Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Fr Gaetano Batanyenda’s prophetic call must be a wake-up call to translate our Constitution
Reverend Father Gaetano Batanyenda, the outspoken Catholic cleric
from Kabale Diocese gave an electrifying interview in the Ugandan paper,
Sunday Monitor September 23, titled “Museveni is hostage of his actions
and people around him”. A comment beneath his interview read “If
Uganda had 5 genuine patriots like Fr Gaetano, I think the Pearl of
africa would rise and shine again. Ndiwulira vva mu kasooli. I hope M7 takes
note of all these points raised by the man of God”. Ndiwulira vva
mu kasooli literary means, weevil get out of the maize corns.
Surely, this is an interview that should be taken very seriously by
all Ugandans and all partners of Uganda. I was particularly thrilled
by the fact that Fr Gaetano decried the failure to translate the Constitution
in the various Ugandan languages, a situation that has kept many Ugandans
not only poor but also ignorant.
Like Fr Gaetano stated, Article 4 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda
states that “The state shall promote awareness of this Constitution
by translating it into Ugandan languages and disseminating as wide as
possible and providing for the teaching of the Constitution in all the
educational institutions, armed forces, training and regularly transmitting
and publishing programmes through media generally”.
What baffles me, is that exactly seventeen years after the enactment
of the 1995 Constitution, no effort has ever been made to translate
the Constitution by the government or any of its agencies. The Uganda
Human Rights Commission (UHRC) is mandated to carry out civic education
among other functions. However, it has made no efforts to have our Constitution
translated into different languages. What some of the UHRC staff do
instead is to subject me, human rights activist Vincent Nuwagaba to
inhuman and degrading treatment in addition to labeling me a mentally
deranged person!
Credit must be given to the Human Rights Centre whose chair is Margaret
Ssekagya, former chairperson of the UHRC and current UN Special Rapporteur
on the status of human rights defenders. The Human Rights Centre has
at least laboured to translate chapter four of the Ugandan Constitution
which is dubbed the Uganda Bill of Rights into different languages.
The challenge, however, may be that the copies are not enough for the
entire country.
We must note that we have no legal obligation to put to task the non-governmental
organisations to translate for us the Constitution. What we have is
a mere moral obligation.
I understand, Machiavellian governments like the one we have in Kampala
derive pleasure in having poor and ignorant citizens. That is the sole
reason as to why our Constitution cannot be translated and distributed
to the ordinary citizens who are responsible for Museveni’s hold onto
power.
In the same issue of the Sunday Monitor, Mr Busingye Kabumba, a lecturer
of constitutional law at the once prestigious Makerere University wrote
under the article titled “The 1995 Uganda Constitution is nothing
but an illusory law” that “All power belongs to the President, who
exercises this power through the armed forces”. He went ahead to state
that, “Article 1 of the Constitution is a lie – and the Constitution
in Museveni’s Uganda is an elaborate farce that is cynically perpetrated
by the president to consolidate and extend his hold on power”.
I hereunder reproduce article 1 of the 1995 Ugandan Constitution,
1 (1) All power
belongs to the people who shall exercise their sovereignty in accordance
with this Constitution.
(2) Without limiting
the effect of clause (1) of this article, all authority in the State
emanates from the people of Uganda; and the people shall be governed
through their will and consent.
(3) All power
and authority of Government and its organs derive from this Constitution,
which in turn derives its authority from the people who consent to be
governed in accordance with this Constitution.
(4) The people
shall express their will and consent on who shall govern them and how
they should be governed, through regular, free and fair elections of
their representatives or through referenda.
Mr Busingye Kabumba
rightly avers that if one asked anyone on the Kampala streets where
power lies one would be told that all power belongs to the President
who exercises his sovereignty through the army. This is like he states
the unadulterated truth. What is particularly galling is that the president
no longer exercises his inglorious power through only the army but also
the police which ordinarily should be a civil force.
Why article 1 is a farce
But why is Article
1of our Constitution a farce? The answer clearly lies in the absurd
deliberate decision by President Museveni and his NRM machinery to confine
the knowledge of the Constitution to not only the elites but to a tiny
minority of the elites. During my days at Makerere University, we did
a course in Political Science known as Constitutionalism and Political
stability and then Administrative Law. That was the closest Political
Science students would come close to a Constitution. Not that they felt
the Constitution was important as a tool to defend and assert their
rights and demand accountability from the state but to many, it was
merely a tool to help them pass exams.
I stay with some
law students who have no copy of the Constitution and most likely they
last read it when they were studying Constitutional law or human rights.
The summary of it is that very few know their rights and the few who
know them don’t have the wherewithal to assert them. That’s why
the son of Kaguta will invariably tinker with that sacrosanct document
to suit his interests.
But the most
important reason why our Constitution has become illusory is because
the ordinary citizens have never had a chance to read it. True, our
reading culture is poor but some people in the villages take time to
discover what they are entitled to. I remember when I was a primary
school kid, my grandmother used to read and sometimes give me some books
to read for her – Abagyenda bareeba; Rwakyekoreire Buhaano, Eirwariro
rya Rwango, among others. My grandma couldn’t fail to read the Bible
and catechism book for the Catholic Church.
I am even sure,
if our Constitution was translated some of us would go with copies and
urge the ordinary people to read telling them that is what we read at
the university. How many wouldn’t want to get the knowledge that is
disseminated at the universities?
Museveni capitalizes on lies and the masses’ ignorance
For all the years
he has been in power, President Museveni has built a wedge between the
elites and the ordinary Ugandans. This, he has managed to do by maligning
the elites as liars and opportunists and portraying himself as a Godsend
saviour to the ordinary people. Whenever some of us attempt to teach
these people their Constitutional rights, many of them ignore us as
liars. In Ankole and Kigezi, there are two sayings which go, “Amaisho
gomukiga n’omunyankore nokwerebera” and “Amaisho gomukiga n’omunyankore
nokukwataho”. This means that for anybody from Kigezi or Ankole to
believe what one is saying, they have to see it with their naked eyes
and touch it with their hands. We have many doubting Thomases but like
Thomas said my Lord and my God after touching the scars of the risen
Jesus, the peasants will say, “our redeemers and saviours” when
we access them translated copies of the Constitution. Accordingly, our
people will believe the talk about rights – God given and Constitutional
rights when they see with their naked eyes official instruments where
those rights are documented.
And I believe
if the people fully understand that they have rights, they will surely
assert those rights. I spent nine months in Luzira prison over trumped
up charges of assault and threatening violence which the superior court
set aside and quashed the conviction upon appeal. But I was told many
people were condemning me for opposing the increment of fees to the
tune of 126 percent in public universities which according to Section
2 of the Universities and other Tertiary Institutions Act are universities
which must be maintained out of public funds. People didn’t know that
what I was doing was in my constitutional powers.
