By Sam Akaki

2^nd May 2011: I did not know whether to laugh or cry when I read the 28^th April report, ‘Govt, opposition talks set for May 3’, in which the Movement political pamphlet, The New Vision, announced that “the [illegitimate Movement] Government will hold talks with the opposition on Tuesday, May 3^rd. The meeting, the paper said, will be held under the auspices of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD).

According to the report, the NRM Secretary General Amama Mbabazi said leaders of political parties with representation in Parliament will meet “…to discuss anything and everything.  NRM, FDC, UPC, DP, CP and JEEMA all signed the memorandum of understanding, which discourages violence as a means of settling political differences”.

But wait a minute?

Is this not the same NRM which came to power through violence in which it blew up bridges and civilian passenger buses, robbed commercial banks and hijacked a civilian passenger plane?  Is it not the same Movement government that has since used violence as a state policy to maintain power?

Is it not in pursuance of that policy that the NRM government has for the past three weeks been using extreme and unprovoked violence to break up the peaceful ‘Walk to Work’ demonstrations in Kampala and across the country?

Is it also not the same Movement government which ordered the Special Forces [commanded by their next president Lt. Colonel Muhoozi] to murder the innocent baby Juliana Nalwanga who was hiding inside her house in Masaka on 21^st April 2011?

And is it not the same NRM government which ordered Assistant Superintendent of Police Gilbert Ariinatwe and his criminal gang to break into Dr Kizza Besigye’s car; spray the unarmed opposition leader with tear gas before beating, dragging, and throwing him into a pickup truck like a potato sack?

And is it not the same illegitimate NRM government led by the illegitimate president General Museveni that swore that the opposition will never be allowed to demonstrate in Kampala or anywhere in Uganda?  Clearly, Museveni has decided to rewrite the constitution of Uganda, which guarantees the right to peaceful demonstration.

Opposition are like the LRA murderers and defilers

As if to advise the opposition not to bother going for the meeting, Museveni issued a contemptuous statement [see: Riots will not be tolerated — Museveni, The New Vision Saturday, 30^th] which equated the opposition to the notorious LRA as well as the mythical PRA rebels when he said, “…in fact, some of them even tried to join Kony and some joined. Some were linked to the PRA group which was in Congo”.

He also announced in advance that he will advise [read order] his Movement-packed Parliament to “…bring a law prohibiting bail for a number of offences…murder, defilement, [and] rioting”; demonstrating to you and me.

It’s now too late to talk to Museveni

As the acres of well-documented records will show, the opposition have consistently bent backwards in several attempts to persuade Museveni to agree to a negotiated agreement leading to an equitable political dispensation.  Consider the following:

In 2005, the opposition sent a memorandum to president Museveni, with copies to the diplomatic missions accredited to Uganda, the African Union and the UN; asking Museveni to institute the necessary constitution, legal and administrative reforms that would lead to free and fair election.  He rejected it.  In 2010, they resubmitted the 2005 memorandum and, in addition, asked for the appointment of a non-partisan Electoral Commission in order to ensure free and fair elections.  He rejected that too.

Given this catalogue of fruitless efforts to talk to Museveni with a view mapping out a route that will lead to real democracy, lasting peace, and sustainable development, the opposition is now fully justified in saying enough is enough; Museveni’s call for dialogue must be rejected with the contempt it deserves.

In and out through the furnace like Col Gaddafi

In any case, there is absolutely no point in meeting Museveni who has repeatedly made clear, by both his words and actions that he came to power through the furnace and will only be pushed out through the same route.  It is a prophetic if tragic irony that Col. Gaddafi who also believed in the philosophy of coming to and leaving power through the furnace is right now inside the furnace, literally.

Following the death of his youngest son Seif al-Arab Gaddafi and three grandchildren who were blown to bits in a NATO air strike on Saturday, it is reasonable to say that Col. Gaddafi and the rest of his family have only a few days if not hours to go to their makers through the same furnace.

It is also noteworthy that it was the same Col. Gaddafi who advised Museveni to hang on to power at any cost because “revolutionaries never leave power” voluntarily.  The opposition and all Ugandans regardless of political or religious affiliation must now brace themselves to meet Museveni in the street and, if necessary, in his natural habitat, the bush.

The USA, which is the most senior partner in the anti-Gaddafi NATO alliance, has already warned Museveni three times against using violence on peaceful demonstrators.  They must now walk the talk if they want to be taken seriously.

Mr. Sam Akaki is FDC’s International Envoy to the UK and EU