I agree with an article in a local magazine criticising President Museveni over his utterances  against young people in politics. It is sad that the old politicians in Uganda have not considered grooming young people to take over their positions.

Milton Obote died without a young man taking over UPC. The party has brilliant young brains like Joseph Ochieno who are just being wasted.

A politician like Mr Bidandi Ssali, who has been in politics for ages,  will not surprise us if he emerges as PPP’s presidential candidate when there are many brilliant young men in the party. The oldies want to stay on till when both their feet and brains develop wrinkles.

The NRM, a party initially blessed with a crop of young leaders including Dr Kizza Besigye, should never have allowed the Besigye’s to leave it. They should have been nurtured to take over leadership now instead of fighting them. The old people in the NRM are constantly fighting each other over the succession issue. For instance, one reads in the papers about the battles between Prof. Gilbert Bukenya and Mr Amama Mbabazi.

Mr Museveni does not want to leave power yet he is not grooming anyone to take over from him. This kind of politics compels young men and women to participate in politics only if they expect immediate gains.

Ugandans should admire the political environment in America where a young man like Barack Obama  has been given a chance and is likely to become the next US president. Obama, 47, is not only the first African-American presidential  candidate of a major party in the US but he is also a first  term Senator to vie for president. He is a model and motivator for all the Black race worldwide.

Old people should give a chance to the youth to take over political leadership in Uganda. May be we need a party for young men and women to strongly send this message out there.

Abbey K.Semuwemba,United Kingdom
abbey@semuwemba.freeserve.co.uk

Dear People,

Why don’t you push for an ammendment to the constitution?

You really must have missed out in the whole exercise of the review of the 1995 constitution carried out by the Constitutional Review Commission headed by none other than Prof Alfred Ssempebwa, a mulangira! The views you are expressing were expressed by many others as the Sempebwa report shows under section 11.6.  I am sending you the link to that report: http://www..ugandaonlinelawlibrary.com/files/constitution/Commission_of_Inquiry.PDF

The report’s recommendation on the issue of the Banyarwanda was clear. Sempebwa states:

‘In our view, the existence of the Banyarwanda as an indigenous community in Uganda by 1926 is not in dispute and should be recognised.  It is not for other communities to impose a name on this community.’ [here he was referring to the name 'Bafumbira' which was given to the Banyarwanda when Kisoro district was transferred from Belgian to British jurisdiction in 1926]

Note that, Banyarwanda who were left out of the Republic of Rwanda after the post-Berlin partition were named after the volcanic ranges close to which teir community lived.  Those near Mufumbira ranges in present day Uganda were called ‘Bafumbira’, those near Mulenge hills in present day DRC were called ‘Banyamulenge’, those near Masisi hills also in present day DRC were called ‘Banyamasisi’ and those from Rutshuru hills are called ‘Banyarutshuru’.  All those people are BANYARWANDA, the people of the old Rwanda Empire that was cannibalised by the British, Belgians and Germans.  They were named after those hills to give them a new identity in their ‘new’ countries otherwise ETHNICALLY, they are Banyarwanda.  DO NOT confuse them with Banyarwanda that are citizens of Rwanda, i.e., the RWANDESE.  It is the Banyarwanda of Uganda who have sought to make a break by repudiating the derogatory name after some hills and asserted that they are Banyarwanda.  This became particularly urge

The confusion with Banyarwanda is a result of coincidence between the name of their ethnic group and the name of a colony.  That confusion never arises with other ethnic groups that are split between other neighbours just because those neighbouring countries do not share their name with an ethnicity.  For every Alur in Uganda there are 2.5 in DRC (the so-called Lendu), for every 1 Mutoro in Uganda, there are 2 in DRC in Boga. There are Banyoro in NW Tzania, Itesot of Kenya elect Eimormor in Soroti etc.  Imagine if Southern Sudan was called Acholi.  What would have happened with the Acholi in Uganda? Or if Mao engineers a secession of Acholi, what would happen with the Acholis in Parajok and Kit in Equatoria province in Sudan.

