{UAH} MUSEVENI, OBOTE AMIN...

Overall, colonialism was not good for Uganda, Obote 1 and 2 were not good for Uganda, and Amin was not good for Uganda. But they all pale in significance compared to Museveni.  I have been to the whole country but I can give examples from Buganda, Karamoja, Busoga and Toro/Bunyoro. They tried in Acholi but local old women blocked them.

It's true Obote chased kabaka. But Buganda is not Kabaka. Buganda is a people and culture. If you make Buganda very poor, the culture becomes useless. Just look at native Americans. I'd rather lose Kabaka and have good schools and economic improvement than have Kabaka and increasing poverty and landless subjects. I'll focus on Buganda because I understand it better.

1. Obote/Amin/colonialists didn't take land from ordinary people. M7 has rendered lots of poor people landless. He is focused on transferring large chunks of land to a handful of his cronies. He's even given away our forests. Namanve and Mabira are gone. That has affected the geography of Buganda. Without forests, our rain cycles have changed. We've less rainfall. That means less crops. 
2. Obote/Amin/colonialists didn't ignore schools in Buganda. M7 has neglected schools. Schools are falling apart. M7 gives local and international scholarships to banyankole and Rwandese only. Every year we see lists of statehouse scholarships and you never see a Muganda on those lists. Obote didn't have that.
3. Obote/Amin didn't deliberately impoverish Buganda. The level of poverty in Buganda is unprecedented. During Obote/Amin/colonial time, ordinary baganda could save money and take kids to schools. Today they can't because most ordinary people are very poor.
4. Obote/Amin/colonialists didn't try to take ordinary people out of simple trade. M7 is over taxing our people out of trade. If you go to Kikuubo, it's hard too find anyone that had been there more than 2 years. The taxes are too high...a few connected people and Indians don't pay tax. It's hard for ordinary people to compete. Museveni has allowed Indians and Chinsese to dominate trade.  A ugandan can't go to China or India and get a licence to open grocery or a kiosk. I even see Indian hawkers in Kampala.
5. Obote/Amin/colonialists didn't deliberately destroy farmers' unions in the whole country. M7 killed off unions. Farmers relied on unions to buy produce for export and local market. M7 saw his mistake and is building up unions in Ankole.

5. Obote/Amin/colonialists didn't bring war to Buganda. Though M7 lost to Sam Kutees in Mbarara, M7

brought his bush war to Buganda and destroyed Buganda life and property. Before the war, Luweero triangle produced more milk than Mabarara. Masaka and Luweero triangle have never recovered from m7's war.

6. Obote/Amin/colonialists didn't over tax coffee and cotton. Of all coffee producing countries, M7 imposes the highest tax on coffee and cotton. e.g Brazil does not tax coffee exports. That has driven Farmers from coffee. Worse, unlike Obote/Amin/colonialists, m7 does not invest in coffee. So the old plants produce less and less...combined with ovetaxation, this has reduced peasant coffee/cotton production to unprecedented levels. If you add in the overtaxation of traditional agricultural products, you get unprecedented levels of poverty.  Interestingly, there's no tax on cattle ownership, fish production, flowers etc. Which means the ground is unfavorable to producers of traditional agricultural products

Recently, M7 invited milk producers in his hime area to meet the URA chief at his home in Rwakitura and he said that he opposes the 18% tax on milk because he wants  to level the ground for dairy farmers in Uganda to favourably compete with those from other countries. Interestingly, m7 doesn't think about leveling the ground for coffee farmers to compete with other countries. 

Therefore, Anyone that has been condemning colonialists, Amin and Obote, should condemn M7 much much much more...That is why i have been saying that people in my area need to condemn our leaders that have enabled M7 to keep our area to the current high levels of poverty.  We need to hold our leaders like Bukenya, Sekandi, Mayiga, etc. who support M7.  If they didn't support him, he'd find it hard to plunder our resources. 

thanks

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Joseph Musoke <musoke@musokelaw.com>