The militarized Uganda Police is Too Angry!

Civil Force

I have seen the evolution of the Uganda Police since the President started appointing military generals to transform it. A major shakeup of the Police took place under the Maj. General Katumba Wamala. The President had always judged the police by the way they voted and dismissed the civil force as remnants of the Obote era. Maj General Kale Kayihura has overly militarized the Police and made them too angry uncivil and uncouth!

I recall quite well that by the time NRM came to power, the Uganda Police was already a wreck. Their living conditions were no better than broken debris of colonial style makeshifts. In every Police barracks one goes, from Naguru, Nsambya and wherever Police Barracks existed, the diminutive existence of this group was stellar in its overall presentation. An ordinary Policeman lived alone in hot and inhuman Unipots if he were lucky. Most of them shared small houses with large families. One constant feature of any Police barracks was bustling sewerage system that snaked through the terrible road conditions. Overcrowding and congestion were commonplace.

Civil servants in Uganda are quite admirable groups when it comes to enduring the greed of the political class. While the Police and teachers have endured the most humiliation in our society, their commitment and zeal to execute their duties remained impeccable and incorruptible. They were on their duty stations on time even when their salaries always came in arrears, many months late. They forfeited civilian lifestyle that they could not afford and remained neatly tucked in their regimented lives of rations.

I recall the many children from Police barracks that we attended schools in Naguru with. Even when they could not afford the luxuries that other kids had, such as having pocket change to buy pancakes and so forth, they soldiered on through the day undisturbed. Often they were the nicest kids, quite humble, sociable and caring. They never spoke much about their own imaginations in public for fear of being ridiculed by society and yet, inside, they had their separate dreams.

The struggles of regular Policeman, to a greater extent, were reflected on the humble faces of their children. But the disparities that existed between the regular constables, the traffic offers (most corrupted) and the officers were such a sharp contrast. Even then, any son of a Police officer would never be seen in public to show off or brag about comfort of life or might of the father as we see nowadays.

Definitely, the disciplined and professional Police of the 80s and 90s are nonexistent now. What we have now are a bunch of angry dastardly machines dressed up in Police Uniforms. The real professional police which was a civil force has been inadvertently replaced by military men who are loaded with and aligned to the NRM’s ideology or corruption and repression.

Every time I see the pictures of the Police officers in action; either detaining or violating the rights of opposition leaders, my faith in them sinks. Our generation were taught that the primary duties of the Police are to keep law and order. The Kayihura Police is just too angry to do any of those civil duties. Instead, they cause civil unrest and participate shamelessly in violating fundamental human liberties for which the force should actually be safeguarding.

I have never seen any angry Police Commanders like the ones I see in the media in action in Kasangati and Gayaza. I have advised my friends not to ever frequent this side of Kampala because of these angry Policemen who appear as if they were perennially constipated. This is largely due to the experiences of Col Besigye when the police littered his farm with faeces after feeding on beans and posho.

It is a pity indeed that the Uganda Police has crafted an image as a toolkit for repression of the masses. This is very bad for our infantile democracy and more so for economic development because the Police is supposed to be impartial force if they are to protect all Ugandans and their properties irrespective of their political or ideological differences.

It is even strange how the Police of nowadays are prophetic, in that they foresee intent before the act. The militarized Uganda Police is just too angry a force and it must be revitalized, counselled and rehabilitated henceforth to civility!!

END.

NRM has no legitimacy in the fight against corruption

In this article I contend that any fight against corruption in Uganda cannot be successful unless we redefined the social contract between state actors and the masses by changing the NRM regime which lacks the legitimacy in fighting corruption. Corruption has increasingly redefined human relations thereby undermining the very tenets upon which a credible authority is established in society like Uganda.

Social contracts exists when society when morality exists in politics. When politics is deprived of the ingredient of morality, what we see is havoc because by nature man is an insatiable beast. Political theorists will concur that Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau have given this concept sufficient exposition and defense by emphasizing that a person’s moral and political obligations must be dependent on the social contract between them and the society they live in.

The postmodern phislosopher John Rawl took a liking for Emmanuel Kant’s theory known as “Kantianism” and gave it a modern revamp in his 1972 “The theory of Justice” by arguing that each one of us (man) has the capacity to reason from a universal point of view, which in turn means that we have the particular moral capacity of judging principles from an impartial standpoint. In other words, Rawl argues that our moral and political points of views are mostly attained via impartiality.

