Museveni is worse than Amin, Obote, and Lutwa
By M. Suleman
13th Dec 2010
Should the opposition participate in an election where they know that President Museveni will rig? Answer, yes! Why? Well, because the opposition must try everything within its power to get Museveni out of power as a matter of urgency.
Why is it urgent to vote Museveni out of office at all costs? There are so many reasons. First of all, Uganda “The Pearl of Africa”, a country which was once the envy of so many and a source of pride for Ugandans will soon cease to exist.
It will be replaced by a “New” Uganda born after 1986; a Uganda which is the opposite of the real “The Pearl of Africa”. It is this “The Pearl of Africa” that Ugandans are now urgently called upon to reclaim by voting en-mass against Museveni so that we can start the job of resuscitating our once beloved motherland.
Apart from those born shortly before or after 1986, I believe those who were of age by 1986 will agree with me that the Uganda we have today is totally different from the pre-1986 Uganda and the Uganda we would have expected to have at this point in time.
Apart from the natural beauty, Uganda is endowed with a wonderful people. We have many cultures, but all these diverse cultures converge to give Uganda one culture with which we all identify ourselves. This culture is underpinned by admirable values of humility, sincerity, kindness, integrity, care, and industriousness to mention a few.
These were values that defined a Ugandan; these are values that made a Ugandan to be respected and admired wherever he went and served. It is these values that have made many of our professionals get positions of responsibility in foreign countries. It was also these values that nearly landed Uganda’s son Olara Otunnu the position of UN Secretary General.
This is the Uganda Museveni took over in 1986. Sadly, in the 25 years he has been in power, he has totally changed Uganda; for the worse! He has systematically destroyed what used to make Uganda a special and unique country.
Ugandans were known to be peace-loving people. We never got our independence through force of arms. We had our disagreements but the leadership always chose the path of peace to save human life. Killing of innocent civilians, intimidation, and coercion were never a source of pride for pre-1986 Ugandan leaders. They respected human life and it was rare to witness cold blooded murder of unarmed civilians.
I cannot recall any of our past Presidents ordering the firing live bullets at unarmed civilians. Neither do I recall hearing any Police Commander wallowing in pride for massacring unarmed civilians. Ugandan Presidents always showed respect for civilians.
At the height of the 1979 war, as Amin begun to lose ground, he lamented about the issue of civilians mixing with the ‘invading forces’ and that as professional soldiers, the Uganda Army could not open fire where they could kill unarmed civilians. So rather than kill unarmed civilians, Amin accepted to lose power. In a strange way, doesn’t that make Idi Amin better that President Museveni?
Similarly, when the Okello’s moved to capture Kampala in 1985, President Obote and Chief of Staff Smith Opon Achak had enough forces to resist and hold the Okello forces. But the one question that bothered them a lot was where they could open a battle front without risking massive loss of civilian lives. So instead of creating a bloodbath, President Obote decided to accept defeat and he fled.
In a similar fashion, the Okellos had enough capacity to wipe out the NRA. Col. John Ogole had already contained the NRA and was in the final stages of defeating it. But aware of the suffering Ugandan civilians had already gone through, the Okello government decided to call for peace talks with the NRA even though it was capable sustaining the war.
In contrast, Museveni’s policy has always been “the end justifies the means”. The manner in which the NRA took over Kampala gave us a glimpse of the methods they had used during the bush war. As they continued their march to the north, their methods became clearer and clearer.
The insurgency in the north clearly exposed the true nature of the new leaders in the country. What happened later in the north, especially “the scotched earth policy”, and Museveni’s refusal to accept a negotiated end to the conflict, clearly showed an attitude that is totally different from that of Uganda’s past leaders.
From then on, the country has witnessed many cold blooded murders of civilians; the latest being in Sept 2009 when civilians were massacred in cold blood. Crucially, Museveni’s government showed absolutely no remorse! His behaviour is alien; it is not Ugandan. Museveni’s Uganda is alien to us and we must reclaim the Uganda we once knew and loved.
Suleman’s article continues next week. END. Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
