by president Museveni in the Africa court’’, said Ssali.

Kintu then roared with accusing Kanyeihamba of being another sour man because he wanted the Africa court job himself. Kintu also asked Besigye what the FDC MPs are doing in a parliament yet the Museveni government is supposedly illegitimate. Besigye responded to this by saying: ‘we are engaged in a struggle that is not going to end through one course of action. So our people are in parliament to use this platform to further the struggle. For example, walking out on the president when he was giving the state of the Nation Address, was one of our ways of demonstrating’’.

Besigye concluded his exchange with Kintu by giving him some simple advice:’’ Museveni has two images. I was able to see his contradictions much earlier than others possibly because I was his doctor in the bush. The new ones, who have just joined him, like Nyago, may be hanging on to an artificial Museveni’’.

At this point, Ssali Shaka asked Besigye what he was exactly doing in USA, and Besigye said that he had come to seek consultation on the injuries he suffered during the attacks he had experienced by brutal soldiers on several occasions. He also said that he intends to meet various members of the Obama administration to discuss the issues in Uganda. He revealed that he had already met Assistant Secretary, John Carson, and several other US State Department officials.

Besigye also indicated that he has been talking to members of the media in the USA. For example, he had a meeting with the editorial team of the both the Washington Post and NewYork times, and everything went well.

The show basically ended with some phone callers from Sudan, Ghana and Tanzania, all of which despised President Museveni for what he was doing to the opposition in Uganda.One caller requested him to stand down.

Just a point of correction to Mr.Nyago: it’s true that the Constitution of the United States of America specifically states that federal judges are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. However, in some states, judges are appointed by the governor or Senators. For example, in Michigan, every eight years, delegates and senators in the General Assembly must vote on whether to renew or reappoint judges.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

United Kingdom

MBABAZI PM APPOINTMENT IS A TACTICAL WIN FOR M7

Dear folks,
Disturbing as the Mbabazi appointment as the new Prime Minister(PM) may be, however, it is only an unusually visible sign of something that has been going on quietly for a long time — the struggle for leadership in NRM. Mbabazi has been shifted to the post of PM to be weakened, and political observers will judge his political tactics as weak if he accepts this position.

A prime minister is appointed by the president and is sacked by the president while the NRM Sec General can be recommended by the president but it’s the NRM delegates that elect him. So a party Sec General can easily defy the president while a PM cannot do so. So Mbabazi risks becoming a total poodle for president Museveni the moment he accepts to become his PM. He will be almost the same age as Museveni when he retires in probably 2016. So he will not be a threat in the post Museveni era.

An NRM Secretary General is capable of building a political base of his own if the tools for party promotion are in place and effective. Even if Mbabazi will never become the president of Uganda, being Sec General gives him some sort of a say on influencing the successor to president Museveni and NRM affairs. That is why Gilbert wanted this post but Museveni knew his moves, and instead decided to play chess with Mbabazi.

I think Amama is too arrogant to be in any political office. He may have some good ideas but his demeanor simply kills him. He has also been reported in various corruption scandals. His appointment as PM is a total display of lack of class on president Museveni’s part and confirmation that the office of the presidency means a lot to him.

With both Bukenya and Mbabazi out of the way, Museveni can get somebody to run for this post on his recommendation, and implement ‘’project Muhoozi’’ without any problems. Some people reported that Charles Rwomushana may be appointed in this position but I cannot see this happening because this guy is known to be ambitious from Makerere University days. I wonder what he is up to nowadays. He used to make a lot of noise in the media but he seems to have gone underground.

Yes, president Museveni may console Bukenya Gilbert with some other ministerial post or government job, and knowing Bukenya the way I have come to know him, he will accept any deployment anywhere because he is,i guess, one of the types that are afraid of working outside public service. Gilbert’s Poverty alleviation program was possible because he was in a big office. If Museveni makes him the minister of Agric, then he can continue with it, but I don’t see it happening. He and Carlo Ancelloti seem to be looking ‘elsewhere’ now.

Ssekandi as VP

Like I said yesterday, selfish politicians tend to appoint people in these positions that don’t present any threat to them. So Mr.Sekandi Edward fits this profile very well. Ssekandi is being looked in Buganda as another ‘Judas Iscariot’ such that he even struggled to retain his parliamentary seat in Bukoto, but president Museveni looks at him as a safe pair of hands because he does not harbour presidential ambitions. Even if he did, few Ugandans would even want to associate themselves with him after a lot of bad laws were passed under his stewardship as the speaker of parliament. Those who want to associate with him are the usual sellers of ‘burger and chips’ for NRM. Just like Mbabazi, Ssekandi will end his political career with Museveni. So no surprises here!

Appointing Ssekandi as VP also confirms that Museveni nolonger regards Mengo as a big problem anymore. Ssekandi supported and presided over two controversial bills: 2007 land and the Traditional leader’s bills, both of which put the president and Kabaka on a parallel platform. Therefore, Museveni is basically giving a ‘finger’ to Mengo by publicly confirming this appointment which Mengo can do without.

America Kyambadde

I was hoping that president Museveni will make a ‘’mistake’’ (unselfish act) and appoint a younger person, like Ameria Kyambade as VP. Ameria is an ambitious person however much she tries to smile it off. She has got that nice smile that can hoodwink anybody to think that she is just trying to keep Janet Museveni in check, but she is ambitious in her own way.

Being a woman and a long time confidant of president Museveni, gives her some sort of political clout over her opponents and she can use this to her advantage in future. I have been very impressed with her ability to make her intentions known while the other NRM leaders are back peddling and looking for the tall grass. She is one very smart, and tough, cookie.

Muslims

Muslims continue to be marginalised in Museveni’s cabinet as has been the case for the last 10 years. Most of the big cabinet positions, apart from probably finance where Saida Bumba may be retained, the rest have been occupied by people of other faith. I don’t know the merit the president bases on to chose his ministers which most Muslims cannot fulfil. Obote 2 did not have a single Muslims in his cabinet. It is like Muslims are somehow the forgotten species in the cabinets of Uganda.

In USA, for instance, members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Trilateral Commission dominate key positions in America’s government, military, industries, media outlets and educational foundations and institutions. CFR was founded in 1921 to make Americans more aware of their international responsibilities. It is a much large network of people with power and they are almost everywhere and help each other into juicy positions in both public and private sectors. So the question is: who helps president Museveni to nominate certain people in juicy positions where Muslims end up always on the peripheral of things. I dont think it’s the NRM caucas as the media has made us believe recently.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Uganda should pick a leaf from Ghana

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/691708

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

Engineer Mutabazi,chairman of UBC

Dear friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
UK

Mwenda and his Team selectively applied the Kotter’s Model in their Analysis of Besigye’s Performance

Dear Ugandans,
I like the owner of the Independent Newspaper, Mr.Mwenda Andrew, but as of recent, he has been either soiled in the banana or ‘bogoya’ republic or he has accidentally lost his touch. He nowadays tries so hard to impress those with power yet he used not be that kind of person. Anyway, let me try to use my little time and respond to some of the issues published by his editor, Weere, in his article entitled: ”How Museveni gained 10% and Besigye lost it” , views which Mwenda seems to have supported at Capitalfm political show immediately after the elections.

‘’Did Besigye make Ugandans want a change from Museveni desperately? There are three questions that answer this according to Kotter’s model’’ His paper, the independent, reported or asked.

Kotter’s model is mainly essential in transforming organizations rather than implementing changes or showing the urgency for change. Jick’s tactical ten step model is the one that deals with implementation while General Electric (GE)’s seven-step change acceleration process model deals with showing the urgency for change. I have attached a pictorial version of the Kotter’s model below to this message. Clearly, anybody can manipulate it and make an argument either in favour or against the opposition in Uganda as the Independent did, but im not gonna do what Mwenda and his team did. I’m just gonna show that some of these theories are not applicable in a situation such as Uganda.

Kotter's Model

One of The major lessons from the Kotter Model is that change process goes through a series of phases, each lasting a considerable amount of time. So how does Mwenda expect Besigye to ‘win over outside stakeholders like other opposition leaders, the army, foreign diplomats and governments’ in a specific period of time in a situation , like that in Uganda, which does not allow change to take place any level. The way Uganda is now it is impossible to get rid of Musevenism evenif Museveni died today or lost power in an election.

Mwenda’s team rightly quotes Kotter’s model which explains that Creating short-term wins motivates employees during a long change effort, but he wrongly looks at the short term wins Besigye failed to have as :’’failure to dislodge the Electoral Commission(EC), opposition coalition, et.c. These should not be the short term wins to judge any political leader because all those were not in Besigye’s control. He could not have done more than he did before the elections.In any case, Besigye’s short term wins should be those wins he had in both 2001 and 2006 elections before the 2011 elections. I also think Kotler was particulary looking at managers of organisations who seem to be in control of the situations around them, which was not the case with Besigye. Nevertheless, I think Besigye’s failure to win the youths in elections was his own making, as this was in his control and we pleaded with FDC executive to persuade Besigye to come up with a song that would conteract Museveni’s ‘Mpekoni’, but all in vain. There was some bit of excitement created among Ugandans including myself- by listening to Museveni’s rap.

It seems that “change” is just poorly understood by some people, based on misinformed assumptions or some management theories, poorly executed or all of these. Besigye was expected to meet resistance at all levels of Kottler’s model by trying to bring change to the institutions he does not control. Besigye does not control or appoint the EC, so what better could he have done to get the EC disbanded? What better could he have done which he has not done before to win the army support? What better could he have done than what he did to unite the opposition and bring the Baganda to his side?

There were some people in the population who saw/see the need for change but they don’t want it out of fear and survival. For instance, some Ugandans fear that president Museveni will plunge our country into violence if anybody, other than him, wins an election. As Lewin( 1958) explained change happens if Ch = f(D x V x P) > Co. Change (Ch) takes place if the Dissatisfaction (D) with the status quo, multiplied by a Vision (V) of the future, multiplied by agreed Processes (P) that remove obstacles blocking access to the desired state is greater than the Cost (Co) of change. The way things stand change cannot come to Uganda through so called elections because the ground for free and fair elections is not there at all. There are some countries in East Africa,particulalry Kenya, that have moved a step to better elections because the institution such as the EC are fairy independent.There is nothing like a Kenyan president appointing the head of the EC as is the case in Uganda.Rigging in Kenya might have ended with the Kibaki presidency going by the way the Kenyans have set up their system now.

