Uganda is ready for a new dispensation.

A NEW DISPENSATION

Nigeria has completed its multiparty elections where an incumbent gracefully conceded defeat in an election. It is unprecedented “first” of its kind in that Nation. In Uganda, such a dream is far-fetched.

The road to 2016 is shaping up with its characteristic uncertainties of inflation, insecurity, hostility, and intolerance. The back-to-back assassinations of prominent figures taking place in Uganda projects a gloomy future pre and post elections.

That aside, there is a crisis of confidence in Uganda’s politics. For Ugandans to recover from the apathy towards their politics, some hangers-on must be exposed and eliminated.  These people aim to galvanize social and political spaces from replenishment of ideas.

There are cynics in this country who have amassed enormous amounts of wealth and will die protecting it. Many are now hanging on to this regime for selfish reasons to protect and secure their loot. However, we must assure them all that a change of regime does not translate into a change in their fortune, especially for those who have rightfully accumulated wealth.

Uganda is rife for a new dawn of politics; the politics of unity within our diversity.

The old Parties and current antics no longer have the capacity to propel us to a conjoined future. In fact, they are holding us hostage and continue to drag this nation downwards and backwards.

FDC President, Gen. Mugisha Muntu recently stated that the status quo measures progress from where we are coming from, not where we are going, or where we should have been.  This statement needs amplifying because Uganda is in the NRM bus that has no headlights. It is only those behind the driving wheel who are able to see their future, and the near future as such. In that bus, the common future for all Ugandans is obscured, bleak!

However, what options do we have with precariats?

The Ugandan opposition groups, without Dr Col Besigye, are like disciplined pupils in a classroom. They are constrained such that they have to obey draconian oppressive rules. In this regard, you know a serious Opposition figure by the frequency of charges against him/her tat are in court.

It is comprehensible that going back and forth in court and jail are frustrating; affording a lawyer is no ordinary feat for many; and feeding a family is hard task if the family’s breadwinner is in and out of jail. Living in the Opposition is precarious, making them “Precariats”, as coined by the American Linguist, Noam Chomski.

It is simply impossible to dislodge President Museveni if you are the type of urban elite who wants a luxurious life. Mr. Museveni has taken full control of the economy and the resources of this country as his own.  His costly investment in public administration enables him to secure control over Ugandans and their resources.

It implies that Mr. Museveni has the power to dispense wealth, comfort, vanity, dignity, and a peaceful existence to his unquestioning loyalists. The Uganda under President Museveni is a theatre of revolutionists of different shades. There are those who have and must protect what they have; and those who have nothing, but they must protect those who have, to exist.

Depravity explains the treachery, suspicion, distrust, and infighting within the Opposition ranks. It is very simple analogy – when you administer depravity, it sets ground for infighting due to scarcity of privileges and resources.

Such a pitiful existence is despised by a society that valorizes corruption and insanity. For public visibility, most opposition members have to appear on the fence. It is revealing of lack of organizing ideology, and thus, a need for new dispensations.

By far, Dr. Besigye deserves very positive appraisal for his courageous efforts at unsettling the status quo. Reform Agenda forced Museveni to return Northern Uganda on national agenda. Left to the vagaries of the status quo, that place could have been obsolete by now.

Without a strong non-opportunistic coalition of patriots, Mueveni will treat 2016 general election as a mere rite of passage.  At this rate, only Museveni can defeat Museveni. Period!

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Gulu Market and the symbolism of glamour

GULU MARKET

The Oxford dictionary defines the noun “glamour” as an attractive or exciting quality that makes a person or a thing seems appealing. The magnanimity of Gulu Market when contrasted with any forms of tangible development in Northern Uganda for the last 30 years makes it glamorous. A new physical attraction supplanted amidst a destitute population in Gulu and Lira serves a great symbolic purpose of a renewal.

Gulu Municipality, like most towns in Northern Uganda has the allure of a shanty settlement. The times under which these places endured civil unrest deprived the generation of witnessing real development but decay. For them now, any development that sprouts in Gulu is a reward from the kind hands of the President. As such, people started seeing new public facilities like Bank of Uganda, Gulu Local Council Offices, the Judiciary Offices, and partly Gulu University emerge as a post conflict reward from President Museveni.

I have a fond memory of the old Gulu market. Back in the days, it served the people well. I recall vividly the buzz of life at the market during hot sunny days. As a pupil of Holy Rosary, we would sneak out during lunch breaks to buy some bananas (Menvu) and boiled corn (maize). At times, we would navigate the packed traffic at the market to run down by the valley to buy sugarcanes.

Gulu market had specific gender significance because it defined expectations by gender. In most families, when men or women left their homesteads, their return would exemplify whether they passed via Gulu market or not. Wives would divorce their husbands who went on a journey to Gulu town but did not return with dried or salted fish, salt, or cooking oil. Gulu market was more important to the daily endevour of the people than just the glamour.

Those were the good old days before the NRA came to town, and before the NRA Kadogos (child soldiers) started arresting, harassing, and murdering people on suspicion of having served in UNLA that they derogated as Obote’s Army. The advent of the NRA in Gulu changed the image of the marketplace. It became a different place altogether. By the end of 1986, it was a place of fear where one would bear witness to firing squad or broad day light arrest of suspected “Anyanyas”.

Subsequently, Gulu market and Pece Stadium (Bar-Pece) became the dual symbol of decay for this town and its society.

Acholi youths were known for sportsmanship and artistry. The boys played soccer and the girls, netball. They took Pece Stadium very seriously as a place where great talent converged – a symbol of talent. Playing at the stadium was a prestige and something every young man longed to experience.

In fact, the fascination of playing at Pece Stadium inspired exceptional artistry in the young Acholi people when it came to music dance and drama. Literally, every school child played an instrument, mastered Acholi songs, and executed quite a number of rich Acholi dance genres with precision of a pro. Every school vied for a spot to perform at Pece Stadium. Pece was the gateway to national Stardom that probably culminated with a performance at National Theatre or Nakivubo in Kampala.

In the same breadth, shopping at Gulu market was the delight of every young Acholi woman, wife, mother, and grandmother. It was the economic hub of the region.  

Gulu Market and Pece Stadium were dream theatres.

Then the war took away the youths – the very foliage of that society. Then both Pece stadium and Gulu Market embarked on rapid decay. This followed an intensely sustained propaganda that Acholi people are a violent backward chauvinists. The image of the Acholi was tainted as that of violent killers, heartless chauvinists, and so forth. It took many people by surprise and such reprisals helped largely to mobilize sentiments against the Acholi haters.

And, here we are, celebrating the renewal of Gulu market, a symbol of glamour which may have come without the old forms of life that pre-occupied it. Definitely, Gulu market without Pece Stadium is like a glamorous smiling woman with a very ill partner.

END

Being a Minister has no bearing on how Uganda is governed

PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS

The nostalgia that shrouds the Nation prior to a new cabinet or RDC announcements in Uganda remains an enigma. Such characteristic nostalgia lacks excessively after the reading of the budget. One would imagine that issues of taxes should naturally concern Ugandans more than political appointments.

Why do Ugandans still respond with this strange nostalgia following Presidential appointments?

In the close to 30 years of President Museveni’s rule in Uganda, he has carried out so many reshuffles, appointments and disappointments, both in cabinet, public service heads and among RDCs with their deputies or assistants. There are many lessons one can learn by critically observing the guerilla tactics and strategies of President Museveni. How he deploys these skillfully over unsuspecting civilians reveals his mastery of survival overall.

First, there are people that he has recycled at every level, as ministers, the likes of Honourable Sam Kutesa, Moses Ali, Kahinda Otafiire, Ruhakana Rugunda, Jim Muhwezi, John Nassasira, Amama Mbabazi, Crispus Kiyonga and others. In his list of recycled Ministers, the people from his part of the country have bounced back to cabinet even when they have presided over financial misappropriations in their line Ministries, or botched up special tasks under their dockets. In comparison, individuals from other regions, once fallen even on mere suspicion, are never recycled – in fact, they are alienated even further from government.