The Constitution
and all other human rights instruments that Uganda has ratified emphasise
the principle of non-discrimination. Sadly, we have people who courtesy
of patronage and clientelism are sponsored by taxpayers’ money by
statehouse while the majority sons and daughters of peasants drop out
of school. The Constitution decries sectarianism but the jobs are given
on the basis of “Ori Mwana wa ani” (whose son or daughter are you)
not meritocracy.
Some of us have
a record of excellence in what we have studied and we deem ourselves
to be the refined brains necessary for the transformation of Uganda.
However, we are denied the opportunity to serve our countrymen for two
reasons – 1) we are critical, 2) our parents and relatives never fought
in the senseless war that brought this regime to power.
While I appreciate
Fr Gaetano’s views in his interview with Sunday Monitor, I am diametrically
opposed to the idea that Museveni shouldn’t be held accountable for
the mistakes he committed while in power if he accepts to step aside
in 2016. This would promote impunity and I am worried should Museveni
study the public mood and realise it is in consonance with Fr Gaetano’s
view – that he should be for forgiven, he will concentrate on the
looting that has never been witnessed before and then steps aside in
2016 to enjoy the primitively accumulated wealth in a first class country.
Therefore, even if Museveni steps down in 2016 he should be tried for
the atrocities he has committed. Fr Gaetano must be reminded that errors
of commission and omission by Museveni since he launched his bush war
through the 27 years he has been in power don’t amount to mere mistakes.
They are sordid and grave atrocities. Remember the Mukula massacre in
Teso and all the crimes against humanity in northern Uganda. Remember
also that he has privatized state property without giving accountability.
His sectarianism has killed our generation and today people spend ten
to fifteen years roaming the streets with first class and second class
upper degrees when jobs are given to the mediocre with transcripts from
Nasser Road. What about the decrepit state of our hospitals when he
flies his daughters to give birth from developed countries when Ugandan
women cannot be attended to because of lack of gloves.
I have personally
suffered gravely at the hands of Museveni and his machinery which he
(Museveni) knows very well and no remedy has ever been extended to me.
I will commit suicide from the constitutional square should Museveni
and his associates be forgiven all the grave atrocities they have committed.
Finally, all
serious actors in Uganda whether religious leaders, civil society groups,
the opposition and the state agencies which are maintained by taxpayers’
money should push for the translation of our Constitution in all local
languages. Our people have been kept in ignorance for so long. But the
prophetic call by Reverend Father Gaetano Batanyenda should be a wake-up
call for all of us. Like the Bible in Luke 4: 18 says “The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good
news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed”. I definitely have no scintilla of hatred for President
Yoweri Museveni whose sense of humour I like. But I have all the hatred
for impunity which is not concomitant with constitutionalism, rule of
law, democracy and human rights values that I have devoted all my life
to promote. For God and my country.
Vincent Nuwagaba
is a human rights defender
The 9th Parliament must shun MP Drito’s move with utter contempt
By Vincent Nuwagaba
Posted Tuesday, September 4 2012 at 01:00
Posted Tuesday, September 4 2012 at 01:00
In Summary
Drito also reportedly stated thus, “This is a way of
promoting democracy so that we have in our society a number of leaders
whom we can bank on for advice in leadership when they leave office”. I
am amazed that a whole Member of Parliament doesn’t know that democracy
and impunity are not concomitant.
I read with utter shock and consternation the
September 2, Sunday Monitor story titled, “NRM legislator to table Bill
on extending presidential immunity”. Already youth MP Peter Ogwang is
busy seducing Museveni to come back in 2016; now MP Martin Drito is
moving to desecrate our Constitution! What’s wrong with these MPs?
A Constitution is supposed to be a living document
which shouldn’t be tinkered with all the time. The American
Constitution which has lasted 225 years has had only 27 amendments. As
for Uganda, like I stated before in these pages, I lose count of how
many times our Constitution has been altered. A Constitutional amendment
should be for the public good, not for shielding one particular
individual or a small group of individuals.
Drito reportedly said, “The presidents when
serving the country will be rest assured that when out of power, they
will not be prosecuted because I am sure many of them must be scared of
jail and any form of punishment when they are immunity-free”. I would
like to assure Mr Drito that that’s exactly what rule of law means -
that nobody whether the king or the president is above the law. Hon
Drito’s move is utterly antithetical to rule of law.
Drito also reportedly stated thus, “This is a way
of promoting democracy so that we have in our society a number of
leaders whom we can bank on for advice in leadership when they leave
office”. I am amazed that a whole Member of Parliament doesn’t know that
democracy and impunity are not concomitant.
The proposed constitutional amendment will promote
impunity and is antithetical to international law. With such a
provision in our Constitution, we can get a heartless, greedy,
insensitive and inconsiderate leader who will personalise state
property, donate some to cronies and relatives, kill political
opponents, abuse human rights with impunity; override all state
institutions, including Parliament and the Judiciary and we have nothing
to do. We don’t need in our society any human being who is clearly
above the law.
Should Drito’s proposed Constitutional Amendment
(Immunity for the outgoing President) Bill 2012 be passed (God forbid),
we shall confirm that Parliament is anti-people. Our MPs should beware
of introducing what Professor George Kanyeihamba calls constitutional
viruses in our Constitution. In their wisdom, the framers of the 1995
Constitution knew well that all the immunity the President needs is what
Article 98 provides.
Drito should be reminded that his move is the most
unpatriotic move and he should totally erase it from his mind.
President Museveni should also pronounce himself on this move and assure
the nation that he is not behind this inglorious proposed
Constitutional Amendment Bill.
At the height of the campaign to expunge the term
limits provision which was provided for under Article 105(2) in our
Constitution, some of us in civil society vehemently opposed the move
for we knew it would set the country on a path to democratic reversals.
Personally, I wrote many pieces in newspapers and spoke on the then
popular Ekimezza. However, the unpatriotic Seventh Parliament members,
went ahead and expunged the provision to pave way for President Museveni
to rule until he gets tired.
Today, I see some of the MPs who voted to remove
term limits championing the campaign to restore term limits. Drito may
be in NRM today and he is safe because it is the ruling party. A few
years from today he might find himself in the opposition. I don’t think
he would like it when he is tortured and traumatised at the orders of a
president who will be immune from prosecution even when he/she is out of
power. There are many Ugandans who will never forgive the Seventh
Parliament for desecrating our Constitution; I call upon the Ninth
Parliament not to further desecrate our Constitution. Please, shun
Drito’s move with the contempt it deserves. Only then can we truly say,
For God and My Country.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender.
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Translation of our Constitution in local languages must be govt priority
By Vincent Nuwagaba
Posted Thursday, October 4 2012 at 01:00
Posted Thursday, October 4 2012 at 01:00
In Summary
As we mark 50 years as an independent state, I make a
clarion call to the political leaders to prioritise the translation of
the Constitution in local languages. The government should also
distribute copies of the Constitution to all Local Council leaders...
