The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
There are many Ugandan intellectuals whom I hold in high esteem. However, I have consistently been frustrated and disappointed that while they exhibit extraordinary courage in denouncing Museveni’s dictatorial tactics, they have exhibited saddening cowardice when it comes to the opposition. They dare not speak out against obvious evidence of intolerance among these opposition activists for fear of being “misunderstood” by opposition activists as closet Museveni sympathisers and then be denounced. May be Museveni’s dictatorial ways create so much sympathy for his victims that this blinds such people from condemning the obvious?
I cannot understand how anyone who believes in liberal values that are critical for a functioning democracy can stand silent when those claiming to be fighting for freedom deny it to their opponents. Muntu has repeated this many times: you cannot give what you do not have. Bobi Wine and Besigye cannot give Uganda tolerance of divergent views when they get into power when they do not have it now. The conclusion I draw from this experience is that there is a struggle for power in Uganda, and no struggle of liberal democracy.
For all his faults, I find Museveni to actually hold deep liberal democratic values at heart, even though his desire to retain the presidency forces him on many occasions to violate them to protect his power. I grew up as a journalist critical of Museveni. I exposed corruption and human rights abuses of his government not to mention his own nepotism. Yet throughout my career, most especially when I was at The Monitor, Museveni would call me to express disagreement on an article I had written – on the facts or the logical consistence of my argument. He even appeared on my radio show.
Of course on occasion he sent me to jail, clearly demonstrating that life is more complicated in reality. But he would invite me to State House for discussions or call and talk to me on phone. Museveni has always been consistent in ensuring debate. In the 1990s he used to call into radio talk shows to argue his case. He visits radio stations and appears on radio and television talks shows like Capital Gang where he debates his opponents. Few presidents in Africa do this.
As I have grown older, I have become more reflective of this reality and developed what I think is a more realistic view of the political terrain in Uganda. Democracy (which is largely about the procedures of acquiring and maintaining power) can be dangerous when not underwritten by liberal values. Liberal values guarantee individual rights such as the right to property (which opposition activists promise to confiscate), administering a fair court system, protecting the rights of minorities and equality before the law.
There are many weaknesses in Uganda’s regime of property rights and the judicial system. However, I can say without fear of contradiction that Museveni respects these rights to a very good degree. That is why his opponents’ properties, including Besigye and Bobi Wine, cannot be confiscated. His opponents need to exhibit similar convictions for us who believe in liberal democracy to trust them.
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Mwenda is licking his wounds after the devastating blow landed by a coalition between Kizza Besigye and Robert Kyangulanyi. Mwenda and Muntu had naively thought that they could succeed in isolating Besigye from the people power equation. They thought that this would leave Kyangulanyi with no choice but to come running seeking for an “organized” political sanctuary. Their bait towards Kyangulanyi was that of providing him with money and a “political structure.” Had Kyangulanyi fallen for the bait, then, the NRM would go on to support a bill in Parliament urging that the political party with most members in Parliament nominates/chooses the president. When this passes through, they will embark on Kyangulanyi canvassing for votes so as their chosen members make the numbers and once they have ascertained those members in Parliament then they pull the rug underneath Kyangulanyi.
Fairness is not always about doing the right thing, sometimes it is about doing the correct thing. For instance, if have to attend school everyday, however, on my way to school I knock and injure my toe. However, along the road to my school there is a dispensary. Do I report to school first or I pass by the dispensary have the wound dressed first? In Uganda were opposition rallies are foiled by teargas, opposition leaders are chased out of radio studios, arrested and criminal charges are imposed, POMA is being applied selectively, how do you expect the opposition to restrain itself and “order” their supporters to act “rationally?” How does someone find Kyangulanyi and Besigye “obsessed with power” without finding the same with the one who metes out violence? How do we expect the opposition to act fairly in a typically violent saturated situation? If Mwenda “fairness” in the Ugandan political space, it could be then possible that Mwenda expects to find Angeles in hell!
Economic dependence and political enslavement are nothing but two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. To say that uganda is economically dependent, but politically free, as portrayed by some nrm/ government cadres amounts only to looking at the form rather than the essence. Politics is the concentrated expression of economics. Though there is no mechanical one-to-one relation between the two, both are intrinsically linked. To create a Chinese wall between them amounts to mere political semantics in order to dupe the masses and destroy the cutting-edge of the anti-imperialist struggle.to Mr mwenda , if you know how Ugandans are struggling to servive the taxes , impunity corruption harboured by a regime you defend , you would wish to see how best the besigye and kyagulanyi are capable of doing .mwenda stop defending the government of musevwnism whose failures has turned the citizenry into an option than a priority, you would be realistic to talk of a police force , security agencies who have turned to defend the the government increasingly seen as a necessary evil doing its evils at the expense of the common man on the street
Mr. Mwenda, your parents were once functionaries of Museveni’s old political party, the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM). Therefore it goes without saying that there is a personal bond between you and Mr. Museveni, that is why you can discuss our country’s politics with him over tea at State House. The same can’t be said of the Opposition leaders you condemn.
I support Mr. MWENDA. He must be a very democratic man. How comes that opposition leaders themselves do not take it positive whenever opposed? Should we take it that being an opposition member makes some one ever right? Does it mean being an angel? How can you convince any reasonable man that you are a democratic fighter while your self can not respect the majority rights? Did democracy change meaning to being the government of the minority opposers?. How do you claim to be a peace keeper by inciting violence?i believe that to oppose is to build not to destroy. If it is meant for destruction then no single leader in power would uphold it. Museveni is kind, patient and patriotic. Through his democracy that we can criticise and express ourselves. Long live NRM Long live UGANDA FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY
What forced Museveni in the bush is what forces Besigye to incite violence! Style up Museveni has ruined our country
Boot lickers of the sort, objectivity is necessary in all we do.am just waiting the time when all his dirt is put to public.
Nothing new. Another biased article as usual meant to take people away from the cause. Who is more violent than the man who took up arms and overthrew a democratically elected government killing thousands in the process? Bobi wine has never advocated for violence and maybe that is the problem for museveni because he is the master of violence so he is at a loss on hiw to stop bobi wine. And why force us to support Mao or Muntu who are weak? Is your paymaster scared of competition with Bobi Wine?
Mwenda may be a slow learner just like Pharoah
The article about serfdom was great:Kudos to the Baganda they are always business minded never mind of their crafty nature while the rest of the Ugandans have the colonial mentality of being employed by government.Take an example of the people from Westnile,Northern, Eastern Uganda,Ankole they are either in security or the Education sector.
This man is on fire……….. i mean M7 he has noted that our sense of judgement is poor thats why he is preoccupied with putting in place structures like;a good constitution,development programmes and projects. so the that even if we vote Wine or Fresh Kid into power the economy will not be affected.
Honsety what does Bobi Wine say that makes him draw crowds of people;all i have heard him say is recite the words of Mandela and Martin Luther and flash his teeth like an ape.
The people of Zimbabwe are mature they forgave Mugabe we need to follow their example of reconsilation.
“…Naïve-minded diplomats from Western embassies …” Bigots often have difficulty to understand that smart and well informed people would have an alternative opinion from theirs.
Mwenda you are right, but this just shows the extent of desperation that Museveni has pushed our country to. You are clearly highlighting the symptoms which are secondary factors, but then fail to focus on the primary factor which is the cause of all this intolerance which is the decadent over stay in power of a coterie that has overstayed its welcome. Where was this intolerance and fanaticism in 1999? When you have an umbrella tilted on one side for 33 years, don’t ask why certain people are always wet, because they have been in the rain for far too long. Jinja and Masaka are dilapidated towns, people in Masaka buy bananas from Mbarara, did they become lazy during Museveni regime only? Yet they managed to thrive in agriculture and feed themselves during other regimes, really there are factors at work which an investigative reporter like Mwenda would investigate to explain this behavior.