They are saying they are Banyarwanda, but not Rwandese.  Additionally, let us not confuse the ethnic group, Banyarwanda,with castes, the Batutsi, Bahutu and Batwa.  Those were just socioeconomic classes just like Buganda has Balangira (equivalent of Tutsi) and Bakopi …the Hutus.  Membership to those castes was not fixed.  If you acquired alot of cattle, you could be dehutuised, and promoted to being a Tutsi, likewise if you were a Tutsi and lost your cattle like used to happen following outbreaks of rinderpest etc, you would be downgraded to a Hutu.  They were not fixed groups like ethnicities tend to be.  It is the Belgians that bastardised them into tribes: because Belgians have Walloons and Flemings as their two tribes, they wanted to recreate that arrangment in Rwanda and Urundi….with disastrous consequences…..

Likewise, in India there are similar castes, the Brahmans (Tutsi), Sudras (farmers..Hutu), the Dalits or Harijan (the untouchables…Batwa).  The caste of Batwa similar meant ‘the to be spat on’ …you know how you spit: ‘Khroo, twa…’

[In India, later on they got the caste called 'Thugs' the Hindu word which entered English in 1839...they were violent robbers who murdered their victims according to specific rituals, prescribed by the Hindu goddess 'Kali' (from which we got the Swahili word kali or tough)].

So, compatriots, let us broaden our perspectives a bit to avoid interahamweist rhetoric.

Yrs sincerely,

L/Cpl (rtd) Otto Patrick

UPDF Officer

You have asked a proper question. Does Uganda care about its children? The answer is; No it does not. This is my observation. It is based on the fact that the killing of innocent children for ritual sacrifice has taken on the angle of tacit acceptance/approval by the state. Even Uganda parents who should normally be abhorred by reports of children being sacrificed, are also silent in a gesture that shows they also approve of the ritual killings of children.

If the state had cared about its children the current rampant kusaaddaaka of children including the calous one where a girl of 12 years was killed in a very painful manner where she was placed in a ditch and a mixture of concrete poured over her, even ignoring her cries, then state should have mounted a nationwide search for the tycoon who killed this girl.

But even Parliament has shown no concern otherwise the cabinet should have brouhgt a motion to outlaw witchcraft and stiffen laws against ritual sacrifice.

The possibility is that the people who should implement these laws are themselves believers in ritual sacrifice, believers in witch-carft, and most probably their huge buildings we see in Kampala are standing on the skeltons of these chlidren.

Henry Ford Mirima

State of child welfare in Uganda

By Balaba Asuman Student Makerere University P.O.Box 7062 Kampala

+256752536771, +256775519571

How child friendly is your country? Should parents or the state be held accountable for the well being of children? Does a country’s wealth guarantee better welfare for children? Should the state interfere in the how parents treat or bring up their children?

In Africa and the world  at large, it is the responsibility of the nationals and the government entrusted to power, to create an enabling environment geared at safeguarding child rights and well-being of children because they are the future governors of the next generation. To answer the above question I will base on the NGOs findings and general observation of the situation in Uganda.

African Network on Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) had frequently reported a high level of child abuse in districts of Uganda. ANPPCAN, research reveals child abuse despite wide exposure by the media and other research institution.

Children have been abused physically, sexually and neglected in that out of 16,800 cases of child abuse 95 percent were committed by male aggressor and 5% by female. The sexual abuse takes (82.9 percent) 13,929, physical abuse (9.9 percent) 1670 and neglect with (2.6percent) 450, while a total of (4.5percent) 751 cases were not classified.

The compiled report from judicial proceedings totaled 1808 cases with Lira having the highest of 221 cases, followed by Mbarara 182, Mubende 136 and Moroto , Buganda Road and Masindi had few cases, 2, 5 and 6 respectively.

On regional level out of 8681 cases, western had 31.1%, followed by central 29.1%, eastern 22.7 and northern with 17.7%. District level, out of 3103 Jinja had 509 with the highest figure, followed by Masaka 419, Pallisa 399, Lira 359, Kira Rd ( Kampala ) 339 and Mpigi 312.