Therefore, when one deeply analyses all these theories, one finds that Dr.Besigye actually tried to do exactly what the models are telling managers of organizations to do. He could not have done it in any better way. Those criticizing him now have got their own intentions but could not have done better. Most of these management theories are a fallacy when it comes to practice and I normally compare them to love making between a man and woman. Theoretically, everybody has got an idea on what they are supposed to do in the process of lovemaking but practically the results tend to differ among different couples. So, it would not be wise for any of us to go on a blame game just basing on theory without looking at the reality of the situation.

Money in the campaigns

Money is a big factor in any election anywhere in the world. A candidate with money has higher chances of winning the election. The returns from such an investment are undisputable. However, president Museveni clearly used national coffers to campaign and that itself is not only illegal but it is immoral. It was a clear sign that the incumbent was not ready to hand over power and was willing to operate outside the law to achieve his aims. That’s why some of us called this election a ‘remote control’ election where the incumbent was capable of ‘organizing the event, choosing the dancers and master of ceremony’ throughout the process, with the inner knowledge that the situation was favoring him more than his opponents.

Opinion polls

An opinion poll is something that should be taken seriously in any free and fair election. I’m saying ‘free and fair’ because I don’t think this was the case with the just concluded presidential elections in Uganda. For instance, in USA, during the first two years of the Reagan administration, information from opinion polls was discussed in more than half of the senior staff meetings of the White House. Richard Wirthlin, the pollster met with Reagan more than 25 times just to discuss polls.

Actually, almost all USA presidents had their own pollsters: Roosevelt had Cantril, Kennedy had Harris, Johnson had Quayle, Ford had Teeter, Carter had Caddell, Reagan had Wirthlin, while Nixon used most of them. This is because the opinions of the population are something that leaders of the developed nations take seriously before they make any decision.

But in Uganda’s case, with or without opinion polls, president Museveni is not bothered with the opinions of the people of Uganda. For instance, removing presidential term limits was unpopular policy among Ugandans, even within his own party, but he went ahead and removed them. He has been sending our troops to fight on foreign soil regardless of how people feel.

So what is the meaning of holding opinion polls in an environment where the incumbent has got no respect for people’s opinions? So the Afrobarometer polls might have been a reflection of a society that is still caught in fear and survival rather support for president Museveni. Secondly, opinion polls tend to be manipulated by some leaders depending on what they want out of the situation, and they tend to do it differently. For instance, In the 1970s, Harris and Gallup were the giants of the polling industry. Because of their prominence, they attracted Nixon’s interest and became prime candidates for attack and manipulation by the administration. Therefore, I would not be surprised if president Museveni or his team had a hand in the Afrobarometer polls one way or the other, and may be that is why the opposition did not take them seriously and ‘’ buried their head in divisions’ as reported by Andrew Mwenda and his team. Who can blame them, anyway?

The truth is that we shall never know who genuinely won the 2001, 2006 and 2011 elections because the ground for elections was not free and fair. Yes, Uganda is not like Belgium for us to have totally free and fair elections, and this alone is enough for us to discard all arguments made by some people showing that Museveni won the 2011 elections fairer compared to the 2006 elections- just because there was less violence in them. Text-book theories, such as those put forward by Mwenda and his team, are totally inapplicable in this case. We cannot work out the percentage of rigging based on assumptions of violence and nonviolence when the ground for free and fair elections was not there in the first place.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

UPDF/Police Should Not Shoot at Protesters In case of Demos in Uganda!!

I know some Muslims felt for Brother Gaddafi as much as I did, for reasons which are known to everybody(i.e.we are Muslims), but we must accept that a brother who kills others should have no sympathy from anyone. The same reason I expect Muslim NRM supporters to denounce their support for president Museveni after 33 people were killed in riots in September 2009. No leader deserves anybody’s mercy if he is unjustifiably killing his own people, for whatever reasons. British PM,David Cameron, came out to warn all Libyan leaders that were committing atrocities against humanity that the international law would catch up with them. Basically, Gadaffi  made himself a ‘prisoner’ of the international community before he had even lost power. So let’s hope that UPDF or Uganda police will not be tempted to shoot at our people in case demonstrations or protets start in Uganda.

''I will eat Besigye like Cake or Samosa''-Gen.Museveni. Picture provided by John Nsubuga of UAH

I know most Ugandans have probably given up on the future of our country after the 2011 elections were cleverly and massively rigged, and they have understandably developed fears that the opposition is gonna lead to more deaths if anybody comes out on streets to demonstrate, but we should all emulate the Brazilian born political activist, Paulo Freire, who explained the principle of ‘conscientisation’( the process of becoming critically aware of structural forces of power which shape people’s lives as a precondition for critical action for change). Please read one of his books and you will understand why some people are so passionate about the affairs of their country.

Paulo Freire, who coincidentally has the same names as Chelsea FC’s defender, explained that when a leader has broken all avenues of change, the population usually develops what he termed as ‘culture of silence’. In other words, the marginalized population develops passive acceptance of the bad situation in the country. This passive acceptance can be displayed in different ways:

1. There are those that decide to join the regime in power because they need daily bread, as they say:’ if you can’t beat them, join them’;

2. There are those who decide to do their own things and distance themselves from anything that involves politics. This is the option most people normally take, and this explains why there was a low voter turnout in the elections. Most People are not bothered with Museveni and politics anymore as long as there can peacefully sleep, eat, drink and look after their families.Who can blame them?

Basing on the above theories, there is a big possibility that majority of the population in Uganda may decide not to join the opposition leaders on the streets of Kampala for any protests, simply because of the fear factor. The truth is that if anybody is to take Museveni out of power right now, the biggest celebrations may surprisingly come from those who claim to be core supporters of NRM/Museveni. We have seen this happening in Egypt and Libya where a lot of government people were denouncing their leaders and later celebrating when they are out of power.

President Museveni destroyed the true friends he had in NRM when he removed term limits from the 1995 constitution. One of the reasons why most Ghanaians still love J.K.Rawlings is because he respected term limits and handed over power when he lost the presidency. He also never attempted to rig the elections in 2000 just to stay in power, yet he and his men killed a lot of Ghanaians during the coup detat in 1978. What Rawlings did in 2000 has transformed Ghana’s political landscape to the levels not seen in 99% of Africa.

So we should be careful with who we publicly support when it comes to politics because things may change when we least expect it. Museveni is not immortal. He breathes the same oxygen which we all breathe. So many of us supported him between 1986 and 1990s till when he went AWOL. Yes, he has done some good things for the country but this itself is not a ticket to stay in power indefinitely, and i think this is  bringing about endless demonstrations or protests  in Uganda. Our country is a time bomb waiting to explode.

Anyway, we urge UPDF, police and other security organs not to shoot Ugandans in case they are just peacefully demonstrating. There is no need for that, honestly. We should learn to value human life whatever the situation we find ourselves in.Why kill someone just because he or she is on a street making noise and walking about? Police Chief’s statement today- warning the opposition, was not encouraging, but all the same, lets hope that the police will not be tempted to shoot at peaceful Ugandans as the international law has got no boundaries. Similarly, protestors should also respect the police men/women because they are there to ensure peace in our country.

Byebyo ebyange

Abbey.K.S

The ‘Remote Control’ Film Has Ended. Now What is next For Ugandans??

Dear Ugandans,
Like i Prophesized, the film entitled ‘Remote Control’ (part1) (as far as the presidential elections are concerned) has come to an end. Let us now gather ourselves from our seats, throw away the popcorns in the bins, and do other things instead of sitting in the cinema Hall forever.

I’m a lover of psychology despite the fact that students who solely major in it don’t usually get jobs in the UK where i live. As a way of explaining the psychological input involved in this month’s elections , let us look at some theories, and I would like those who know that this month’s elections were rigged but continue to proudly raise the national flag, to take more notice of the following theories.It is very important that we understand why some people are cheering president Museveni as others are mourning for his presidential win. As they say:’Man can easily disappoint man’.

In around 1900, a certain Russian physiologist called Ivan Pavlov, developed what most people believe was the first scientific explanation of our behaviour. While he was studying the physiology of digestion, he found that his experimental dogs began to salivate every time he entered his laboratory carrying their empty food dishes. He concluded that the dogs had in some way learned an association between seeing the dish and being fed, and were responding to the dish as it contained food. If we are to link this dog behaviour to the behaviour of some voters and supporters of president Museveni, we see a pattern between the money that was spent during these elections and their voting choice. This does not necessarily mean that all those who were bribed with money voted for Museveni or that they are ‘dogs’, but it somehow explains why president Museveni had to use a lot of money to buy off votes. It also explains why voters ‘salivate’ every time they see a politician on a campaign trail.

In otherwords, we have lost a whole population out there whose morals are not different from the ‘dogs’ in the laboratory. Put it flankly, most of the current elites in Kampala are no different from the peasants in the villages. They are more like ‘peasant in suits’ but they wont obviously accept this because they think they are educated with degrees and PHDs. The parliament of Uganda is a typical example of ‘peasants in suits’ who can be bribed with anything from state house and get them to pass anything the president wants without wasting too much saliva.

The operant theory also states that behaviour that is rewarded, or reinforced, will continue or increase in frequency. Behaviour that is punished will reduce in frequency or cease. In the same spirit,the people benefiting from the financial muscles of the NRM government would be less willing to participate in any activity that is going to bring the current government down because this will mean the disappearance of the rewards they get from the government.

It is no surprise; therefore, that corruption has become acceptable in Kampala because those involved in it are not as punished as it should be. For instance, we are so likely never to hear again of the global fund cases against NRM big fish, such as Mike Mukula and Jim Muhwezi, whose hands were caught in the till at some point. Actually, Mukula has bounced back into the next parliament without any scratch and he is gonna proudly represent his people as everything against him seems to have totally gone out of the window.
Going back to the just concluded election, it was intended to show that there is some form of democracy in Uganda despite the irregularities that we have read about, and I think the Kampala regime has already achieved it. As a result, the future of Uganda remains unpredictable, and that is why some of us have got reasons to be worried of what is going to happen next. My hope is that president Museveni takes note of what is happening in North Africa at the moment, and usher in some reforms as soon as possible. Otherthan this, Uganda is a walking timebomb waiting to explode.

As for Dr.Besigye, he has won the respect of many including those in the NRM. He has been saying things which even those in Museveni’s cabinet would not say to his face, yet they needed to be said. Besigye pointed out some of these issues casually without any fear. There are a lot of people both in NRM and opposition who make noise on the outside but when they face president Museveni, they cannot tell him his weaknesses. Besigye is not like that, and we hope that whoever takes over from him will do the same.

