Why has President Museveni ignored the Nodding Disease?

LETTERS

I have followed government’s response to the nodding diseases crisis in Northern Uganda for a while now and I must state that it is not impressive. Despite the efforts by Ministry of Health to locate funds for programs to support the families, the impact of this disease on children in Northern Uganda aged 15 years and below is overwhelming. Unfortunately, there is no much political will from the central government to address this health hazard leading to resource strains within MOH.

Here we have 3,000 children affected with this strange disease with many more gradually developing signs and symptoms and the President of the Republic of Uganda is not bothered or concerned at all. In the last couple of weeks, the President has summoned NRM Caucuses and Cabinet meetings more than ten times, but in each meeting, saving the neck of his Ministers infected with incurable disease of corruption has filled the agenda – not the nodding disease. Where is the patriotism and compassion?

In his recent public appearances, or addresses to the Nation, President Museveni has not mentioned the nodding disease and the plight of those affected children for once. This form of indifference to Northern Uganda from the centers of power is nothing new, but to ignore this nodding disease and those children is actually very strange and telling.

You may wonder why it is very important for Mr Museveni to mention nodding disease and pay attention to it. In Uganda, unless the President speaks about something, nothing actually gets done. His continued silence appears to be a conspiracy against these children who are in dire need of immediate assistance. The President must place orders for serious resource mobilization to make funding and services available for the children and their devastated families.

This is a direct appeal to the President to bring his much required attention to fighting nodding disease in Northern Uganda. Mr. President, 3,000 children are enduring horrible health conditions that have left their families in utter shock requiring lots of psychosocial and welfare support. The entire future of Acholi is at stake and if that really means anything to you and your government, then you are challenged to lend an ear! The region could do with some supplemental budget as well.

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Nodding Disease: What is the motive of Government of Uganda?

NODDING DISEASE

The increasing incidence of Nodding disease that is mowing children from their prime in the Acholi region is soon exceeding epidemic proportions. The lacklustre response by the Government of Uganda towards this rather mysterious disease is one that is alarming. Today, over 3000 children have been reported affected. Two hundred (200) deaths associated with this disease have been reported.  The delay by the Government to respond to this problem is an eye opener and speaks loud of the genocidal motives that the regime has against the Acholi people.

The nodding disease is a very frustrating, elusive and yet very progressive in its debilitation. Its impact on the victims is heartbreaking given the inadequacy of facilities, professional support and lack of political will to curtail it. Efforts are in place by various authorities, notably among them is the Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization. The CDC has been studying the natural history of nodding disease but they have not been able to identify the causes of this disease.

On the part of the Government of Uganda, nothing fundamental has been done to arrest the spread of the disease and to provide substantive support to the families that is losing their children to this dreadful disease. Clearly, the government cannot excuse itself for being broke. The kinds of money being doled out in frivolous compensations to the likes of Bassajjabalaba and the oil companies, surely could do a great job in extending some basic facilities and human services to the victims of nodding disease.

By now, a responsible government would have provided pediatric units in the three districts of Agago, Pader and Kitgum that are most affected specifically dedicated to monitoring this disease. These children need to have consistent care and clean environment to be nursed in. They need to be fed decently at least and treated humanely.

Most of Northern Uganda is experiencing lots of crises. There are many people living with disability as a consequence of the two decades of war. A lot are still infected and are getting infected with HIV. The overall picture is that most children live in grandma headed or child headed poor households. Given the terrifying demands of this nodding disease and the associated high cost of accessing healthcare, the impoverished elderly guardians are easily stressed and become sickly too.

Somehow, when you see the pictures of the children sprawled in hospital corridors in Youtube, you shudder inside and wonder whether these are Ugandan citizens. Is this a Uganda where its leaders fly in personalized jets; dole out millions for new cars for elected officials and pay out callous compensations to crooked businesses and yet it takes them years to rescue children in dire need?

The socio-economic inequity in Uganda is one that is glaring. But when it comes to the collapse of the infrastructure, people in Northern Uganda are still living marginally. In Western Uganda, when drought hits that part of the Country, the government declares a State of Emergency. This is because Western Uganda is home to the rulers and famed as cattle corridor. Cattle in western Uganda are more important than Ugandans in the North.

