{UAH} } IDDI AMIN NEVER TARGETED LANGIs/ACHOLIs, THEY TARGETED HIM {---Series eighty two }

Friends

 

In as much as my name sake Edward Pojim believe that it is right for Acholi to screw but marry 8 year old Amuria girls for Teso men are sexually weak, there are very many international organizations that believe that violence is wrong in any country and it must never be accepted. Among those that never accepted such pathetic stands is Helen Jane Liebling B.Sc. RGN. M.Phil. M.Sc.,   that decided to make a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D.  Centre for the Study of Women and Gender. Department of Sociology University of Warwick  And the argument was based on the Obote two government, his hate of Baganda, but his using Acholi as attack Dogs to go after Baganda.  We are posting from page 108.

 

The suppression of the Baganda people: the Luwero Triangle

 

I want to send a message to the Baganda exactly as the one I sent to the people  of West Nile and Madi in September that I am going to let loose my forces on  them and spill more blood than has ever been spilt (Speech by Obote at Soroti, April 1981, Uganda Digest, 1984 cited in Kasozi, 1994: 180).

 

According to Kasozi (1994) a number of people in Baganda believe that Obote made this statement. He had identified the Baganda as his enemy since the 1966 expulsion of their Kabaka and related conflicts. Armed struggle against Obote started almost as soon as he grabbed power in 1980 with many uncoordinated and ineffective resistance groups. The civil war years raged from 1981 to 1986 and gradually the National Resistance Army acquired territory, including the notorious 'Luwero triangle' a crucial region in the dispute (Furley, 1987: 17). As fighting intensified the residents of Luwero were heavily persecuted, particularly by Obote's army, the Uganda National Liberation Front, UNLF. Hundreds of skeletons and antibaganda slogans remain in this area to this day. Concentration camps were created in the area and thousands of people were herded into relief centres whose conditions were similar to those of the Nazi death camps. Bwengye (1985: 303) argues women were raped with impunity in these camps. All males between the ages of nine and thirty-five were either shot or driven away on trucks: all females aged nine to thirty-five were either raped or forcibly taken as concubines (Mutibwa, 1992: 155; Kasozi, 1994: 183). Government agents took away people from the camps for torture. The army carried out a system of ransacking villages and every conceivable item of property and the main crop, coffee, was taken. That Luwero was the 'killing fields' of Uganda was evident from the skeletons, roofless houses, unkept roads and destroyed houses. The UNLA destroyed structures that supported social life for instance, schools, hospitals, clinics, health units, roads etc. (Mukama, 1984). The catastrophic destruction of the infrastructure affected the provision of food, shelter and medical care leaving people susceptible to disease. The destruction of social, economic and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984) is a central part of the analysis in the current study.

 

Torture was widespread throughout this period commonly using molten rubber that was set alight and dripped over the victim causing immense pain and extreme burns. Sexual torture involving the genitals was common. For instance, a victim was made to sit on a chair, had a brick tied around his scrotum and then was forced to stand up and this caused the brick to wrench his testicles. For women, rape was part of their daily lives and cutting off the breasts was also practised. Children and women in Luwero District were forced to marry UNLA soldiers, infected with sexually transmitted diseases and impregnated (Bwengye, 1985: 304; Kasozi, 1994: 156).

 

The brutal elimination of thousands of people, mostly men, removed a multitude of breadwinners and also created substantial numbers of widows and orphans across Uganda (Harmsworthy, 1985). The Baganda in the Luwero Triangle particularly suffered (Mutibwa, 1992: 162). In Luwero 1.7 percent of children one to four years of age were orphans, compared to 0.1 percent in the peaceful Kabale district. It was also estimated that about 17 000 children aged four and under were disabled and became permanently handicapped in Luwero and Kabale districts alone. According to Kasozi (1994), before colonisation, people were not supposed to engage in sexual intercourse before marriage and girls were expected to be virgins or face rejection. By the 1960s female virginity was no longer a symbol of virtue and violence further undermined this. Children were born out of wedlock and sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS had spread (Vincent and Bond, 1989). According to Bwengye (1985: 264), Obote allowed his soldiers to carry out widespread killings, raping of women and looting of property of defenceless innocent citizens. Bwengye (1985: 289) refers to this period as 'real genocide' (see also Mutibwa, 1992: 159) and 'the bloodiest Africa has ever seen'.  During this regime the international community was reluctant to publicise human rights violations in Uganda and the Commonwealth arranged to help train Ugandan soldiers even though it was aware Uganda needed political more than military solutions. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other lending agencies came to Obote's rescue by pumping more money into the country than ever before (Furley, 1989; Mujaju, 1989). Obote seemed to have a strong political base outside of Uganda and several supporters abroad.