Paradoxically, he is the best thing that has ever happened to Uganda politics in the last 10 years. He has played his part and history will judge him as one of the greatest men Uganda has ever had. Nobody in Uganda could have stood up to Museveni casually in the way Besigye did. My worry now is how FDC will hold itself together after Besigye leaves the political scene. He has managed to keep the party together despite being surrounded by mainly‘’moles’’ all the time.

Nonetheless,we should all agree that president Museveni is a very lucky man. May be he has got some Jewish blood in him. For instance, he has openly rigged this election but most Ugandans have already accepted it and moved on. The opposition had a chance of uniting against him and push him out, but then Mao comes in and starts decampaiging the opposition instead of the president; President Museveni has drained the national coffers for NRM campaigns but the EC chairman,Kiggundu, will never seriously ask for accountability and NRM source of funds; e.t.c. The man is just lucky. May be leadership comes from God? May be there is a reason why Allah chose Museveni to be our president?. I dont know. The man is lucky. He seems to get away with everything! May we should just give up and leave the matter in the hands of God.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba</strong

Uganda Political Parties Should have an Official ‘Transfer Window’ as it is in Football

Dear readers,

After this year’s presidential elections, I suggest that we probably create a ‘Transfer Window’ which is almost similar to that in football in January and June/July every year, due to increased bribery among politicians and crossing of voters. Fraudulent elections are the signature of governments run by bribery, partisan state institutions, and dominated by secrecy, zealots, party fanatics and corporate thugs. If fraud is the decider of a national election, it is far more serious, and chances are the one who does it most usually wins the elections in Africa.

Transfer of players in both football and politics is simply a money grab. Everything else its proponents say is just window-dressing. It mainly involves the transfer of wealth from the superrich to underclass. For instance, the Fernando Torres joined Chelsea at £50m in this year’s January Transfer window because he was given a better contract than he had at Liverpool. He also claimed that he wanted to win trophies, and he is probably right though this made him look like a ‘Judas Iscariot’ to Liverpool fans. Similarly, some Ugandans have recently moved from other parties without an official ‘transfer window’ to join mainly NRM and FDC. Historically,when UPC was formed in the 1960s, it took a big chunk of DP and Kabaka Yekka(KY) members. In 1980 UPC also lost a big chunk of its members to DP. Some of these included: Dr. Martin Aliker, Professor Yoweri Kyesimira, Dr.Kazungu, Dr.Muzira, Wilson Lutaya, Matia Ngobi, James Kahigiriza,Nekyon, Alex Waibale, and many others who had abandoned the sinking ship with driven by late Captain Dr.Obote.

Wayne Rooney wanted to leave Manchester United last year because of United’s lack of clout in attracting more top players to the club, but he later turned around and signed a new contract with them. Similarly, FDC’s Mubarak Kirunda, the chairman LC3 Jinja Central Division, FDC vice chairman for Busoga region, and head of the Inter-Party Cooperation campaign taskforce in Jinja, was also reportedly planning to cross to NRM after a shs.1b bribe from Salim Saleh, but he has assured the party that he cannot leave because of Shs1 billion. FDC’s Atugonza also reportedly resisted the bribe of shs.1.5 to join NRM. Atugonza behaved like Liverpool’s Stephen Gerald who resisted joining Chelsea FC for £30m some years back despite the astronomical wages he had been promised at Chelsea.

In this election, we have watched some of the veteran politicians in UPC crossing to NRM. For example, I would never have imagined that men like Henry Mayiga, Chris Rwakasisi and Badru Wegulo would be campaigning for Museveni in these elections, but it is happening. We are also noting large numbers of supporters crossing between FDC and NRM from other political parties because the duos are now looked at as the political giants in Uganda. They are more like Chelsea,Manchestry City and Manchester United in the Premiership. I think most of the crossover vote to NRM is people sick of a fragmented opposition where DP looks at IPC or FDC as enemies rather than people working towards the same goal.It can also be because voters look at FDC and NRM as more successful than other parties as in USA where the Indians have recently found that joining a tribe owning a successful casino is one of the pathways out of poverty.

I note that the voting among the crossovers has favored NRM and president Museveni more than anybody else. It seems to me that voters in the Uganda act very differently to voters here in the UK where I currently live.Over here someone may vote Labour in the local elections, Conservative in the general elections and Liberal Democrat in the European elections, for example. People swap and change all the time from one party to another depending on who has the best policies for the job at hand. In USA, Crossover voting has always been common in primary elections though a significant number of voters do crossover in the presidential elections. In Canada there are no bullshit elections. You mark an x in the circle you like it goes in a box and the totals are there and the box can be opened if there is any dispute. The cost is pencil and paper.

What a party like FDC needs now as the ‘transfer window’ remains open indefinitely or unofficially is more diversity so that it stops being perceived as a bunch of mostly westerners. They need to target brilliant young minds in all regions in the country as they have been slowly trying to do since 2004. Instead of having some old lame duck for the next 5 years, a rising star in the party should get a running start in any of the top party positions. For example, one of the reasons why Chelsea FC may not win the league this season is because they have got a lot of old players in their first team whose average age is in approximately 29. Young people should be recruited for the right reasons and not just to use them to fight unnecessary political battles as NRM is doing. NRM are predators, who lie to young people and manipulate their economic situation in order to drag them away from the things they have grown up knowing, such as their belief in Kabakaship or other traditions.

However, with the current wave of people power or empowerment that started in Tunisia and Egypt, the NRM belief that they were going to be in power till when Jesus comes back is thankfully coming to an end. Everybody all over the world has started to realize that oppressing the masses is not an indefinite sustainable formula to staying in power. These protests are from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, s/he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope among the population. It started with those men who fought for African independence and it is continuing with men who are now standing against the current African dictators.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

NRM’s 10 point program and UPC’s Common Man’s Charter were Just Political Propaganda

Dear friends,

I recently had an online debate with Mrs. Nina Mbabazi Rukikaire, who also happens to be the NRM secretary General’s daughter, where she said that her political life has been influenced by both the NRM 10 point Program and the UPC’s Common Man’s Charter(CMC). I asked her to explain this and she came up with a lot of emotional explanations which had nothing to do practically with the two documents in question. So. I felt I should alert other Ugandans who may fall into the same trap and let them know that the two documents were just political propaganda than anything else. Propaganda simply means the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause. It doesn’t have to be lies. Actually, the best propaganda is indeed true, but it is up to us to question its applicability in a situation such as Uganda.

Propagandists employ tactics that dehumanize those who support the opposing viewpoint through suggestion or false accusations. They influence public perception by disseminating negative and false information. For instance, Obote’s CMC wrongly portrayed most of the existing systems in the 1962 constitution as ‘inapplicable’ in Uganda. The document was more, for instance, against issues such as: kings, hereditary leadership, federalism or anything of that sort. For me, this kind of stereotyping by Obote and his CMS was not something that would have a lasting foundation in Uganda. Stereotyping is normally used by propagandists to arouse prejudices by labeling the object of the propaganda campaign as something the target audience fears, hates, or finds undesirable, and this is what late Obote and UPC were doing. This is what NRM is tactically doing now by starting a debate on cultural institutions in the country by presenting documents such as the traditional leaders Bill that are meant to humiliate cultural leaders and eventually lead to the abolishion of kingdoms. This means that even if that bill had not gone through, president Museveni’s propaganda against Kabakaship or traditional institutions had already been germinated, and it will not go away as long as he is in power.

I also noticed that Mrs.Nina Rukikairwe, herself, is feeding on old UPC propaganda through old guards such as Mathew Rukiikaire, as if UPC had all the out understanding of Uganda’s problems. The fact is that neither CMC nor the NRM documents were a ‘bible’ of truth on what direction the country is supposed to take. Uganda needs a new leaf from both these parties that seem to be identical twins in one way or ther other.For instance, Andrew Mwenda recently told us, while on capital fm, that Rwakasisi and Museveni used to work together and have been great friends for a long time.Rwakasisi, on other hand, was Obote’s right hand man throughout his leadership. Andrew Mwenda himself is a great admirer of Obote and UPC but also ‘loves’ Museveni in his own way.Nowonder UPC ‘old guards’ are now dominating Museveni’s cabinet than even the NRM historicals.

Propaganda can absolutely promulgate a democratic doctrine? The difference between political doctrine and propaganda is more like the one between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. In most cases, doctrines have been tested elsewhere unlike propaganda. Doctrine is more like regular food on a menu but propaganda is more like a ‘food special’. For instance, ‘Cultural diversity’ is a political propaganda term stolen from theorists of anthropology in the 1970’s. It is effective only to the degree that cultures are not diverse but simply have different appearances and rituals for the same values. It is something that became popular in American during President Johnson’s administration as he made attempts to change parts of American values and encourage more integration.

Nonetheless;Let us also try to find distinctions between the Common Man’s Charter (CMC) and Museveni’s 10 point programme. I’m not a Museveni sympathiser but sometimes I’m forced to defend his paper policies when someone starts ‘sugar-coating’ Obote’s failures or when one starts confusing others by saying that they were influenced by the two documents. Ok, let us see what we know so far about these two political propaganda documents:

Obote’s first administration started off as market-oriented and pluralistic. Then in 1966 Obote changed for the worse as we all know by now. The Common Man Charter(CMC) was a step influenced by what was happening in Tanzania at the time. So basically Obote moved to the left in 1969 and the CMC was adopted by UPC at their delegates conference in the same year.Nyerere had a hand in most of Obote’s changes in Uganda from the 1960s till when his death.

On the other hand, Yoweri Museveni started on the left ideologically. In the 1970s he was virtually a Marxist-Leninist. People like Robert Mugabe were radicalised by armed struggle. Yoweri Museveni was de-radicalised by armed struggle. Robert Mugabe became more and more of a socialist in the heat of the liberation war. Yoweri Museveni became less and less of a socialist in the tensions of armed struggle against the Obote regime.

The CMC buried Obote 1 because it was a threat to both the British and USA interests in the region. The British had about 80 companies in Uganda that faced the threat of nationalisation. On May 1, 1970 President Obote announced that the state would take over foreign enterprises in the famous Nakivubo Pronouncements.So the British through the Isrealis hatched a plan from South Sudan to get rid of socialist Obote. The USA also looked at the relationship Obote had with Nyerere as a threat to their capitalist interests in the region.