The above texts help to illuminate a number of disparities in our fights against corruption. First, that either the social contract that exists between public figures that plunder our resources lacks moral component. Second, that society largely condones and is tolerant to corruptions. Third, that we exist in a largely remote society where we are unconscious of the numerous shapes and forms associated with corruption and how it impacts on our very being as society. Finally, that justice could never be exacted on the corrupt on behalf of society because we lack impartial authority to do that!

Our infantile democracy is always tainted with fraud and malpractices such as voter bribery. When we cheat in election, we basically manufacture consent from the masses through fraudulent means, including coercion. This greatly undermines the power of the people in constituting credible government. Our election processes are therefore illegitimate and immoral in that sense and only helps propel individual greed above common good. This makes the fight against corruption a difficult task because the product of an immoral or illegal transaction breeds equally illegal product - corruption.

The implication is that because most of those elected are guilty of partaking in an immoral process to attaining political power, they cannot be impartial to acts of corruption. Thus, they lack the political will and the fundamentals – the morals to decisively fight against corruption, thus the gerrymandering in Parliament and within the executives including IGG institution.

Whether our society tolerates corruption and corrupt tendencies, we can only see this in the way corruption and influence peddling has been handled in Uganda. The recent case of CHOGM involving the former Vice President, Gilbert Bukenya only speaks for itself. The many scandals associated with current Prime Minister, Rt. Hon J.P. Amama Mbabazi is another. The revelations by three ministers and two statehouse employees that the President authorized illegal payments to businessman Bassajjabalaba are another. But the most glaring is the subsequent denial of oversight involving the Bassajjabalaba scandalous payment by the President himself. Who is committing perjury?

There is a trail and track of corruption that link each and every NRM leaders inextricably. In the crime involving huge illegal money, sex and drugs, just follow the money trail and you will catch a Whiteman at the end. In Uganda, it is true; everyone in politics is corrupt, either by association, omission or commission.

One only needed to recognize this when Prime Minister succinctly stated that any fight against corruption that targets him, is intended to overthrow Museveni. Such statements help buttress the corrupt in power, legitimize and normalize the vice and make Museveni loyalists, prime agents of corruption.

Our society has long accepted that corruption was a quicker way of accumulating wealth since Ugandan assets were disposed off fraudulently in the 90s.

Finally, the failure in the fight against corruption is visible when people accused of corruption are carried shoulder high by the taxpayers who have been fleeced. It is even branded as state function when corrupt people are mandated through the ballot to continue in their plunder of the economy unabated!

END

Somalia: is Museveni a collaborator of Neo-Colonialism?

AFRICAN BETRAYAL

The continued presence of Ugandan troops in Somalia is one that requires some evaluation and scrutiny. No one would argue that regional security is of utmost importance and prerequisite for economic growth. Our experiences with various bombs have threatened peace in East Africa and the authorities have pointed towards Al-qaeda and their vestiges – the al-shabaab as the main culprits.

We definitely recall the tragic August 7^th,  1998 twin bombs that targeted American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Those bombs killed more than 258 people and left another staggering 5,000 injured. We have also not forgotten the tragic and senseless twin bombing that targetted revellers during FIFA’s World Cup finals event in Kampala on July 12, 2010 that left 74 people dead and another score of injuries.

That Uganda and East Africa became a target of al-qaeda inspired group – al-shabaab - has a lot to tell. The Al-shabaab have wanted Uganda and Burundi out of Somalia where they continue to protect a weak UN backed regime to stay in power. The strange part of this whole mission is that it has colorfully painted President Museveni as a merchant of war of our generation. He chooses to keep Ugandan troops in fighting expeditions even when some of the wars are contradictory to the values of Pan Africanism that h eat times professes.

For instance, the global war against terrorism is a war deeply rooted in history of global inequalities and the struggle over the control of territories and resources, mainly oil. While Uganda’s domestic demand for oil is on the rise, its participation in Somalia is a betrayal of Pan African spirits that seeks to liberate Africa for Africans. Uganda therefore has become a key agent of neo-colonialism, fighting to improve and re-establish a client states for the so-called world super powers.