Reverend Fr Gaetano Batanyenda’s interview
titled “Museveni is hostage of his actions and people around him”
published by the Sunday Monitor of September 23, captivated me. The man
of God gives prophetic words in his interview which if followed would
deliver this country. I find very enthralling, the fact that he decries
the failure by the government to translate the Constitution into the
different local languages.
Indeed, Fr Gaetano is right when he asks, “Imagine
being illiterate and poor, what can you do?” Poverty and illiteracy
inevitably have frustration, normlessness, and hopelessness as
by-products. Ultimately, poverty and illiteracy beget further poverty
and illiteracy just like the Bible says in Galatians 6:7 (What you sow
is what you reap). A society whose citizenry is ignorant of its rights
cannot demand and assert their rights, including the right to
development.
President Museveni has always touted the teaching
of the so-called science subjects because they are marketable.
Nonetheless, the concentration on sciences at the expense of humanities
and social sciences has created docile citizens who cannot hold their
leaders to account. Today, civics is no longer taught in primary
schools, political education is less emphasised in secondary schools and
government institutions such as the Uganda Human Rights Commission
which should ordinarily carry out civic education seem to be less
enthusiastic about the translation of our Constitution.
As we mark 50 years as an independent state, I
make a clarion call to the political leaders to prioritise the
translation of the Constitution to local languages. The government
should also distribute copies of the Constitution to all Local Council
leaders free of charge. And, indeed, like Fr Batanyenda argued, the
excuse of no money shouldn’t arise because we have a lot of money
squandered in useless ventures. I would appreciate the patriotism hype,
if it was aimed at teaching our people about our Constitution and other
relevant laws and rights.
It is a shame that though Ugandans participated in
the making of the Constitution through their elected delegates, 90 per
cent don’t know what the Constitution entails. Our people must be
empowered through knowing that the Constitution provides parameters
within which our leaders must operate and that if leaders go beyond
those parameters, there are sanctions in the Constitution. If our
patriotism drive will entail teaching citizens their God given and
constitutional rights, I am ready to render my services at no cost.
After all, I attained university education on taxpayers’ money.
I commend Fr Batanyenda for acknowledging that
religious leaders are compromised with favours from President Museveni
which he equates with “kissing Jesus on the other cheek” therefore
betraying him by not fighting for his people. As a matter of fact,
religious leaders are the salt and the light of the earth (Matthew
5:13-16). The Bible says, “Your light must shine before others, that
they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father”.
The religious leaders whose deeds shine are those
who are guided by the scripture in Luke 4:18; those who know they are
annointed to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the
captives and sight to the blind. That’s exactly what Fr Gaetano and some
other clerics are doing by condemning corruption, impunity and grave
human rights violations. Indeed, Jesus came so that we might have life
and have it abundantly. Accordingly, the clerics cannot confine
themselves to spiritual aspects and abandon the struggle for justice.
While some people argue that wielding power for so
long is synonymous with success, Fr Gaetano says, “You see the
definition of success is to have and live a successor, and if you can’t
have a successor, then you are not successful”. This candid counsel
should be taken seriously.
While I concur with Fr Batanyenda in his
interview, I radically disagree with him when he says Museveni shouldn’t
be held accountable for mistakes he made while in power. This is
tantamount to impunity.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender.
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Letter to Commissioner General of Prisons
Dear Dr Johnson Byabashaija,
I have been in Murchison Bay
prison as an inmate for three times. First as a remand between 19th August to
3rd September 2009, second as a convict (although I was innocent and was later
acquitted) from 2nd February to 13th October.
I wish to raise the following
issues if indeed like you Dr Byabashaija have always stated the prisons are to be
correctional centres;
1. Prisoners' rights must be respected,
protected and promoted by the Uganda Prisons' Services. While in Murchison Bay the OC Mr Selestine Twesigye does
his best, reports I have got from Kiggo are appalling and reports from prison
farms are heart-breaking. I have also had an opportunity to witness with my own
eyes prisoners who are maimed and permanently disabled from the prison farms. I
have not seen any prisoner who tells me that after his/her sentence they are
given money yet they are overworked like donkeys. This is a modern form of slavery
which is contrary to article 44 of the Ugandan Constitution.
2. It is my considered view that
either the office of Welfare/Rehabilitation officer be closed or the senior
occupant Nurru Kateregga be relieved of the responsibilities she is charged with.
FHRI's para legal advisory services
facilitates that office by among others air time, motorcycles and other
paraphernalia. Shamelessly, they have always been asking inmates to sign for
money with the property stores so as to buy air time and make phone calls for
them. Definitely, you are aware that more than 90 per cent of the inmates don't
have the money and receive no visitors.
Nurru Katerega tortured me
psychologically and deliberately refused to attend to me hence depriving me of
my rights to use the welfare office. I have vowed to fight back just in case I
am to be taken back. Not because I am a criminal but because in banana
Republics like ours, prison is home for serious human rights defenders,
journalists, authors, researchers and opposition politicians. Personally, I am
not a mere human rights defender who laments but I have come to a conclusion
that with Museveni as a president, our human rights situation can only get
worse. Therefore, I am using my brains to disorganise him, to raise awareness
and have very many Ugandans annoyed and to portray him as a monstrous president
that he is. Consequently, I have always been tortured, traumatised, tormented,
persecuted and oppressed. I have always had trumped up charges against me but I
am not about to capitulate. If Museveni with a handful of followers managed to
overthrow the then political establishment in five years when there was no face
book, there were no mobile phones, there was no internet and majority of the
people were illiterate, how can we fail to remove his dictatorship with all the
facilities in our favour. And I don't mean that we shall pick arms to fight
him. We are sure that we shall liberate this country without firing a single
shot. In any case the dispossessed and deprived armed personnel - the military,
the police and the prisons personnel will reach a point and turn the guns
against their enemy.
I would not want such a scenario
though. What I need is for us to oust the NRM and get Museveni, Kayihura and
other thieves and blood stained NRM members and throw them in Luzira for
eternity. I am impassioned for justice and I abhor the injustice orchestrated,
perpetrated and perpetuated by Museveni. I will never ever support Museveni and
I will use all the time God has given on earth scheming on how to break his
political spine.
I call upon you to conduct
yourselves professionally, serve whoever comes as a leader and desist from
partisan politics. Leave that to Kale Kayihura. But we shall surely penalise
him.
Finally, if Nurru Kateregga is
not kicked out of the welfare office in Murchison Bay,
I will have to use the press but also I will appeal to FHRI to reconsider our
partnership with Murchison Bay Prison. I have a hunch that she didn't sit the
interview and if she did, there must have been irregularities in the selection.
She cannot know that public offices are not only impersonal but they belong to
the public. She doesn't know that in prison, a prisoner is more important than
her. She doesn't know that she is not paid a salary by tax payer's to conduct
personal business - doing her course work for UMI during the working hours. She
reports at 11am and leaves at 1pm. She is arrogant, myopic and narrow-minded.
