Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 13:31:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Ssemakula" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [UNAANET] Obote apologists mistaken
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CC: "Buganda Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
You are welcome Mr. Chadiha. Those were dark days indeed, ironically coming close on the heels of the Amin's more publicized brutality.
Of the Western nations, one deserves special mention for prolonging the suffering in Uganda. That country is Great Britain. The Thatcher government aided and abetted Obote's excesses, by adopting a foreign policy of "Hear No Evil, See No Evil" in Uganda.
The device they used to pull off their duplicity was simplicity itself. Each of their Embassies or High Commissions, as the case may be, is supposed to have a Labor Officer. One of the functions of that officer is to monitor abuses of human rights in the host country.
What the UK did was to just never fill that post in Uganda for the duration of Obote's regime. Without that officer, there could not be any official reports of human rights abuses in Uganda. So, British officials could tell the world that (officially) it had no evidence of abuses of human rights in Uganda, even as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Minority Rights Group, the US Department of State, the Intenational Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch, US Committee for Refugees and plethora of other organizations, and newspapers, all said the opposite.
Then, as now, Britain's single-minded interest in keeping a dictator in power was Obote's promise to allow Indians back in Uganda. Apparently Britain was (is) under the illusion that they would voluntarily return in the thousands. Also, Britain was selling all sorts of arms and military equipment to Obote's regime. For a few quid our blood was spilled wantonly. What is needed to fully expose British involvement in human rights abuses in Africa is an investigative reporter and a good informer, e.g. a former cabinet member to spill the beans. But then again, there are no Pultizer Prizes for journalism in the UK, or are there?
Many, if not most, of Africa's wars are fueled from the outside. Wealth is curse that Africa bears: be it in form of diamonds, oil, gold, etc etc Africans get killed for it whether in Darfur, Southern Sudan (think SPLA), Angola, DRC, Chad, W. Africa, etc Do you recall one of the reasons USA gives for not intervening in certain African oft-disastrous skirmishes? We have no "interests" ...
As you know, the current regime in Uganda doesn't pass muster either, e.g. see State of Pain: Torture in Uganda (http://hrw.org/reports/2004/uganda0404/) or go to http://hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=uganda or http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/hurights.html etc
James Ssemakula
Jonathan Chadiha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Mwami Ssemakula:
Thanks for your enlightening information, at least to me. That was a very dark period for Uganda. After so many counter coups, I refused to read news from Uganda. I did not want to know what more bad news was going to come from there. That is when some Ugandans in the Diaspora, did not want to be identified as Ugandans. They claimed to be from anywhere else in Africa, but Uganda.
Jonathan
=======
Dear Editor,
The Monitor ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Obote Should Face Trial to Answer for His Crimes Against Humanity
Mr. (Ms?) Sanya’s recent letter, (Why Museveni is scared of Obote), reminded me that I, too, need to join my other red-blooded compatriots in the current Obote-gasm that has seemingly gripped the entire nation occasioned and unleashed by Mr. Mwendwa’s mini series on Obote.
Like Mr. Sanya, I am all for giving Mr. Obote a chance to clear his name. However, I’d rather he did it in a court of law. Heinous crimes against humanity, such as Obote is accused of, must never be allowed to go unpunished, no matter how long ago they were committed. As I understand it, there is no statute of limitation on murder.
Mr. Sanya resorts to sophistry and blatant lies to exonerate his murderous hero. For example he states blithely “Figures of the 1981 census put the entire population of Luwero at 150,000.”
Well, as luck would have it, I happened upon a copy of “Report on the 1980 Population Census, Volume I, September 1982”, issued by the Census Office in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Kampala. For Luwero District, it put the population size at 412,474 persons distributed as follows: 116,238 in Nakaseke County, 128,251 in Katikamu County, 94,019 in Wabusana County and 73,966 in Buruli County. So, what is the basis of Mr. Sanya’s claim that Luwero’s population was 150,000?