On the other hand, the 10 point programme had the blessing of most of the international community. Austria is where the 10 point programme was galvanised from and the movement held a lot of meetings there in 1985. That’s why the International Institute for Peace (IIP) president, Erwin Lanc, Austria’s former internal and foreign affairs minister and his wife, Christianne, were invited to attend the 15th Heroes Day celebrations at Ssembwe-Nyimbwa, Luweero.

The CMC was bound to fail from the beginning because, according to prof Ali Mazrui, the state had entered the market place of enterprise and pushed away the real entrepreneurs. It felt the role of government was to actively control and own business. They felt an equitable and just environment can only be created by government owning and interfering with business. The Government then simply rewarded supporters and chased away political opponents. A bedrock of nepotism and corruption and mismanagement was born. The companies were run down.

In addition, the CMC was introduced to make everyone relatively with money into their pockets to curb down on ‘kondoism’ or thuggery which was going at the time. Instead it just increased ‘kondoism’ as the rich kept being scared of the people. So it was a total failure. Let us also remember that Obote’s CMC was not pure socialism as that of Nyerere. So it was a bit of a confusing document with intentions which only UPC can expain.

On the other hand, the 10 point programme had the support of the masses in Uganda mainly in the south of the country. Museveni’s point No.5 for an independent, integrated and self-sustaining economy, for which he is still fighting for, was and is a better attractive option for Ugandans than the so called CMC.Museveni has now supplemented this with the recently announced 5 year economic plan.

In addition, despite the fact that Museveni has not done much to get Ugandans out of poverty, his 10 point programme is even still popular among the opposition. For instance, DP former president, Sebana Kizito, was on record saying that DP will take up NRM’s 10-point programme and polish it in preparation for the 2011 general elections.Im actually wondering if Norbert Mao is running his campaigns and manifesto basing mostly on NRM’s 10 point program. May be that is why some people are suspecting him of being an NRM ‘mole’ in DP.

As far as I know, if president Museveni had genuinely implemented his 10 point program, then Uganda would have been on a totally different level. He just used the document as propaganda to make Obote unpopular in 1980s and subsequently help himself to an easy way to power. Museveni’s propaganda was sold to both Ugandans and the international community and it worked. There was nothing really serious in it. Time will come when somebody else will also come up with better propaganda than Museveni , and the population will be inspired to throw NRM out for good.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
UK

NewVision Plagiarized The FDC Manifesto Story to Benefit Museveni

Dear friends,

The issue of FDC ‘copying’ the UK conservative party manifesto was first raised by one Mubatsi Asinja Habati in the Independent Newspaper on Tuesday, 16 November 2010, but I was surprised to see the Newvision putting it at their front page recently as breaking news yet it’s not. For some reason, the Newvision did not acknowledge that they picked the tab from the Independent Newspaper .In other words, they plagiarized the story which they claim to be their own, but unfortunately they are also accusing FDC of plagiarism because the story benefits a certain candidate.Because the story was on Newvision front page, it has been picked up by some papers in the UK and now it has turned into some international headline, but why all the fuss?

FDC and the Conservatives in the UK have got a special relationship together. They are, in other words, ‘friends’ and aim to change things in Uganda for the better. So I would not be surprised that if consultations were made between the two parties before the FDC manifesto was drafted. So let’s enjoy some similarities in the manifestos as long as they benefit the common man in Uganda.

As someone who lives in a democracy, like UK, I know that manifestos don’t really matter that much howevermuch we pretend otherwise. It’s more of a piece of paper than anything else which most politicians throw away after the elections. For instance, as I assume some of you already know, there were several things that were promised by both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats before they got into power, but the coalition government has turned around and thrown them in the bin.Even the government’s White Paper released in Novemeber 2010 is more confusing than anything else, because few people know exactly what it means.

Secondly, I’m surprised that some supporters of UPC are talking about plagiarizing of manifestos and national programs when it’s believed that all Obote 1 policies were ideas got from somewhere else. His National Development policy that included building referral hospitals all over the country was a product of the British Development plan left behind before they handed over to him, but UPC normally gives itself 100% credit. Obote also copied a lot of policies from Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Nyerere and India, but Ugandans are not complaining,afterall, we benefited from their implementation.

The truth is that everybody copies everybody one way or the other, and there are several examples i can cite here:NRM copied Besigye’s removal of graduated tax policy after the 2006 elections but they have not acknowledged it up to now;Hitler was strongly influenced by Fascism in Italy and copying Mussolini or the Duce, he took the title of Fuhrer; Clinton accused Bush Junior of copying his speeches in 1992;Obama was accused of writing a thesis at university that is similar to the communist’s manifesto. So basically he was accused of copying Marx in some education circles. Karl Marx is known as the father of Communism and he’s the author of The Communist Manifesto too!

All the finest manifestos that the human brain can devise, all the high-flown theories that are flying around in the manifestos of the 8 presidential candidates today have mostly been copied somewhere but they probably won’t tell you.DP, for instance, did not have any original ideas that I am aware of before the elections such that I remember reading on facebook when Mao was in USA and he was telling us that he intended hiring a white/’muzungu’ friend to come and write his manifesto. DP has been involved in internal conflicts for most part of pre-election period.

By the way, I’m starting to think that Mao is not even a bona fide intellectual as he is made out to be (granted this is a very subjective and meaningless term), but stuff like composing a song against Besigye, have made him look like he is not the sharpest tool in the shade.DP had a scaled down version of federalism that was advertised in the 1980s but CP were better at this front, but could we say now that all the 6 candidates that have adopted federalism as a policy in their manifestos are copying CP.

The key here is ‘implementation’ not ‘copying’ manifestos, becase as long as what is copied benefits Ugandans in the end, we should not complain. Otherwise, we risk turning ourselves into full time wingers. If you do your research about manifestos, you will find that almost all the eight candidates have got almost similar manifestos. Six of the presidential candidates have all promised federalism apart from obviously NRM and probably UPC.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Tunisia May Not Happen In Uganda Sooner.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abbey

The Traditional Leaders Bill(2010) is one of the Bad Laws I have ever seen in my life

Dear readers,

The Cultural leaders Bill (2010) is not just annoying but it is likely to breed more than chaos in our country if passed by the parliament. The bill is a disastrous draconian law that has little direct connection with keeping cultural leaders on the leash other than shutting their mouths indefinitely on national causes or issues, as if they are half citizens of Uganda. Uganda Lawmakers are preparing to vote on a bill that would eventually outlaw nearly all traditional institutions in the country, a measure that could become the most sweeping ban in Uganda history.

The bill’s definitions of “partisan politics” are laughable to say the least. I was mostly concerned with the following definitions: (c)” recommending a particular person to the public with a view to promoting that person politically”; (e)” making statements against Government policies or programmes”; and (f)” making statements or comments on Bills or motions under consideration by Parliament with a view to influencing their outcome”. This is simply called interfering with the “freedom of speech,” of traditional leaders not ‘partisan politics.’ In any democracy, even people with traditional or cultural roles can’t be prevented from having an opinion — a.k.a. “freedom of speech.” They may not, however, campaign for, or endorse, specific candidates because that would be “partisan politics.”

The very term “partisan politics” refers to supporting one party over another, or one particular candidate, which Mengo or any other kingdom never openly does. Yes,Ssubi was formed by former Katikiro of Buganda after he resigned from all his duties at the kingdom.In any case, Ssubi would not have been formed if the demands by the Mengo admnistration had been met by the central government. Buganda kingdom particularly does, however, engage in what it considers to be efforts in favor of moral issues.The president may disagree with the Kabaka( Buganda kingdom), but he has to admit that opposing bad policies or leadership on moral grounds is clearly within the purview of any cultural leader, not just the Kabaka. If the truth is more important than partisan politics, I’m sure president Museveni who is the architect of this bill, will take the time to learn. If partisan politics are more important, then he is just wasting my time and yours.

Kabaka Mutebi

Part 2 of clause 7 of the bill is another annoying one as it says: ”The Government may in accordance with a court order withdraw its recognition of a traditional or cultural leader where the traditional or cultural leader:(a) acts in contravention of the Constitution or this Act; or (b) abdicates the institution of a traditional or cultural leader”. This article just confirms all the fears people have always had that president Museveni is planning to ‘abolish’ kingdoms in the country. This means that if this bill is passed and mengo goes ahead and starts opposing some other ‘funny’ bills, as it did with the land bills, then Kabaka may end up served with a notice to say good bye to his kingdom.

Clause 9(2) says:’’ Where there is more than one traditional or cultural leader in the area of a regional government the position of the titular head of the regional government shall be held by each of the traditional or cultural leaders within the area of the regional government in rotation for one year at a time.’’ This was intended to make the chiefdoms created in Buganda under Museveni very happy. It simply means that Ssabaruli or Ssabanyala can easily take over at Mengo and, by law; Baganda will just have to accept it. I will not be surprised if these chiefdoms embrace this bill with two hands because their survival solely depends on the government in power. It should not be forgotten that Uganda had only four recognised kingdoms at independence in 1962.

Concerning the conduct of cultural leaders with foreign governments, article 15 of the bill says:’’(1) A traditional or cultural leader shall not deal with foreign governments except with the approval of the minister responsible for foreign affairs; and (2) The minister responsible for foreign affairs shall develop guidelines for approval to be granted under subsection (1).’’ This means that the Kabaka has to seek permission before he hosts any foreign leader as he did sometime last year when he received a delegation from Swaziland, the US ambassador at Kireka palace, and the Libyans when Gadaffi visited Uganda.

Clause 17 says:’ The ministry responsible for culture shall once in every calendar year cause to be published in the Gazette a List of all traditional or cultural leaders in Uganda whom Government facilitates.’’ This in effect means that the government intends to create more traditional leaders as it has been doing ever since Kabaka and president Museveni fell out, and any of the cultural leaders who falls out with the government will not be listed in the annual gazette( which I suspect will be the Newvision newspaper). In other words, becoming a traditional leader is going to become more like winning a prize or trophy of some sort, as in like football or other sports. It is also one way of blackmailing traditional leaders to support whatever the government wants.