One would truly wonder why President Barack Obama sent 100 highly specialized troops to Uganda, disguised in a mission to hunt down an elusive, depleted and decomposed Joseph Kony. We all know that currently, the real threats to the East African region is not Joseph Kony or LRA, but the lingering persistence and presence of radicalized groups such as al-shabaab. We also know that Sudan’s continued attack on the Republic of Southern Sudan over territorial disputes in Abyei and other oil rich regions will soon destabilize the region.

So, why must Uganda spend its resources fighting an equally elusive group of radicals that have no interest in Uganda instead of focusing on Kony and helping the new and fragile South Sudan stave off Khartoum? Of course, it would be suicidal for al-qaeda to build a base in the horn of Africa where they can further the destabilization of the region. But why should Uganda and Burundi have interests in Somalia and not Somalia’s immediate neighbors – Kenya, Somaliland, Eritrea, Ethiopia or in that case, Djibouti? Burundi is a poor country that has been recipient of handout from Uganda, why  must they focus on Somalia and not their fragile home economy and security?

The continued presence of Uganda in Somalia to fight a proxy war for the West is reminiscent of the historical collaborators of long distance trade and slavery in Africa. Slavery and subsequent colonization of black Africa was made possible purely on the good will of some African Chiefs and traditional leaders who conspired with Arabs and later Europeans to sanction these heinous crime against humanity. We are reliving the horrors of our predecesor generation that were sold into slavery. Our leaders are conspiring with our sworn oppressors to promote neo-colonialism and invite for more exploitation of the continent in exchange for their stay in power.

In return, the west finds no remorse in transplanting dictatorship in their client states. It is true that persistence of dictatorship in and around the world is a design of the West. As long as they have collaborators in power that satisfies their plunder of that country, these people are rewarded with sufficient means to repress the civilians.The war in Somalia has provided us with an opportunity to witness re-emergence of neo-colonialism in the most destructive form ever.  The recent surge in military support and activities by American Army justifies Uganda’s efforts of appeasing them in Somalia and interlinked with the brutality being meted on opposition. Unless we redefine our destiny, I fear that the NRM regime will trade Ugandans for cheap and give away their lands and resources to the advancing neo-colonialists. We must stand up and resist!

END.

Part I: How corruption sipped into our social fabric:

 CORRUPTION

Corruption in Uganda has reached a crisis level and it is now threatening the very moral fabric of our society. Every unit of our society has succumbed to this vice which has been normalized and socialized in a monumental manner. The question we must ask our generation over and over again is why we have let this monster permeate our society and our conscience such that it alone, dictates our common future.

In my previous dispositions, I posited that corruption is a function of neo-liberalism. The central premise for such assertion is that neoliberal ideologies that were imposed on the developing countries by the Brenton Woods institutions significantly destroyed social and political infrastructure of these countries. Most of the political infrastructure was a colonial construct that had gotten distorted by the advent of independence and rising socialist consciousness.

For instance, in Uganda, the sustenance of Co-operative Union ensured a sustained Agro-economy that provided soft landing for most small scale farmers from the vagaries of the global market. Through cooperatives, our farmers escaped market price fluctuations.

Now, through the open market systems, cooperatives were abolished on the ground that they offered unnecessary protection to a growing market such as Uganda. They also advanced other complimentary arguments that foreign investment in agriculture and other ventures would provide the silver bullet required for development and national debt repayments.

Neo-liberal proponents therefore introduced this monstrous principle in Africa and the rest of the developing world in haste, causing shocks. This is because its implementation did not avail significant time to prepare and mobilise human resources adequately in these countries to permit fair competition in the new economic model. Thousands of public servants were retrenched as governments were compelled to relinquish key responsibilities to its citizens. These would be given away to private and foreign firms.

 Notwithstanding the fact that international conglomerates and medium size investors would require time to study market dynamics and consumer patterns before gaining sufficient confidence to inject their capitals in these countries, most of the governments obliged to these harsh conditions upon its mere proposal. The education system was not revisited to prepare the locals to become competent global competitors. The health care sector was surrendered to speculations that private agencies would emerge to fill the gap left by the government. Most government institutions were purged of highly skilled human resources through retrenchment with the hope that new ideas and technology would perform their duties. Simply put, the expectations were way too high!

