Re: [Ugnet] Buganda: We Are Ready to Forgive Obote But... (In your dreams!)
Mr. Opoko: I don't know which Baganda Ms. Among is referring to. Forgive Obote? Not this Muganda. Never! I wrote a a letter to the Monitor to the same effect, but which letter they they seem to have declined to publish. I reproduce it and some exchange pertaining to it below for your edification. = Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 13:31:34 -0700 (PDT) From: "Ssemakula" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [UNAANET] Obote apologists mistaken To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC: "Buganda Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] You are welcome Mr. Chadiha. Those were dark days indeed, ironically coming close on the heels of the Amin's more publicized brutality. Of the Western nations, one deserves special mention for prolonging the suffering in Uganda. That country is Great Britain. The Thatcher government aided and abetted Obote's excesses, by adopting a foreign policy of "Hear No Evil, See No Evil" in Uganda. The device they used to pull off their duplicity was simplicity itself. Each of their Embassies or High Commissions, as the case may be, is supposed to have a Labor Officer. One of the functions of that officer is to monitor abuses of human rights in the host country. What the UK did was to just never fill that post in Uganda for the duration of Obote's regime. Without that officer, there could not be any official reports of human rights abuses in Uganda. So, British officials could tell the world that (officially) it had no evidence of abuses of human rights in Uganda, even as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Minority Rights Group, the US Department of State, the Intenational Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch, US Committee for Refugees and plethora of other organizations, and newspapers, all said the opposite. Then, as now, Britain's single-minded interest in keeping a dictator in power was Obote's promise to allow Indians back in Uganda. Apparently Britain was (is) under the illusion that they would voluntarily return in the thousands. Also, Britain was selling all sorts of arms and military equipment to Obote's regime. For a few quid our blood was spilled wantonly. What is needed to fully expose British involvement in human rights abuses in Africa is an investigative reporter and a good informer, e.g. a former cabinet member to spill the beans. But then again, there are no Pultizer Prizes for journalism in the UK, or are there? Many, if not most, of Africa's wars are fueled from the outside. Wealth is curse that Africa bears: be it in form of diamonds, oil, gold, etc etc Africans get killed for it whether in Darfur, Southern Sudan (think SPLA), Angola, DRC, Chad, W. Africa, etc Do you recall one of the reasons USA gives for not intervening in certain African oft-disastrous skirmishes? We have no "interests" ... As you know, the current regime in Uganda doesn't pass muster either, e.g. see State of Pain: Torture in Uganda (http://hrw.org/reports/2004/uganda0404/) or go to http://hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=uganda or http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/hurights.html etc James Ssemakula Jonathan Chadiha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Mwami Ssemakula:Thanks for your enlightening information, at least to me. That was a very dark period for Uganda. After so many counter coups, I refused to read news from Uganda. I did not want to know what more bad news was going to come from there. That is when some Ugandans in the Diaspora, did not want to be identified as Ugandans. They claimed to be from anywhere else in Africa, but Uganda.Jonathan === Dear Editor, The Monitor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Obote Should Face Trial to Answer for His Crimes Against Humanity Mr. (Ms?) Sanyas recent letter, (Why Museveni is scared of Obote), reminded me that I, too, need to join my other red-blooded compatriots in the current Obote-gasm that has seemingly gripped the entire nation occasioned and unleashed by Mr. Mwendwas mini series on Obote. Like Mr. Sanya, I am all for giving Mr. Obote a chance to clear his name. However, Id rather he did it in a court of law. Heinous crimes against humanity, such as Obote is accused of, must never be allowed to go unpunished, no matter how long ago they were committed. As I understand it, there is no statute of limitation on murder. Mr. Sanya resorts to sophistry and blatant lies to exonerate his murderous hero. For example he states blithely Figures of the 1981 census put the entire population of Luwero at 150,000. Well, as luck would have it, I happened upon a copy of Report on the 1980 Population Census, Volume I, September 1982, issued by the Census Office in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Kampala. For Luwero District, it put the population size at 412,474 persons distributed as follows: 116,238 in Nakaseke County, 128,251 in Katikamu County, 94,019 in Wabusana County and 73,966 in Buruli County. So, what is the basis of Mr. Sanyas claim that Luweros population was 150,000? The horror of Luwero can be put in context easily
RE: [Ugnet] Buganda: We Are Ready to Forgive Obote But...
