By David Kibirige
April 30, 2004
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President Yoweri Museveni is mad at Justice George Kanyeihamba for saying peasants are not equipped to decide on certain matters of national significance like constitutional amendment. He has even promised to fix him, adding that peasants are his (Museveni�s) employers. Museveni, like all politicians is fond of employing hackneyed expressions to defend the indefensible. I would advise Museveni to read writings of leading political scientists Mahmood Mamdani and Nelson Kasfir if he is to get the proper definition of who a peasant is.
In developed countries there are peasants, workers and the bourgeoisie. The workers depend on salary and even if they die their remains are not carted off to the village for burial. This sort of class does not exist here because we do not have people who work in the industries and depend on salary. A poor peasant is a person who lives in an enclave and is not bothered by the political trends in the country. Such a person is opposed to anything, which might change his lifestyle. For instance such a person cannot accept modern methods like immunisation since he sees his future as one that is already bleak. Such a person exchanges labour for food, shelter and other basic needs of life. This type of peasant feels alienated from politics and thus cannot participate in political discussions. Such a person can neither write nor read. Then we have the middle class peasant. Such an individual is also illiterate and not interested in politics. Such a peasant might own a small piece of land (kibanja) where he cultivates food crops but does not have any surplus produce. Because of the hand-to-mouth circumstances he cannot send his children to school or if he strives in that direction they can hardly go beyond primary education. Then we have what we can term the rich peasant. This one is a bit well off and can even carry out commercial farming. He has a big surplus of produce, which he can put on the market. Such a person is relatively educated and can even afford school fees for his children. Even the people you see driving those flashy sports utility vehicles to Mbarara over the weekend are peasants who drive to get foodstuff from their upcountry villages. In Uganda the first two categories of peasants form the majority of the rural population? So, because Museveni wants to further his interests of creating a life presidency he does what we call cherry picking. This is more or less a metaphor for the action of singling out a case or two out of a hundred to justify your reasons or actions. Just like any drunkard will say he drinks because Jesus� first miracle was to turn water into wine. Or if you find one drinking crudely brewed spirits he will justify it saying that since Jesus turned water into booze that was colourless so it must have been waragi, which is also colourless. Clearly, Museveni is trying to confuse Ugandans by the misuse of the term �peasant�. If he means the first two categories of peasants then I support Prof. Kanyeihamba�s view. Yes, a peasant cannot make important decisions for any country. Museveni is a student of political science who should know that in some countries even if one wins the popular vote he cannot enter office if he loses in the electoral colleges. The future of a country cannot be left in the hands of people who cannot even make sound decisions for themselves. That is why these peasants elect people in the hope that they will make sound decisions for them and these are their MPs. Why should Museveni think that whatever the peasants want is what should be done? Years ago the peasants said they did not want their children to be immunised. Government threatened them with jail because what they were saying not only did not make sense but was clearly wrong. And these peasants have been agitating for the scrapping of graduated tax which is a source of some percentage of local government revenue. And these peasants told the Justice Benjamin Odoki commission that they wanted a federal system of government. Government rejected it saying decentralisation was better that federeation. Maybe peasants should be told to differentiate between power and opportunity. They do not have power but opportunities. They can use these opportunities only at voting time. And Museveni insults Ugandans when he says the peasants are his employers. Oh my God which employee is more comfortable than his employer? So by what magic have peasants suddenly become so important that the future of the country lies in their hands? |
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