These gaps left by this rather awkward "liberalization" of the economy, only temporarily posted growth. In Uganda, people like AKEF, the Egyptian circus groups came in and left with millions worth of profits. Sudhir Ruperalia and his Indian compatriots found fertile grounds to exploit Ugandans through series of gambling (lottery & Casinos) and banking systems. South African bankers came in to purchase properties in Uganda and make millions in profit. The real Ugandan and their businesses started playing second fiddle to the bigger co-operate powers as their established industries, such as NYTIL and Coffee Marketing Board were being dismantled. Not before we could realize anything, our airwaves were filled with FM transmissions and then cell phone companies squeezed in. Uganda because a hub for "foreign investment". The death of industries in Jinja symbolized the harshness of this economic disease called Liberalization.

Why so much business, poverty, social and moral degradation and infrastructural collapse?

The purpose of every investment is for accumulation of profit. Most of the investors in Uganda are second class investors and most of them expropriate their capitals back to their homeland. We continue to witness painstaking levels of exploitation and abuse of local Ugandan worker in the hands of these so-called investors. Given the buzz of liberal economy, I argue in here that corruption has materialized in this equation as a result of striving for "rent allocation". When indigenous people try to enter the chaotic open marketplace, they have to compete against well organized and experienced foreign investors. With all the disadvantages against them, they opt to procure space compete.

The incentives the Ugandan government has in place for foreign investors have never been matched with that for local innovation. For instance, tax waivers or tax free grace periods tend to favour foreigners than the locals. The investment policies are equally skewed towards the foreigner. The ordinary Ugandan therefore has to endure the briber's dilemma if they are to remain afloat in the market and by extension in every aspect of the sickened society; else they quickly sink.

Corruption therefore is the means by which space in the so-called liberal market gets procured such that at every bureaucracy standpoint, one has to dispense millions of shillings to get an assurance of prospects and possibilities of upward mobility. And corruption takes many shapes and forms; it could come in terms of money, land, promises for shares in business venture, tuition refund for relatives or children of the person in authority and in some instances, sexual pleasures.

END

Rampant global wars are resurgence of neo-imperialism

 Neo-IMPERIALISM

Last week, the New York Times Newspaper published in its Global Business section an interesting report on the visit of Portuguese President, Mr António Cunha Vaz to Angola. In that article titled "Portugal turns to former colony for growth", it was reported that the Portuguese leader was bold enough to shop for foreign investors from Angola to invest in its receding economy. This story is of great essence to many of us who have had to empathize with Europe through this economic meltdown. The world is indeed facing serious economic crisis, but above all, Portugal's bold move to reach out to its former colony, as a trading partner, has challenged the destructive patterns of capitalism we are witnessing with the world's so-called major democracies – US, Britain and France.

The persistence of colonialism and imperialism seems to have returned to haunt mankind. The wars being fought in the world have had specific traits; targeting resources from these countries. First, it was Iraq, then Libya and we have witnessed destructive bombings of infrastructure in these countries in the pretext of freeing the people.

This article will argue that, most of the wars and upheavals that have pre-occupied most of the Arab world are not about freeing the people. It is neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism being executed with the greatest impunity for the sole purposes of galvanizing, reclaiming and exploiting resources in these countries under the guise of creating a false free world.

Iraq has gotten rid of Saddam Hussein and all his murderous sons, but Iraq is not a free country. Iraq has some of the world's largest number of destitutes and orphaned children, nearly five million head counted orphans, live in that country. Most of them become child households heads or have been reduced to street dwellers - Something unheard of in Iraq before.

Today, there are 1.5million widows living in Iraq and nearly 2 million people living with various forms of disabilities as direct consequences of the instability there. The story is not any further from the fragile Afghanistan. If the wars being launched by the big democracies were to expunged dictatorship and bad governance, how come these tragedies are a constant storyline in most of the so-called liberated countries?

The wars being fought anywhere, let it be in Asia or in Africa, are intended to promote neo-colonial interests. In Sub-Sahara Africa, they tried and succeeded, mostly through the forced liberalization policies imposed by IMF/WB financial institutions. Through the liberalization of the fragile economies, most of the countries that blindly bought into that mantra have actually regressed in its economic growth index. Most of them have resorted to high level corruption because the mechanisms for equitable resource distribution were destroyed. Private foreign investors took over government functions and rendered regimes and indigenous businesses useless.