Clause 18 is meant to cut off the likes of Beti Nambooze, Medard Segona and Mpunga from the Kabaka completely. Nambooze was the chairperson of the Buganda civic Educational Committee, an organization mandated by Mengo to teach people the ills in the 2007 land bill which was later passed by the government. Namboze and the two Mengo ministers ended up being arrested and later charged in courts of law. But with this bill, it means the Kabaka is ‘’ personally liable for criminal offences committed by the traditional or cultural leader or the agents or persons in the employment or acting under the authority of the traditional or cultural leader’’. In otherwords, the government is trying to cut off Kabaka or other cultural leaders from their loyal subjects. The bill is practically dumping them in a social ‘prison’. It also means that we are likely to see the Kabaka arrested or in a dock or jail at some point if he breaks any of the contents in this bill.

The ancient Greeks maintained that “a bad law is no law.”They did not expect people with common sense to take bad laws seriously. Yet, as a nation, we are so regimented that we are willing to use guns, parliament, jails, prisons and all manner of violence to enforce bad laws on otherwise law abiding citizens, as the traditional leaders in our country. I therefore request Uganda law makers to throw this bill in the bin because it is simply a bad law. It does not belong with us at all.

Byebyo ebyange

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

NRM has beaten the opposition in the ‘’rigging’’ game again

Dear friends,

So the NRMs are up to their old tricks once again. In the face of near-certain defeat in the parliamentary race in some regions especially in Mbale and western Uganda, they have reportedly managed to convince or rather bribe some FDC candidates, to drop out of the race which is so sad for democracy in Uganda. Most Ugandans I have spoken are resigned to the fact that these elections are a already a sham because they wont produce a proper outcome. An election with only one viable candidate is not the ideal situation in a democracy, and I think NRM prefers to only compete with itself than anybody else. In other words, these bribery allegations portray NRM as a party that fears free and fair elections. Certainly a competitive election is more desirable than a non-competitive one, all things being equal, but NRM has ensured that Ugandans don’t get this feeling as long as they are in power supported by the state apparatus.

I know FDC have gone into a debate with the Electoral Commission over the legality of withdraw of a candidate but my understanding is that the law as it stands favours the NRM tricks , and a candidate that has dropped out cannot be replaced since the deadline has passed. Nevertheless; since our parliament is very good at passing emergency bills during election time, such as the controversial traditional leaders’ bill that president wants passed before the end of these elections, they should in the same spirit find a way of legislating against this bad spirited move by the NRM that involves threatening and bribing opposition candidates to withdraw from the race. The electoral law should be amended such that withdraw is only acceptable in case of the death or incapacitation of the candidate, for example, or perhaps the candidate’s withdrawal due to the grave injury or death of a parent, spouse, or child, or some other traumatic personal event.

Either way, I can see the FDC ending up with a short end of the stick because the Electoral Commission seems to unanimously agree that these sleight-of-hand tactics by NRM officials pass legal muster, despite the ethics and morals involved in an election.

So once again, the NRMs have managed to flagrantly find a loophole in the electoral laws which they have used to their advantage. The only possible candidate who has so far reportedly managed to resist their bribery tactics is Mr.Francis Atugonza who was allegedly offered shs.1.5b to withdraw from the race by one of president Museveni’s son’s in laws, and he turned it down. What a rare bird because I cannot see so many people in Uganda turning down that kind of money in the name of democracy! I can bet that there are even some in the opposition who are wondering whether Atungonza is really insane or not!

By the way, these cunning methods have happened before elsewhere in the world and I’m blaming the legislators and the opposition not to have foresighted this in advance such that they bloke this loophole in time before the elections. For example, in 2005 USA west Virginia elections, Thomas Esposito withdrew from the race citing the ill-health of his mother-in law but the real reasons surfaced later showing that his candidature had been planted by the FBI to help find evidence of vote-buying in Southern West Virginia.

In 2004 Afghan presidential elections, the Los Angeles Times reported that some presidential candidates in the race against Karzai were requested by the then US ambassador to withdraw from the race, with attempts to bribe them with cabinet positions.

However, the real questions we should ask ourselves are: how did we reach this level? How did we let NRM become a party full of crafty people ready to pervert the democratic process, and not only get away with it but come up smelling like roses? How do they manage to use tax payers’ money to do anything they want as if they own everybody in Uganda? How do they get people to give them a pass for tactics which should have been despised by every sane voter in Uganda? The sad note here is that NRM has beaten the opposition in the ‘’rigging’’ game again as we wait for more withdraws from the opposition before the end of the elections.

Byebyo ebyange

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

UK

Besigye’s ”Bush” Comments didn’t Break Medical Ethics

Friends,

The recent comments attributed to Dr. Besigye that he regrets treating Museveni while they were in the bush fighting to liberate our country, have been blown out of proportion by both the NRM and DP(Mao) supporters. Medical ethics have been violated internationally by countries such as Israel when they deny medical personnel a chance to treat the wounded Palestinians in battle. Israel is known to attack medical personnel and damage medical facilities in its battles with the Arabs but nothing has been seriously done even by UN.

On the other hand, Dr.Besigye lived up to his code of ethics and a professional obligation to care for NRM patients while in Luwero bushes in 1980s. Museveni was among these patients he looked after them very well. If he had refused to treat Museveni while in the bush, then his ethical conduct should be questioned.

His comments on campaigns , therefore, are political and were said in a political spectrum, and therefore have got nothing to do with his profession as a doctor. The laws of politics defer to medical ethics. There is no evidence of systemic problems in the medical care Dr.Besigye gave to Museveni before they became political opponents.

Besigye has not participated in the abuse of medical information as far as Museveni’s health is concerned.He has not told us that Museveni was infected with diseases A and C while in the bush. The only time when he almost lost it is when his former patient who is now the incumbent, Museveni Yoweri, ‘diagnosed’ him with HIV during the 2001 elections, and the doctor demanded that they both go for blood tests. But nobody called Museveni’s political ethics into question at that time for reasons best known to themselves.

It is kind of startling that some NRM and DP (Mao) supporters are making a meal out of Besigye’s comments instead of blaming the man who has presided over a collapsing health care system in the country for the last 25 years. In effect, they are telling us that medical ethics don’t apply to poor people in Uganda who can’t be treated because they don’t have money due to the poverty brought by this government. Norbert Mao himself who started making these accusations against Besigye before he was joined, as expected, by his NRM band wagons, has a personal interest in Besigye’s campaigns, and can’t claim to be objective on the issue. He’s just motivated by his own selfish needs, which is fine, but he is not expected to claim that he’s any sort of expert on medical ethics.

So I suggest that we don’t waste the time of the medical ethical panels in Kampala since the person who created this situation in the first place is the one in power. He is the one that started the politics of abusing opposition leaders and all sorts of bad characters. The Electoral Commission and human rights organizations should investigate his political ethics instead of wasting time on a doctor who turned into a politician.I even doubt whether Besigye has tried to practice Medicine again ever since he left the NRM government as he is known to have last been a full time medical doctor while at Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi, before he joined the then NRA rebels in 1980s.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

”FDC was denied Licences to Start up its own Newspaper and Radio”,Reveals Salam Musumba while in the UK

Dear Ugandans,

Happy New Year! I have spent my first day in 2011 listening mainly to radio stations in and outside Uganda. The political show that caught my breath was the one at London based online radio, Ngoma, which was hosting FDC deputy president, Salam Musumba. All my life, I have been watching Mrs. Musumba on TV and YouTube, and she has always come across as a noisy lady, but I was astonished with her humbleness while answering questions on this radio. I don’t know whether this was her New Year resolution or it was because her in-laws were beside her while she was on air.

musumba salamu of FDC

Nevertheless, she talked about different important issues that I feel I should summarily share with the rest of Ugandans that missed the program. Musumba revealed that FDC applied for licenses to start their own newspaper and radio station but the government turned them down.

When asked about how she juggles between being a deputy FDC president and wife to an NRM minister, she said that marriage does not mean that husband and wife have to support the same political party, an issue she finds it easy to explain to elites in Kampala and the people of Busoga who voted her as their MP in Bugaluba South -very well knowing that she in the opposition and her husband is in the NRM. She also revealed that her husband has started being frustrated with the NRM leaders as they intentionally rigged him out in the NRM primaries. In effect, this means that Mr. Musumba is standing as an independent in his constituency in Busoga.

Salaam also told listeners that president Museveni is primarily responsible for the controversial Traditional leaders Bill as he is working around the clock to make sure that it is passed by the parliament.

Regarding accusations that FDC is a party for Banyankole and non-Baganda, Salaam told us that it’s not true because the party has got a lot of Baganda in very responsible positions. She said that this rumor was started by Honourables : Beti Kamya and Nabillah Nagayi, and she accused the duo of being ‘spies’ in the party. She said she is reliably informed that Kamya and Nabillah were sent to intentionally disorganize the party and target the party secretary General, Alice Alaso. She complimented Alaso for doing a fantastic job especially when it comes to keeping party secrets.

Regarding the jiggers in Busoga, she acknowledged that she and others let down the people of Busoga in providing leadership to this problem, but she added that jiggers is one of the symptoms of the bigger problems in Busoga. So she reportedly promised that she’s going to use her position to fight the causes of problems in Busoga rather than the symptoms. She said that she is not going to do what Honourable Kadagga did by parading the jigger sufferers in front of the press cameras, washing their infected feet with water. She said that it was very cheap of the deputy speaker of parliament to look for publicity in this way.

She asked Basoga to blame the NRM leaders that killed people organizations such as: Busoga Growers Union, Busoga Diocese and the Kyabazinga, that could have been useful in developing the locals at the grassroots. In the same message, Salaam said that Busoga does not have a traditional leader up to now because president Museveni hijacked the issue instead of helping the Basoga to install the legitimate leader, Gabula Nadiope 1V. Gabulla’s grandfather was the fourth vice president of Uganda in 1962 when Uganda got independence.

It was also revealed that the death of leaders in Busoga such as Namiti, rendered Busoga to a lot of NRM interference. Namiti died as soon as he was released from Luzira prison, a trend that has been seen with some opposition politicians recently. She said that the government has successfully weakened the traditional systems in Busoga such that the same efforts are now being tactically deployed to weaken the Buganda kingdom.

When asked how FDC/IPC are going to protect their votes in this election, Musumba said that they have got a lot of means they have come up with but she was not going to reveal them to anybody, because NRM will know and render them useless. She, however, revealed that IPC is planning to put 19 strong men and women on every gazetted polling station in Uganda to protect their votes.

She concluded the debate by requesting Ugandans abroad to contribute to the FDC/ IPC cause financially. The following were the bank details she left behind for those wishing to deposit money on any Barclays Bank Branch near them: Account Number: 23527603 and sort code:202065. My feeling is that this is the FDC account in the UK which makes it just perfect for those abroad who wish to contribute.

