emmanuel musaazi,
What a silly way to write! Please re-consider the way you write, if you want a wider audience.
Hit the delete button!
y
From: "emmanuel musaazi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Subject: Re: ugnet_: DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.(Does It Make Sense?)
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 15:01:19 -0500
Mr. Kipenji, i stated in my earlier response that the status quo in Uganda is not perfect viz a viz politics, economics and what have you...criticism has to be relative...what i can't stand is people criticizing out of context in order to promote an agenda....in order for criticism to be fair and even handed one has to look at what was and what is in the context of Uganda.......i take it as an insult to my intelligence when someone begins to insinuate for example that amin's regime was better or equivalent to the present and then blowing stories out of proportion and making all sorts of ridiculous conclusions as if i can't read or understand what is going...if you want to have an intellectual debate on Uganda from all perspectives looking at where we have come from and where we were that's fine with me....about opinions of Ugandans if you recall in some eras passed even discussing about politics in bar got you killed Mr. Kipenji you know that, as a matter of fact in Obote II and during amins time that was the case....i'm surprised you are complaining about the media being pro Museven when most of the negative articles you post are from Ugandan newspapers in Uganda so i don't see where you are going with that...by the way does Uganda have any political prisoners....and if your only strike against Museveni is that he is not allowing you to form a party then it is only fair that the impact of multiparty politics in Uganda be analysed and debated...you see you keep throwing around the term DEMOCRACY but the statements you and some of your friends make do not show that you are democratically inclined.....Democracy is supposed to serve the people and not the other way around as a matter of fact whatever political system we adopt has to serve us (THE PEOPLE) of Uganda and not the other way around...we shouldn't be straped to Democracy to sink or float with..that seems to be your view you want to shove Democracy down every Ugandans throat whether they are ready for it or not whether it works or not and that is very selfish...you seem to be using democracy as a banner or vehicle to power after which your true colours will be revealed....this has been politics 101Uganda as a sovereign country should have a right to seek or experiment with alternative political systems if previous ones failed you certainly must agree with that.
From: Owor Kipenji <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Subject: Re: ugnet_: DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.(Does It Make Sense?)
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 15:12:16 +0100 (BST)
Emmanuel,I really do not what to dwell too much on which side of the divide this said journalist is.You have yourself stated that there is much more that meets the eye for many Ugandans to understand what is at stake between the Government and the Byanyima family.Unfortunately for me,even though I could be a little privy to some of those things,I will not indulge myself in divulging whatever it is because it is against my own ethos.Having said that,you sound like many of the buffet intellectuals that have mushroomed in Uganda especially so during the regime of Mu7 who are very ready to make conclusions about the theatricals they see allowed to happen in Uganda and use that as their holy grail to dismiss what other opinions of and about Mu7 and his governance style without critiquing.
In communication,there is usually a reason for one to engage others,be it for information,inspiration &motivation,provocation or education among other things.What do you in your of read of things think is making Mu7 allow what you allude to as open criticisms without arrest?.If you got people in their binge states criticising government and they are not arrested,should that really be the yardstick for measure of tolerance by the government?.If these same people on recovering from their inebriated state were to be questioned of their previous day's opinions would they be prepared to own up to it?That explains why such is very common,for whatever they yap about does in no way stop Mu7 from doing what he does!.
Many other people have contested to wrest the presidency from Mu7 and with the exception of one,they are living freely in Uganda.Should that really surprise you?.On the contrary I believe you should be surprised if that only one person was allowed to live freely in Uganda.Is it not so?.The reason is all related to that which you conceded does not meet the eye.That is why there is that witch hunt because Dr Besigye of all the previous contestants managed to wound Mu7's egos more that all those previous contestants combined and that is why in the Constituency of the Defence Minister Amama Mbabaazi,there was a lot of turmoil and Mu7 even had to dupe the people there that Amama would be his next replacement,just to make people vote for Amama and despite that they did not!.
Most of us want to judge political tolerance based on the Western values of press freedoms and that is about the only yardstick we are using to judge Mu7's performance.We do not realise their is actually no freedom of association,all of us are by law conscripted members of Mu7's movement and this ambiguous institution is run by Mu7's family.
Is that the type of freedom that Ugandans of the 21st Century want?.By the way I am not from a Kingdom part of Uganda so this type of feudalistic tendency does not sell to me.May be those from Kingdom areas may approve of it.Therein lies my difference in judging Mu7's performance.I am using his own yardstick to judge him not the comparative yardstick that we often resort to because we use Amin,Obote,Tito Okello etc to gauge Mu7's performance.