President Museveni has determined that some individuals are made of ministerial genetic materials, while others are befitting of occasional roles as ministers. As such, he chooses those who will remain foundational at each level of political appointment; Ministers, Ministers of state, RDC, deputy or Assistant RDC.

Likewise, if your genes are suited for the task of an RDC, then you will be sure enough to perform at that level and recycled at the same level until your absolute relevance is depleted then you are dumped.

A major feature is that the “Museveni way” is the fusion of patriotism with Musevenism, - a sub-ideology that promotes the life Presidency for a man heralded as a divine gift to Uganda.

Musevenism as an ideology is the false teaching that loving your country (Patriotism) is akin with loving the person of Museveni and his family. Patriots are those who tow the Museveni line, those indoctrinated with bush-era ideology under the custody of NRA/UPDF political commissars, and taught that Museveni is a God’s gift to Uganda. For him, it is about longevity that endears him to youthful leaders. They help him bridge the intergenerational gap to remain relevant, and when reduced by nature to install his Prince as a successor.

Therefore, enthusiasts like Honourables; David Bahati, Frank Tumwebaze, Richard Todwong, Evelyn Anite, Aida Nantaba etc do not nourish Museveni’s intellect one bit. They reaffirm it. They are concurrently a means and an outcome of his ideology of self-perpetuating. These individuals are no longer merely “Patriots”, they have attained the highest levels of accomplishments as Musevenists, who profess Musevenism.

Some analysts have argued that President Museveni has ideal Ministers in those he recycles. These people are never worried for a night of not featuring in Museveni’s cabinet. So, why is there so much nostalgia when each cabinet reshuffle or RDC appointments occur?

One possible explanation is that being a Minister of Museveni has lost value. To be a Minister, you have to become a Musevenist like Hon Evelyn Anite, be a celebrated thief (corrupt), or act as an object of appeasement to electorates. Competence, vision, authenticity, and independence of mind are considered subversive requirement for this job. 

Second, because Presidential appointee are associated with fleecing on the country’s resources – given the spate of public theft by ministers, many of whom end up being recycled – some people have worked so hard to attain the status of being a Musevenists to win a Presidential appointment. Each ministerial or RDC appointment time therefore, is looked at fervently as a window of opportunity to ascend to a public office for self-aggrandizement.

Otherwise, I contend that being a Minister, Presidential Advisor or an RDC now has no bearing on how President Museveni governs Uganda.

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Lack of gender mainstreaming in UPE hurts the rural women the most

Universal Primary Education

The controversial introduction of UPE in 1997 as a Presidential pledge deprived the program of gender mainstreaming opportunity. UPE remains a global initiative hatched by the UN stipulated in MDG objective 2; to improve access to equitable education for children in struggling regions of the world.

Today, there are concerns about the impact, quality, and the outcomes for those citizens processed through UPE. However, what should concern us the most is the obvious impact of UPE on rural economies, and the fact that it has become a reliable mode of enforcing socio-economic inequity between urban and rural communities.

The PLE results released in the last ten years show a consistent pattern of unequal achievements between rural and urban locations. Children studying in well-resourced urban settings have consistently outperformed their counter parts in resource scarce rural settings. The rural and impoverished districts have also performed worse consistently. 

A recent report by Justice and Peace Center shows that the story in Northern Uganda is far damning than anywhere in the country. In 5 years, over 66% of the schools in Northern Uganda failed to produce first grades. This pattern may stretch back for the last two decades. This trend can explain the low quality of human resources in this region, and the region’s exclusion from the glorified economic resurgence of this country.

In this article, I explore how a failing UPE affects the health of rural economies and more specific, how UPE has affected the health of rural women/mothers. 

The typical African woman in rural setting is the modern day beast of burden. The woman is the centerpiece of the livelihood of rural communities and households. She is constantly overloaded at all her body facets. On the head, they have firewood, water containers, sacks, or packages of food. In her arms, she holds a baby, handbag - a luggage.  Either on the back or in the womb there is a baby. 

