By Timothy Nsubuga

11^th Oct 2010

Banned book author

Uganda Revenue Authority [URA] has impounded a consignment of a book written by Dr. Kizza Besigye’s young sister Dr. Olive Kobusingye on grounds that it is “anti-government”.

The book, a copy of which Uganda Correspondent has seen, is published under a title that asks a very simple question:  The Correct Line? Its sub-title is “Uganda under Museveni”.

Dr. Kobusingye says her book merely “…tells the stories of some of those Ugandans whose experiences over the last two and a half decades contrast sharply with what was expected in that ‘new’ Uganda” led by Yoweri Museveni.

In other words, Dr. Kobusingye’s book tells the stories that are unlikely to be told by the government’s salaried writers; men and women whose convoluted perspective of Uganda seems to only be that of peace, prosperity, and unprecedented ‘development’.

Dr. Kobusingye herself says a lot of what is in the book is based on conversations she had with people all over the country in markets, hospital corridors, offices, police stations, and court rooms.  People whose lives, she says, “…were being lived out in circumstances radically different from those depicted by the regime’s enthusiasts”.

Prof. Joe Oloka Onyango, in the “Foreword” of Kobusingye’s book, says The Correct Line? “…exposes the soft underbelly of the Museveni regime in a manner that no journalistic or academic account has ever done”.

Prof. Onyango says while Museveni’s regime has profoundly transformed the economy and political discourse in the country, “…it has done so in a deeply Machiavellian fashion”.

On the basis of the testimonies of some of the people interviewed by Dr. Kobusingye, it is perhaps fair to say that anyone would find it difficult to disagree with Prof. Joe Oloka Onyango.  For example, one treason suspect called Darius Tweyambe who was arrested from a Makerere University Hall of Residence by Museveni’s CMI military intelligence operatives said:

“…We were transferred under heavy military escort to a house in Kololo.  We were held there for six days, during which time we were beaten severely and regularly.  Other treatment we were subjected to included being hit over the testicles, being made to sit on a hot plat to try and extract confessions, being threatened with snakes, and being constantly threatened with death”.

The alleged brutality of Museveni’s military intelligence operatives, it seems, is not just directed at men.  Women, including those from Museveni’s own Western Uganda region, have faced the sadistic wrath of these operatives too.

In Chapter 9 of the book titled “No Safety in a Safe House”, Dr. Kobusingye, quite fittingly, starts by quoting Museveni’s own high sounding statement of values before going on to show how Museveni’s regime has betrayed those same values:

“…The security of the people of Uganda is their right and not a favour bestowed by any regime.  No regime has the right to kill any citizen of this country, or to beat any citizen at a roadblock.  We make it clear to our soldiers that if they abuse any citizen, the punishment they will receive will teach them a lesson.  As for killing people – if you kill a citizen, you yourself will be killed”, Museveni had declared only a few years earlier.

At page 76 of the book, Dr. Kobusingye then reproduces excerpts from her conversation with a woman she only called “Kesanyu” to conceal her true identity who was arrested from Mbarara by Museveni’s operatives.

“…She described the pain of electrocution as being far worse than that of beatings.  All her clothes were taken away from her and she was subjected to needle pricking of her nipples.  She showed me her breasts, whose nipples were riddled with black scars, no longer their normal texture.  She talked of being gang-raped by the soldiers several times”, Dr. Kobusingye recounted.

A URA official who works at Entebbe Airport where the consignment of Kobusingye’s book was impounded who spoke to Uganda Correspondent on condition of anonymity merely said, “…we are only acting on instructions from above.  We were told that the book is anti-government and we must not release it.  If you want more details, speak to the relevant authorities”.

The URA officer however declined to give Uganda Correspondent the contact details of “the relevant authority” that ordered the seizure of the book saying he is not authorised to give out such details.

Although now effectively banned from Uganda, those who want a copy of the book can still order it online through www.amazon.co.uk.  END.  If it’s Monday, it’s Uganda Correspondent.  Never miss out again!