One of the reasons for her arrogance I was told by a certain PO
that it is because she is beautiful. I hope that is not the ticket that got her
the job. I hope the phone number is meant to ensure feedback. I would like to
come and debate with the prisons authorities the contents of my email. For God
and my country.
Vincent Nuwagaba
The police strike is quite enthralling
I am enthralled that at long last the police have woken up from their slumber. The strike that we saw on the 5th and 6th of November by the police men's wives was not actually a strike by the women. It was the police themselves on strike through proxy. It is pretty clear that upon marriage a man and his wife become one flesh and thereby cease being two but one person. We also must realise that the women couldn't go on strike without the approval of their husbands and go back the following day.
What does this teach the ruling NRM party? The centre ca no longer hold and things have fallen apart. I am aware that if the President doesn't abdicate his top lieutenants will most likely fight him. Typical of all Machiavellian politicians Museveni has been employing various tools to maintain his hold onto power. For more than two decades, he had never made his mind known to all the people working with him. The supersonic speed at which he is promoting his son, however, has proven to everyone whose eyes are open that he is preparing to create a Kaguta dynasty.
The grand theft euphemistically called corruption is another serious matter that is fast leading to Museveni's down fall. For so long he has been stealing and as he steals his appetite to continue to steal increases. Foolishly, he doesn't realise that he will never in his life consume what he has stolen and his absurd long hand will instead haunt his children. Right now none of Museveni's children or in-law can walk on the streets of Kampala boldly without thinking that somebody is there to spite them.
I am also fully convinced that Museveni is now a captive. For twenty seven years he has broached peace, unity, development, modernisation, prosperity for all, socio-economic transformation and all other flowery slogans. But what do we see instead? As Pope Paul VI observed, "Development is a new name for peace". Accordingly, since development has eluded us, peace has eluded us. Today, a police man who dropped out of school in senior four cannot educate his children beyond senior four. The salary of a special police constable cannot maintain a family of six for two weeks. While the police have been used, abused and misused by Kayihura to inflict torture on opposition politicians and activists, the police are also tortured psychologically.
Gen Kale Kayihura has militarised the police, he runs it as his personal estate, he plants the newly recruited NRM cadres onto the senior officers to spy on them, he has turned the police into enemies of civilians to the extent that even children associate the police with cruelty. Today, around lunch time I was strolling through Kololo and I met very young girls aged between around six and eight. When we started talking they told me I could be a police man and that I would beat them with batons or spray pepper onto them. During our days as undergraduate students at Makerere, students would always sing "police, our murderers, we shall never forget you". Today, they sing, "Police, our murderers, we shall never forgive you".
I pity the police. They suffer double tragedy namely enmity from the civilians and squalid living conditions, meager pay, poor working conditions all of which inflict psychological wounds not only on them but also onto their families. I would call upon the Police to disregard Kayihura's illegal orders and stand for the common good. We don't have to labour so much explaining to the police that Museveni doesn't like them but he only uses, abuses and misuses them. The same applies to the teachers, doctors, the military and all civil servants.Today, the NRM has been synonymous with scandal as if scandal is the NRM's first name. The question I would want to pose is, are Ugandans inherently evil? My answer is no. The Bible is very clear. What you sow is what you reap (Galatians 6:7).
The Ugandan political elite under Museveni has sown theft and that's exactly what it is reaping. Uganda under Museveni is suffering from the most deadly virus - AIDS. The AIDS I mean is Acquired Integrity Deficiency Syndrome. When a permanent secretary in the office of prime minister audaciously states that money fell from heaven so they had to use it the way they wanted you begin to wonder whether these people are not schizophrenic. Museveni can never fight theft of public resources because he is the grand thief. He has also stated in the past that he, Mbabazi and Otafiire came a long way together and that is why he will always defend them whenever they fall into hot soup. It is also clear that many of the politicians that have been stealing with him will always support him because they know once he is out of power they will be in prison. Nonetheless, they forget that God has already liberated Uganda.
One other thing I would like to warn Ugandans about is to beware of those who portray themselves as holier than thou. Mzee Gureme once told me that like the fox, the first lady Janet Museveni barks from every hill in Kampala. While in the past, Kampala used to have seven hills, today they are more than thirty. The woman, apart from a salary which she began earning in 2006 has no known source of income. How did she get the money to put in place all those estates? Finally, I have identified only four categories of the people in the NRM: the grand thieves, the opportunists, the frustrated and the ignorant. We can forgive those who are frustrated hence being pessimistic. And inevitably we shall forgive the ignorant for just like Jesus said "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34), the ignorant don't know what they are doing. To the rest, I leave you with the words of Edmund Burke who said that "The necessary condition for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". Personally, I have told truth to power and thrown in a furnace, what have you done? For God and my country.
What does this teach the ruling NRM party? The centre ca no longer hold and things have fallen apart. I am aware that if the President doesn't abdicate his top lieutenants will most likely fight him. Typical of all Machiavellian politicians Museveni has been employing various tools to maintain his hold onto power. For more than two decades, he had never made his mind known to all the people working with him. The supersonic speed at which he is promoting his son, however, has proven to everyone whose eyes are open that he is preparing to create a Kaguta dynasty.
The grand theft euphemistically called corruption is another serious matter that is fast leading to Museveni's down fall. For so long he has been stealing and as he steals his appetite to continue to steal increases. Foolishly, he doesn't realise that he will never in his life consume what he has stolen and his absurd long hand will instead haunt his children. Right now none of Museveni's children or in-law can walk on the streets of Kampala boldly without thinking that somebody is there to spite them.
I am also fully convinced that Museveni is now a captive. For twenty seven years he has broached peace, unity, development, modernisation, prosperity for all, socio-economic transformation and all other flowery slogans. But what do we see instead? As Pope Paul VI observed, "Development is a new name for peace". Accordingly, since development has eluded us, peace has eluded us. Today, a police man who dropped out of school in senior four cannot educate his children beyond senior four. The salary of a special police constable cannot maintain a family of six for two weeks. While the police have been used, abused and misused by Kayihura to inflict torture on opposition politicians and activists, the police are also tortured psychologically.
Gen Kale Kayihura has militarised the police, he runs it as his personal estate, he plants the newly recruited NRM cadres onto the senior officers to spy on them, he has turned the police into enemies of civilians to the extent that even children associate the police with cruelty. Today, around lunch time I was strolling through Kololo and I met very young girls aged between around six and eight. When we started talking they told me I could be a police man and that I would beat them with batons or spray pepper onto them. During our days as undergraduate students at Makerere, students would always sing "police, our murderers, we shall never forget you". Today, they sing, "Police, our murderers, we shall never forgive you".
