{UAH} You can't host rebels, but hey, you can build brands
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You can't host rebels, but hey, you can build brands
Posted Saturday, July 19 2014 at 12:49
On July 7, most of Nairobi was a ghost town. The opposition Coalition for Reform and Democracy (Cord) led by former prime minister Raila Odinga, was holding its Saba Saba rally to call for a national dialogue with the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta over what it alleged are a series of "national crises" that threaten the republic of Kenya.
Fearing violence, most Nairobians stayed home.
The Kenyan media, especially TV stations, which had made a big meal of the events leading to the rally, blinked at the end and didn't carry it live.
The result is that most people didn't get to know most of what was said at the rally. There was, however, stuff there that should be of great interest to those who are vested in the East African Project.
Many speakers took to the stage to denounce Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, accusing him of "interfering" in Kenya's domestic affairs. The suggestion being that without support from Museveni, Kenyatta would be weaker and easier to extract concessions from.
That is debatable, but a Cord legislator went as far as to allege that a bus carrying military uniforms had crossed into Kisumu from Uganda.
The point scoring aside, Cord was saying something important about how East Africa has changed. If one compares relations between East African states today and what they were before Rwanda and Burundi joined the EAC in July 2009, they are as different as day and night.
Consider this. The bulk of Ugandan exiles who, together with the Tanzanian army, fought and ousted Uganda military dictator Idi Amin in 1979 were based in Tanzania and Kenya.
For most of the years between 1981 and 1985 in which Museveni fought the guerrilla war that eventually brought him to power in early 1986, the external wing of the now-ruling National Resistance Movement were based in Kenya.
Prominent figures in Kenya were part of the infrastructure that supported the Museveni rebels, who used routes over Lake Victoria, and through Burundi and Rwanda to smuggle weapons.
Thousands of persecuted Rwandese refugees in Uganda fled to the bush and joined the Museveni rebels. In October 1990, they defected en masse to start their return-to-the-homeland war, taking power in July 1994 after the genocide in which nearly one million Rwandans were killed.
It is well nigh impossible today for an organisation seeking to overthrow any East African government to find such sanctuary in any other EAC nation.
Partly because of terrorism, security co-operation between EAC defence and intelligence agencies is extensive. That and economic integration have actually strengthened EAC governments.
Moreover, the grousing at the Saba Saba rally masked the fact that leaders like Raila have also benefited from the coalescing of the region and expanded their brands. Raila has no shortage of admirers in Tanzania and Uganda.
Still, while the presidents have been adept at capitalising on the new regional dynamics, the opposition has not figured out a way to cash in.
It won't be long before some opposition figure, possibly from Tanzania – they have some very clever young ones there – finds a way to build an East African brand too. Stay tuned.
Charles Onyango-Obbo is editor of Mail & Guardian Africa (mgafrica.com). Twitter:@cobbo3
Democracy is two Wolves and a Lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed Lamb contesting the results.
Benjamin FranklinUAH forum is devoted to matters of interest to Ugandans. Individuals are responsible for whatever they post on this forum.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.
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