Correct, Bulange! This is the proper objective approach: the one does not rule out the other. Legal processions against Obote or any other Uganda should be supported by solid vindictive evidences unlike Governmente rac; LRA bene rac mato Ofut ritual prevalent in the Northern peace resolution (rd. twisted amnesty) that does not include the rights of the directly offended individual to process his / her case. Two decades has elapsed and no one victim of Vampire mutilation has filed legal procession despite the fact that the reign during which those barbaric mutilation, molestation, decimation of social / community infrastructure, rape etc., is prevalent!! Spontaneously, I would think just that factor is conducive to legal processes of the sort (it eases access to the culprits). Perhaps the RWODI and their legal experts for the voiceless are waiting for the usual Ugandan solution: coup detach (when both the perpetrator and the victim have long ceased to exist!)? Twisted stance for the Voiceless , isnt it?! Rgds Nocla gaumoy ESQ.--- On Wed 04/27, Matek Opoko < [EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: From: Matek Opoko [mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]To: ugandanet@kym.net, [EMAIL PROTECTED]Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 22:31:29 -0700 (PDT)Subject: [Ugnet] Buganda: We Are Ready to Forgive Obote But... Buganda: We Are Ready to Forgive Obote But... Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site The East African (Nairobi) April 18, 2005 Posted to the web April 26, 2005 Barbara AmongNairobi Buganda Kingdom officials said last week that they were ready to forgive exiled former president Milton Obote for atrocities committed against the kingdom if he apologised formally. The officials told The EastAfrican that they were ready to forgive Obote if he formally apologised to the kingdom and to Kabaka, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, whose father he overthrew in the 1966 coup and forced into exile. Kabaka Mutebi's father died in exile. For a YEAR IN REVIEW excerpt from the Africa 2005 guidebook, click here.(Adobe Acrobat). To buy the book, click here. "We cannot go on accusing and counter-accusing each other. If Obote apologised to the people of Buganda, the kingdom and Ugandans, we can forgive him. He did positive things and there are those who see the positive contribution he made," said Charles Mayiga, spokesperson of the Buganda kingdom. The Buganda officials, however, said that they could not rule out Obote being sued by individuals for crimes such as ordering the storming of the Kabaka's Mengo palace and the ensuing destruction of property during his two reigns as the president of Uganda, between 1966-1971 and 1981-1985. Mr Mayiga said that Buganda as an institution could be witness but there were also individuals within the kingdom who could testify if the government decided to prosecute Obote. "We can only speak collectively as a kingdom, but the government through the Director of Public Prosecution will verify those witnesses," he said. "He is a Ugandan and can come back, but he must be answerable for the atrocities he committed like killings in Luwero. I will be surprised if nobody takes him to court," said Tim Lwanga, chairman the Buganda Parliamentary Caucus and also Minister for Ethics and Integrity. Obote's Uganda People's Congress (UPC) had announced that their 80-year-old exiled leader, now living in Zambia, would be coming back to Uganda on May 27, ending 20 years of exile. However, they withdrew the plan following the government's stand that he should face trial for killings committed during his second presidency. Obote's son, Jimmy Akena (37), who has been living in exile with his father, returned home last week to a rousing welcome from party faithful. He declined to comment on the possible return of his father, but said he was happy to be back home after 20 years in exile. But while the kingdom spokesperson says Buganda appears ready to forgive Obote, there is a strong possibility that some people may bring charges against him for crimes committed by his government. President Yoweri Museveni government says Obote's soldiers killed up to 300,000 civilians as they battled the National Resistance Army rebels led by Museveni. "It is not a matter of deterring him from coming back to his country, but he must be answerable for all those atrocities committed during his rule," said Information Minister Dr Nsaba Buturo, citing the killings in the Luwero triangle in the early 1980s. He added that, according to the 1995 constitution, all prosecution is in the hands of Director of Public Prosecution. "The amnesty law passed in December 1999 covers only terrorists who were waging war against the state but not past leaders. Therefore, Obote's role in the massacres of Luwero has to be handled before the issue of his return," added Dr Buturo. However, UPC officials have questioned why for the past 19 years President Museveni and his government did not find it necessary to institute legal