I pity the police. They suffer double tragedy namely enmity from the civilians and squalid living conditions, meager pay, poor working conditions all of which inflict psychological wounds not only on them but also onto their families. I would call upon the Police to disregard Kayihura's illegal orders and stand for the common good. We don't have to labour so much explaining to the police that Museveni doesn't like them but he only uses, abuses and misuses them. The same applies to the teachers, doctors, the military and all civil servants.Today, the NRM has been synonymous with scandal as if scandal is the NRM's first name. The question I would want to pose is, are Ugandans inherently evil? My answer is no. The Bible is very clear. What you sow is what you reap (Galatians 6:7).
The Ugandan political elite under Museveni has sown theft and that's exactly what it is reaping. Uganda under Museveni is suffering from the most deadly virus - AIDS. The AIDS I mean is Acquired Integrity Deficiency Syndrome. When a permanent secretary in the office of prime minister audaciously states that money fell from heaven so they had to use it the way they wanted you begin to wonder whether these people are not schizophrenic. Museveni can never fight theft of public resources because he is the grand thief. He has also stated in the past that he, Mbabazi and Otafiire came a long way together and that is why he will always defend them whenever they fall into hot soup. It is also clear that many of the politicians that have been stealing with him will always support him because they know once he is out of power they will be in prison. Nonetheless, they forget that God has already liberated Uganda.
One other thing I would like to warn Ugandans about is to beware of those who portray themselves as holier than thou. Mzee Gureme once told me that like the fox, the first lady Janet Museveni barks from every hill in Kampala. While in the past, Kampala used to have seven hills, today they are more than thirty. The woman, apart from a salary which she began earning in 2006 has no known source of income. How did she get the money to put in place all those estates? Finally, I have identified only four categories of the people in the NRM: the grand thieves, the opportunists, the frustrated and the ignorant. We can forgive those who are frustrated hence being pessimistic. And inevitably we shall forgive the ignorant for just like Jesus said "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34), the ignorant don't know what they are doing. To the rest, I leave you with the words of Edmund Burke who said that "The necessary condition for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". Personally, I have told truth to power and thrown in a furnace, what have you done? For God and my country.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Thursday, 19 April 2012 20:18
8 Comments
We claim to be knowledgeable because we have accessed Western education.But we have failed, or deliberately refused, to use our knowledge to solve our problems. Ultimately, we have allowed mediocrity to flourish. Makerere University is in the process of searching for a substantive vice chancellor, with Professor Venansius Baryamureeba’s tenure having ended. Here is what the university should focus on: Some Makerere University lecturers (certainly not all of them) solicit money from students in exchange for marks, just as some students solicit marks from lecturers in exchange for money.
Some staff in the senate, who enter
students’ marks also solicit money from students in exchange for better
grades, just as some students solicit better grades in exchange for
money. I am at pains to reveal this grim reality, as many people are
aware, but have not had the wherewithal to have this information
published. But like Norbert Mao says, “you cannot treat a cancer with
Vaseline”: we cannot solve problems without tackling their root causes.
I reveal this not because I hate
Makerere University, which is my alma mater, but because I love the
institution dearly and I fell in love with its motto “We build for the
future” when I joined it. The press has reported about cases of sex in
exchange for marks in the same institution before and these reports
cannot just be dismissed.
While appearing on a UBC TV show on
March 6, 2008, I stated that because the job market favours the
mediocre, the philosopher kings, if I can borrow from Plato, were busy
working as coursework mercenaries, running coursework bureaus in
Wandegeya and around Kikoni and Nakulabye, and I was vindicated a few
weeks ago when Sunday Vision ran a comprehensive feature on coursework
mercenaries.
This is happening, not because the
‘academic giants’, as Dr Simba Kayunga used to call them, have no
integrity, but because for them to survive in Kampala where virtually
only the dirty thrive, they have to break some moral rules and trash
their values. Corruption begets corruption and if one cheats in the
exams, or hires mercenaries to do coursework for them, they ‘earn’ a
certificate not a degree. I should add that those who buy marks usually
pose around with Makerere University papers but they do not have
degrees.
A degree is intrinsic. It is not just a
transcript or a certificate. And alas, this problem is not confined to
Makerere University. During our school days, some students in relatively
good schools also used to access UNEB exam papers beforehand, which
they used to call it akasasi in Runyankore-Rukiga parlance.
If a Law student cheats exams to be
admitted to the Law programme, buys marks at LDC and he or she ends up
enrolling as an advocate, what sort of advocate will he/she be? What
will stop such a person from being compromised with bribes? If such a
person is ultimately appointed as a magistrate or judge, what sort of
justice will they dispense since from their formative stages, they will
have been corrupted? Those retained as teaching assistants are selected
basing on their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). Now, if one
coughs money to get good grades, what sort of lecturers are we getting
for our children?
If Makerere, which churns out
professionals of all kinds, is promoting mediocrity, why should we be
surprised that we have mediocre lawyers, teachers, physicians, pastors,
and politicians? Why should we be surprised to find journalists who
practise yellow journalism and do public relations instead of sticking
to principles of accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, balance and
attention to detail?
Of course, what happens at Makerere is
replicated in other institutions. If anything, in other universities it
could even be worse. I remember in one of the ACODE breakfast meetings,
economist Bernard Tayebwa stated that Ugandans survive through kuyiiya
(cutting corners). This explains the dubious deals many Ugandans engage
in. It is absurd that today, people with integrity are shunned and
labelled failures while the crooks are glorified. Makerere can only
build for the future by embracing integrity and leading by example.The author is a human rights defender.
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Negative ethnicity: Devouring Uganda?
My friend Angela has been an ardent
supporter of Uganda’s opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Party
and has together with her husband vigorously campaigned for Dr. Besigye
and Honourable Jack Sabiiti in three past elections. In a sudden twist
of events, she recently met me and told me she had defected to the
Museveni camp.
“Mwaana nyowe nabiire owa Museveni; yayenda ategyeke, nomwana weye hamwe nomwijukuru” (I have become Museveni’s supporter; let him reign and thereafter, his son and grandson) she told me.
Reason? She was exasperated by some elites from
Buganda who had travelled with her in a taxi and vowed to ruthlessly
crush all westerners should Museveni quit power. When she reportedly
said she has never supported Museveni, the other passengers reportedly
told her: “Twala eli, silika; tubammanyi, mwenna mufanagana” (That is: shut up, we know you, you are all similar).
I understand Angela’s exasperation with the
anti-Museveni camp especially those from outside western Uganda. I have
personally been stigmatised, abused and suspected by my would-be allies
because I hail from Ankole. However, I told her: “That’s the most
important reason why you should strongly oppose Museveni and dissuade
many people from supporting him.” She strongly refused to accept my
reasoning.
We are all losers
It is amazing to note that despite the fact that the
most acerbic critics of the NRM and Museveni are from the west, many
non-westerners have not appreciated the fact that the west as a region
has lost almost as much as the other regions during Museveni’s regime.
During currency reform, all Ugandans lost 30% of their money. When banks
were raided by the bush war fighters, all Ugandans lost. The adoption
of SAPs and the botched privatisation policy made all of us losers. When
cooperatives died, the Banyankole Kweterana also died. When Government
sanctioned the increment of fees in public universities up to 126% in
August 2009, some Banyankole and Bakiga children dropped out of school.
