William Ekwelu
He was the Minister for Constitutional Affairs and had a large role in the
formulation of the 1995 Constitution.
Help me here, 75% of complaints on Ugandas political arena is based on a
bad 1995 constitution, that it was written to empower only Museveni. There
is a call for a new constitution for the one written and running Uganda
today is very terrible. And here is where I am stuck, probably because I did
not go back to university as George Okello did, can Ugandans decry the 1995
constitution, with one side of the mouth yet turn around with the other side
of the very same mouth and praise Njuba for he wrote it?
That does not make sense to me does it to you sir? Just asking !!!!!!
EM
On the 49th
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"
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of william Ekwelu
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2013 11:53 PM
To: Ugandans-at-Heart
Subject: Re: {UAH} WBK@Sam Njuba was excluded from the M7's 'Mustard seed'?
We must strive to live by the example of Njub
The Baganda say it is more than a little impertinent to bother people who
are mourning the loss of a beloved elephant with news of the death of the
village rabbit.
The previous week was overshadowed by the death of Nelson Mandela and the
whole world seemed to stop to pay its respects to the great man. After
mourning an icon, I hope I will be forgiven for pausing to mourn the passing
of a highly respected but far lesser known elder, Sam Kalega Njuba.
Njuba was a soft spoken lawyer with a ready smile. He was a man of integrity
whose word was his bond. His dedication to the defence of basic human rights
caused him to clash with Idi Amins terror machine in the 1970s and to join
the Peoples Resistance Army (later the National Resistance Army) in the
fight against the forces of tyranny, oppression and exploitation in the
1980s.
He was the Minister for Constitutional Affairs and had a large role in the
formulation of the 1995 Constitution. Njuba was sacked from government as
the broad base that came together with the fundamental change began to
narrow.
He returned to private practice as a lawyer. He later joined the Elect Kizza
Besigye Task Force, which morphed into the Reform Agenda after the 2001
elections and merged with other political groupings to form the Forum for
Democratic Change in 2005.
At his massively attended funeral earlier this week, Mzee Njubas daughter
told the mourners that he had been writing a book but had not managed to get
it published before he died. When he died, his children rushed the
manuscript to print and at his funeral, the book was launched. At standard
(political, social and economic) temperature and pressure you would have
expected the book written by a lawyer of such standing to be about his court
room battles, tough negotiations and sweet commercial deals. Sadly, it
isnt.
Entitled The Betrayal, the book chronicles Mzee Njubas reluctant but
relentless confrontation with bad governance and the steps that he took to
fight it. He lived the latter part of his life as a reluctant politician
because as he put it in his own words, I have never admired politics. But
the political events, one after another in Uganda, led me into politics, and
I am stuck.
Mzee Njubas book is a tale of false dawns. First he tells of how quickly
the euphoria that welcomed Idi Amins overthrowing of Obote in 1971 became
fear and loathing. Then he tells of how the liberation of 1979, when
Tanzanian forces and the Uganda National Liberation Front overthrew Idi
Amin, evaporated and became an oppressive and exploitative regime. Finally
he narrates the story of how he became disillusioned with the fundamental
change that was ushered in by the NRM in 1986.
It is a simply written book and therefore very easy to read. I read it in a
day and it actually felt like Mzee Njuba was sitting right there talking to
me. There are a few grammatical and typographical mistakes, evidence of the
rush to publication, which I am sure will be sorted out in later editions.
It is a welcome addition to the record of modern political history.
We need a variety of written views from our history, in order that the
record may be made more complete and so that present and future analysts may
be able to tell what exactly went on by getting a 360 degree look at the
subject from the different points of view of the various actors.
Death is inevitable and it comes to all of us mostly when we least expect
it. So much as the passing of Mzee Njuba made me sad, I think reading his
book made me feel sadder. I recalled a conversation that I had with another
lawyer turned freedom fighter, who wondered what his life would have been
like if only matters of governance and politics had been different in
Uganda. How many bright futures, leave alone lives, need to be lost before
we realise the need for solid, sustainable, inclusive governance in this
country?
It is very easy for people to look at all of this, come to the realisation
that something is wrong but then to walk away and leave the problem for
somebody else to fix. If Mzee Njuba had done that he probably would have
been a roaring success as a lawyer or legal academic, here in Uganda or
wherever else he chose to lay his hat but he chose the hard lonely road. No
doubt, some of the liberty and freedom that we enjoy today is thanks to men
and women like him.
Freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness may be universal human
aspirations but they are not delivered on a silver platter and nor, once
gained, do they defend themselves. We must strive to live by the example of
Mzee Njuba to permanently deliver ourselves from the challenges that we
continue to face.
[email protected]
http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Commentary/We-must-strive-to-live-by-the-examp
le-of-Njuba/-/689364/2120302/-/view/printVersion/-/7c73ti/-/index.html
On Wed, Dec 18, 2013 at 4:37 AM, Hannah Ogwapiti
<[email protected]> wrote:
1."Hon Sam Kalega Njuba died a frustrated man because most of the promises
made during the bush struggle were ignored for instance Federal" Hon Ibrahim
Semujju Nganda.
2. He even abandoned his then better paying jobs of lecturing at Makerere
and president of ULS to join the liberation war but earned nothing from the
struggle-Ssemuju Nganda
3."Iam one of those who benefited from his efforts, the vehicle we used to
do reconnaissance(Spying) before attacking Kabamba belonged to the late Sam
Kalega Njuba"-We would not be here if he had not given us that vehicle" Gen
Elly Tumwine.
4."Hon Sam Kalega Njuba was instrumental in recruiting fighters for the
liberation war and went through a lot of hardship" Rt Hon Amama Mbabazi.
5."I was shocked that a Hero like Sam Njuba was left to die in poor
conditions, I found him in a poorly facilitated room at Nsambya hospital and
his wife and children were sited on the floor" Hon Gilbert Bukenya.
Mathew Rukikaire explained at the burial the reason Njuba was excluded from
the mustard seed, somebody would not have been embarrassed.
--
H.OGWAPITI
-----------------------------------------------------
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we
are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and
servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
---Theodore Roosevelt
--
"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"
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