All in all, it was a beautiful debate with a lot of Ugandans calling in. I enjoyed it and now I’m sharing it with others. I tried to call in to contribute but the phones were to busy.

Byebyo banange

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Museveni’s Assassinations Claims are Giving me Sleepless Nights!

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

Kinkizi Radio and other FMs are Breaking the Law by banning the Besigye Adverts

Dear readers,

I rarely watch TV or listen to radios unless if there is a football match on but I normally compensate this by watching a lot of Uganda music during my leisure time ,which I find more entertaining than even UK’s X-factor or TV shows. However, I was appalled by the report in newspapers recently that indicated that nine radio stations in Uganda had so far refused to run FDC’s campaign adverts because the stations are owned by NRM ”big boys”.

The banning of Besigye radio adverts on some private Fm Stations has been a typical NRM character since 1990s, and in all fairness, it shouldn’t be part of us anymore as a growing democracy. As some of you may be aware, 1n 1993, the government stopped government offices from giving any advertisement business to the Monitor newspaper, just because they wanted to run it down, which some in the NRM call ‘dying naturally due to mismanagement’. The monitor lost about 70% of its advertisement revenue till when this decision was reversed in 1997. So this business of saying its ‘free will’ for those stations that ban Besigye adverts is a non- starter. We should encourage radio owners to contribute to the fairness of these elections by according the two biggest candidates the same level of exposure to the voters as much as possible. There is no harm in this as long as they are not breaking any laws in the process.

Radio discrimination by private owners has got no place in a proper democracy. There are certain standards expected of private radio owners, and therefore what Amama Mbabazi’s Kinkizi fm and others are doing is proper discrimination. It’s like opening up a private shop and deciding to sell goods only to a certain tribe as the Asians reportedly used to do before Amin expelled them in early 1970s.

All these forms of discriminations by private enterprises should not appear to be promoted by the political elites in our country as is the case with Ofwono Opondo doing exactly this in an NTV YouTube video released a few days ago . To my surprise, the chairman of the Electoral Commission,Dr.Badru Kiggundu, who is always assumed to be on the government side, appears to be also disagreeing with what these private stations are doing. The fact is that we should cherish and guard the right of free speech in Uganda. We know NRM does not love it when they put up with people saying things they absolutely deplore but we must always be willing to defend people’s right to say things we deplore to the ultimate degree. That is the way forward!

In USA, they have got the ”fairness doctrine” introduced I believe in 1940s and it requires broadcasters to cover important controversial issues and to provide an opportunity for contrasting views on those issues. The rules state that radio or TV stations that sell air time to a political advocate must give free air time to an opponent to respond. This was rectified by the ”Cullman Doctrine” in 1960s which holds that a station broadcasting a sponsored advertisement or program on one side of a controversial issue thereafter may not refuse to present the opposing viewpoint merely because the station could not obtain paid sponsorship for the opposition presentation. The Americans have also got the ‘equal time’ rule which requires radios and TVs to give equal time to qualified candidates for public office.

What Ofwono Opondo was talking about in the video of radios or newspapers endorsing candidates in developed nations, is true, but it has got no relevance to the radio discrimination going on in Uganda at the moment. By the way, even newspapers that have endorsed candidates are required by law to give space to the opposing views in these countries. For instance, in the UK here, the Daily Mail is a known Conservative newspaper but it always finds space for the Labour candidates because the law requires them to do so. Please, Let us stop promoting wrong things because Uganda does not end in 2011. President Museveni will one day be history but Uganda will remain.

Finally, the state should start taking their Access to Information Act (2005) seriously to help bridge the gap between the government and Ugandans. Any information from government and non-governmental organisations should be made public to avoid more surprises. This encourages openness and transparency in public institutions. For instance, here in the UK, we have got the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Data Protection Act 1998 under the office of the Information Commissioner who reports directly to the parliament, and it is helping everybody. I have got as much right to know how any ministry is being run as anybody else in the country. Of course, they are some exemptions, but most of this information is not concealed to anybody in the UK. This should be the same in Uganda as it will also help in reducing the levels of corruption in the state system.There is no point carrying out all this public enquiries into the deaths of big personalities and now we are doing the same with the burning of the Kasubi tombs issue, but the public never gets to know what is found out. We should have transparency in government dealings everywhere or we gonna have an ‘American Assange’ in Uganda doing a wikileaks for us one day.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

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

Dear readers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Mabike Should Not Threaten Anyone During the Campaigns

Dear friends,
The Kampala mayoral race is now on but we have so far been disappointed with some of the stuff that has taken place. Apart from the opposition nominating two candidates, we were alarmed at the threats Michael Mabike allegedly made at the former IPC spokesperson, Ssemujju Nganda. It’s understood that Mabike is inciting his supporters to unleash violence on those who don’t support him. His comments, taken from varying sources, all reflect a concern that the nation has not yet moved on from the strata of violence despite the 24 years of Museveni rule without a full scale war in most parts of the country. It’s illuminating to study Mabike’s remarks because they reveal a lot about him and the prevailing philosophy of those that support guys like him for leadership. Such threats are particularly unfathomable in light of the fact that it’s one opposition candidate making them against another opposition candidate. If this continues, we are likely to stampede ourselves into some kind of electoral violence, which most reasonable people agree would be a disaster for the whole country.

I understand that the young violent men in Kampala find solace and a feeling of belonging in a gang environment but this is not the right way to go. If this irresponsible behaviour by leaders is not checked, we may find our selves with a Baghdad version of Kampala. For example, In August 2005, armed men entered Baghdad’s municipal building, deposed the then mayor and installed a shia militia man belonging to an organisation called Badr.

On the same note, UPDF should also not be tempted to unleash violence on anybody in this election because the way we understand people who go to the military is that they are taught the right things – about leadership, about sacrifice, about what is important to character. Technically, that is how a professional soldier is supposed to be.

Therefore, people will appreciate it more if Lukwago,Mabike and other contenders spend most of their campaigns telling us what they are going to do for Kampala than anything else. For instance, in London, the main roles of the elected mayor are well known: to promote economic development and wealth creation, social development, and the improvement of the environment. The Mayor also has a number of other duties in relation to culture and tourism, including responsibility for Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square. Mayors in other UK cities and Europe tend to preside over marriage or citizenship ceremonies. For instance, in 2004, in Paris, the French mayor married gays at the front of a parade that involved 700,000 people.

We expect our mayoral candidates to talk about the environmental issues, filling potholes, and emptying the garbage in their campaigns. We also expect a mayor to cut ribbons when opening new buildings after being elected in office though they won’t mention this in their campaigns, and that is ok.

Personally, I think the environment is a big thing in mayoral campaigns because global warming is a serious threat that should worry anyone, and there is no reason denying that pollution affects the environment and individuals anywhere in the world. For instance, in cities such as Chicago, wireless urinals have been adopted; businesses are being given grants for solar panels; and the mayor there has encouraged tree plantation. So, we expect a Kampala mayor to start effecting simple things such as banning smoking from all bars and restaurants, along with office buildings, gardens, clubs, arena, bowling alleys, and pool halls. Plus, encouraging use of bicycles for those residing near Kampala as it is good for them and the environment.

Some people may not see this now but a mayor is supposed to be a potential presidential candidate. Most mayors of capital cities tend to harbour presidential ambitions. For instance,New York City Mayor, Mike Bloomberg, has reportedly already dropped hints that he may be open to running for president. The former mayor, Rudy Giuliani, missed out basically because he was little known outside New York City. Lopez Obrador, former mayor of Mexico City, stood for presidency in 2006.

On this basis, therefore, we need a Kampala mayor who cares deeply about the country. Well, there are no congratulations in order yet if both Mabike and Lukwago stand for mayor. But whatever their differences, they must remain respectful of one another and stand united, especially in adversity.
—

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Blogs:
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”We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.” (Hillary Clinton, 1993)

IPC & DP Should Not Dump Weak Candidates on Ugandans

Dear readers,

We should applaud DP for withdrawing their candidate, J.B.Kakooza for mayoral elections but if rumours that they intend to back Mike Mabike over Erias Lukwago are true then we are back to square one. DP is not doing this in good faith if it’s true. They are just trying to punish Erias Lukwago for going AWOL on Mbale’s Mao but things may not work in their favour and this should not worry anybody supporting Lukwago for mayor because all indications are that the mainstream DP (MAO) has lost control of its supporters. So under the circumstances, DP supporters will support the best man for the job who happens to be Erias Lukwago.

Nevertheless, we hope that DP go an extra mile and do the same elsewhere in elections like they have done with the Kampala mayoral elections. For instance, Mao should also stand down for Besigye as soon as possible because this ”mix-up” in the opposition does not make sense to a lot of people I have spoken to so far. It is obvious that Besigye is a stronger candidate than Mao in this race such that if they work together, they are in position to pull this thing off, at least on a paper.

Personally, I’m getting fed up with having a lot of political parties in the country because they tend to misrepresent what voters want. The IPC or any other political party will be making a big mistake to endorse Mabike for Mayor because I’m sure that’s not what the majority of Kampalans want. In a book called ‘The Politics of the Real World” by Jacobs(1996), some organisations in the UK expressed dissatisfaction with the formal political system or main stream political parties because they seemed to be out of touch with what people wanted. As such they formed their own organisation in that year (1996) which they called ‘The Real World Coalition’. This was an alliance of over 40 national and international civic bodies, charities, NGOs, and agencies, covering issues such as poverty, community, economics, environment, pollution and development.

So, similarly, we would not be surprised if Ugandans start losing faith in certain political parties and start their own organisations that will fight for what they want. The formation of Ssubi was a starting point in that direction. We expect to see groups such as the businessmen or traders in Kampala forming organisations that will end up turning political. In all honesty, why should we allow IPC or DP-Mao to tell Ugandans to vote for Mabike yet there is a better alternative to him. I therefore ask the supporters of Lukwago to go ahead and form organisations that will help him become a mayor if the IPC goes ahead and endorses a weaker candidate.

As a certain writer called Boulding wrote in his book:” Three Faces of Power”, power is the ability to influence the behaviour of others in a manner not of their choosing”. This is exactly what some leaders in the IPC and DP are doing as far as dumping Mabike on us is concerned but Ugandans should not allow it. If Mabike’s SDP decide to quit the IPC as they are threatening, it will affect their leader more than anybody else because it means IPC have to nominate a candidate against him in Makindye, something which will affect everybody in the process. Mabike will not like it to campaign against almost three strong candidates from DP, IPC, and NRM. He needs to think this through before he makes any further threats. Life does not end with becoming the Mayor of Kampala. He should look at the bigger picture here instead of blackmailing the IPC leaders.

