*Re: Origins of gun politics in a free Uganda* ** *Comrade Ochieno,* ** *I am sorry but your narrative as to when violence was introduced into our body-politic, is disingenuously flawed, and incoherent.* ** *You talk about a pre-independence period, and then jump to the fall-out between KY and Obote, and subsequent intrigues.* ** *As to how KY came to be, and later, how it became so emboldened to take on, in a quasi-military confrontation, the Central Govt., you don't say.* ** *Please note that Ben Kiwanuka was the first Prime Minister for the period before independence. * *For some reason the British never wanted to leave Uganda with Kiwanuka at the head.* ** *It was then that Kabaka Yekka was formed, for the purposes of divide and rule. * ** *But it soon emerged that spreading Kabaka Yekka into Masaka District, Kiwanuka's home district and a predominantly Catholic area (as compared to the more Anglican rest of Buganda), was going to be a difficult task.* ** *Comrade Ochieno, I remember very well the political violence that the Kabaka Yekka goons unleashed on our people in Masaka District, to force KY down our throats.* ** *Banana plantations were erased. * *People's houses were set on fire. * *Innocents were murdered/assassinated. * *Fascistic KY militants were marauding everywhere with 'jambiyas', cutting Achilles tendons of our herds of cattle.* ** *Those were very traumatic times in Masaka District. * *The rest of Uganda didn't even seem to care or notice!!* ** *We were accused by Mengo of being a fifth column of traitors against the King. * ** *UPC was in a love-fest with KY and they never cared since most of those that were dying were assumed to be Kiwanuka's DP's. * ** *Of course the British imperialists (who were the primary architects of the mayhem) never batted an eye lid. * ** *Arch Bishop Monsignor Joseph Kiwanuka at Lubaga condemned this oppression and violence and cautioned Kabaka Mutesa to cease this sectarian politics. * ** *Kabak Yekka had been so emboldened by the inaction and silence of the British and UPC, that they marched to Lubaga to arrest the Arch Bishop for daring to disagree with Muteesa. * ** *They arrested his private Secretary Father Joseph Ssebayigga (he passed away about two years ago).* ** *No wonder then that when, in later years, Kabaka Yekka fell out with Obote they attempted to take him on, violently.* ** *That is where you Ochieno now start your narrative. * *Please call your narrative 'The second wave of violence', by an emboldened KY. * ** *You reap what you sow !! * *Obote had nurtured the rabid dogs against us from Masaka, and now they were coming to bite him.* ** *There is another and similar hollow narrative. * ** *That the genocide in Rwanda started on the day after the downing of the Habyalimana plane.* ** *Hey hey, it seems we are perfecting the game of the 'Big Lie' .* ** *When we were dying in Masaka, those in Luweero never cared !!* *Who is now caring when our brothers and sisters in Acholi are dying?* *Who is going to be next?* ** *How come we don't seem to learn?* *Why are so many intent on distorting our history?* ** *Some say Obote introduced violence into our body-politic, in 1966; and now this Ochieno twists the lie; that violence was introduced in 1966, but by others and not Obote !!* ** *Why all this twist to cover up the real truth ?*
*Mitayo Potosi.* ** *==========================================* Origins of gun politics in a free Uganda Joseph Ochieno Uganda Peoples Congress has a new member. She is a 42-year-old middle class Muganda born in 1966. The first time we discussed Uganda politics she told me that anybody who will unite Uganda as one country would have her vote. I told her that in fact her wishes were enshrined under 'Objective One' of the Uganda Peoeples Congress (UPC) constitution: "To build the Republic of Uganda as one country with one people, one parliament and one government". My friend's mother, a former Kabaka Yekka (KY) member, almost certainly voted for Mama Miria in the 2006 elections while her father supports the Democratic Party (DP). Our discussions recently touched on whether Uganda's independence is '46 wasted years' of self rule. Our experiences since independence have made us so apathetic that we blame everyone else but our sometimes-collective and individual-selves. In the last 23 years, those who have been ruling us by proxy or otherwise, without our mandate, never waste a moment to blame it all on those who ruled and governed in the earlier 23. The narrative is so entrenched that even the political, media and intellectual elite, who should be in a better position to dissect the issues, seem to have bought into it. But when did it really go wrong for us? Uganda attained her independence following a negotiated settlement in London in 1961. The key players were DP, UPC, Mengo/ Buganda (Kabaka Yekka was born after the London agreement) and Bunyoro. In April 1962, fresh elections were held which UPC easily won. UPC sought to form a government but DP declined. It was after that refusal that UPC and KY agreed to form a coalition with Milton Obote as the executive prime minister. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. In 1963, UPC sought a constitutional amendment that saw the removal of the British office of governor general and replacing it with a symbolic president elected by parliament. Sir Edward Mutesa was elected to that position and the office of governor general was erased. In 1964, a referendum was held, as agreed at Lancaster House, to resolve the impasse over the disputed (Buganda vs Bunyoro) 'lost counties'. When this was agreed to in 1961, no one knew which party would be in government. So Obote as the executive prime minister only executed what had been agreed by all. Nothing wrong with that, except that some people did not like the results and opted to target the messenger - only! Tension brewed from this turned into mistrust and with it, arrived the politics of behind-the-scenes-manoeuvres. A new political re-alignment now started and by 1965, only three years into our independence, there were already plots to assassinate the prime minister and overthrow the government. The plots and the actors were real. They actually tried it but failed. Dr Obote wrote that the deputy army commander was the military chief of the operation which he was to execute on behalf of others. According to Obote, this was the first time that the gun was introduced into the politics of Uganda, in 1965. But if only some people could own up. They did not, hence the arrest of key players, including some ministers. If some of these events led to the 1966 crisis, neither subsequent attempts nor the initial plots have helped resolve Uganda's pre-independence problems. Now, 46 years after independence, 23 years after UPC and Obote were forced off the political centre stage, the same old problems are glaring in our faces, unresolved. But why? Like then, nobody wants to own up but instead, continue to blame the same old messenger, long since retired. UPC worked extremely hard to ensure we had one independent country in 1962. It is extraordinary that those who should help younger Ugandans through this reality are so disingenuous dishonest to themselves and our country. Mr Ochieno is UPC's special presidential envoy to the UK & Ireland [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Related articles*
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