When Ebola came to ravage Acholiland, the government refused to declare state of emergency; when the war was intense and Northern Uganda was unliveable, the regime refused to declare state of emergency. In fact, when the Bududda landslide happened, it covered three villages and killed nearly 350 people. The government refused to declare state of emergency. But when drought hit Western Uganda, the government was quick to declare state of emergency.

The implication is dire; that cattle in Uganda are more important than human beings. Moreso, those in Northern Uganda are least valuable as we can see from this disinterest in responding to the plight of the children wilting away to the dreadful Nodding disease.

To let Children die in such humiliation is inhuman and should be treated as a form of genocide because children are the foliage of our societies. When these children die systematically or become permanently disabled due to state neglect, their entire generation will be at limbo and the generational gap in Acholi will increase. These children are the foundation of a new Acholi that has struggled to emerge from the debris of two decades of conflict.

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Amuru Land grabs maybe a recipe for Revolt

Usurpation of Land

The news that Madhvani group of companies have secured Court victory over Amuru residents to acquire 40,000 acres of land is one that is lamentable. By this action, Madhvani is stating unequivocally that their investment interests supersede the fundamental rights of the Amuru residents. In supporting and advancing Madhvani’s interests the NRM regime is explicit in forceful usurpation of customary land, whose bona fide owners must now leave without any compensation. These massive and rampant land grabs will in the near future become a recipe for revolt against the regime.
For many years, the Acholi community has been aware that Amuru land is a prime target by elements within the government. It all started in the 90s with a ploy from Salim Saleh’s company, Danze. Their efforts were effectively thwarted by strong leadership of Hon Norbert Mao and Hon. Livingstone Okello Okello in cahoots with other Acholi MPs and local leaders then.
Luckily, Acholi region had always elected strong representatives to Parliament who fought for their rights and plights. Going into the 2011 elections, a false change of heart had impressed upon the people that the NRM regime was no longer interested in slighting them. There were many programs that enforced the resettlement of IDPs. These programs also incentivized the locals through handing out of improved seeds, farm implements and some seed money in the form of Saccos. For the people who had endured two decades of genocide, any such opportunities that would help them emerge out of their precarious condition were acceptable.
One thing that the Amuru people forgot is that NRM is an ideology set out on a long course of action targeting the restructuring of Acholi society into slave laborers. It is justifiable to treat NRM with contempt and suspicion of sinister motives. Indeed, the political implication of the resettlement, and the subsequent inundation with material goods, played well with the minds of the locals. For them the NRM had brought the war to an end and was willing to resettle them back to their homes. But they also hoped that through the ballot, they would extend an olive branch to the regime to cement a new relationship. Clearly, while the Acholi people are forgiving, the NRM under President Museveni is not.
I am pained to see thousands of people being horded away viciously from their land and their makeshift hurts being broken down. Uganda Wild life Authority has started a process of evicting 6,000 families from Amuru claiming that they are settled on National Game Reserve. Again, sugar canes and wild life have become more important than hapless human beings. The situation is truly disheartening.
I do take fault at the opportunistic elements within Amuru communities who sold their souls for few pieces of gold to the NRM. No matter how some people may view 2011 election as rigged, Amuru had traditionally voted against NRM with ease. The idea that vote rigging accounts for success of NRM MPs is stale because of precedent. Previous elections saw opposition groups emerge victorious. This last voting was indeed regrettable and pitiful.
Imagine since the Madhvani Court ruling and UWA evictions, nowhere in the media, or in the House (Parliament), the conspicuous absence of the representatives of Amuru people from action is shocking. Both Hon Jacob Oulanya and Hon Richard Todwong have derelected their duties of representation, leaving the masses on their own. This is outright irresponsible conduct and both these MPs must be held accountable for utter betrayal.
People from Acholi and especially from Amuru are not stupid. They may be forgiving, but certainly time will come when they will contract with zeal in search of new and more attached representatives. It is a big lesson to skeptics who think the NRM intends any good for the wretched masses in Acholiland.
Definitely, both MPs are in bed with the regime’s attitude that places Sugarcane Plantation before the people. Acholi people are not plantation growers, as such Madhvani was long told that he is not welcome to Amuru and he should rethink his forceful entrance into the heart and soul of our people in Amuru. We anticipate a rocky relationship between Amuru residents and these unscrupulous agents of land grabs.

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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!!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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