We should also accept that Mao is equally matching Besigye in terms of the number of supporters abroad, if we are to believe the online polls done so far. So why can’t they work together if their intention is to represent what majority of Ugandans want?

Some in DP are deluded that there would be a rerun in these presidential elections but they are bound to be surprised because I can’t see it happening. It has not happened before and it is not going to happen this time. In Museveni’s Uganda, it’s either a Museveni win in the 1st around or he finds a way to remain the president.

As for Besigye, he is serving his last term as FDC president or presidential candidate. I’m sure that he won’t tamper with the party constitution at the end of his term and he will set a precedent in Uganda politics which we have not seen for a long time. So Ugandans should support him for his last term by persuading all the other candidates to stand down. If the likes of Mao and Otunu continue being in this race and they don’t want to listen to our cries of cooperation, and then by December Ugandans should be told to shun them and vote for someone who has higher chances of beating the incumbent.

—
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Blogs:
http://ugandansatheart.wordpress.com/
https://semuwemba.wordpress.com/
http://ekitibwakyabuganda.wordpress.com/
http://ugandamuslims.wordpress.com/
”We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.” (Hillary Clinton, 1993)

‘The Correct Line’ Is An Eye Opener To All Ugandans

Dr. Olive Kobusingye is Dr. Besigye's Sister

Dear Ugandans,

It took me just six hours to finish reading Olive Kobusingye’s ‘The Correct Line’, and I wonder what the fuss over the book was all about when it was impounded at Entebbe Airport by the state. There is nothing in the book that was not already known to the public apart from the fact that it may be helpful to people who are still bathed in Musevenism and anti-Besigyesm.

Safe Houses
I was mostly touched by three chapters and one them was Chapter 9 which talks about ‘safe houses’  and how people are treated while in such places. It can make one very angry and at the same time so disappointed with the current government. The kind of inhuman treatment people are subjected to; speak volumes of the Nazism embedded in African politics in general. How can any human being subject another human being to such appalling level of torture just because one has been ordered to do so? The case that particularly drove me almost to tears was that of a lady called Kesanyu who ended up with pus coming out of her private parts while in a ‘safe house’, simply because she was a Besigye supporter in elections in Rukungiri and therefore someone arrested her on tramped up charges. Her story is so touching such that one can only find it in one of those nasty films we normally watch on TV.

Elections
Chapter 11 is another one that needs to be read by anybody who thinks that Besigye merely lost the 2001 and 2006 elections and, therefore, does not deserve another shot at the presidency. In this chapter, Olive acknowledges the role played by Beti Kamya in Reform Agenda in 2001-2004. The ordeal the Besigye family has gone through is also mentioned again, particularly on how they were all forced into exile at some point; how Khidu Mukubuya misused his position as Attorney General to try to keep Besigye’s face off the 2006 ballot papers; but most importantly the chapter shows how the 2006 elections were rigged.

Basically, Dr.Kiggundu Commission produced its own results in 2006 according to this book and as of now, I have lost total respect the EC Chairnman. How can any principled man remain in that position after what the world witnessed in 2006? It’s disgusting and hurting at the same time. No wonder some people I know are not going to waste time voting in these elections.

Death of Besigye’s brother
Chapter 15 will make anybody feel for the Besigyes or Kifefes as Dr.Olive Kobusingye describes the ordeal her kid brother, Musasizi, went through in prison before his death. There is a particular statement in this chapter that caught my eye and it goes like:’ anyone who wanted to know what it was like to oppose Museveni need never wonder. And having a young brother die in this manner seemed so much a part of that wretched role’.

The Besigye family don’t know me but let me hope that it’s not too late for me to send my condolences to Dr.Olive, Catherine ( Musasizi’s wife) and her family. Where is the humanity left in our leaders today after this experience? I’m also so disappointed in the professionals at Mulago who kept refusing to write a medical report such that Besigye’s brother could get bail and possibly better treatment. They left him to the dogs and it was so sad.

Media and Elections
The Newvision has always been pro-Museveni and this is not going to change in this year’s presidential elections. But I suspect that they will try to give fair coverage in these elections to ‘state friendly’ candidates such as Mao, Bidandi and Kamya whose message has been anti-Besigye and IPC even before the campaigns kicked off.
According to Kobusingye’s ‘The Correct Line’, The Newvision got their story wrong on Okwir Rabwoni’s defection to the the Museveni camp during the 2001 elections. This story itself simply shows that Newvision are always used by the incumbent as a PR machine. According to Kobusingye, it seems Ameria Kyambadde and General Tinyenfunza were the brains behind the Okwir Rwaboni defection story such that she(America) was disappointed when Rwaboni did not show up at  a youth conference at Ranch on Lake Side Hotel. Newvision had already gone with the front page about Rwabwoni’s defection to the Museveni camp yet he (Rwaboni) spent the night at Kiza Besigye’s house dining with their family.

Tramped up charges
Lastly, I request Ugandans not to believe so much what you read in papers, particularly the Newvision and Bukedde. Some of these papers are used to stitch up the opposition activists or candidates .Some of these stories are meant to make someone look too bad which I find to be the lowest point of journalism in our country.

For instance, according to Kobusingye’s ‘The Correct Line’, two members of parliament from Northern Uganda were arrested and put in prison over tramped up charges. An opposition activist, a certain Peter Olaya Yumbe was arrested and later killed in prison. Basing on these experiences, we should read FDC ‘s Godi story with a pinch of salt because you never know what this government is capable of.

I’m not siding with anybody but I’m merely pointing out that the NRM government is very good at stitching up people from the opposition.  As it is pointed out in the ‘Correct Line’, an NRM chairman, Alfred Bongomin, was murdered in 2002 in Gulu by unknown people, but the government went an extra length to stitch up some people in the opposition for this murder. If you can also remember, MPs : FDC’s Reagan Okumu and  Michael Ochura were also once upon a time arrested over the murder of the same NRM chairman in 2005 before their acquittal some time later.Besigye has been arrested and tried by the same government over tramped up charges before he was finally acquitted of the treason charges this year by the constitutional court.

So maybe there are those who never got as luck as Besigye,Okumu and others to be acquitted by courts, and they are still rotting in prisons. In the same vein, we cannot be sure of the accusations being laid against MP Gudi because the pointing finger cannot be trusted. Yes, there is a possibility that Gudi might have murdered his wife but how can we be sure of this if he is being tried in a system that is capable of stitching up anybody for crimes they never committed.

All in all, those who can afford should buy this book and send it to their friends and family as a Christmas present because it’s worth reading.

—

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Blogs:
http://ugandansatheart.wordpress.com/
https://semuwemba.wordpress.com/
http://ekitibwakyabuganda.wordpress.com/
http://ugandamuslims.wordpress.com/

”We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what  is best for society.” (Hillary Clinton, 1993)

The Kabaka Will Never Abdicate His Throne for Direct Elections

Dear readers,

I would like to react to Afande Chama’s article that appeared in the Sunday Monitor on 31/10/2010:”Forget Besigye, we had only feared Kabaka standing” ,available at : http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Commentary/-/689364/1043372/-/13u15ldz/-/index.html. There was no way the Kabaka would have abdicated his throne to stand for presidency or anything like that. The Kabaka does not need to this directly but he can use other groups to champion for what he wants, and indeed the formation of Suubi2011 is exactly for that purpose. Suubi is undoubtedly Kabaka’s invisible hand in the 2011 elections in Uganda. It’s unfortunate that there is some form of mistrust that historically has been in existence between Mengo and DP such that I was not surprised when DP started attacking Suubi even before its official formation.

That said, I think there is a lot of credibility in Afande Chama’s article than what meets the eye. Since the beginning of this year, the Katikiro and Mengo officials have been very careful with their words as far as the central government is concerned. The Katikiro even made an attempt to distance Mengo from any political party or pressure group yet we all know that Suubi is fighting for most of what Mengo wants in these elections. The feeling is that something must have been agreed upon between Mengo and the central government despite the mistrust between the two. For instance, Mr.Otafiire and the Katikilo,J.B.Walusimbi, kicked off an SMS fundraising drive for the Kasubi tombs recently, and it’s so likely that the government will financially contribute more to the reconstruction of the tombs than any other group. I also remember writing after the September 11th Buganda riots that CBS will be opened but I did not know when, but it has been opened before the elections, and I think the timing of this is just perfect for Museveni’s electoral team.

Will CBS ever be the same radio again?

There is no doubt that the popularity of CBS exceeds any other radio station in the country and it will remain so despite being off air for a year. However, it will not generate the same buzz it did before its closure. The management is going to be more cautious as far as anti government views are concerned. They will get rid of workers who are deemed to be anti -Museveni or anti-government. This means that a guy like me does not stand a chance to get employment in CBS even if I apply. In other words, it again looks like president Museveni has marginally won his battle with both Buganda and CBS and the media.

Yes, CBS employees will keep demanding for compensation over being closed for one year and they have got a strong legal case over this if they want to keep pursuing it. Again, my feeling is that the government is willing to cough up some money to compensate all groups concerned but it won’t be in billions as some people think. The government team is working around the clock to make sure that the CBS issue is settled once and for all, I believe. Therefore, more backdoor meetings are still taking place to sort out all the remaining problems, and trust me they will be sorted out by Museveni standards.

Why has Mengo agreed to engage the government again?

Mengo have been disappointed, probably like many of us, by the divisions within the opposition. There was an assumption before the elections that the opposition will unite against the incumbent, and I think a lot of Ugandans wanted this but it has not happened. As I write now, the Inter Party Coalition ( IPC ) is probably more attacked in campaigns than NRM and Museveni. The leading attackers are the opposition presidential candidates, particularly Bidandi Ssali(PPP), Mao Norbet(DP) and Beti Kamya(UFA). For weird reasons, UPC’s Olara Otunu and IPC seem to have some sort of an official agreement not to attack each other in public, and it is working so far. I also think that Otunu must have realized by now that he made a grave mistake to abandon the IPC because he has since been politically isolated.