The rural African woman needs liberation from the bondage of burden. In the process of this whole conundrum, she, as the person in that woman, is eternally lost. Her health considerations do not exist. And, no one seems to care enough about the precarious state of the rural African woman.  Incidentally, you will discover that even husbands, parents, in-laws, or the managers of our social welfare do not care enough for gender mainstreaming in their policy processes.

It reminds me when, a couple of years ago, I was facilitating a cancer screening and prevention program for immigrant women from South Eastern Asia. When I provided them with nametags and asked them to write their real names on it. Some of the women were reluctant to comply. When I prompted them, some stated that they had forgotten their real names because the society defined them with what they do and to whom they belonged. This to me demonstrated how the person in our women still vanishes from the social and physical realms. She is only visible in her roles as a mother, wife, provider, worker, and to others, an object of means.

Despite the fact that the rural woman is lowly educated, she is socially well schooled in her subordinate gender roles, primarily as a gatekeeper of a place where she does not exert a physical presence. She is compelled to deliver many children out of inevitability. Naturally, she depends on assistance from her children – moreso, the females. The birth of every girl-child is a potential relief of her burden. She delights with eagerness to indoctrinate and socialize the female child into a caring role. 

A UN gender and water resource report shows that on the average, the rural African woman spends 4 hours a day in search of water and fuel for her family. When she has girls of her own, some of her “natural” burdens are delegated to the daughters. The MDG report observed that over 60% of rural women in Sub-Sahara Africa are employed in unpaid agricultural work. Her children always help in clearing the shamba, planting, weeding and harvesting. In that sense, the rural African woman has the additional burden of producing laborers and caring for them as well. This is why a failing UPE hurts the rural woman the most.

It is here that UPE planners failed the rural woman despite all structural constraints against her. They took away her helpers, which added to her the burden of farming on top of caring for the family.

Knowing that 83% of Ugandans reside in rural communities, and that agriculture employs over 80% of Ugandans, the calendar of UPE could not be any worse – at least for the rural woman. Children are part-and-parcel of these communities and have supportive roles in the gardens, homes, and markets. By taking them away from these roles, their mothers must inherit these roles.

The school calendar needs adjusting such that school terms run during dry seasons when the need for labor is low.  These children would still be in school, but help with cultivating, weeding, and harvesting during holidays. This would be a perfect time to apply the knowledge of agriculture in practice. Why make English a compulsory subject in schools and not agriculture, which employs instantly?

END.

Make public administration and politics generally less attractive

ABUSE of POWER

For a couple of years now, Hon. Beti Olive Kamya has attempted to convince the nation that Presidential powers ought to be tamed. Beti has recognized that the excess power vested in the President of Uganda by the 1995 Constitution - as variedly amended - is the mainstay of abuse of public trust. Beti appears to argue that it is the lavishing of such excessive power in the office of the President that affords the occupant unfettered confidence to abuse power.

Whereas Beti’s arguments seem plausible on the surface, a critical scrutiny of it shows some cracks in the fabrics of that belief. I am compelled to believe that the real problem with African society is not about absolute power that is vested in its leaders; rather, it is how that power is accumulated. It is about the way the people conceptualize power, leadership and governance.

It is no doubt that the power that is vested in the leaders originates from the people. Evidences are there to illustrate that however powerful a leader maybe, if the people were to resolve to challenge abuse of power, they would. This happened in Burkina Faso, Tunisia and elsewhere. 

A conscious population therefore, is the basis of good governance heralded by moderate exercising of power and distribution of it. Power in every society depends largely on the resolve and consciousness of the masses who apportions it, regulate or normalize its use. 

The Ugandan society lacks that level of consciousness to unify against abuse of power. In fact, some people are even contemplating whether Britain left Uganda too soon and they would invite the British back if possible.

