MONITOR News Opinions | April 20, 2005
Why Museveni shakes when Obote talks By George Okurapa Ever since The Monitor broke the story that Dr A.M Obote was about to set foot back in Uganda from his Zambian exile, the name of Obote and UPC has dominated the media both locally and internationally. As if this was not enough, The Monitor started publishing their ongoing series on the life of Dr A.M Obote titled "Obote: My story." This must-read series has taken the country by storm and has left President Yoweri Museveni and his government scampering with contradictions on how to control the recent "Obote Storm." NO LOVE LOST: president museveni (with cap) facing a barrage of accusations First of all when the UPC leadership announced that Obote was about to return, the government immediately reacted by welcoming Obote's decision to return. The government spokesman, Hon. Nsaba Buturo even took it further and announced that the government had no objection to Obote's proposed return and that Obote would be accorded all the privileges of a former head of state with no conditions imposed on his return. A week after making this announcement, Hon. Buturo was at it again, this time contradicting himself and the government position when he announced that should Obote return, he will have to be made to answer for the Luwero massacres during his administration. This new turn in the government position was an echoof an earlier statement President Museveni himself made in 1997 when he declared that he would shoot Obote dead on sight if he dared step in Uganda. The only difference is that in 1997, Museveni was going to be the Court, the Judge and the Jury in Obote's summary trial. This time round however, Museveni is willing to let justice prevail. The mother of all questions still remains to be answered. Why is it that whenever Obote talks in Lusaka, Museveni is thrown into panic? Let us look at some of the facts. In 1997, I visited Dr Obote in Lusaka for one week and had the opportunity of listening to wisdom flow from his lips daily. I was present when Dr Obote addressed the UPC Consultative Conference and seriously challenged Museveni's government’s so called economic growth then. While opening the UPC Consultative Conference, Obote posed a question challenging his audience why there was such an impressive economic growth rate in Uganda while at the same time there was a rapid increase in rural poverty. After he posed the question, we all looked at each other wondering who was willing to take the first crack at answering it. But before anyone of us could, Obote was at it. His explanation was that there were four reasons to explain his answer. The first was that because of the corrupt Museveni administration, most of the money that was being collected as taxes was ending up in the pockets of a few government officials and as a result, Museveni's government remained incapable of converting revenue into projects to help raise rural incomes. Obote was not done. He went on to tell us that in addition to this, Museveni's government lacked prioritisation in its budgeting and as a result, instead of budgeting for the extension of social services, the government was concentrating on buying expensive cars and other non priority spending. He then went on to say that because of the dictatorial nature of the Museveni administration, by suppressing the views of others, the government had caused the escalation of armed conflict in the country and as a result, a lot of money was being spent on financing the unnecessary wars rather than on social spending. Then he concluded by taking a swipe at the 1987 currency reform. He told us that this currency reform was the major cause of rural poverty because its benefits were eaten up by inflation. Obote maintains that it was wrong for the poor peasants to lose 30% of their hard earned income because such a compulsory take over of people's income hit the poor more than the rich. When Obote was done with his presentation, many of us in the room were left gazing at the old man Obote because of the eloquence and authority at the subject matter that was evident in his presentation. No wonder when the news reached Museveni when he was opening Hotel Africana in Kampala in 1997, Museveni threatened to shoot Obote on sight if Obote dared to step foot in Uganda. Instead of addressing the subject matter that Obote had eloquently raised, Museveni instead chose to talk about Obote's hair and his style of combing. The same thing is happening now. Instead of responding to what Obote has raised in the ongoing series on Obote's life that The Monitor is running, Museveni has demanded an apology from The Monitor with a threat to sue. What Museveni misses here is that every Ugandan is free to express themselves and there is no reason why The Monitor must apologize for publishing the views of other Ugandans. What the paper is publishing is not their own creation. They are simply publishing an interview with another Ugandan who has the right to express himself without any threat from the government or Museveni for that matter. If Museveni or any party has issues with the facts that Obote is spilling, they should give us the readers their own account of the events in dispute. When you examine President Museveni's reaction whenever Obote speaks, it is very clear that Museveni truly fears Obote. His fear seems to be grounded in Obote's insistence that he has lots of evidence that would implicate Museveni in the killings of innocent civilians in Uganda from the time Museveni went to the bush in Luwero after losing the 1980 elections until now. This, to me, is why Museveni must be having continuous nightmares of Obote. The best Museveni can do is to state his side of the story if what Obote is saying about him is not true. This is better than the game of intimidation that Museveni is trying to play with his threats to sue Obote and The Monitor. Let him tell his side of the story and let the truth prevail. That is the nature of democracy. George Okurapa is Manager/Administrator UPC Network/Website Toronto Canada __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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