The cause of child abuse has been brought by cultural practices like early marriage with the desire to get dowry, inheritance of the deceased which is found out that most people donʼt use the responsibility entrusted of taking care to children. Also ignorance about the existence of laws to the public has been instrumental hence lagging the effective implementation of ANPPCAN objectives.

There also challenged with limited funding from government in that more emphasise is on child health care like fighting Malaria, Polio among others and little is forwarded to stop child abuse.

ANPPCAN does advocacy work targeted to policy makers to steer the programmes into force like enacting laws to punish the culprits involved. Giving children skills in decision making, build confidence and creating awareness to the public is essential to be focused on, but it wonʼt be possible if there is no proper implementation of policies and law to enhance child rights.

There is need for law enforcers to deal with the aggressors without favouritism promoted by corruption, as well dealing with parents, Guardian or authorities who at times settle matters in the curtain intentioned to bribes given.

Protection of children is everyoneʼs responsibility, for a better Uganda, tomorrow and forever.

ANPPCAN Uganda chapter was established in 1992 being part of the continental Pan-African movement with offices along Kira Rd to advocate for the rights of children and it work with other NGOs like Uganda human rights commission (UHRC), FIDA (Uganda women lawyers association), and Media in the country.

Those abused are in the age bracket of 8-17 and cases ANPPCAN had taken action includes defilement maintenances, parental neglect, child starvation, indecent assault, abandoned, alleged child sacrifice and giving support to former child domestic workers like education.

During a recent radio talk show discussing multi/party politics, a discussant, Dr Golooba made a rather startling comment on FDC. “……The only people who practised some kind of multi party politics were Miria and Sebaana. I dont even know what FDC represents.” The implication here is that FDC may not be having anything to articulate or represent and may therefore not even be a political party.

Before this remark, Bidandi Ssali had been quoted in The Daily Monitor of January 21 2006 as saying: “I don’t see a future for FDC after Museveni is out of the way, either through resignation or defeat. Most of the FDC leaders are in there for various motives.” In other words, apart from resistence to Museveni, there is no single thread which binds them. It is therefore not a political party in the true sense of the words.

What then is FDC?

Condintions that give rise to social and political struggles basically fall into two categories. First, is the search for economic advancement. One cannot postulate that FDCs share a common economic fate, and that it is that which binds them. Or that as a group they are seeking to improve their economic situation.

Secondly, there are those struggles which arise out of issues concerning identity.We all belong to various identities. They may be religions, schools, professions, etc. We are proud of these identities, and invest a lot of emotional resources to their well being. We also work hard to improve their status vis a vis other identities.

This is what UPC and DP for instance are about. DP seeks to improve the status of status of the identity of catholics, and UPC that of certain
nationalities or tribes.

FDC does not fall into any of these categories.Prior to the formation of FDC, Dr Besigye was a senior member of the NRM. To put forward this arguement is not to negate the possiblity of one belonging to a political party or organisation, and being able to transcend the limits of that organisation, and then move on to higher plane.

Rather it is to argue that Dr Besigye is ideologically not different from that of Museveni. He has not shown anywhere that he has transcended the ideological position of the NRM. This arguement is reinforced by Dr Besigyes own ealier arguement that Museveni had renaged from the original positions of the NRM. In other words all Dr Besigye needs is to bring us back to the the origial NRM. Initially he also sought to reform the NRM. It will be recalled that it is this urge to reform the NRM which initially led him to form and lead an organisation called Reform Agenda.

However, despite its limited scope and purpose, FDC seems to have garnered a lot of support. How do we characterise and expliain this

I would like to submit that the apparent support for FDC is a bubble. That is to say it is based on totally unrealistic expectations, and when reality reveals itself, the bubble will burst. Another way of characterisng FDC is to view it as a balloon. A fully blown balloon will look big. however, if you pinch it with a sharp pin, it bursts and shrivels into almost nothing.

In the financial world, the bubble means those stocks which come up and are highly rated well beyond their true value. With that kind of rating stock buyers rush to buy such stocks thinking they are making a good buy. However when the stocks assume their true value, the exagurated value collapses and the stocks assume their true market value which should be much lower than what most buyers would have spent. This is what in stock markets are called the busting of the bubble.