The new lexicon of neo-imperialism is Peacebuilding. Through the wars and bombings, they demolish the economic, social and political structures of the targeted resource country. Once the war is over, they hand pick and impose a puppet or stooge into power. They then rapidly introduce neo-liberal ideologies of fast tracking democracy (elections), forcing that fragile market to open up for integration into the global market and taking full control of the country's resources through the deception of employing peacekeeping forces  and humanitarian aid in these countries. In resource limited countries, they never intervene until countries melt down into absolute chaos like in Somalia or Darfur.

No matter how much Libya has to pay for the numerous NATO bombs, the message that the big democracies have taught us is that without Africa and Asia, there is no natural wealth. They also know that they cannot live with a fully developed Africa because the struggle against raw materials will heighten. The spiralling oil price in the global market is an example because many more people in the so-called underdeveloped worlds are using more automobiles since China made access easier.

So, while President Cunha decided to humble himself and seek the support of its resource rich former colony as partner in trade, the so-called democracies have opted to sell bombs and promote destructive capitalism. This is the world's tragic moment that threatens the future of the free world.

END

Renationalization of UMEME is inevitable

Power Outages in Uganda 

I was impressed by Gen Salim Saleh’s observation that Umeme should be renationalized  Umeme – the power generation company in Uganda (See DM Nov 9, 2011: Gen. Saleh wants Umeme renationalized). I do not understand Uganda’s economists but I know that the NRM ideology of transforming society has stalled. This dearth of ideas has manifested in failed infrastructure; perennial potholes, almost daily power outages and a gamut of other degenerative conditions in health and education sectors. The challenge of power outage is overwhelming, though. What Ugandans painfully do relate with and know quite well is power outage (Romaticisized, socialized and normalized as “load-shedding”). 

Uganda has a lot of potential to industrialize and to claim international reputation as great tourist destination. Lack of steady flow of electricity has locked these enormous potentials. Industrialization cannot be achieved with charcoal stove and firewood. Electricity supply must be adequate, constant and reliable for us to realize this dream. Uganda is a backward country because of persisted poor service delivery. The potential of consumers are limited due to lack of electricity. Foods cannot be preserved, industries have to be confined within Kampala and Jinja; operation rooms have to rely on generators…on and on!! 

The whole essence of privatization was to enhance service delivery. Private investors were expected to compete in the open market so as to improve service delivery. The electricity and power industry has not been vibrant enough and as a consequence, it has reneged on all these expectations. Renationalization of Umeme therefore is inevitable. 

General Saleh was right. Privatization in Uganda was done in haste to satisfy the conditionalities imposed on us by WB and IMF in the 90s. Neo-liberal policies have let down many countries and in fact research has consistently shown that most of the countries that adopted Neo-Liberal policies of deregulations have not developed at all. Most of them have stagnated and others have regressed. Most Sub-Sahara African countries have not performed any better either with democracy and deregulated economies. 

Given the gloomy state of affairs surrounding Umeme; the perennial losses, constant and increasingly prolonged outages and internal corruption, the company has failed Ugandans. This is twenty first century and we still have Ugandans who have never seen electricity. There are so many children who have to rely on kerosene lamps for studies and others simply resort to local fires because Umeme is a no show in their villages, schools and homes. 

Steady supply of electricity is key determinant of health and that of economic growth. Imagine how many hours Ugandans could be working, if they had electricity 24hrs. Imagine how many small businesses could have cropped up to absorb the large number of unemployed youths if there was easy access to electricity. Imagine how much food and animal products have to go to waste everyday because we lack electricity to operate refrigeration or cooling plants in the countryside. 

The implications of Umeme’s failures grind so deep into our skins and psyche. I believe that, one of the solutions of reversing congestion in urban centers is to transmit electricity to the countryside. Further, I believe that with the invigoration of the youths that led to the development of Kira EV many youth and women groups could emerge out of poverty when given access to reliable power source. They could find variety of avenues to invest their micro –finance investments if government decides to re-nationalize Umeme and its sister companies. 

