{UAH} IS THIS THE YEAR TO BEGIN PEACFULL AND RECONSTRUCTION OF UGANDA?

Is this the year to begin peaceful and inclusive reconstruction in the E.African country of Uganda?

 

Dr Milton Obote (RIP) whose second government is said to have triggered a five-year guerilla war wedged by current leader Yoweri Museveni that allegedly cost ‘the lives of half the population in the Luwero Triangle alone’.

 

By Eric Kashambuzi

 

At the beginning of a new year, resolutions are adopted to do better than in the previous one including in health, security, happiness and peace.

In Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by 193 world leaders at their Summit in New York City in September 2015, it was underscored that peaceful and inclusive societies constitute an integral part in political, economic and social development. This was complemented by their decision that to leave no one behind in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, business as usual had lost its usefulness. Ipso facto, in the framework of this Agenda in which Uganda played an active role, let us resolve to do better as a nation in a peaceful and inclusive manner.

Since its inception in 1894, Uganda has been defined by conflict and exclusion that began during the religious conflicts that spilled over into political, economic and social fields to this day. In the 1900 Uganda Agreement between the kingdom of Buganda and the United Kingdom, the Christians led by Protestants gained tremendous political, economic and social power over believers in other faiths who were excluded from or marginalized in institutions like Lukiiko (parliament) and land ownership. This pattern of exclusion spread to other parts of Uganda under the system of indirect rule.

In the economic field, many parts of Uganda were excluded from economic growth that covered a narrow arc of land in the western and northern parts of Lake Victoria. Those excluded were designated as labour reserves to supply cheap labour to the growth arc. The Western and Buganda regions were excluded from police, prisons and military fields that were reserved for Northern and Eastern regions. This exclusion triggered political and economic conflicts including those recorded in 1945 and 1949 that gave birth to national political conflicts between a coalition of Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) and Kabaka Yekka (KY) Protestants and Democratic Party (DP) Catholics.

The first independence government was dominated by Protestants. The second government led by Idi Amin was dominated by Muslims that excluded others from the economic sector as well. The exclusion of opposition parties from the Obote II government triggered a bloody five year guerrilla war that cost the lives of half the population in the Luwero Triangle alone. The failure by NRM [the now ruling National Resistance Movement] to honour the Nairobi Accords for a government of national unity with General Tito Okello and his supporters, is considered largely responsible for the tragic civil war in Northern and Eastern Uganda that lasted over 20 years with many losses in life and property.

Current Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni who has been in power since 1986 and whose government is said to have ‘turned out to be the most exclusive and sectarian in political, economic and social affairs’.

 

The NRM government, initially constructed as the government of national unity and individual merit, has turned out to be the most exclusive and sectarian in political, economic and social affairs. [President Yoweri] Museveni rejected the return of many Ugandans from exile to serve in his government, arguing that Uganda would be better served through their remittances. Anti-sectarian and anti-terrorism laws have been broadly defined to exclude large sections of Ugandans and deal with them ruthlessly, should they demand inclusion in national affairs. The empowerment of NRM through alleged rigged elections since 1996 has opened up disproportional economic and social opportunities for its supporters at the expense of those in the opposition. For example, the appointment of NRM political supporters as ambassadors at the expense of career diplomats, is a clear case of exclusion. Well educated and experienced Ugandans have been excluded from the NRM government and the economy because they are not NRM supporters.

The DP was formed largely to end exclusion of Catholics from key positions in government service through the democratic process. Its election victory in 1961 was rejected by Protestants in Buganda. While Catholics have a demographic advantage over Protestants, it has not been converted into political victory. Similarly, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) that claims to have a larger following than NRM, has been excluded from power because NRM has rigged elections. In the current campaigning for presidential and parliamentary elections [due next month], FDC has adopted a philosophy of defiance that could be harnessed into armed conflict should it judge that it was cheated again.

Because of this unsettling political atmosphere, nobody is secure. NRM leaders are worried that should they lose power, they will face the wrath of those they have wronged. Those excluded from power are threatening to capture it by force if they are cheated again and could face NRM-controlled military brutality.  It has been proposed that the only way out of this impasse is to form a transitional government of all stakeholders to allow the political temperature to cool off and lay a lasting platform for free and fair multiparty elections. The proposal is rapidly gaining traction among Ugandans at home and abroad.

We call upon our friends and well-wishers to extend a helping hand in this regard. Thus, let 2016 be the year to begin constructing peaceful and inclusive societies in Uganda.

Prof Eric Kashambuzi is a regular contributor to The London Evening Post. He lives with his wife and family in New York, NY.

 

 

 

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"