"beware..ithe ideas of spring is at hand!"
MK
Museveni Could Embarrass the US
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The Monitor (Kampala)
OPINION
July 17, 2004
Posted to the web July 19, 2004
Richard Ebil Ottoo
Kampala
President Yoweri Museveni has done such a good job marketing himself in America as a
leader of a country that succeeded in halting the devastations from HIV/Aids that you
might be tempted to empathise with the United States government for having glossed
over serious concerns in Uganda these many years and now suddenly realising how
disturbing recent developments in the country are.
After eighteen years in power, and with less than two years to the end of his
constitutionally mandated term, Americans find it troubling that President Museveni
appears to have no succession plan even within his own Movement organization.
Statements from government ministers and officials increasingly are less coherent. The
opposition is constantly repressed. The attack on the judiciary by the executive is
consistent. President Museveni recently topped it up by his vitriolic tirade at
Uganda's homegrown judges. The government had just lost a landmark Constitutional
Court case that had been filed by the two top DP leaders, Dr. Paul Ssemogerere and Mr
Zachary Olum, resulting in the nullification of the hurriedly arranged 2000 referendum
that extended the tenure of the Movement political system. The current uncertainty
surrounding the future of Uganda is worrying and must be immediately addressed.
The US has been the major backer of the Museveni regime. Being at the forefront of
global leadership, America should know better the cost of propping up individual
rulers without paying sufficient attention to institutional developments. The American
people now shudder at the recollection that they may have supported former military
leaders in such countries as Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Congo.
And those relationships, then anchored on short-term eco-military gains rather than
durable democratic values, have come back to haunt them as they are now forced to
spend heavily in fighting terrorism and rebuilding collapsed nation-states.
There is no doubt that America's strategy is to position itself for a long-term
presence in Africa's Great Lakes region. But such a relationship must derive from an
objective of advancing political and economic freedom in the region. The US must
rightly sense that a tumultuous political climate in Uganda would dent their image and
complicate that strategy.
Executives of Advocacy Groups in the US contend that in 2001 Washington was
comfortable with Museveni's comeback precisely because he had promised to end the war
in the north, professionalise and depoliticise the army, restore multiparty democracy,
and then quit in 2006 (which may explain why no international elections monitoring
team was sent to Uganda). Unhappily, though, he seems to be faltering, backtracking
and dragging his feet, and time is running out.
Many Ugandans studying, working and living abroad point out the perils that would come
with bungling the management of the political transition in Uganda and agree that the
future of the country is clearly at stake. Uganda can no longer afford to be divided
farther.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what the cabinet is bent on doing. The latest move
coming from the Constitutional Affairs Minister Janat Mukwaya asserts that the
government will forge ahead any way with tweaking the rules and procedures in order to
remove the term limits now barring President Museveni from seeking re-election in 2006.
That scheme is belied by the legal and constitutional facts at hand and only invites
cynicism about the government's intentions. Such a stratagem is clear testimony of the
Movement government's antipathy to democracy, peace and national stability. It is
self-centered, unpatriotic, dangerous, deplorable and unacceptable.
Ugandans in the Diaspora have reasons to be concerned. In the last financial year we
contributed over $700 million to Uganda's economy, surpassing export revenues from
coffee, cotton, tea, tobacco and fish combined. Here in the United States, our
productivity and direct tax payments help fuel the growth of the largest economy in
the world. As a consequence, we are an important source of capital through which
Uganda continues to be funded by the World Bank, USAID, and other US government
agencies.
It would be na�ve to expect us to be silent, at home and abroad, in the face of such a
scary possibility that even the achievements Ugandans have struggled to attain might
soon unravel.
We demand that the executive arm of government and parliament reset and prioritize
their to-do list. Among other immediate tasks, they should focus to formulate a
reasonable retirement package for President Museveni; end the war in the north and
disband all internal refugee camps; create an independent electoral commission and
regulate conditions for free and fair elections; and allow opposition political
parties to operate unencumbered.
The United States, the European Union, and other democratic nations with interests in
Uganda have a moral obligation to unambiguously redirect their policies in Uganda to
supporting and nurturing developments of enterprises and democratic institutions.
We believe that any genuine partnership with the people of Uganda should be based on a
mission to promote social justice, economic equality, and dignity, but not
personality. We will identify members of parliament who might prove docile and succumb
to the "third term project" and vigorously work collectively to deny them re-election
in 2006.
We nevertheless derive comfort from the fact that Uganda is well endowed with talented
women and men who are capable of providing alternative leadership to the country.
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The Movement must wrestle with succession difficulties within its own party and not
use that burden to frighten everyone. President Museveni should be advised to disown
his sense of entitlement to the presidency and must resist any temptation or demand to
stay on and on.
Ugandans will fairly judge his presidency by what he has done but not by what he has
not been able to accomplish. Perhaps, his major impact may one day come from what he
hasn't done. When that time comes in 2006, a veneer of legitimacy could be added to
the record of his rule. For stability and progress, Uganda's presidential two
five-year term limits must remain entrenched and non-negotiable
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