Print This Page
Visit�The�Publisher's�Site
The Monitor (Kampala)EDITORIAL
February 16, 2004
Posted to the web February 16, 2004
Kampala
The Chief Politcal Commissar of the army, Brig. Kale Kayihura, at first mention would seem to be a fine officer and gentleman.And this is why the public has to get intrigued when he joins the long line of soldiers, state functionaries and Movement politicos who have alleged that some members of Parliament from northern Uganda are engaged in the odious business of perpetuating the insurgency in the north.
What is frustrating about the brigadier's statement is that he followed the unhelpful pattern of his predecessors in this direction when he never presented supporting solid evidence to back his claims.
Speaking at the launch of the documentary, War Child last week Kayihura only made sweeping references to these politicians' alleged white-washing the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and talking down the army before global audiences.Again, let us remind all and sundry that the war in the country's political north is a serious matter.Whatever efforts are underway to resolve this, our worst ever humanitarian crisis must be solved with requisite seriousness.
Populism, whether intended to advance political interests or win an argument must be resisted.If there is real evidence against any politician linking him to the rebellion, such information must be passed on to the relevant office where a criminal suit can be prepared and subsequently filed against the said individual.Statements of a general, broad and vague nature serve no useful purpose.
Unless of course he wants to confirm the suspicion that such alarming utterances are intended to silence critics of the government's handling of the war, humanitarian crisis and political fall-out resulting from this calamitous conflict.
You already have the pending 'deportation' of the respected rights campaigner and peace crusader, Fr Carlos Rodriguez, on the public conscience. That case is just one of many of state-orchestrated attempts to censure information from the war theatre.Nobody who has bore witness to the suffering multitudes in northern/middle eastern Uganda, as a consequence of the brutal and reprobate activities of the rebels, will sympathise with the LRA. An individual who does so of his/her own volition should and must face the full force of the law.
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."
- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister
