Northern Uganda needs post conflict leaders

LEADERSHIP

The members of Parliament for Northern Uganda have fired the salvo to re-ignite the debate about secession. For many years now, the idea of Northern Uganda breaking away from the Republic of Uganda has been a malignant urge. Understandably, the Northern Uganda situation is one which draws a lot of bad blood and sad memories of annihilation.

I am not very sure whether the problem of northern Uganda can effectively get resolved by cessation or federation. There are merits to both arguments; Northern Uganda is the size of Belgium and probably more endowed with natural resources. It has a vibrant community who feel that their vigor and enthusiasms are being nipped up in the bud by the violent NRM ideology. Many in Northern Uganda still believe that the NRM has held this sinister plan of transforming the North into a pool of insolvents and beggars.

The truth be said, Northern Uganda endures a deliberate marginalization and structural disadvantage as a consequence of the past twenty years. Unfortunately, this region has not been able to produce principled post conflict leaders who have a strong vision for the region. There is a belief that every situation is capable of producing its own leadership. In that aspect, this region has failed to produce such leaders.

Recent history of conflict in Northern Uganda was able to produce leaders and managers who stood by their unbroken spirits and guided the region through the genocide, afloat. The league of Hons. Reagan Okumu, Zachary Olum, Okello Okello Livingston and Hon. Norbert Mao represented strong voices for the people and they were able to stave off many ill intentions of the NRM regime against the Acholi people. Lango and West Nile sub-regions produced some of the most vibrant, reputable and consistent leaders throughout the conflict.

One of the biggest challenges that Northern Uganda has not come to terms with is the basic understanding that there is no equal place for recovery under the NRM where everyone is grabbing everything for self aggrandizement. Not that the region should produce thieves and scoundrels the type we see swindling anything called wealth. With few exceptions, the post conflict Northern Uganda has produced weak and opportunistic leaders who erroneously have been duped that the solution to the regions is with President Museveni.

Northern Uganda needs to produce a breed of post conflict leadership – a group of people who will not fight military invasion, atrocious acts of government and mass murders, but leaders who will have strong will to fight corruption, manipulation and theft of public resources from the grassroot to the national level. Given the high moral aptitude of the people from Northern Uganda, one of their failures is to look up to President Museveni and corrupted NRM system with hope for solution. Like a man who is sentenced to the guillotine, Northern Uganda is merely hoping that the noose man will empathize and set them free at a point. This is a wild expectation under this regime.

Cessation talk for now is metaphorical like the life of a seed. In that seed there is a tree and in that tree there are possibilities of many other seeds. For those conditions to fetter such that this seed of cessation can grow into a promising forest, a lot of realistic work must be done. One of such is to preserve the land and its endangered population!

It is also profitable to begin contemplating on whether creation of semi-autonomous Nile Region to demand for federal status with the Republic is a realistic idea. Further, the leadership in Northern Uganda needs to focus on developing a strong ideological framework to mobilize its “citizens” just beyond the complaint of “marginalization”. I think marginalization claims typifies a learned self-helplessness – the tendency of tendering our recovery duties to others. The false hope that the central government that is presided over by Mr. Museveni would change its mind and policies on this region we voted with euphoria.

The sordid conditions of Northern Uganda is not because people there drink alcohol, indulge in risky sexual behaviours, are lazy to the point that they are unable to hold the hoe, etc. The reverse is true. People of Northern Uganda are honorable and personable hardworking individuals emerging from two decades of war.

Their real dilemma is trying to fit into a very dangerous and meticulously scandalous world which knows no veracity, trustworthiness nor reciprocity – the world that despises them.

END