The horror of Luwero can be put in context easily enough. The population of that district was 315,204 in 1969. By the 1980 census it had grown to 412,474, an increase of 30.9% in 11 years giving an annual growth rate of 2.8%; which is typical of many African populations. However, the 1991 population census found only 415,365 persons. This means that the population had grown by only 2,891 persons in the intervening 11 years, an annual growth rate of only zero point zero six percent (0.06%), which is absolutely impossible! Had Luwero maintained its annual growth rate of 2.8%, about 540,000 persons would have been enumerated in the 1991 population census. So, where did 125,000 persons disappear? And, what are we supposed
to make
of the skulls that dotted the Luwero killing fields, a.k.a. “Luwero Triangle”?
Even when the epidemic of re-districting is taken into account, the figures indicate that the population of Luwero District suffered a massive catastrophe in the intercensal period of 1980-1991. When the population is redistributed according to the new boundaries the population for this district is as follows: 338,508 in 1980, 349,194 in 1991 and 478,595 in 2002. Again, the atypically low population figure in 1991 speaks volumes about the trauma experienced by the people of Luwero. When one adds extra-judicial executions from other areas outside of Luwero, the monstrosity of Obote’s UPC regime begins to come into sharp focus.
I don't know Mr. Sanya’s age or what he imagines the ken of the reading public to be. However, those of us who survived the ordeal of Obote II, still lucidly recall the indiscriminate "Panda Gari" that roamed in Kampala and its environs, miles away from the infamous ‘Luwero Triangle’, carting off victims to their fateful one-way trips to meet cruel and barbaric deaths.
Indeed, in its background notes on Uganda in 1998, the U.S. Department of State noted:
“ … Under Obote, the security forces had one of the world's worst human rights records. In their efforts to stamp out an insurgency led by Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA), they lay waste to a substantial section of the country, especially in the Luwero area north of Kampala….”
We do have the names of a few of the victims. Some were even published weekly in local papers like Munno, etc -- copies of which still exist in repositories in Uganda and around the world. The writer's temerity not withstanding, even earlier crimes have credible living witnesses, e.g. the case of the late Shaban Nkutu, who was butchered during Amin's days in the 1970s.
Nazi's used trains to take Jews to gas chambers, and Obote used Scanias, Tatas, a hoe to the back of the head, etc, etc (ever wonder how come all those skulls have fractured skulls?), but the end results were the same.
No sir. We still very much have the will to make Obote fully pay for his crimes, if convicted. We can never forget our fallen kindred. Since justice delayed is justice denied, I’d rather Obote be brought to book sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, Mr. Sana and Oboteists of his ilk may be well advised to peruse reports like:
Minority Rights Group. Uganda and Sudan--North and South. (Report No. 66.) London: 1984 (Authors: Hooper, Ed & Pirouet, Louise)
I won’t even belabor the mountains of documentary evidence at Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists, official documents of the US State Department (e.g. country reports of that period), videos, photographs, satellite imagery, etc.
James Ssemakula
Please note: The Monitor seems to be unable to find space to publish my letter, which I emailed to them on April 18, 2005.
Matek Opoko <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Buganda: We Are Ready to Forgive Obote But...
The East African (Nairobi)April 18, 2005
Posted to the web April 26, 2005Barbara Among
NairobiBuganda Kingdom officials said last week that they were ready to forgive exiled former president Milton Obote for atrocities committed against the kingdom if he apologised formally. The officials told The EastAfrican that they were ready to forgive Obote if he formally apologised to the kingdom and to Kabaka, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, whose father he overthrew in the 1966 coup and forced into exile. Kabaka Mutebi's father died in exile.