We have people who naively think that when there are
no drugs in the national referral hospital at Mulago, western regional
referral hospitals and other health centres in the west have drugs.
That’s an illusion. There are people who naively think that children of
the Bakiga and Banyankole (who by the way are like identical if not
Siamese twins) access statehouse scholarships.There are people who think
that corruption is a project by the ruling National Resistance Movement
(NRM) Party aimed at enriching the westerners. Some people believe that
all westerners that oppose Museveni are implanted into the opposition
as spies and they call them ISO operatives. I know of some friends in
Uganda Young Democrats (UYD), a youth wing of the Democratic Party who
used to think I was an ISO operative. I also know that many of the UYDs
knew that I was genuinely opposed to injustice and that I cherished
principles of truth and justice – principles espoused by the Democratic
Party.
On Monday 14th November, I had a discussion with
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Ibin Ssenkumbi. “As a person from
Ankole, you even have a road paved up to your home; you went to Makerere
University on government sponsorship; you are favoured and you
shouldn’t criticise this government,” he told me.
Sadly, that’s many Ugandans’ mentality. I never
wasted time refuting those allegations. I told him that that was the
more reason why I criticise the ruling establishment. It has divided
Ugandans. I cherish social justice, economic justice and equal
opportunity.
All Ugandans should access quality education, quality
healthcare and decent standards of living. They should be equal before
the law. None should fail to get legal representation. If Nuwagaba, a
son of peasants from Kanyabwanga and Bitereko in Bushenyi has a Master’s
degree, he should stand equal chances of getting opportunities as, say,
Francis Musinguzi Otafiire, a son of a minister. If they apply for a
job, it should be given on meritocracy basis. If there are two people
with similar credentials who put in similar effort at work, they should
be paid an equal amount of money regardless of what departments they
work for – that’s equal pay for equal value of work.
Scholarships should be given on the basis of merit
and need. Shockingly, in Uganda scholarships are given to ministers’
children and foreigners.When the Banyarwanda of Uganda go to Rwanda,
they remain Banyarwanda. When those from Rwanda come to Uganda, they
become Ugandans. Many Banyarwanda are getting State House scholarships.
Recently, a young man found me in some Makerere university professor’s
office and bragged of how he was not bothered with tuition because he
was on a State House scholarship. After his departure, the professor
told me in Runyankole: “Mbwenu ebi nenki, kushanga imwe muremirwe fees, emishoro yaitu neshashurira abanyarwanda.”
Literally, this translated to mean:, “What is this? You people fail to
raise fees when our taxes are used to pay fees for Rwandans?”
These developments annoy Banyankole, Bakiga, Banyoro,
and Batooro as much as they annoy all other Ugandans. It’s morally
repugnant and politically imprudent that we westerners can be targeted
for extermination just because we are westerners. In any case, we didn’t
apply to be westerners.
Piece of advice
I have a word for those who make inflammatory
statements about westerners. All Ugandans are accommodative. The Baganda
have accommodated all Ugandan ethnic groups, including foreigners. If
President Museveni or my area MP Otafiire wronged anyone, what does it
have to do with me? Is it criminal to come from the same region with the
president and other political rulers?
While studying the unification of Germany and Italy, I
learnt that Germany and Italy, faced with similar problems, had to
adopt similar means to solve them. Likewise, Ugandans face similar
problems of poverty, graduate unemployment, corruption, a collapsed
healthcare system; a disoriented education system; unjust and selective
criminal justice system; meager wages for workers resulting into the
phenomenon of the working poor, and general misery instead of general
happiness. We can only solve them by focusing on things that unite us
rather than those that disunite us.
Let’s focus on things over which we have control such
as ideological paradigms - not those over which we cannot have control
such as ethnicity. We must preach and practice love, unity, justice,
transparency, honesty and brotherhood. Lyandro Komakech and Opobo
Wilfred from Acholiland helped me so much while at campus; Asuman
Basalirwa has always been there for me when the state attempts to dump
me in Luzira; Livingstone Sewanyana gave me a job that helped me pay my
tuition. So many Acholi, Iteso, Karamajong, Baganda, and Basoga have
been there for me. Likewise Banyankole, Bakiga, Batooro, Banyoro have
stood by me. I don’t think they do that because I am from their region
but because I am a human being entitled to an inherent right to human
dignity. We should harness our cultural and ethnic differences to enrich
our society. Why can’t we advocate intermarriages so as to stop
inbreeding and ensure producing real Ugandans?
To Angela and all my brothers and sisters from
Ankole, Kigezi, Mpororo, Tooro, Bunyoro and Bukonzo, if we support
Museveni, we will only postpone the danger but will make it real at any
time. Accordingly, we should be the vanguards of opposing NRM’s
injustices. I am sure, before Museveni, Uganda was not polarized along
ethnic lines. We had many northerners and easterners study from the
west, westerners study from the north, east and central and that
enhanced social and political cohesion in spite of cultural diversity.
From my own district Bushenyi during Obote II regime, we had five
ministers – Edward Rurangaranga, Cris Rwakasiisi, Adonia Tiberondwa,
Yonasani Kanyomozi, Ephraim Kamuntu and we had other key government
figures.
Tell me any single district outside western Uganda
with three ministers. Surprisingly, those ministers hardly help
westerners. They only endanger us. When Obote lost power, the Luo
suffered; when Amin lost power, the Kakwa and Nubians reportedly
suffered. We as westerners shouldn’t suffer after Museveni has lost
power. We can forestall the suffering when we distance ourselves from
him as his government commits atrocities. For God and my country!
By Vincent Nuwagaba.
The author is a blogger at http://www.vnuwagaba.blogspot.com/ and can be reached via email at mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.co.ug
Museveni's Honorary Degree A Mockery
 |
| Makerere University |
On the basis of this adage, I highly doubt whether
Uganda’s president is a statesman. In my view, Mr. Museveni is a typical
Machiavellian politician. In 1987 during the currency reform, each
person that took money for changing lost thirty percent of that money.
The government immediately embarked on the unholy Structural Adjustment
Programmes (SAPs). Thereafter, Museveni embarked on divestiture of our
parastatals, marketing boards, cooperative unions and Uganda Hotels.
This was followed by the sale or giveaway of our banks including those
that were making huge profits. The NRM government then embarked on
giving away public land and this was followed by directly fleecing of
the public as was with the case of Concern for Orphans, Widows and the
Elderly (COWE). Accordingly, whoever awards Museveni for his superb
performance is deluding himself. A statesman builds for the future and
doesn’t mortgage his nation.
What does it take for a leader to build for the future?
