Below, Dr Muniini Mulera mentions among the dead a certain Mr Gideon Akankwasa.
I knew this gentleman. He was such a jovial and wonderful human being.
I was honoured to have drank 'bushera' with him at one time. He also had such a gratious and charming wife.
He was a lawyer and had a home on Mbuya Hill. He was murdered in his house.
That was after Idi Amin but before 1986.
I am not sure who murdered him, but would not be suprised if it was Yoweri Museveni.
Could Museveni have killed him to punish him for not running away during Amin's time?
I still feel very sad about the always joyful Mr Gideon Akankwasa, and all our people who have been cut down in cold blood.
Mitayo Potosi
From: Omar Kezimbira <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: ugnet_: Reform Agenda: Mugisha's arrest exposed the state-Muniini K Mulera Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 14:34:58 -0700 (PDT)
Letter to A Kampala Friend --------------------------------- By Muniini K. Mulera In Toronto
Mugisha's arrest exposed the state July 28, 2003
Dear Tingasiga:
Perhaps I am naïve, but I must confess that I was initially shocked to learn last week that Mr George Mugisha, father of Anne Busingye Mugisha of the Reform Agenda, had been arrested on suspicion that he was engaged in subversive activities against the state.
Reform Agenda's Mugisha: Her father was briefly arrested last week (File photo).
However, I realised that the Ssabagabe's regime was running away from its shadow and was finding enemies where none exist. To be sure, Ms Mugisha has become a thorn in the flesh of the Ssabagabe's court. Since moving to the United States in early 2002, she has used her excellent communication and organisational skills to develop strong contacts within the US administration.
She has become a one-person lobby firm that has faithfully exposed the truth about President Yoweri Museveni's Uganda to the power brokers of Washington DC.
Her letters to US administration officials, including President George W. Bush, usually penned just before a visit by Mr Museveni, have become a source of deep irritation within the Ssabagabe's court.
A Ugandan government official told me recently that they frequently have to put out fires within the US administration that have been lit by Ms Mugisha.
Her exposes about the corruption, lack of democracy and the abuse of power that have become a standard feature of the Kampala regime have provided the US administration with an alternative palette from which to work. That she is one of the best known political activists in the opposition ranks is a simple truth beyond debate.
Thus it is easy to understand why the regime would want to visit the sins of young lady Anne upon her father. I think my initial shock was a consequence of my naïve belief that Museveni's regime was too sophisticated to arrest a 70-year old born-gain Christian gentleman on the basis of a report by an unhappy servant who had accused him of recruiting young people into some alleged rebel army.
But then again, a regime that exists as a consequence of a fraudulent election, and one that seems committed to pursuing a course of repression against political opponents, begins to see danger all around it.
A seventy-year-old man whose daughter is a formidable
opponent of the regime is viewed with great suspicion. Before long, her perceived sins are visited upon her father, the strategy being to intimidate the daughter into silence.
If there is one 'good' purpose that has been served by Mr Mugisha's arrest and interrogation, it has been to debunk the myth that all is well in the land and that folks like Dr Kizza Besigye should never have gone into "self-imposed exile" since their lives were not in any danger from the state.
Truth is that Besigye, grandson of Yafesi Mulera, would have been a fool to think that he would have been left free to pursue his reform agenda within the borders of Uganda.
His formidable challenge to Museveni during the presidential campaigns of the 2001 elections marked him out as a man whose wings had to be clipped as soon as possible.
That Besigye was in danger as long as he lived in post-2001 election Uganda was beyond debate. The evidence for this was provided by the state within days of Besigye's disappearance from his Kampala home in 2001.
Recall that soon after Besigye beat the round-the-clock surveillance that had been clamped on him, state agents let it be known that they were looking for him. Why 'look' for a free citizen who has not committed any crime?
But if this was not convincing enough, then the arrests of many of Besigye's supporters, and last week's interrogation of Omugurusi Mugisha should lay to rest the myth that Besigye himself would never have been arrested had he stayed in Uganda.
Those who claim that Dr Besigye would have been a more effective political opponent of the regime had he stayed back need to consider the litany of dead Ugandans who might have been alive today had they chosen exile.
What if Mr John Kakonge, Mr William Kalema and Mr Frank Kalimuzo had chosen exile in 1971? What if Mr Gideon Akankwasa or Mr John Turyagyenda had chosen exile in the early 1980s?
What if Andrew Lutakome Kayiira had chosen exile in 1986? What if Mr Patrick Manenero had chosen exile in 2001?
What if Kenya's G.G. Kariuki had chosen exile in 1975? What if Kenya's Gamal Pinto, Tom Mboya, Argwings Kodhek and Robert Ouko had chosen exile?
All the above are dead, their courage and heroism buried with them, long forgotten by their compatriots.
On the other hand, what if Mr Milton Obote had not gone into exile in 1971 and 1985? What if Museveni had not gone into exile in 1971 and 1981? What if Dr Ruhakana Rugunda had not gone into exile in 1973?
There is little doubt that without the safety of exile, these gentlemen would have probably been killed, and forever silenced without a chance to be heard again.
Exile is not a self-imposed decision. Circumstances and self-preservation, not cowardice, are the reasons why someone like Besigye chose the difficult life of exile.
The argument that Besigye cannot lead a strong political opposition from exile is inconsistent with history. Did Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini not launch a successful revolution while he was living in Paris, France?
I believe that the Reform Agenda's fortunes will rise or fall, not because of its leader's place of residence, but because of the vision it sets, the policies it defines and articulates, the coalition of progressive democrats it weaves together, the financial resources it mobilises and the courage that its supporters will unleash to demand and achieve their rights of complete freedom to associate and to participate in national politics without hindrances by the governing party.
Meanwhile, one wishes one would say that last week's threat against Omugurusi Mugisha will be the last. My crystal ball shows that this is just the beginning.
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
--------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
_________________________________________________________________
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