Remember his statement on January 26th 1986,that is where our standards should begin.
Thank you.
Kipenji.
=================================================================
emmanuel musaazi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
This Journalist Kevin is not serious....he is telling half truths bordering
on lying and spin....he conviniently leaves out the fact that Mrs Byanyima's
sister was traveling with Mrs. Byanyima's son without his traveling
documents now can you do that in the United States or Britain and not get
arrested? is he suggesting to us that because they are opposition
personalities, they are above the law yet i'm sure he will be very quick to
disclose the indescretions of top government officials if they tried to side
step the law in similar circumstances...it is obvious whose side this
journalist is on.....and the comparison of Museveni and amin is ridiculous
to say the list...he is just puting lies in the mouth of Ugandans....i
regularly go to Uganda and if you listen to the FM Radios, read the news
papers and other media outlets, you see all sorts of open criticisms of the
president, top government officials and government's policies and no one
gets arrested, you go to bars and other recreation centers people openly
discuss the pros and cons of Ugandan politics...Uganda is not some kind of
policed state. Granted that things are not perfect in Uganda and there is
room for improvement but non the less the picture painted by this journalist
that because of the Byanyima saga Ugandans are now in a state of fear etc.
is bogus. Winnie said it right "it comes with the territory" you and i don't
know what is realy going on between the government and the Byanyima's there
seems to be more to this than meets the eye, aferall there have been other
elections in Uganda under this president and all the other contestants are
still leaving in Uganda peacefully, all except for one.
>From: Owor Kipenji
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: ugnet_: DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.(Does It
>Make Sense?)
>Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 02:49:11 +0100 (BST)
>
>How would Museveni want his child treated?
>By Ogen Kevin Aliro
>July 31, 2003
>
>Ugandans were on Sunday treated to another bizarre political drama as
>government security agents blocked Ms Edith Byanyima from crossing into
>neighbouring Rwanda through the Katuna border post. Edith�s sins seem a
>mouthful. Anselm, son to the �Opposition leader� Kizza Besigye(File
>photos).
>First, she has the misfortune of being the sister of Mbarara Municipality
>MP Winnie Byanyima. Winnie in turn has the misfortune of being the wife of
>the exiled Dr Kizza Besigye, the retired army colonel who dared President
>Yoweri Museveni during the 2001 presidential elections.
>
>The grapevine has many stories why Museveni is so bitter and hard on the
>Besigyes, especially Winnie. But that is a story for next time.
>
>The authorities say that they blocked Edith from crossing into Rwanda
>because in addition to being Winnie�s sister, she was also travelling with
>Besigye�s son, Anselm.
>
>The Internal Affairs minister Ndugu Ruhakana Rugunda and the Police said
>that Edith had no �custodial authority� to travel with her nephew.
>
>In the end, the Police harassed and dragged Edith, Anselm & Co. back to
>Mbarara. Edith was charged the following day before being released on
>police bond. Winnie who is out of the country attending a conference in
>India reacted angrily.
>
>�I cannot understand how far the security agencies are determined to go to
>harass us,� she wrote in an e-mail message.
>
>I interviewed Winnie a few weeks ago and had asked her whether she was
>scared of continued harassment and arrest.
>
>Winnie told me that she was ready for anything because it would be just
>another �occupational hazard�.
>
>That is quite a brave way to cope with her political nightmares given that
>she has been in and out of court seven times since the presidential
>elections in March 2001.
>
>State security agents have also tried to frame Winnie by compromising her
>drivers.
>
>The first driver was so infuriated by the State House officials involved
>that he fled into exile.
>
>The next driver was also offered money to mobilise information to support
>false allegations against Winnie.
>
>The poor fellow was not so clever and the intelligence officials ended up
>throwing him into jail. He wrote a letter to Winnie from his cell,
>confessing everything that state agents had asked him to do.
>
>A third driver firmly declined to be used by the state agents.
>
>Such has been Winnie�s life ever since she decided to support her husband
>Besigye�s presidential bid against Museveni in 2001.
>
>To many Ugandans possessed of blind support for the Movement � and
>especially for Museveni the man � Winnie and Besigye are paying the heavy
>but well-deserved price of �treachery�.
>
>I disagree.
>
>I particularly find the latest action against the Byanyima and Besigye
>families morally and politically repulsive.
>
>Why would someone said to be as �intelligent� as Museveni sink so low?
>
>Why is Museveni harassing a three-year boy like Anselm whatever his parents
>may have done to annoy the President?