A leader can build for the future if they made
education available, affordable, and accessible to both the rich and the
poor. A distinguished, outstanding and eminent statesman fights
corruption root and branch. This then ensures that money to equip
hospitals with drugs is available; money to pay our medical workers
handsomely is available; to build industries and factories, to create
jobs for the unemployed is available. I surely wouldn’t honour Museveni
as an eminent statesman. Today Museveni’s fight against corruption is
cosmetic as it is discriminatory. He at one time said, he has come a
long way with Mbabazi and Otafiire and that is why he defends them
whenever the duo are in a hot soup.
Museveni has presided over failed state institutions
and has done nothing to forestall this. In fact, he is squarely
responsible for dysfunctional state institutions. I know the award is
being given to him for opportunistic reasons expecting that the
president will now fund the university. This surely casts doubt on the
credibility of our university with Professor Venancius Baryamureba as
the vice chancellor. We ought to note that it is the obligation of the
state to adequately fund its institutions.
It is ironical that Makerere University is awarding
the president at a time when university dons have been turned into
paupers and they hardly can sponsor their children in a university where
they teach. This is the genesis of Professor Baryamureba’s mistakes and
I hope it becomes the last. Professor Baryamureba has once threatened
to expel students who participate in strikes as if he doesn’t know that
it is a form of exercising their rights.
As an alumnus of Makerere University, I am deeply
touched that our honorary degrees can be awarded anyhow. An honorary
degree should be a prestigious award given to people that have been
exemplary not for just boosting people’s curriculum vitae. If it was to
be awarded to a leader such as Paul Kagame who has moved his country
from scratch to strength, it would be understandable. Possibly, Museveni
would learn from Kagame’s award and change from his transactional
leadership style to transformational leadership.
During Museveni’s tenure as Uganda’s president, it is
rare to give jobs on merit. What works is the spoils system typical of
his patronage and clientelism. Today, higher education is a preserve of
the rich. The few peasants’ children who by accident attain higher
education are condemned to eternal unemployment because jobs are given
to children whose parents fought, the cronies and relatives of the
powers that be and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) cadres most of
whom forge academic credentials from Nasser Road.
Currently, if a pa
Rwandan leadership is an embodiment of genuine democracy
Although I never knew that cricket is an exclusive game to the Commonwealth nations, I don’t fathom its relevance to poor African states.
That said, Mr. Ingram faults Rwanda on her democratic credentials, a reason why he strongly argues that Rwanda should not be allowed to join the commonwealth.
It is on the basis of this argument that I radically disagree with Mr. Derek Ingram. I feel that the concept ‘democracy’ has been used, abused and misused to suit the interests of particular interest groups.
Many elites in Uganda claim that Rwanda is an authoritarian state and Uganda is a democracy. Without necessarily going to the philosophical underpinnings of the democracy concept, let us use the commonly used definition of democracy according to Abraham Lincoln who defined it as the rule of the people, for the people and by the people.
If we are to read between the lines, this definition doesn’t necessarily mean what the Eurocentric school of thought takes the term to be.
Democracy is a twin sister to human rights. There is such a thin line between democracy and human rights that no country can genuinely claim to be a democracy when its human rights record is poor.
This takes me to the crux of my argument. Why should Mr. Derek Ingram fault Rwanda’s democratic credentials yet he makes no comment about Uganda’s democratic deficit, a country that hosted the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) only two years ago?
The author of the article said that the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) sent an eminent international lawyer Yash Ghai on a mission to Rwanda to discover whether Rwanda fulfils the commonwealth requirements and that his report found that Rwanda doesn’t measure up.
Maybe the CHRI confines its standard measures to Civil liberties and political rights and has nothing to do with socio-economic rights.
According to Yash Ghai’s report, Rwanda’s government “has not hesitated to use violence at home and abroad when it has suited it.” The question whose answer I earnestly desire is: haven’t some of Rwanda’s neighbours used force both at home and abroad when it favours them? Rwanda is not as aggressive as Uganda yet Uganda is not portrayed in such a negative manner.
The article smacks of double standards and dishonesty on the part of the Commonwealth states.
The author of the article says that Rwanda should wait for next year’s presidential elections and that their fairness is the one that will give the country a green light to apply for joining the commonwealth at the next CHOGM.
Why wasn’t CHOGM hosted by other countries after the opposition rightly raised the concerns of 2006 rigged and violent elections?
To begin with, Rwanda doesn’t have to beg to become a member of the Commonwealth. After all, most members are no better. “Commonwealth” members display common opulence, profligacy and corruption on the part of the ruling oligarchies. The commonwealth label is only applicable to the rulers.
To the majority citizens however, what is common is misery, neglect, despair and complacency. Thus, I feel Rwanda has little to gain by joining the “Commonwealth” members.
Why should independent third world states desire to pay allegiance to the Queen of England? Is Rwanda targeting donor funds from Britain?
Although I don’t believe that we should de-link ourselves from the north, as much as we need them (the capitalist north), they equally need us. We need their money, they need our raw materials. So it is quid pro quo.
That said, I wish to use this as an opportunity to share my views about the cherished concepts of democracy and human rights from a Pan African perspective.
I know that these concepts are universal but the Eurocentric scholars typified by Derek Ingram want to bamboozle us by confining democracy and human rights to the terrain of civil liberties and political rights. Whoever does such is utterly wrong.
To Africans, genuine democrats are those concerned about bread and butter issues and not the drama and rhetoric of freedom of expression, when all you have to express is anger brought about by hunger.
Accordingly, the current Rwandan leadership is an embodiment of genuine democracy. Democracy doesn’t mean going to the polls every five years where leaders use taxpayers’ money to bribe the voters and buy the votes from them whence politicians sit and raise their emoluments in total disregard of the ordinary citizens.
Rwanda with President Paul Kagame at the helm is fighting corruption root and branch; has ensured access to education from kindergarten level to the university level; jobs are given on meritocracy as opposed to clientelism exercised in the current chair of commonwealth states; there is health insurance for every Rwandan and one gets treatment in any hospital if they fell sick; the Rwandan roads are in no way comparable to Uganda’s potholes; Rwanda has even gone ahead in environmental protection, every person with land adjacent to the road is urged to plant trees; polythene bags that are known to endanger the environment are a thing of the past yet here in Uganda we cannot enforce policies for expediency purposes.
Although Uganda still remains an education hub, Rwanda is surely becoming a technological hub.
I know for a fact that there are many westerners who will feel envious of Kagame and would want to portray him as a dictatorial leader, but I have no doubt in mind that Rwanda is on a steady road to social democracy which aims at social justice, social welfare and human dignity.
While I don’t condone the suppression of critical voices anywhere, in a country where services are provided, criticism is minimal.
Accordingly, if democracy is to be judged on the basis of the amount of noise made by the citizens, then a country like Uganda will be deemed more democratic than Rwanda. We need, however, to take note of the French saying; La bouche qui mange, ne parle pas (a mouth that is eating doesn’t speak).
What would you expect the majority Rwandans to say when they have access to services? Here in Uganda, people will complain about unemployment, sectarianism, marginalisation, potholes, lack of drugs in health centres, road accidents, corruption, increase in school fees in public institutions among others. These are a rare occurrence in Rwanda and many would argue that it is only ingratitude that would make one complain.