The challenge of exercising power in Uganda is not any different from that in Kenya, Tanzania or Zambia. The variation lies in the consciousness of those citizens. When you google “abuse of power in Africa”, you will be surprised with 99,200,000 entries on that subject. Contrast that with “abuse of power in Asia”, 71,500,000, and Latin America, 14,200,000 entries - all generating within 0.59 seconds or thereabout. Given the poor culture of documentation in these regions, these figures may also reflect variations in the levels of consciousness across the three least developed continents of the world.

Suppose Beti has a point, how would she redistribute the power effectively in Uganda where every person strives to gain power for self perpetuation? Beti has to produce a blue-print of her proposal for public scrutiny. For now, it’s unconvincing to assert that the excessive Presidential powers is the major source of Uganda’s problems without enumerating how that power is accumulated.

Under the tenure of Mr. Museveni, it is even more challenging to effectively resolve the problems of power redistribution because of political corruption, an ideology of perversion and narcissism.

There is an inherent absurdity in the fact that the Ugandan society is now fully compliant with the corruption. In fact, the process of abuse of power begins with tribalism, favouritism and culminates with bribe soliciting; monetary or otherwise, during elections. This act signifies the sanctioning and normalization of corruption through which the society subverts its own interests. Through that vice, the people relinquish their will and with it, the power, to the “elected” individual. This makes power tendering a lucrative deal such that an astute President, whether he is made powerless through a constitutional amendment, will always amass power by bribing and procuring unprincipled allegiances.

In my view, making public administration and politics generally less attractive is the most effective way to tame the power problem in Uganda. By lowering wages and privileges of politicians, banning any forms of bribery during elections, and punishing those who violate electoral rules by steep jail terms and a ban of violators from contesting in subsequent elections; ensuring a minimum qualification of at least five years of experience in public and/or private sectors, and instituting term/age limits for every elective position, will certainly restore credibility to our politics.

END

Is there a place for silence in African Politics?

POLITICAL STRATEGY

Last week Marxist scholars almost butchered me for loosely using the word “class” in reference to elites. This week, I discuss “silence” with much caution. The application of silence as exemplified by John Patrick Amama Mbabazi (JPAM) is a strange concept in Uganda’s politics of patronage. An evaluation whether deliberate use of silence has a place in Uganda’s politics may be warranted. For now, the influence of oral tradition in the body politics of African society discourages silence as a mode of communication as illustrated by JPAM’s predicaments.

Silence in African justice system signifies implicit admission of guilt. Most Africans I know like to plead out their cases with eloquence and bravado. Ugandans in particular, are generally loud people. They like shouting and dramatizing situations with vigor. A good example of a typical Ugandan politician is Hon Ken Lukyamuzi who even goes far enough to speak in strange tongues, when pressed for accountability.  Quiet people in our communities are always a subject of suspicion, often lowly regarded as bereft of virtue, intelligence or ambitions. Only in Asia and western society, is silence valorized as a trait.

The tranquil exemplified by JPAM during his Kangaroo trial before the NRM machination illuminates both the potential and limits of silence in African politics. The art of silence have been common among career philosophers, innovators and monks – not politicians. In Uganda, if you cannot speak when occasioned; make a no-show when anticipated; and contract when expected to expand, then your credibility is often judged harshly.

The reorganization of the NRMO Party towards the end of 2014 exposed an opportunity for analysts to critically examine the effectiveness of silence in body politics of Uganda. In his silence, JPAM stirred discomfort and made powerful men equally anxious, puzzled and enraged. Many desired to attack and destroy, and yet found themselves in very awkward position with no justifiable trigger to attack JPAM. In destabilizing the chauvinists from their comfort, the strength of silence was uniquely precipitated.

Leaving everyone tensed and speculative was probably the only benefit of that silence as a strategy. In that silence, he softened the zeal of evil and unmasked the faces of his nemeses. Even the President, on many occasions did not know what to do with JPAM who had neither confessed, nor denied espousing any ambitions to stand for President in 2016.