What do I mean?

A sizeable portion of the the population are opposed to Museveni. In their quest to rid themselves of Museveni, they thought FDC and, in particular its leader, Dr Besigye could do the job.

They viewed Dr Besigye as a very courageous man who could take up Museveni. They also saw him as a miltary man who should have the miltary support with which to checkmate Museveni’s miltary support.

Further Museveni himself gave Dr Besigye a tremendous boost by appearing to be terribly scared of him. Dr Besigye was not only locked up but several charges were brought against him.

Now that Besigye has “lost” the elections, those from other parties who supported him will take a review. It is during that review that the bubble will begin to burst.

Dr Besigye has also gone to court to protest election irregularities. There is a real posiblity that the Court could agree with his petition.

If the Court upheld the petition, and nullified the recent elections, that is to say knocked out Museveni, the problem of Museveni would have been solved.

In such a sitution, just as Bidandi Ssali had earlier said, FDC would have no objective necessity to continue existing. FDC would splinter, and those who had supported Dr Besigye in the belief that he is the only one who has the wherewithall to combat Museveni would review their position in the light of a sitution of Museveni out of the fight.

On the other hand, there is the cynical view is that the Courts cannot pass any judgement against Museveni. Should that be the scenario, then Besigye’s failure in court would further accelerate the bursting of the bubble. Many of his erstwhile supporters do expect him to carry the day in court. They feel they were cheated at the polls. A failure at the Courts would totally dash the residual hope and send them reviewing their political affiliation to FDC.

In the long run too, the FDC has no future as Bidandi Ssali says. It is no inkling as to the tasks which have come to the fore at the present phase of our history. It is just reacting to events, and particulalrly the person of President Museveni.

to ugandans-at-he.

People:

I am not a fan of the fads taking shape in Africa in the form of power sharing deals. It is a reversal of whatever little gains had been made in democratization.  My Nigerian and Ghanaian friends  laugh at us -East African and South Africans-for buying into power sharing deals. I hear Ugandans are excited about the propect of sharing power come to 2011. Bad idea period.

Take Kenya. ODM ministers have proven to be the most corrupt. It true. Actually Kenya is on the brink of a famine because ODM buddies colluded and sold maize to Sudan while their folks are about to starve. But those ministers can not be fired.  So who is encouraging corruption in Africa? Is it not those who impose such power sharing deals.

Then there is the case of that spectacle in Zimbabwe. A political moron if there can be one. I shudder at the prospect of him as prime Minister. What has Africa come too folks?

It goes to show that even the opposition is not socialized to accept democratic outcomes. If they can mobilize goons to kill innocent women and children, they can scare the West to impose power sharing deals. So why bother to make efforts?

We need vibrant opposition not the maziwa lala type to put the govt to task. We do not need power sharing deals in Africa. They are anti-democratic. They breed corruption. Each part should “eat what they kill”. That is what will spur democratization in Africa. Oh yes, even Nigeria will eventually get it right.

WBK

There is the link to the Uganda MOD where the details of the UPDF can be found.  The information appears to be in the public domain: Link: http://www.defenceuganda.mil.ug/about_updf.php?status=true

The link for the Army, which you Ugandans have elected to call the Land Forces is: http://www.defenceuganda.mil.ug/landforce.php?status=true..

The link for the Airforce is: http://www.defenceuganda.mil.ug/airforce.php?status=true.

The link for the Marines is: http://www.defenceuganda.mil.ug/marineforce.php?status=true

Of course Uganda is a land-locked country, so reference to ‘Marines’ is a misnomer.  Our geography has nothing to do with the sea.  May they should have referred to ‘Amphibious’ or ‘Lake-borne’

Note that, in terms of doctrine, whether organisational or tactical, Uganda has borrowed from Tanzania.  Even when you look at Kenya, we need to be clear about the structure.  The heads of the services (Army, Airforce, Navy) are respectively called Commanders, they are all at the same level, falling directly under the CGS–>VCGS.