 

Government forces violated the religious sentiments of many Ugandans (Press Release, 1987). The Catholic Church particularly bore the brunt of government violence, although Muslims and Protestants also suffered under Obote's regime. One most significant incident was undertaken at Namugongo in May 1984. Shooting, looting, rape, killing, destruction of property, and a complete breakdown of law and order consumed this area. An Anglican Reverend was killed and a mosque desecrated. Namugongo brought together Roman Catholics, Protestants and Muslims. Its' desecration was felt by many in Uganda as an attack on what they considered to be the most holy place in the country. This was an era of unprecedented human rights abuses in Uganda's history. This massacre was a turning point in Obote's relations with the West, most notably the United States and Britain (Furley, 1987; Kasozi, 1994). Amnesty International revealed human rights atrocities in 1982 and petitioned Obote to halt the abuses (Amnesty International, 1982). In June 1985 they published a detailed report of particular crimes (Amnesty International, 1985). Eliot Abrams, the United States assistant secretary of state testified in 1984 that between 100 000 and 200 000 people had been killed in Uganda since 1981, especially in the Luwero triangle and listed numerous instances of human rights violations (Uganda Country Report, 1984; Nabudere, 1988; Furley, 1989; Kasozi, 1994: 176). Hence the world began to know the truth and several Ugandans spoke out.

 

Hunger, disease and death followed the conflict. By the time Obote fell in 1985 Uganda could no longer be described as a state. Obote had created a favourable image abroad and several institutions had backed his regime thinking he would solve Uganda's political and economic problems. They had failed to account for the fact that Obote's regime 'lacked the popular support of the people' and the army was 'incompetent and undisciplined' (Tumwine, 1985). According to Kasozi (1994: 193) 'prolonged violence left permanent scars that are found in every facet of life'. Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army, NRA, organised the uprising against Obote. Museveni felt their success was due to its 'correct line in military, political and organisational matters' (Uganda Resistance News, 1985b). Obote's stay in power was financed by foreign powers and once the brutality of this regime was leaked to the outside world between 1983-1984 they started to withdraw their support. The Acholi/Langi alliance of his army weakened and rebellion started against him. Hence, Obote could no longer hold onto power, was deposed, and Tito Akello took over. The NRA later overthrew the indigenous government. Their victory was unusual as it was the first successful overthrow of an indigenous government by a locally based guerrilla movement (Kasozi, 1994). Nevertheless, the Acholi civilians who fled into the bush at this time needed much reassurance about their future (Furley, 1987).

 

Museveni's government

When Museveni came to power in 1986, he adopted some Marxist ideologies and formed the National Resistance Movement, NRM. He originated from the south west of Uganda and belonged to the Banyankore, a 'cattle-loving' tribe (Museveni, 1997: 3). He emphasises 'the mission of the NRM has been to modernise Uganda by reactivating the process which had been frozen by colonisation' (Museveni, 1997: 196). He also expresses the view it was colonisation that marginalized parts of the country, including the north by not introducing commercial agriculture there as they had done in Buganda (Museveni, 1997: 211). When Museveni came to power he issued a Ten-Point Programme in which the first point was the restoration of democracy (Furley, 1987: 28). Mutibwa (1992: 201) argues the NRM has tried to provide leadership based on full popular participation in both decision-making and implementation. This is the essence of the Resistance Council system it has introduced.

When the USSR disintegrated, Marxism became an outmoded social philosophy and Museveni began ruling Uganda with an ideology not based on a well-developed social philosophy that became known as the 'no party system' and he postponed the democratisation process. According to Odongo (2000:69), 'the referendum on political systems held in Uganda in June/July 2000 ostensibly to forward the democratisation process was a mockery of modern democracy'. His view was that Uganda had become a 'one party state' supported by foreign countries, including the United Kingdom.

 

Stay in the forum for Series eighty-three on the way   ------>

 

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"