The silence worked for only a while but JPAM stretched it to extremes. The backlash proved that one cannot sustain silence in politics without a meticulous organizational structure like those operated by the Illuminati and Mafias. The limit of silence was apparent as it militated against JPAM’s own interests. In that silence, he disengaged with his core supporters allowing the opportunistic youths to jump ship. There were people already set for a political brouhaha to elicit change within the NRMO. The silence disengaged them and they lost the confidence to act in the absence of a clear messaging from their prospective leader. Certainly JPAM could not have thought that his followers were telepathic or prophetic to somehow connect intuitively with whatever was going through his mind.

If there are lessons learned, we now know that it takes a revolutionary zeal to employ silence where the politics of patronage reigns. In the short run, it saves you from annihilation, in the long run; it effectively disengages the actor from his followers. JPAM is probably not the first person to have attempted to use silence as a revolutionary tool in vain. But if his agenda was to provoke the wrath of the regime to cause him harm to attract sympathy from the populace, then his agenda fell flat. Principally, it would take a lot, including skinning JPAM alive, for many Ugandans to feel a sense of remorse for the man from Kinkizi West.

But yes, silence is detrimental to anyone’s ambitions. Not only does it portray a lack of seriousness. It casts the silent politician unfavorably as insensible, irresolute, and pusillanimous!

END

Charlie Hebdo: Religion, Faith and Value clashes

RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE

As a child, my Catholic upbringing taught me that a good Christian is a kind, caring, loving and forgiving one. The Ten Commandments were drummed into our ears that killing was ungodly!  We were taught Christian values that everything on earth and every action of mankind came from God to fulfill the purpose of creation.

Only the world of children appears suitable for this kind of teaching. As a child, we are guarded from the vagaries of the world and smothered with proximity of a caring adult.

But as one grows and begins to learn history, the stark reality becomes clear that the Church's teaching of loving caring is a double edged sword. It was patronizing and coercive within the duality of Heaven and Hell.

The advent of religion has a bloody history which refuses to disappear.

I had the opportunity to study the evolution of Catholicism and the split of the Church during the times of King Henry VIII, Martin Luther and so forth. These were bloody times in the world that was dominated by the Church. In fact, one can claim that some of the most horrifying tragedies in the world emerged under the rule of the Church in the name of advancing its legitimacy.

Many people are ensconced in their faith today due to the tyranny of the Church which charged and murdered people for questioning its action. Back in the days, the charge of heresy attracted cruelty and death. The Church issued and exacted death penalty on none believers and belligerent Christians with impunity.

When Pope Benedict XVI decried the state of violence in the world as piece meal world war, he was being reflective. There are sporadic acts of violence in the world which are being fought on the basis of religious mores and faith. In this world, there appears to be no issue that man cannot resolve, but matters of faith and religion.

It is a pity because those who orchestrated the Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, in which 17 people were killed at a satirical newspaper office in Paris, claimed they did so in the name of religion.

Here again we face a dilemma. All religions claim purity and claim that they are peaceful. These faith institutions startle when its followers commit senseless atrocities such as Charlie Hebdo, planting bombs in public places, spraying bullets in Malls or abducting innocent non-combatants.

Religion alone is not enough for someone to conduct themselves that way. However faithful you are, none of these religions actually sanctions the murder of the innocent bystanders, aka, collateral damage. There must be an underlying motive for which religion is an excuse.

Let us do some thinking. Religion and faith have only been used as a façade for a far deeper grievances created by unequal global system. Fanatics have only realized that through religious institutions, they easily attract alliances to advance their causes.

Imagine that we lived in a world where there are no Muslims, Buddhists, Christians or Animists, but people of the world. What other excuses would we have to justify the violence and destruction of lives?

Well, there is the freedom of speech. Persistently discrediting someone's religious figurehead may not have been the best use of that freedom. Every Right has a limit, and so is freedom. That precisely is the reason there are infringements and rules.

However, every conflict in this world occurs on similar accounts; indifference, oppression, repression, greed, inequities and indignation of others' values. Charlie Hebdo highlights the indifference in value systems between the West and the East. France is the zone of that conflict. Paris was the frontline where values classed tragically.

The lessons are there for us to learn. Globalization has made conflicting value boundaries fluid. They can meet and clash anywhere, at any cost, in the name of religion and faith.

END