In Uganda, instead of ‘General Staff’ you refer to Defence Forces.  Gen Aronda is the CDF (equiv of CGS) and Gen Koreta is the Deputy CDF (equiv of VCGS).  Gen. Koreta is not the Chief of Staff of the Army as you indicate.  The army has its own command structure as a service with Gen Katumba as the commander.  The same applies with the Airforce where there is a commander.  Each of the Services has its chief of staff.  The Joint Chief of Staff, Brig. Rusoke oversees the chiefs of staff of the services, and not the service commanders.  The service commanders are answerable to the CDF through the Deputy CDF, just like in Kenya.

Gen Koreta, the Deputy CDF is senior to the respective service commanders (Katumab for the Army, Owoyesigire for the Ariforce)….no contradiction there.

Whether Kenya mentions its chiefs of staffs or not is a matter of preference but I am sure they do exist there too and operate in a similar manner.  I think all you Ugandans have not done is to draw an organogram like Kenya has done.

Note that, for Kenya you refer to the Army Commander as the third highest ranking but that is not the case.  All service commanders are at the same level…they are peers (see this link: http://www.mod.go.ke/Modsite/about.htm)

But even,  all this debate about structure and personalities really takes us into the weeds: bottom line, it is trivial in regard the defence and security of Uganda.  Can’t you at UAH, some aspiring to be future party leaders and probably future presidents of the country etc be interested in debating the country’s national security/defence policy?

As you can see, that information is there on the net, like most other information.   We do ourselves a disservice when we start from the negative position  that information is being concealed, because then we generate unnecessary defensiveness and contestation from colleagues like Kateregga, who unfortunately browbeats himself through debates without informing himself first about the issues he tries to defend.

But the question of Uganda’s institutional realities: Institutions are a mirror image of the societies that they service.  How institutions function (and malfunction) is a culmination of historical factors, and a distillate of political realities.  It may be a bit unrealistic for us to take the Kenyan arrangement as the norm for all time and all places.  One may ask for example, why is it that following the 1964 mutiny of the East African militaries, did Mr Nyerere disarm, lock up and finally disband the Tanganyika Rifles completely, then Mr Kenyatta did the same but not as comprehensively yet Mr Obote decided to honour all the demands of the mutineers, increased their salaries, gave them promotions; dismissed the ringleaders and reinstated them half an hour later?  Part of what we see today has roots right there in our history.

How many civil wars has Kenya or Tanzania had?  Do those countries have the equivalent of Buganda, as an ‘indigestible element’ in national life, to use Huntington’s words in his ‘Political Order in Chaging Societies’?  How many times since 1964 has the Kenyan military been disbanded; and how about Uganda? How many rebel groups has Kenya had?  Uganda…anything up to thirty.  Co-opting all those for the sake of short term harmony has always been at the expense of professionalism.  The Katebe ‘institution’ is an embodiment of some fo those skeletons in the closet of our politcal history.

Think of a peace agreement tomorrow, and you have a Lt Gen Kony.  Atamuweka wapi?  Will he command a division?  Will you send him out as a military attache in a European capital?  Can he be the commandant of your senior staff college?  What are the antecendents of the Kony phenomenon?  It is your politics!  Keep such people out because you want professionalism a la Kenya, face them in the rural countryside as rebels.  Point is, Kenya has had a completely different historical trajectory.

How about coups?  Kazini’s status: Have you heard of any former Army Commander in Africa being taken to prison for stealing a few shillings?  Kazini, Major General, S.3 dropout.  Otamuweka wapi?  Tanzanian retired generals are diplomats, regional governors,etc.  Can you trust Kazini with your herd of goats?  How did such an individual like Kazini become the embodiment of the values of a very important national instituion? I am told he still has some cases to answer for petty thieving.  You know, when he was in Nigeria for senior command training, those officers there always wondered how he became a general.  When they went out to look for ladies, Kazini would go in for those that befitted Nigerian Corporals! When he went to Ghana for a staff course, he nad a runin with an instructor.  He was thrown off the course, escorted back to Uganda by the Ghanaian Military Police paka Entebbe, then they heard he was Chief of Staff, then Army Commander!  Did they laugh or cry?