More Ugandans in villages and in the countryside are using cell phones and they require repair, servicing and charging. Ugandans have gone tech savvy. Technology is supported by electricity without which, we shall remain a poor and backward society. 

I challenge the government and President Museveni in particular to seriously heed to Gen Saleh’s advice. This is ideological issue and is the right thing to do. If we are to transform Ugandan society as Museveni envisioned, then the infrastructure to support such a transformation must be in place. Societal transformation from backwardness to modernity, world over has been powered by rich sources of energy to run industries, process agro-products, enable education, repair equipments and implements. Energy spurs creative learning and entrepreneurship. Umeme generates too much darkness!!

 END.

Walk-to-Work protest has been justified by Occupy Wall Street

PEOPLE'S POWER

The current Occupy Wall Street (OWS) demonstrations in US cities and the demonstrations in Greece are two incidences that have justified and legitimized the Walk-to-Wok protest by members in the opposition to Uganda’s tyranny.

The W2W demonstrators have long pointed out the disparities in wealth distribution in Uganda between the regime’s cronies and the many wretched Ugandans who are living marginal and precarious lives.

Ugandans are enduring sky high food prices, a degraded environment characterized by catastrophe, a diminishing forest cover, lowered water levels, poor health care system, chronic power outages, high tariffs, chronically corrupt government and failed institution, sporadic incidences of insecurity to the person and to property, rampant land grabs by the powerful, nepotism and sectarianism in all branches of government. Further, the unease is made worse by increasing brutality exacted on the population by the largely sectarian and high handed military police.

All these trappings have pointed to the state’s abuse of its power, a sign that the current democracy in Uganda is a fragile arrangement that can no longer predicate equity in the utilization of public space for just distribution of public goods. In Uganda, the so-called rich are intricately connected to the power base that forms the Center/Core upon which they choreograph and execute the plundering of our country.

The emerging pattern is that the incumbent regime has found difficulties establishing its authority without brutality. Through repression, it has managed to establish legitimacy as the formal authority over the largely impoverished Ugandans. The fact of the matter is that those who are at the center have diminished in influence due to many years of abuse of power. They have cultivated a state that is opportunistic and agents who are rogued. In that essence, the power brokers are viewed as predators that form the bulk of the “Greedy” that OWS/W2W now targets.

To the contrary, because of the greed exhibited by the corrupted regime’s elite and the pseudo middle class borne out of political patronage, those at the periphery have increased in volume. There are more disparate and helpless Ugandans today than a decade ago. The number of people that have suffered from reversal of faith in the future under the NRM that the prospects of the 90s had ushered has almost tripled in the last decade alone. There are more poor Ugandans on the streets, some made homeless through the systematic policies of land grab. Many, so ill and burned out from treacheries of life that they prefer to perish in agony instead of confronting the dilapidated health care system. Noam Chomsky, a renowned American scholar described many of these hapless souls as precariats - those persisting precariously at the peripheries of society.

This is where W2W became a legitimate voice for, and a political response to the plight of those living precariously at the periphery of our society today. I hypothesize that the richest 2% adults owns and controls more than half the wealth in this country, and that, the so-called wealthy people are linked directly to the center through militaristic modes of patronage. This factor alone deprives the so-called middle class that feeds off the corrupt center, of any legitimacy.

Strange things happen in Uganda which reaffirms the pitiful level of our consciousness. The understanding of demonstration has been spewed out of tangent. When Taxi/Bus drivers; teachers or doctors and merchants/entrepreneurs demonstrate, they are treated with the same measure of awe that is exacted on the political agencies. Surprisingly, when the politicians demonstrate, the other groups abscond and vice versa and yet they are all seeking for same objective – fair conditions upon which national resources, including wealth and burdens of the state should be distributed.

The dilemma is, unlike in America, Uganda’s precariats are uninformed elites who are subdued by post-colonial forms of loyalties to the state.  This is the mindset that buttress patronage, rights violations and corruption. Corruption then becomes the means paired alongside brutality for ascertaining legitimacy of authority over those at the periphery.

I contend that all Ugandans should join W2W protest through which the greed of the center can be challenged peacefully by the precariats. These actions are legitimate and constitutional rights enumerated in Ch. 3(29)(1)(a)-(e) and others, in the Uganda 1998 amended Constitution.

END.