>
>What kind of person shall Anselm become when he grows up, after suffering
>such political torture and harassment at a most tender age?
>
>Let�s suppose Anselm were Museveni�s son. Is that how the President would
>have loved to see his three-year old child treated by state agents of
>another government?
>
>What if Anselm became president one day? Is that the kind of treatment the
>president would love to see His Excellency Anselm Besigye Kyamufumba mete
>out on Kaguta Museveni�s great grand children?
>
>A critic in London captured the absurdity of an all-powerful Museveni
>setting himself firmly against Anselm with this bold headline for his
>organisation�s press release: �A Three-Year-Old Opposition Leader
>Arrested!�
>
>Back in 2000, a State House friend persuaded me to continue supporting
>President Museveni so that the man from Rwakitura could depart �peacefully�
>in 2006 without dragging the entire country down with him. I went along.
>
>Unfortunately, every single action since the presidential elections in
>March 2006 seems like a betrayal of the trust so many Ugandans vested in
>Museveni.
>
>Once, I would stubbornly refuse to believe some of the things the grapevine
>brought out about the President. Now I can believe almost anything.
>
>Even before the latest one between little Anselm and Lt. Gen. Museveni, the
>grapevine was spreading that talk about another bizarre scene involving the
>President and his childhood friend Eriya Kategaya, the former deputy prime
>minister who was sacked in May 2003.
>
>Both Museveni and Kategaya were reportedly somewhere in Ankole to attend a
>pre-wedding ceremony of former Attorney General Bart Katureebe�s daughter.
>
>Kategaya arrived first and sat next to Mbarara�s Archbishop Bakyenga.
>Several dignitaries received Museveni at the entrance as he arrived.
>
>The President walked toward his seat shaking hands with some of the other
>guests who had kept their places. Museveni was reportedly about to shake
>hands with Archbishop Bakyenga when he saw Kategaya.
>
>He abruptly turned and walked away without acknowledging Kategaya and the
>archbishop.
>An embarrassed master of ceremonies later whispered to the archbishop,
>begging him to go over and greet the President.
>
>Bakyenga flatly refused � apparently to protest the President�s conduct.
>
>The grapevine may have �sexed up� this story. Still, I find it so troubling
>that the President could treat Kategaya with so much hatred and disdain.
>
>Those who have known them for much longer tell us that as young boys, the
>two were so close that they sometimes even shared girlfriends!
>
>So why would Museveni humiliate and treat once very close and trusted
>allies such as Kategaya, Besigye and Winnie so ruthlessly?
>
>The easy answer is that the President genuinely feels betrayed by his
>buddies who have become so �treacherous� to the extent of telling him to
>respect the Constitution and leave power in 2006. That is a simple one.
>
>What should however really worry Ugandans more is the message behind
>Museveni�s humiliation and ruthless treatment of those who were once so
>close to him.
>
>He is really harassing all of us � indirectly telling us to learn from what
>is happening to the Winnies and Kategayas of this world.
>
>The President is saying; is any of you closer to me than Kategaya or Winnie
>was? If I can do this to them for crossing my path, how about the rest of
>you � good-for-nothings?
>
>It is a more sophisticated way of doing what former President Idi Amin used
>to do to his imagined enemies who were lucky to remain alive.
>
>Amin would reportedly let you see the mutilated body of your murdered
>colleague or order a firing squad in public � not so much to humiliate the
>dead and dying, but to put those still living on notice.
>
>Such �shock and awe� approaches instil deathly fear and force most Ugandans
>to remain silent in the face of gross human rights abuses and other
>political crimes.
>
>Today few Ugandans would wish to be in the Byanyimas� shoes. None would
>wish to see their children suffer little Anselm�s fate. In order to
>�protect� themselves, their families and businesses many Ugandans are now
>choosing complete silence and political anonymity instead of coming forward
>to tell their �beloved� king that he is naked.
>
>The opportunistic ones cope by sycophantically mortgaging whatever remains
>of their conscience and principles to the powers that be.
>
>That is why while Museveni initially wanted just one more �bonus� five-year
>term after 2006, there is now a chorus for him to remain president for
>life.
>
>Whatever the case, never forget that all power belongs to the people. Soon
>Ugandans could borrow a leaf from our brothers and sisters in Equatoria
>Guinea who have recently exercised that �people�s power� to the extent of
>declaring President Teodoro Obiang Nguema a �God� who has �all power over
>men and things�!
>
>lThe author may be reached on cellphone 077-200574 or e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
>
>� 2003 The Monitor Publications
>
>---------------------------------
>
>
>
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