And with Kazini, when you talk to the average UPDF soldier, he will tell that if all he had left in his rifle were only two rounds of ammunition, and he found Kazini, Kony and Odhiambo in a dark corner, he would shoot Kazini twice in the head………

General Kazini….two words that are a heart-rending oxymoron!

Anyway as I said, ever since 1979, Uganda has tended to lean towards Tanzania in the manner of organising the military…for obvious reasons.  Even subsequently when you did away with NRA, you opted for UPDF…mirroring TPDF.   To appreciate the Uganda military arrangements, look at TPDF.

And by the way, the Tanzanians (and anybody else) would tell you that the Kenyan system is the one that is confused.  Kenya lacks the conceptual grasp between ‘Command’ matters, i.e., everything to do with the general directing of operational matters (the teeth) and ‘Staff’ matters i.e., everything to do with directing support matters (the tail).  The Joint Chief of staff in Tanzania is actually called the Chief of General Staff…he is incharge of Staff Officers that support the commanders.  Kenyans call their biggest commander a ‘chief of staffs’ which is really funny….like referring to a headmaster as a head prefect.  With the Tanzanians, the Chief of Staff is of a higher rank than the respective service commanders, making him the third most senior.  The Tanzanians are also silent about the chiefs of staff of the respective services.

At UAH, we should really focus also on policy and statecraft issues.  This is where the future of the country can best be thought about instead of spending a lot of time on recrimination, defensiveness and making comical promises.  I will send you the country’s defence policy and the white paper on defence…..it is in such areas that incumbents should be put to task for the good of the country, not just hurling insults at them like we like to do here at UAH.

Which tax payer?  Who is their political class accountable to?  Once again, I will tell people that  the population of Uganda has no solid stake in the management of public affairs because it lives outside that domain: 85% peasants, dying at 45 years of age, living in a non-monetary sector, in the rural countryside, untaxable because they do not produce any surplus to be taxed, about 50% of them are illiterate, 50.2% 15 years and below, wearing nappies, the highest in the world….that is not the kind of population that takes its government to task.  Never!

We need to start thinking less traditionally about our socio-political reality.  The whole notion of ‘tax-payer’ is completely out of place in Uganda.

That aid is unearned income and you know what unearned income does.  If government was depending on money deducted from 20 million Ugandans wage earners, it would think twice before squandering it.  It would be someone’s sweat and they would demand for accountability.  But who in Uganda identifies with ‘donor’ aid as his money? If we do not come to grips with the relationship between paying tax and governmental accountability, then we shall keep fooling ourselves for ever with democracy for ever.

That is why I always insist that we need to proletarianise the population-urgently-create wage earners, get rid of the passive peasant class.  A population that is largely wage-earners or proletariat is a population that you do not fool around with.  The impunity of our political class now is a logical consequence of the fact that the country is largely peasant.  That is why some of them are interested in preserving that passive class that will vote for them just because of a piece of soap.  A wage labourer will tell you not to insult him by bribing him with money he contributed as PAYE or income tax. 
What tax do the peasants pay?  

“They … removed UPC I government because they wanted to scuttle public spending”

The Common Mans Charter may have talked about increase in ‘public spending’, but for those that engineered the deposition of AM Obote, ‘public spending’ per se was not the primary problem.  The real problem was the source of finances for such expenditure: expropriation/nationalisation of foreign owned enterprises.  That was the primary contradiction.

We know that Uganda was broke right from the cradle: independence was on 9 oct 1962, 24 hours later, on 10 oct 1962 there was no money to finance the return of the colonial administrators to London.  The first structural adjustment facility was arranged there and then (what ever structures there were to adjust on day one).  If AM Obote had asked for grants to finance his ‘public spending’ (whatever that means) instead of expropriating foreign multinationals, he would probably have lived longer and may be succumbed to internal contradictions. 

Remember also there was the contradiction between the two global powers.  AM Obote played into that with the adventure to the left, to defend a non-existent proletariat, as though that was the country’s primary challenge….remember the Blue Belt and Red Corridor?