By Ismael Kyambadde

26^th Sept 2011: The shallow exposition by Museveni to justify the giveaway of Mabira is laughable and requires all Ugandans to give a thought to what sort of leader they have.  Museveni has a privileged position and therefore able to circulate his letter to many.  That is a great thing because it enables millions to see him for what he really is.

So let us unpack Museveni’s ‘Mabira Letter’.  Let me begin with this famous exposition by Museveni:  “…Ignorant African elite are responsible for our continued enslavement today”. What catches my eye in this statement is the fact that Museveni is trying to exclude himself from the group he calls the ignorant African elite.

Yet reading through his letter, there is enough evidence to show that he is actually central among that group.  For a start, giving away swathes of Ugandan land to bogus investors is the worst form of “African elite” contribution to “…our continued enslavement”. A rudimentary student of economics knows that there are four factors of production:  Land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship.

That land is the first among the factors of production is not accidental.  Land existed long before the living creatures [including man] who thrive on it.  That fact is a sacred fact of life that no self-serving tyrant like Museveni can ever distort.  Moreover the investors Museveni anoints to receive our land free of charge are not worthy investors.

They are parasites who repatriate every penny they earn in Uganda back to their countries to benefit their people; not ours!  In fact, Museveni himself, rather strangely, made this point with regard to the foreign telecoms companies earning billions of dollars from Uganda.  So how come he doesn’t see things in the same way with regard to SCOUL.  Could it be that he has some undeclared shares in SCOUL?

It is futile for Museveni to think that he can perpetually hoodwink Ugandans into believing every delusional word he utters.  “…Lack of forests is not Africa’s problem but lack of factories, hotels, real estates, professional services (medical, financial)”, Museveni says in his ‘mabira letter’.

Two questions come mind! First, whether social transformation begins with industrialization, or better still, whether the process of industrialization would wipe out the backward peasantry.  Rather strangely, Museveni thinks “…social transformation from peasant to middle class skilled working class” would come just like that if forests are given away to investors.  That is quite simply madness.

Assuming Museveni is right, then we still have to ask:  Is he only realizing this after more than 25yrs in power?  If not, then why hasn’t he transformed us from peasants to industrialist in his 25yrs of uninterrupted stay in power?

What is not in doubt is that the very peasants Museveni found in 1986 were better off at the time than they are now.  And that was largely because of the cooperative movement.  A good economist would therefore have looked at how to better such facilities for the good of the peasant in the spirit of transformation.

The third expose in Museveni’s ‘mabira letter’ is his reference to the opposition and news organizations as enemies.  “…How can enemies of the people of Uganda be allowed to thrive?”, Museveni asked.  I get very worried when such utterances come from a professed militant for whom killing “enemies” comes naturally.

Mr. President, you can kill your ‘enemies’ but you must remember one thing:  Your enemy’s lives depend very heavily on Mabira.  Without Mabira, you will not have ‘enemies’ to kill.  In my view, a good plan for social transformation should seriously look at agriculture [the backbone of the economy], develop mechanisms for adding value to and marketing our produce.

If we have to, then our land should only be leased to real investors on competitive terms.  Former MP Mr. Okello Okello made the most powerful argument regarding Museveni’s catastrophic error of judgment [Museveni has shown ‘catastrophic error of judgment’] in this paper a few weeks ago.

If I had a final word, it would be for Muhoozi.  Have a mature chat with your beloved Daddy.  He has completely lost his mind and he may need psychiatric help.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.