Friends
I have used the Natives in this country many many times to indicate the dangers of unaccountability to public funds, just as a back ground, this is a very large country with very few people, actually some numbers show that Uganda is more populated than Canada. But inside the population there is this guilt that has been targeted by the Natives, so they show up and use a term of you took our land and we want our money. A very same guilt Buganda uses of you took our property we need billions of shillings in rental arrears. When I read the arguments of Buganda I find only one difference that they are still paying the taxes in Uganda but they are not intelligent enough to understand that if Museveni pays Ssabassajja those billions of rent, he is going to use their own money to pay him, so unlike that shallow reasoning, Natives do not even pay taxes in this country. If I date a Native girl in Toronto, and I want to buy a car, or to take a mortgage, all I need is to put it in her names and the taxes are waived off and we are laughing. All certified Natives in this country have a specific card I as a Canadian can never have, that they use whenever they go to any store any dealership to buy anything how big and how small. That card has a special number which the merchant puts into the system when it asks for the taxes. With that kind of money Native bands have grown to numbers you do not know, I think by today we have about 750 bands. Now what is required to be recognized as a band? Is one of the Natives going to a province or a federal office and register his village as a separate band and money starts to flow in. And you honestly dont want to be in a political office and deny that money to flow for you will be thrown out and very fast. They have the ability of collecting themselves from all over the country from United States from Europe and all will show up at your office and it is simply not worth it. With that back ground, as millions of dollars have been going in so has the corruption, they drink excessively, they have a crime rate worse than in South Africa they die due to luck of clean drinking water, they have the largest suicide in developed countries, they have the highest number of HIV victims, they have no housing and the list goes on and on and on. Native bands are not affected by the criminal courts, so if he is arrested he has to go and face a Native judge even if in Toronto, we as society have find a Native judge who will hold that hearing and many times they are let go. If you are a Police Officer you really dont want to arrest him for he has a very separate legal system. It is that bizarre. We are at this point for as Baganda in Uganda, Natives never shut up. They always know that their failure is because of somebody else than themselves, They always know that society is out there to work for them, you see how Ugandans built Kampala? Baganda believe it is their city. But when you give them a hand they next day demand for a God damn leg, and the mistake we did in this country is to continue giving in and giving in and giving in. And unlike Quebec, The Natives are all over the place so they cannot demand for a state status they only demand for a region and I think this very week we have got a new recognized territory. But after millions of dollars and after deaths of Natives, some bands have started to wake up and asking questions to their leadership. The posting below is the point some of us dream that our region will reach at so that we question the leadership we have in Mengo and how it spends its money, for as the chiefs are using the bands, Mengo is truly using all of us as Baganda to its ulterior motives. The posting is following. EM On the 49th Kainai First Nation: We will hold them accountable By John Ahni Schertow <http://intercontinentalcry.org/author/administrator/> Members of the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta, and especially the Kainai First Nation Elders Association, are tired of having an irresponsible Band Council. They want leadership that can be held accountable for its actions, and who treats the community with respect. Right now the Chief and Council handles them as if they're low-level employees in the service industry... people who are never informed about anything, who aren't allowed to participate in decisions that effect them, and who are entitled to little more than the right to hand over their blind allegiance. "During meetings of the Kainai First Nation Elders Association in Standoff, Alberta, members have been openly speaking about introducing rules to penalize leaders who do not keep their electoral promises. Indeed, on[e] member half-jokingly referred to establishing impeachment proceedings," writes Joseph Quesnel, a Policy Analyst with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. "Other members spoke about introducing innovative ideas such as the establishment of a 'senate'-type body to act as a check on chief and council. The shape of the 'senate wasnt discussed, other than the fact that it would represent the community and ensure that band government is not held in secret'," says Quesnel. Whatever form it takes, the First Nations will be heading to the polls today with the hope of establishing a body that can bring accountability and transparency to the Band Government. "The Kainai Nation is far from the only one involved in such efforts. "Community associations and elders associations from First Nations across the Prairies are trying to create structures that prevent and curb the concentration of power within chief and council," says Quesnel. "Many in the community refer to older indigenous forms of governance for inspiration and some look to modern examples of accountability structures." Establishing these types of structures are easy enough, all you really need is people - but a major roadblock lies in the fact that the Canadian government almost never recognizes them. The same goes for any on-reserve solution, as Peguis First Nation has come to realize <http://intercontinentalcry.org/peguis-first-nation-has-the-right-idea-ignor e-inac/> . Quesnel suggests that reason for this is because the government prefers to take sides "with the chief and council," who, of course, "fall under the Indian Act." This is true for the most part, however, it may be more accurate to say that it's because they're taking sides with their own policy interests. After all, the only band councils that Canada ever really backs, are the ones who "play nice." Just look at the Barriere Lake Algonquins. Last summer their legally-elected Chief and Council was deposed <http://intercontinentalcry.org/indian-affairs-out-of-barriere-lake/> by the Canadian government. It is widely felt that Canada wanted to get rid of them because they were demanding that Canada, along with the Province of Quebec, honor a set of agreements that would give Barriere Lake a decisive role in the management of part of their traditional territory, as well as a share in resource-revenues from development projects on their land. Since band council was thrown out, the People of Barriere lake <http://barrierelakesolidarity.blogspot.com/> have organized several peaceful protests, at least two of which have been violently repressed by police. The policy interest I speak of -- is about power. Canada's ability to assert it over every fundamental aspect of indigenous people, and just as much, their inverted need to make sure indigenous people have none of their own. At least, none that exceeds the ability to decide when the school day begins. The same can be said about sovereignty and land rights, but that's another story for another day. For now let's just remember that, no matter how powerful or relevant the government of Canada thinks it is, the fact remains that it is neither. Not when it comes to internal matters like governance. Just think of the Two Row Wampum. Canada may not respect it, but that doesn't mean we must do the same. Unfortunately, that pretty much guarantees some form of confrontation, but I think we can all agree that working through that is far better than allowing things to continue as they have in the past. Thé Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy" Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi "Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ All Archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