"We cannot go on accusing and counter-accusing each other. If Obote apologised to the people of Buganda, the kingdom and Ugandans, we can forgive him. He did positive things and there are those who see the positive contribution he made," said Charles Mayiga, spokesperson of the Buganda kingdom.The Buganda officials, however, said that they could not rule out Obote being sued by individuals for crimes such as ordering the storming of the Kabaka's Mengo palace and the ensuing destruction of property during his two reigns as the president of Uganda, between 1966-1971 and 1981-1985. Mr Mayiga said that Buganda as an institution could be witness but there were also individuals within the kingdom who could testify if the government decided to prosecute Obote. "We can only speak collectively as a kingdom, but the government through the Director of Public Prosecution will verify those witnesses," he said."He is a Ugandan and can come back, but he must be answerable for the atrocities he committed like killings in Luwero. I will be surprised if nobody takes him to court," said Tim Lwanga, chairman the Buganda Parliamentary Caucus and also Minister for Ethics and Integrity. Obote's Uganda People's Congress (UPC) had announced that their 80-year-old exiled leader, now living in Zambia, would be coming back to Uganda on May 27, ending 20 years of exile. However, they withdrew the plan following the government's stand that he should face trial for killings committed during his second presidency. Obote's son, Jimmy Akena (37), who has been living in exile with his father, returned home last week to a rousing welcome from party faithful. He declined to comment on the possible return of his father, but said he was happy to be back home after 20 years in exile.But while the kingdom spokesperson says Buganda appears ready to forgive Obote, there is a strong possibility that some people may bring charges against him for crimes committed by his government. President Yoweri Museveni government says Obote's soldiers killed up to 300,000 civilians as they battled the National Resistance Army rebels led by Museveni."It is not a matter of deterring him from coming back to his country, but he must be answerable for all those atrocities committed during his rule," said Information Minister Dr Nsaba Buturo, citing the killings in the Luwero triangle in the early 1980s.He added that, according to the 1995 constitution, all prosecution is in the hands of Director of Public Prosecution. "The amnesty law passed in December 1999 covers only terrorists who were waging war against the state but not past leaders. Therefore, Obote's role in the massacres of Luwero has to be handled before the issue of his return," added Dr Buturo.However, UPC officials have questioned why for the past 19 years President Museveni and his government did not find it necessary to institute legal proceedings to extradite Obote so he could answer allegations of criminal conduct on his part."The current threat from President Museveni just like the threat to shoot him dead once he landed at Entebbe airport which Museveni made in 1998, is intended to unconstitutionally and unlawfully keep Dr Obote out of the country and its politics indefinitely," said Badru Wegulo, chairman of UPC's ruling committee.He added that if inquiries were conducted, Museveni would be put on the spot, because he waged war against an elected government, resulting in the Luwero killings. "When the alleged killings took place in Luwero, Obote was commander in chief of the national army. It was his mandate to take lawful steps to defend life and property against the NRA assault led by Museveni," UPC said in a statement Thursday."Whatever life and property were lost in this war, is the responsibility of the aggressor [Museveni's NRA], which acted outside of the constitutional and legal framework," said Mr Wegulo. The Buganda kingdom has accused Obote of ordering soldiers to storm the Mengo palace in 1966 and forcing the then Kabaka, who was at the same time the president, Edward Mutesa II, into exile in London, where he died three years later.Mr Mayiga said that when Obote ordered the storming of the Buganda palace, it marked the introduction of militarism into the politics of the country. He said that, ever since then there has been intimidation, detentions without trial and mass killings and soldiers have never returned to the barracks.Various people who spoke to The EastAfrican last week said that the return of Obote would ot be easily negotiated. President Museveni made a vow in 1998 to kill him should he set foot in Entebbe International Airport, but Mr Buturo and other government officials said last month that the president's was not a serious threat.Unlike other past presidents, Obote still commands wide support and in the event of his return, he is likely to steer his party into a position to give Museveni's party a run for his money in the 2006 general election. He is still the head of the UPC and there have been several abusive exchanges between him and President Museveni more than with any other ex-president. At the end of March, Obote made changes in the UPC ranks, aimed at re-invigorating the party ahead of the 2006 election.Should he return, Obote will be the third former Ugandan president to return home from exile during Museveni's government. In 2002, Godfrey Binaisa, who ruled the country for only one month in 1979, returned from self-imposed exile in New York, where he was practising law.
Gen Tito Okello returned in 1995 under an arrangement partly aimed at ending the war in northern Uganda. Okello died a year later, but his son, Oryem Okello, is a Cabinet minister.If Obote returns, his entitlements will include, a monthly pension of Ush2 million ($1,143), a fully furnished house with utilities paid for by the state, an official car, four security guards, a secretary and two domestic workers, as per Presidential Emoluments Act of 1998.
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