Museveni would have been shot in South Africa
By M. Suleman
10th January 2011
“In South Africa, Museveni cannot survive a day before he is shot”; a South African friend of mine angrily shouted at me recently. Most South Africans I have met [both Black and White] who have been to Uganda always exclaim with shock what kind of fools Ugandans are to allow a greedy, self seeker to continue destroying their country.
“We in SA could not even allow President Mbeki to complete the few months left in his Presidency the moment he showed that he wanted to stay in power more than required”, my friend added.
Museveni calls himself a “visionary” leader. Others call him smart and crafty; because he always outsmarts his opponents. All this is a farce. A critical look at Museveni shows that the man is a fraudster who has taken advantage of the gullibility of Ugandans, exploited their humility, and indeed reduced them to the best fools in the world.
Dr. Olive Kobusingye only exposed a little bit of Museveni. But he is worse than that. You have to ask yourself whether Museveni really qualifies to lead Uganda. Apart from having been a guerrilla leader, what other important leadership positions did Museveni hold in his life before he became President?
Mr. Byanyima who was Museveni’s teacher only described him as an average student. In those days, a mediocre student could not be chosen to be a school Prefect. Nor would they have the courage to stand for elective positions in institutions of higher learning.
Similarly, there seems to be no records to show that he excelled at University. He only graduated with an ordinary BA degree. Museveni has no civil service record worth mentioning to prove his leadership skills. His record at the Ministry of Defence is too short and controversial. He is only known for forming the UPM; the party he contested under in 1980.
Even then, the people of Nyabusozi rejected him resoundingly and his UPM party only managed to get one MP elected! How could a man who had no vision for Nyabushozi constituency have a vision for the Republic of Uganda?
It is therefore surprising that a man with such a record should then turn around and say he is the only one with a vision to lead Uganda. It is an insult to Uganda. Uganda is a country that is endowed with many talented and tested leaders.
Even after 24 years of chest thumping, Museveni still has nothing extra- ordinary to prove that he is the best person to lead Uganda. In fact, he is ranked among the worst Presidents Uganda has ever had. After failing in Nyabushozi in 1980, the next time he appeared in public was during the 1985 Nairobi Peace Talks.
Even there, he could not clearly explain what vision he had for Uganda apart from emphasizing that the problem of Uganda was the people of Northern Uganda. That Uganda would progress faster without Northerners being in charge of Uganda!
That the rest of Uganda did not need Northern Uganda; that the rest of Uganda had more in common with Southerners. In short, Museveni’s political vision was to cut off Northern Uganda from the rest of the country. With that vision, he started ferrying his child soldiers behind UNLA lines during ceasefire.
After taking Kampala, Museveni continued in the North with a vengeance. He unleashed havoc. After satisfying himself with the great massacres by his NRA, he then felt that he had finally cowed the people of the North. Unfortunately for him, not all the people in Northern Uganda had surrendered to him and in no time, a rebellion broke out.
Museveni quickly discovered that he could not match the rebels militarily. So he turned to the vulnerable women, children and the elderly whom he forcefully herded into camps to make them suffer with the hope that their suffering would force the rebels to surrender.
Neither of these tactics worked as quickly as he anticipated. But a heartless Museveni stood his ground. He kept the innocent and helpless population in the camps without health facilities, without adequate water, without food, and without decent shelter. Basically, the IDP camps of northern Uganda were run on the same principles as the NAZI concentration camps.
For over 15 years, people in the north suffered, starved, and died in their thousands. They were totally humiliated and forgotten. But Museveni was not bothered. Instead, he concentrated on generating publicity for whatever massacres his NRA/UPDF had carried out. He would boastfully announce the massacres himself.
The guns may have fallen silent today, but the devastation (social/economic) to our people in the North is beyond description. We have a generation that was conceived, born, and bred in the camps. It is a humiliated and dehumanized generation.
This is a generation which will neither forget nor forgive all of us who kept quiet as they were being brutalised by Museveni and his men. Surely, can such a person be called a visionary leader? Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