Truly, Paul Kagame has made an indelible mark in a country that was once shattered by ethnic cleansing. The only challenge he has is to make sure he uses his next seven years building sturdy institutions that will outlive him so that the other leaders who come after him will be in a position to continue steering the country on a development path.
Rwanda’s leadership is transformational but not transactional. To label Rwanda an undemocratic state is to hoodwink the world that all democracies must focus on the so-called first generation rights at the expense of socioeconomic rights.
Rwanda should focus on the socio-economic development for her people and forget about joining the Commonwealth Mr. Derek Ingram, Rwanda is a shining star and not as undemocratic as you portray it.
Vincent Nuwagaba is a Ugandan based human rights activist.
Ends
Rwanda is not undemocratic
 |
| P. Kagame with G. Brown Photo courtesy |
It is on the basis of this argument that I radically
disagree with Mr. Derek Ingram. I feel that the concept ‘democracy’ has
been used, abused and misused to suit the interests of particular
interest groups.
Many elites in Uganda claim that Rwanda is an
authoritarian state and Uganda is a democracy. Without necessarily going
to the philosophical underpinnings of the democracy concept, let us use
the commonly used definition of democracy according to Abraham Lincoln
who defined it as the rule of the people, for the people and by the
people. If we are to read between the lines, this definition doesn’t
necessarily mean what the Eurocentric school of thought takes the term
to be.
Democracy is a twin sister to human rights. There is
such a thin line between democracy and human rights that no country can
genuinely claim to be a democracy when its human rights record is poor.
This takes me to the crux of my argument. Why should Mr. Derek Ingram
fault Rwanda’s democratic credentials yet he makes no comment about
Uganda’s democratic deficit, a country that hosted the Commonwealth
heads of government meeting (CHOGM) only two years ago?
The author of the article said that the Commonwealth
Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) sent an eminent international lawyer Yash
Ghai on a mission to Rwanda to discover whether Rwanda fulfils the
commonwealth requirements and that his report found that Rwanda doesn’t
measure up. Maybe the CHRI confines its standard measures to Civil
liberties and political rights and has nothing to do with socio-economic
rights.
According to Yash Ghai’s report, Rwanda’s government
“has not hesitated to use violence at home and abroad when it has suited
it.” The question whose answer I earnestly desire is: haven’t some of
Rwanda’s neighbours used force both at home and abroad when it favours
them? Rwanda is not as aggressive as Uganda yet Uganda is not portrayed
in such a negative manner. The article smacks of double standards and
dishonesty on the part of the Commonwealth states.
The author of the article says that Rwanda should
wait for next year’s presidential elections and that their fairness is
the one that will give the country a green light to apply for joining
the commonwealth at the next CHOGM. Why wasn’t CHOGM hosted by other
countries after the opposition rightly raised the concerns of 2006
rigged and violent elections?
To begin with, Rwanda doesn’t have to beg to become a
member of the Commonwealth. After all, most members are no better.
“Commonwealth” members display common opulence, profligacy and
corruption on the part of the ruling oligarchies.The commonwealth label
is only applicable to the rulers. To the majority citizens however, what
is common is misery, neglect, despair and complacency. Thus, I feel
Rwanda has little to gain if by joining the “Commonwealth” members.
Why should independent third world states desire to
pay allegiance to the Queen of England? Is Rwanda targeting donor funds
from Britain. Although I don’t believe that we should de-link ourselves
from the north. As much as we need them (the capitalist north), they
equally need us. We need their money, they need our raw materials. So it
is quid pro quo.
That said, I wish to use this as opportunity to share
my views about the cherished concepts of democracy and human rights
from a Pan African perspective. I know that these concepts are universal
but the Eurocentric scholars typified by Derek Ingram want to bamboozle
us by confining democracy and human rights to the terrain of civil
liberties and political rights. Whoever does such is utterly wrong. To
Africans, genuine democrats are those concerned about bread and butter
issues and not the drama and rhetoric of freedom of expression, when all
you have to express is anger brought about by hunger.
Accordingly, the current Rwandan leadership is an
embodiment of genuine democracy. Democracy doesn’t mean going to the
polls every five years where leaders use taxpayers’ money to bribe the
voters and buy the votes from them whence politicians sit and raise
their emoluments in total disregard of the ordinary citizens.
Rwanda with President Paul Kagame at the helm is
fighting corruption root and branch; has ensured access to education
from kindergarten level to the university level; jobs are given on
meritocracy as opposed to clientelism exercised in the current chair of
commonwealth states; there is health insurance for every Rwandan and one
gets treatment in any hospital if they fell sick; the Rwandan roads are
in no way comparable to Uganda’s potholes; Rwanda has even gone ahead
in environmental protection, every person with land adjacent to the road
is urged to plant trees; polythene bags that are known to endanger the
environment are a thing of the past yet here in Uganda we cannot enforce
policies for expediency purposes. Although Uganda still remains an
education hub, Rwanda is surely becoming a technological hub.
I know for a fact that there are many westerners who
will feel envious of Kagame and would want to portray him as a
dictatorial leader but I have no doubt in mind that Rwanda is on a
steady road to social democracy which aims at social justice, social
welfare and human dignity.
While I don’t condone the suppression of critical
voices anywhere, in a country where services are provided, criticism is
minimal. Accordingly, if democracy is to be judged on the basis of the
amount of noise made by the citizens, then a country like Uganda will be
deemed more democratic than Rwanda. We need, however, to take note of
the French saying La bouche qui manger, ne parle pas (a mouth that is eating doesn’t speak).
What would you expect the majority Rwandans to say
when they have access to services? Here in Uganda, people will complain
about unemployment, sectarianism, marginalisation, potholes, lack of
drugs in health centres, road accidents, corruption, increase in school
fees in public institutions among others. These are a rare occurrence in
Rwanda and many would argue that it is only ingratitude that would make
one complain.
Truly, Paul Kagame has made an indelible mark in a
country that was once shattered by ethnic cleansing. The only challenge
he has is to make sure he uses his next seven years building sturdy
institutions that will outlive him so that the other leaders who come
after him will be in a position to continue steering the country on a
development path.
Rwanda’s leadership is transformational but not
transactional. To label Rwanda an undemocratic state is to hoodwink the
world that all democracies must focus on the so-called first generation
rights at the expense of socioeconomic rights. Rwanda should focus on
the socio-economic development for her people and forget about joining
the Commonwealth. Uganda hosted CHOGN amidst strong opposition. We have
just learnt that it was an opportunity for the NRM bigwigs to openly
pilfer taxpayers’ money and build the shattered name of the party
especially after the botched 2006 elections. Mr. Derek Ingram, Rwanda
is a shining star and not as undemocratic as you portray it.
By Vincent Nuwagaba
Ugandan based human rights activist .
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