[Ugnet] Re: [FedsNet] Why we fought Obote-By Yoweri Museveni

Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:00:48 -0800

For more pearls of wisdom for the clear-headed one, visit:
 
http://www.museveni.co.ug/reader.php?process=speeches&speechSpec=17

Ekissodde Ekissodde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Why we fought Obote

Nineteen years ago yesterday, the National Resistance Army/ Movement captured power after a five-year guerrilla war. In this heavily edited article published in Resistance News in 1981, Yoweri Museveni explains why his NRA waged the war:

Having chosen our strategy, we launched the war against the Obote dictatorship on February 6, 1981 by attacking the Kabamba School of Infantry at 8:30 a.m. Using our one platoon, we attacked 1,400 trainees and the one company of Tanzanians which was training them. We overran the camp by capturing the quarter guard, the telecommunications room, the military transport depot and all the administrative quarters. But we failed to enter the underground concrete armoury where a Tanzanian corporal, because of our mistake of prematurely firing at the quarter-guard, had taken firing position under excellent concrete cover. When we weighed the possibility of the causalities we might sustain, we ordered our fighters to withdraw, taking all the vehicles and other available equipment. Thereafter, we established ourselves in various areas of central Uganda and started launching attacks against the enemy.

Our operations comprised surprise attacks like the one at Kakiri, 17 miles on the Kampala-Hoima Road, on April 6, 1981. In this attack, we used a company to engage twice as many of Obote�s bandits who had camped there since February, terrorising and stealing from the people. We overran the camp and captured everything: sub-machine guns, one 82mm mortar, one 60mm mortar, anti-tank grenades, one GPMG and one box of 7.62mm rounds of ammunition. We also, unfortunately, killed some Tanzanian officers and men who ignored our orders to stop while they had been on their way from Busunju.

Reasons
We are fighting for a just cause: we are fighting for the democratic rights and human dignity of our people, which have been trampled on for nearly two decades by Obote and his erstwhile prot�g�, Amin. Our women shall no longer be raped by bandit soldiers, our citizens shall not be robbed or beaten at roadblocks; and no citizen, not even a tramp on the streets, shall be killed unless he is so condemned by the courts. Court orders shall be obeyed by even the highest government officials; elections shall take place and they shall not be rigged. The right to be treated with respect and courtesy by these so-called officials, the right to live and the right to dignity are not favours to be bestowed by anybody: they are the birthright of every human being.

Our political line is a patriotic one � it is anti-tribalistic, anti-dictatorship and nationalistic, that is, anti-foreign domination. It is anti-tribalistic in that it rejects, for instance, the bankrupt position put about that this war is between the Bantu and the Nilotics. This is because Obote, a habitual opportunist and reactionary, always tries to evoke sympathy on ethnic grounds.

We also reject the other view, equally backward and tribalistic, which is advanced by some persons who are supposed to be leaders. According to this view, the boundaries of Uganda were drawn badly: the northern border should have been drawn along the River Nile � meaning by this that it is the northern people of Uganda who have been the cause of all the woes of our country.

Utter rubbish! It is true that both Obote and Amin come from across the Karuma Bridge, but their crimes of two decades have nothing to do with the peoples of northern Uganda, where the peasants have suffered as much, if not more, than anybody else because of the backward and disastrous policies of these two.

Our line, therefore, rejected tribalism, and aims at maximizing the unity of our people as a sine qua non for lifting themselves out of their miserable living conditions. Our political line is progressive because it is opposed to the perpetuation of the socio-economic backwardness on the African continent.

First, we acknowledge without embarrassment, the reality of this sociological backwardness, which is in large measure caused by the backwardness of our productive forces (for example, technology). We do not, however, glorify and eulogise this as some misguided academics tend to do, not knowing that all cultures were backward at some stage or other, and that there is nothing particularly �Africa� about backwardness.

The phenomena of tribalism, nepotism, rampant corruption; the barbarism exhibited by the so-called armies, and the disrespect for human dignity, are products of this very backwardness.

Characters like Amin, Obote, Bokassa, Nguema, Tombalbaye and other monster politicians do not drop from heaven but arise out of our conditions of backwardness. Backwardness tends to propel
backward elements into positions of leadership.

Uganda, unfortunately, seems to have had more than her fair share of backward men in positions of leadership. The main reason seems to be that at independence, our elite - one of the best-trained in Sub-Saharan Africa - despised �politics� as such, because of biased colonial training. They left it mostly to men of low political understanding, most of whom had a low level of modern education. That is how school drops-out like Obote found themselves at the helm of affairs of state at independence.

Therefore, most of the political views and practices that have prevailed in our country have been of a backward, non-progressive type: tribalism, sectarianism, sycophancy, intrigue and corruption.

These wrong lines, for which Obote bears heavy responsibility, have propelled into leadership people with ideas which should have been considered reactionary even in medieval times.

This backwardness manifests itself in the following manner: on one hand, the leaders despise the people, and on the other, the people underestimate themselves. The shedding of backward leaders, and of the backward situation itself which produces them, is an absolute imperative. For while it is impossible to have civilisation in situations of backwardness, ignorance, economic misery and primitive technologies, it is nevertheless possible to have progressive political elements in such a situation. Once such people are in a position of leadership, they have a duty to guide the population out of the quagmire of superstition, ignorance, primitive technologies, economic misery and other aspects of backwardness. Our political line which is broad, patriotic, nationalistic, anti-tribalistic and progressive is, therefore, correct and will eventually be accepted by all, including some who may at present be on the side of the enemy.

The lesson from all this is clear: desperate rulers will always act brutally, but they will not be able to save themselves. The villages of Uganda are not the first to be razed to the ground by desperate despots on their march to the dung-heap of history: Obote, Ojok and others are one such group. Provided our people remain as determined and resolute as they have been all along in this struggle, there is nothing that can save Obote and his usurper clique in Kampala. Moreover, these crimes shall not go unpunished.

We shall definitely review our policy of restraint towards these
criminals. They must be individually answerable for the crimes they perpetrate. In addition, subject to availability of arms, the whole population should be armed so that they can defend themselves against these criminals. We want the people of Uganda to know that the dictator�s bluff will soon be called because our victory is certain.

Source: What is Africa�s Problem by Yoweri Museveni.
Our Archives
MORE STORIES

FEATURES

RELATIONSHIPS

ENTERTAINMENT

EASY THURSDAY

SPORTS:

 
Design � 2004 - 06 By RMS. The Observer Media Ltd. All rights Reserved.

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term'

____________________________________________________________________________________


Yahoo! Groups Links

Do you Yahoo!?
All your favorites on one personal page � Try My Yahoo!
_______________________________________________
Ugandanet mailing list
[email protected]
http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet
% UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/

Reply via email to