| KAMPALA
Major Rubaramira Ruranga, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) deputy coordinator for mobilisation, has said parties are not the cause of Uganda's bloody history.
1981-86 guerrilla war
He also dismissed common belief that former president Milton Obote's Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) are solely responsible for civilian killings in Luweero during the 1981-86 guerrilla war.
There have been a lot of complaints that Obote killed people. The people of Luweero were used as shields. The whole claim that the National Resistance Army (NRA) didn't kill people is bullshit. NRA caused the bloody past not the UPC, Ruranga said.
He was speaking at the party's weekly press briefing at FDC offices in Najjanankumbi yesterday.
Ruranga is a retired soldier who was in President Yoweri Museveni's NRA follower which captured power in 1986 after a five-year bush war that was fought mainly in Luweero.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed during the war.
Asked whether the NRA participated in the killings, Ruranga said, "Anybody who has participated in war, to deny that he didn't kill a c
ivilian
is really missing the point."
The civilians massacres in Luweero have been widely blamed on the UNLA.
Obote could not have killed all those people. In the bush, we had a commander who was keeping track of everything that was taking place and kept records. Unfortunately I was not on the high command, but those who were, know what happened. I saw people die of hunger, bullets...," Ruranga said.
The Luweero war was fought between the then NRA (now UPDF) and Obote's UNLA.
Ruranga wondered why the government continues to claim that it didn't kill people.
He said when the NRA were in the bush, the killings were blamed on Obote, who was then the president.
But today when other groups like the LRA are in the bush, the killings are blamed on them. This is to create an impression that Museveni's government never kills at all, Ruranga said.
The FDC Spokesman, Mr Wafula Oguttu, said they will set up a truth and reconciliation commission to loo
k into
the killings if they assume power next year.
He said the writing off of Africa's debt burden by the developed world will not bear any good result unless African leaders change their attitudes.
"We would like to state that Africa's problems namely poverty, wars, low production, lack of industrialisation, poor education and low technological skills, poor health services are largely manmade. Our corrupt and dictatorial leaders are mainly responsible for Africa's woes and stagnation, he said.
Wafula said no amount of donor money would cause positive change in Uganda unless the country's leaders change their attitudes.
We believe Africa will not change much unless transparency and accountability, democracy, tolerance of other people's views, using the army to overstay in power and corruption are seriously tackled, he said. Wafula said Uganda will not change under President Yoweri Museveni because "the money will be stolen."
"Whether you give him 50
years,
not much will change because he is part of the problem. He is now asking for markets in Europe, for what? What can we make in Uganda that Museveni can sell to Europe?" Wafula asked.
The eight most industrialised countries under their G8 umbrella last week in Scotland agreed to forgive debts owed to them by the world's poorest countries and at the same time increased the aid to the developing countries.
More corruption
"More aid money will mean more corruption, more buying of votes and loyalty and more state inspired terror and all other kinds of repression against the opposition as is the case in President Museveni's Uganda today, Wafula said.
He asked the donors to be interested accountability of the money they give to Uganda .
Asked whether this would not amount to interfering in Uganda's politics, Wafula said, In some of these countries, if you misappropriate even Shs5 million, you end up in jail. |