----- Original Message ----- From: "The Fugee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "UPCNet" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 1999 8:40 PM Subject: The Monitor, July 14, 1997
> > > Obote on mercenaries, Museveni and wars > > The Monitor, July 14, 1997 > > Last week, a delegation of members of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) > flew to > Lusaka, Zambia to consult their exiled party president Dr Apollo Milton > Obote. They billed the > meeting as a turning point both for the UPC and for politics in Uganda. > > Monitor's Staffer, Andrew M. Mwenda flew there and Thursday July 10 > interviewed the > twice deposed exiled Ugandan presidentat his palatial residence in Lusaka. > > Obote first made a brief statement about his views on the mass media in > Uganda > particularly the press, and an outline of Uganda's political landscape, at > least as he interprets > it. Readon:- > > Obote: I read the Ugandan press. I don't listen to Uganda > Television, Radio Uganda or other radios in Uganda. While I am happy that > the Ugandan > press appears to be fighting and defending the freedom of the press, > however, I am > disappointed that it is largely in support of dictatorship to the extent > that it supports the > suppression of UPC. > > UPC must not discuss public affairs by convening a public rally; it > must not contest > elections; and the Ugandan press is very happy and comfortable with that. > > Yet, freedom of the press, and political freedom of the citizens to > participate in the affairs > of his\her country are the same. The press is riding a very dangerous > tiger! > > Today, the NRA\M dictatorship is using the press to kill political > parties. When the parties > are dead, the same dictatorship will turn against the press. It will come > because > dictatorship comes in doses and does not allow sharing ideas and opinions. > > The NRA\M dictatorship will tolerate press freedom today because it has > a bigger enemy > to fight, political parties. It is sad that Ugandans who are managing papers > cannot see that by > not supporting the parties, they are putting a noose around their necks. > > It was a French philosopher who said that "I don't agree > with what he says. But I will fight for his freedom to say what he has to > say." The press in > Uganda don't want UPC to say > anything. They want only Museveni to say everything. Tomorrow Museveni will > tell Oguttu > Wafula, (Monitor Editor-in-Chief)"Don't say anything." > > Here I exclude William Pike and his wife [Cathy Watson] and such > characters who are > foreigners. Pike is a mercenary. He earns a lot of money. He's got to serve > his master. > Museveni is also a foreigner, a refugee for that matter. Ask me, I will tell > you 5 to 7 of my > ancestors. > > Can Museveni do that? He does not even know his father because his > father is even not > Kaguta (Amos). In 1986, the father went to see him in Entebbe, he travelled > from Tanzania. > He paid him a lot of money and said, "go back and keep quiet." You cannot > have a president > who pays his father to go away and keep quiet. > > I have seen on the internet today, Pike William, [New Vision > Editor-in-Chief] a mercenary, > who was not even in Uganda in the 1960s...or even in the 1980s unless he was > in Luwero > with Museveni, saying Obote is a killer. Pike saying Obote is a killer and > not Museveni? Which > person has Obote killed or which war has he waged? Which war? > > Museveni went to the bush in Luwero in 1981 and everybody knows this. > If you wage a > war, are you playing football? You don't kill anybody? Since Museveni became > president in > 1986, have wars and killings stopped? Wars in Bukedi, in Teso, Lango, > Acholi, West Nile and > wars now in the west? How many people were > involved in these wars in Uganda between 1981 and 1985... only in the so > called Luwero > triangle? Not more than 300,000 people. > > Now take north Bukedi, the whole of Teso, Lango, Acholi, West Nile and > the west, how > many people are involved? Over 2 million! Go to Teso, there are no longer > animals there. > What happened? They say rebels. > > How many rebels were in Teso that could eat 4 million livestock? And > they go and eat 2 > million in Lango, and many others in Acholi. Where are the bones? Did rebels > also eat the > bones of the livestock? > > Luwero war, it was in the interest of Museveni to create havoc and > place blame on the > government. It was in his interest to expand the theatre of war. It was > not in the interest of > the UPC government to commit atrocities in Luwero because UPC was in > government and > wanted to be popular. > > Actually, UPC worked hard to contain Museveni's war within Luwero > triangle. And we did > succeed to contain him in Luwero triangle. If his war was popular why didn't > he expand into > otherparts of Uganda or Buganda? > > We had a very good policy going by the generic term "development in a > secure > environment." We introduced programs of rehabilitation of the economy, of > social services. > Within four > and a half years, the economy of Uganda which had totally collapsed during > Amin's time was > coming up. By 1985, the economy was growing at 6 percent per annum. > > It is the UPC government in Uganda in 1981 that introduced this thing > that is being taught > all over Africa today.... the free market economy. When Museveni came into > power in 1986, > he rejected the entire policy plus all its projects. He introduced barter > trade which is the most > primitive method of doing business today. Some mangoes and fish from Cuba > came to the > airport and got rotten there. What else did Museveni do. He reformed the > currency. He struck > off two zeros from the money. In a way this looked good because a parent who > was paying > Shs 500 for school fees would now pay Shs 5. But three things happened. One, > Museveni took > off from everyone's money 30 percent. He has never explained where he put > it. But removing > 30 percent of the money in circulation from the economy by force hit the > rural poor badly. > > Also, the new currency was soon eaten into by inflation and in a short > time, the two zeros > had returned. But the peasant who had thought he would now pay Shs 5 for > school fees soon > found he had to pay Shs 500. He could not raise this money because all he > had was Shs. 5. > But there was no budget which was read and the money generated from the 30 > percent > explained and its expenditure outlined. So poverty took over the rural > areas. That is > why Museveni fears multi-party competition in the rural areas. > > I am going to fight Museveni. I don't belong to Kony, Lakwena, West > Nile Bank Front, > Itongwa etc. I have a political party and I will fight him. He thinks he can > run away with it. He > has not and I am fighting him. I am taking him to court. > > Read the constitution. Article 261 says that elections shall be held > under the movement > system. In 1996 elections were held under movement system. Did you know what > the > movement political system was? Even Museveni did not know. He has just > produced a bill and > it was passed by parliament yesterday. So people > voted for a movement system they did not know, whose structure had > not been written. > > Ben Ochan [New Vision]: How do you rate Museveni's performance on the > economy, > socially and politically and what isthe future of Uganda? > > Obote: But I have already told you about the economy. How can you say > that the economy > is growing at 8-10 percent when poverty is growing at 80 percent? True, it > is possible that > there could be growth. But it is not improving the standard of living of the > people. This means > funds have been exhausted in projects which don't help improve the lot of > the poor people > including the youth. > > Take for example this funny thing called UPE. Without building a single > primary school, > without paying teachers, without providing equipment to schools, the man > came up and > said, "four children from every family are going to school free." You end up > with 300 per class. What is the effect? You're destroying quality education > in Uganda. You're > lucky you went to school during the UPC administration and were able to > enjoy > quality education. But children going to school now are in trouble. > Museveni wants us to be > ignorant so that he can rule us. > > The New Vision of June 27, 1989 published Museveni telling Caroline > (Lamwaka) that 2.7 > million people in Gulu were in camps. All their property was destroyed. Did > that happen under > Obote? > > What happened to those who remained? You cannot take everybody. That > holocaust went > to Akokoro where I was born and my father was killed. How many were killed. > Possibly > 2.7 million or even more. Some were shot, others were herded in houses which > were then > blown away and William Pike has the temerity of calling Obote a killer? He's > lucky I am not a > killer otherwise I would find a way of killing him in memory of my father. > > That fellow who was organising Museveni's election, Steven Akabway, his > father was killed > like a dog by the soldiers. And Pike has the audacity of accusing me of > killing? > > Andrew Mwenda: (The Monitor) Your government in 1967 abolished the > federal status for > Buganda and the semi federal status for other kingdoms. Now UPC has come out > supporting > a federal system of government. What are the reasons for this change of > heart? > > Obote: If you look at things in a sober way, you find that people are > complaining and > quarrelling about nothing. In 1962, we had a provision in the constitution > which said we had > agreed to maintain the power which the Lukiiko in Buganda had, the which > power the > Ishegyero in Ankole, the Rukurato in Bunyoro and Toro had. We retained those > powers. UPC > is now saying that all these powers should be codified and rationalised > without giving any > one region a better status than others. But we insist that the federal > legislature should be > elected. > > You say UPC abolished federo. That is not true. I abolished > institutions which were being used to destabilise the whole nation. But from > that time, we > have all learnt our lessons. > > There is also no such thing that Museveni restored the traditional > institutions which we > abolished in 1967. Has > Museveni restored the Kabaka? What does restoration mean? > > Mwenda: Bringing back what was there before. > > Obote: Has he done that? > > Mwenda: Explain to us. > > Obote: Read the 1962 constitution and then read the present one. Are > they the same when > it comes to these traditional institutions? They're not. In the 1967 > constitution, we never said > nobody should be called Kabaka. Museveni has only restored > images of what used to be. There is no substance. > > Mwenda: Can you clearly draw for us the difference between the > institutions you abolished > in 1967 and the ones Museveni has brought into existence today? > > Obote: We never abolished cultural institutions. We abolished > governmental institutions > that were administrative and political and were also being used to > destabilise Uganda. He > has not restored these. Take Buganda for example, there was a Lukiiko with > power of > taxation. Has Museveni restored this? What has he restored? > > Ochan: Buganda has a now a Lukiiko. > > Obote: It is a cultural Lukiiko to talk about marriages etc., not a > political Lukiiko like we > had in the 1960s. > > > > To be continued tommorow > > > -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