Mulyanyamuri and Mulwana at Kasubi tombs in 2009

It was also thought that the former Katikilo, Mulyanyamuri Ssemogerere, would be in position to help unite all the political forces in Buganda because of the too much respect he commands in the region, but all signs are that he failed. DP’s Mao, whatever the reasons, they kept playing hide and seek with both the IPC and the Katitkiro. At one time, we saw Mao emerging from talks with Besigye and Mulyanyamuri and we thought that’s it, but it was all meant for the cameras. It was never going to happen, and for me, this is enough reason to detest Mao in this or any future elections in Uganda. He simply put his personal selfish ambitions ahead of anything else, and this hurts like hell.

Because of the above developments, there was no way Mengo was going to put all its eggs in one basket. They realized that there are higher chances of president Museveni ”winning” this election than Besigye despite the memorandum of understanding that had recently been signed between Suubi and IPC. Mengo also realized, again just like many of us, after the NRM primaries which were marred with open day rigging, that even if by some miracle Besigye wins this election, the current Electoral Commission will never announce him as the winner. Actually, to be blunt, they will never announce anybody as the winner as long as Museveni is still the president of Uganda. Yes, Buganda will never trust NRM and Museveni again but their options are limited as long as the status-quo does not change in the political circles.

So why are IPC and Besigye involved in this election?

Dr.Besigye is an intelligent man and I think deep inside, he knows that the elections are going to be rigged again as was the case in 2001 and 2006, but he is hoping that some miracle will happen and Ugandans decide to defend their votes with or without a partisan Electoral Commission. There is also a genuine feeling that boy courting election in Africa does not make any difference to the party in power. Actually, it ends up weakening the opposition than anything else. With the FDC involved in this election, it helps them to keep in touch with their esteemed voters at the grassroots and to also win some parliamentary seats which are  both good achievements in the long run.

It’s unfortunate that some people will keep unfairly attacking Besigye as a loser even after these elections yet there was no genuine and transparent way of determining that he indeed lost the past elections. Anyway, whatever happens after these elections, Bessigye’s work in the politics of Uganda will remain legendary and highly appreciated. He could not have done it any better and some of us salute him for this.

Byebyo ebyange

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
UK

—

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Blogs:
http://ugandansatheart.wordpress.com/
https://semuwemba.wordpress.com/
http://ekitibwakyabuganda.wordpress.com/
http://ugandamuslims.wordpress.com/

”We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what  is best for society.” (Hillary Clinton, 1993)

We all contributed to the Reopening of CBS fm

Dear people,

I think there is no need for Suubi/IPC to revisit the CBS issue in their memorandum of understanding. It should just be ticked as one of the issues already achieved earlier than expected and then fight for others. CBS has been a yearly struggle of all of us, and by us, I mean members of Ugandans at heart (UAH) forum. We have been running a yearly campaign to keep the CBS issue burning in the ears of our leaders and the media. We have been using UAH as a medium of communication for Buganda issues, something which probably would have been done by CBS if it was on air. So the credit goes to everyone who has been helping out in one way or the other.

I read in the Observer of 25/10/10 and it seemed to have given more credit to Mrs.Ameria Kyambadde in this struggle than anybody else. But they were wrong because Suubi, IPC, Besigye, Ugandans at heart forum, media organizations nationally and internationally, online radios and other pressure groups, have all been fighting for CBS fm, and they should be recognized.

Nevertheless, whatever the tales, Museveni’s relationship with Buganda will never be the same. Baganda will never trust him! Reopening CBS is more like a man who organizes a holiday to Spain to salvage his marriage but when all the signs on the wall show that the marriage is finished. So let’s enjoy the ‘’CBS holiday’’ but I think the divorce papers are still on their way, and somebody will have to sign them. The marriage is FINITO

As for DP and their wars with Suubi, I think it’s a bit unfortunate because they (DP) have got bigger problems than just Ssubi. Beti Kamya’s UFA has almost got the same aspirations in Buganda as Ssubi and they are seriously eating into DP support in Buganda and elsewhere in the country. For instance, some of the DP supporters who were previously loyal to Kampala Mayor, Nasser Sebagala, have now crossed to either UFA or Suubi/IPC according to newspapers. Lukyamuzi’s CP should also be in position to finish DP off in Buganda if they expand their horizon other than keeping themselves in cities.

In the north, DP may make some gains because of the little profile of their leader in Gulu but then again we expect UPC and FDC to remain the tigers of this region. NRM is also making inroads slowly with the help of their ‘brown envelopes’ policy.

So basically, the 2011 elections may determine if DP should be admitted in intensive care unit or not. May personal feeling is that unless they get the help of the ‘remote control’, they will come out of this election a bit weaker than even last time in 2006. Mao is not the kind of leader who is ready to roll up his sleeves and put his hands in the dusty part of politics on streets. He prefers to remain in a coat, tie and shirt despite the hot weather in Kampala, and then just preferably appear on rallies and conferences. I have not see him leading any demonstration of anything though I must admit his ‘’magishu’’ dances on YouTube have been outstanding so far.

Finally, I was amazed to see a photo of Besigye’s house in Rukungili in both the Newvision and Bukedde newspapers. So I wondered whether this election is about people’s houses rather than issues. Just for the sake of argument, Besigye has never stolen anybody’s money and if he had anything wrong while in government, the Museveni government would have been the first to expose it and he would probably be in prison. Actually, Besigye has made more of his money after leaving the government. He is simply a hardworking man. He said this himself in his memoirs with the Monitor newspaper ages ago that he intended to be an Accountant/ business man rather than a doctor or politician. And as you know, there is no better way of making money than being self employed.By the way, why do people always want poor people to lead them? How much have we benefitted from getting poor leaders into state house?

We should accept that Besigye is not in politics to ‘eat’ or benefit himself. He can survive without leading FDC or IPC or opposing Museveni. Actually, he probably would have benefited more if he had chosen to remain in NRM instead of being in opposition. He is an average rich man belonging to the middle class of Kampala. In other words, what he has achieved wealthy wise can easily be achieved by any hard working man or woman in Uganda at his age. Those who exaggerate his wealth have got other intentions which we already know. So shame on Newvision and Bukedde for running headlines intended to portray a certain image of the best opposition candidate Uganda has ever had. Let their cameras got to the north and take pictures of Otunu and Mao’s houses too if they want to turn this campaign into ‘who has got the best house’.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

Note:The song below is dedicated to president Museveni’s new friends, possibly the Banyoro, after falling out with Buganda:

We Should All Try To Buy Dr.Kobusingye’s Book If Possible

Dear people,

I would like to thank the Monitor newspaper for agreeing to serialise Dr. Olive Kobusingye’s book, particularly after the drama we have been exposed to by Uganda Revenue Authority and Mr. Kivenjinja Kirunda as part of the reasons for holding her book. The Monitor is doing a lot of people a favour because most Ugandans I know don’t want to part with their hard earned cash to buy books. Yes, they can talk about it as in like:’ Besigye’s sister wrote a book which is giving Museveni sleepless nights’, but they never spend money on reading books. It will, however, be easy for them to part with shs.1500 daily to buy a copy of the Monitor just to read about the book chapters and other stuff in the paper. If in the process, so many people buy the Monitor and the sales shoot up, then definitely Dr. Kobusingye and other intended beneficiaries will get something out of it financially. As we all know, a newspaper cannot just serialize one’s book without any catch because writing a book is not that easy.

In the same vein, it would be good if the Luganda newspapers such as Eddobozi, Gwanga Mujje and possibly Bukedde(if it wants to prove its independence from the state), do crack a deal with Dr.Kobusingye to do what the Monitor is doing at the moment. This may be helpful to those Ugandans who cannot read and write English to also benefit from this beautiful literature.

From the few chapters I have read so far, the book offers a selected view on the Museveni of today in comparison with the one of 1980s thorough research. While this book paints a rather negative picture of the president, it does remain as a very factual source. The book is written with a lot of sarcasm opinionated in the various quotes made by president Museveni verbally and in writing. The facts I have read so far are entertainingly presented and to be honest, I just cannot stop smiling.

Let us also remember that the world has seen a lot of controversial books being banned and accepted elsewhere. In 1906 in Britain, a book titled:’’ The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’’ caused a lot of storm as it claimed to have secret minutes of the Jewish elites planning to dominate the world. The ‘protocol’ became one of the best selling books of the century before it was overtaken by another one of a similar sort written by an American politician, David Duke, whose research was done in the same way as Dr.Kobusingye’s ,i.e. by quoting major Jewish figures and sources as Dr.Kobusingye has also done by quoting Museveni and other big people in the government. As a result, in 2000, the Jews in Russia filed a complaint in the Russian courts of law asking that the Duke’s book be declared anti-Semitic and illegal but the courts decided otherwise after one year of examination of the book.

In 1953, the Literature Commission in Georgia (USA) proposed that a book titled: ‘Southern Exposure’ and authored by Stetson Kennedy is banned because it is filled with filth. This book did a good job of exposing the ill motives of the Ku Klux Klan and racism in USA. The main citation that was picked on for its ban was a statement by one of the southern officials that:’’ “The only way we’re willing to give the niggers equality is by filling them white”. Common sense prevailed and the book was not banned such that the author is now recognised as an award winning one.

In 1999, a book about Adolf Hitler with the title: “Mein Kampf”, put the German media company, Bertelsmann, on a collusion course with its online book selling partner, Barnesandnoble.com, because they believed the book was full of hate literature. Amazon continued to sell the book despite protests in some political circles in Germany.

In 2004, I believe a teacher was banned from working in France for questioning the Jewish version of World War Two and he was later sentenced to two years in prison by a French court after he made a film contesting the official Jewish version of an alleged massacre by German forces during the war. The crime was termed a ‘thought’ crime by the media.

Up to now I cannot understand the definition of a “thought crime”.  I don’t know whether the term is a technical one. So I guess my quibble is that the French teacher was punished, not for thinking, but for expressing and distributing his thoughts in the form of film.  As a supporter of civil liberties, I have no patience for such absurd semantic quibbles.

I’m, however, surprised that the government of Uganda decided to give Dr.Kobusingye’s book free publicity by seizing it at the Entebbe airport. By the way, I remember telling a few Ugandans I interact with through online debates that several people will start writing about the years of NRM rule particularly when president Museveni is out of power, and this will bury the NRM for good, because there is a lot of evidence out there which Ugandans dread to read about. NRM will suffer more than UPC did when Obote left power, and they know it. That’s why they will do anything to make sure that they maintain the status-qou. For the meantime, let us all endeavour to buy Kobusingye’s book as we also welcome the reopening of CBS fm without any conditions.

Happy days!

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

United Kingdom

No wonder Kobusigye is smiling

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

Dear friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Byebyo Ebyange

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba