{UAH} Museveni has failed to foster national unity

Museveni has failed to foster national unity

Columnists

WEDNESDAY, 29 JANUARY 2014 06:37

WRITTEN BY SSEMUJJU IBRAHIM NGANDA

6 COMMENTS

The 1995 Constitution attempted many things including nation- building.

It sought to downgrade episodes that elevate some nationals above others and events that create supreme beings while reminding others of their past vulnerabilities.

I have a feeling, and correct me if I am wrong, that the Constitution sought to solidify this nation and to galvanize its citizens to confront their future together.

That is how emotional as it is, the National Resistance Army (NRA) and the National Resistance Council (NRC) were abolished and replaced by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and Parliament respectively.

Continued marking by the country of the days on which the NRA was formed and grabbed state power is not only unconstitutional but against the spirit of the 1995 Constitution in my view. Talk about old wine in new glasses.

Unfortunately, commentators and the media have diverted this big debate of nation-building and forced us to consume statistics. We are now debating how many classrooms were there during Amin’s era and today.

During a Capital Gang talk show on Capital FM, I told Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, who represented the NRM, that the only time we have sat together as a country is when Uganda Cranes is hosting football matches at Namboole stadium.

That is the only time Col Dr Kizza Besigye, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, Dr Olara Otunnu and even Yoweri Museveni have sat together. And it is in sports that national teams are still selected on merit. Probably that is why teams are not dominated by one ethnic group and there are no complaints of ethnicity like it is in security.

Progress of a country is not measured against forced stability and all its attendant statistics but against its ability to stay together amidst challenges. Stability is, therefore, not a comparison between present and the past but between present and the future. Libya was a very stable country for the four decades Col Muammar Gaddafi was in power and it had rosy economic statistics.

In fact, it was the only territory on earth, together with Brunei, with no single borrowed shilling. Because Gaddafi allowed no transition in that country, it is now a chaotic one. Egypt is another example plus Syria. All these territories have heard good economic statistics with tourists streaming there every passing hour. But because they failed in nation-building, they are now collapsing and are in dire need of liberation.

Celebrating days on which strong men grabbed power is a thing of the past and for God’s sake, it should have ended with Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada. In fact, all our neighbours, except Rwanda, have never celebrated these kinds of days. One will argue that their history is different.

Granted, but isn’t that the reason they are stable? Kenya and Tanzania have changed presidents at least three times in the last 28 years. Kenya faced challenges in 2007 but they were able to overcome them.

Therefore, the big lesson from continued marking of the NRM day is that Uganda remains a country under one state party. We are all forced to contribute money to run the NRM because it is a state party. That is why it uses state facilities such as State House, and National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi for its meetings and retreats.

And on its anniversary, all government ministries and departments have to publish full-page adverts in newspapers congratulating the strongman. I have read articles in newspapers, some by senior journalists dismissing opposition parties as weak. Certainly these parties are weak because they compete with the state.

They don’t compete with a ruling party. The NRM as a party is almost non-existent. Its work is done by mainly Internal Security Organization (ISO) which enjoys a budget of over Shs 20 billion per year.

ISO operatives, who are the defacto NRM officials in their respective areas, are paid a salary and allowances by the state. The Resident District Commissioner (RDC), who is the chairman of district security council, is the top NRM leader in the district. Each RDC has a government pick-up that is fuelled by the state and he is entitled to several other facilities.

I think you all hear what they are doing – recruiting for the NRM and bribing opposition supporters to defect. For anyone in Uganda to describe the opposition as weak is to expose ignorance of the highest order. Political parties are judged against each other, not against the state.

Failure to build a nation means postponing problems for the future and that is what will happen the day Museveni departs. It is, therefore, imperative that the strongman spends his last days in power building and rebuilding this nation called Uganda. Procurement of the state-of-the art military hardware is good because it strengthens the army but doesn’t bind the country together.

Let’s identify what makes all of us Ugandans and invest in that. Let us not only be united when watching and supporting The Cranes. We deserve better.

semugs@yahoo.com

The author is Kyadondo East MP.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower