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Take It or Leave It
With Austin Ejiet |
State of disaster in North meaningless
March 7 - 13, 2004
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I salute H.E the President for upholding Article 110 of the 1995 constitution which makes it the prerogative of the chief executive to declare a state of emergency in affected parts of the country. Although all the 304 members of parliament had unanimously voted to support a motion recommending a state of disaster in northern Uganda, following the drastic rebel attacks on Abia and Barlonyo I.D.P camps, which left at least 200 people dead, the President and his cabinet (all of whom had voted for the motion), decided to reject it. The reasons advanced by the President� team of policy exponents are that there is nothing in northern Uganda to warrant a declaration of a state of disaster. The rebellion, to all intents and purposes, is dead and buried; government is on top of the situation and the internally displaced persons will soon be able to return to their homes. What in any case does the region stand to benefit (which it is not already doing) from the label that a state of emergency truly exists? Nobody ever says that government fears to lose face. Having earned the dubious distinction of �the beacon of hope of the Great Lakes Region� we are reluctant to admit that our beauty queen also has an anus and that this anus frequently gives off a foul odour. Which is fine to me. States of emergency or disaster are not proclaimed by oracular Presidential pronouncements. They evolve by themselves. If AIDS breaks out in Kasensero and goes on to ravage first Rakai and Masaka and later on the whole country, you don�t need Article 110 to tell you that a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions has broken out. The dead bodies will speak (in a manner of speaking) for themselves. The other day we had a nasty spat with Ebola in parts of Gulu municipality. We didn�t need a Presidential pronouncement to tell us that an abomination had visited upon us. The sun will continue shining whether we close our eyes and pretend there is darkness or whether we take the legendary bath of the ostrich. This is not the year 204 AD where the only means of getting information across large distance was a talking drum. This is 2004, a time of digital computers and satellite powered communication networks. You can�t manage or control information flow. The information is out there for any fool who has access to the Internet or even to the primitive TV and radio sets. The International Criminal Court has been making the right noises about helping us to bring Kony and his brigades to justice. Why do we thwart them by pretending that everything is under control? Eighteen years and counting: and everything is under control? There is nothing shameful about admitting that a statement exists and that a negotiated settlement, facilitated by a third party, might be the best way out. The Zulus of South Africa, armed with only primitive spears, thrashed the mighty British 100 years ago. The Vietnamese with their Spartan diet of rice and bamboo shoots: what did they do to super power America? Are the Americans in any way diminished by the fact that they opted finally for a negotiated settlement? Henry Kissinger and Le Duc who signed the Paris peace settlement on January 27 1973 ending the then longest war in modern history (only 12 years by the way) are still around for any doubting Thomases to cross examine. States of emergency or disaster are only meaningful if they go beyond the papers on which they are written. When there is a disastrous hurricane, an earthquake or a severe case of flooding, then the President of America can declare a state of emergency which automatically entitles the affected state to federal aid. Do we have any federal reserves? We have a Ministry of Disaster Preparedness: how much money, food, medicine, tents or blankets is it holding in reserve for disasters? Let the dead bury their dead. Period. I hope Article 105 which limits Presidents to only two terms will also be upheld in it�s entirety. |
� 2004 The Monitor Publications
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