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A ruler with a stronger juju
16 March, 2011 | By Kiflu Hussain
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uganda since 2007, I happened to witness the politics of this
country from a close up.
Often times, I found myself collating situations in Uganda with that of
my country, Ethiopia. Having absconded from a fully blown tyranny
that no longer attempts to cloak itself with pseudo-democracy
wherein cold-blooded snipers were unleashed that didn’t even spare
children as little as five year olds on top of a sweeping arrest that
included opposition figures, activists and journalists in 2005, I was
dazzled by the apparent freedom of space in Uganda.
Among the high points that impressed me so much was the
numerous private TV channels and FM stations.Nonetheless, it didn’
t take me long to be nagged by questions such as why Ugandans are
unable to use this apparent freedom of the press to come up with a
cogent alternative and send the current degenerating system to the
dustbins of history. I do not pretend to have found answers to these
questions.
All I did is highlighting the opportunities Ugandans have unlike their
counterparts in Ethiopia and why I think they failed to use them for
the betterment of their future.
Similarities and differences between Ethiopia and Uganda
Before I point out the similarities and differences of the two African
nations, I would like to remind the few conscious Ugandans who
blew a gasket over the outcome of the February “election” of how it
could have been worse.
Although, it may sound a poor consolation, Yoweri Museveni too
could have claimed a ninety plus percent victory like his comrades
such as Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.
Since he is modest, he told his handpicked Chairman of the
Electoral Commission that he would be satisfied with any result that
ensures his “continuity” over “change.”
Also, we should never forget the fact that Museveni could afford to
taunt his Western backers more than Kagame and Meles who unlike
him don’t seem to have many cards to play against their donors.
Besides posturing as an ally on the “war on terror,” Uganda under
his watch has discovered oil.
Thus, in addition to bluffing over the withdrawal of his troops from
Somalia; he could also send terror on the spines of the gluttonous
Western business interest by striking a deal with the Chinese or with
the Persians. After all, Kagame scared the sh-t out of the
“international community” by threatening to withdraw his troops
from Darfur. Meles, for his part, refused to be bossed around by his
Western financiers over his total clampdown of press freedom. He
told them unequivocally that he would purchase Chinese technology
with their money to continue jamming VOA after equating it with the
infamous Radio Mille Collins.
In Uganda, on top of listening to VOA, BBC and France
International on FM stations, you can also watch live VOA Straight
Talk Africa, a call-in talk show that is invariably critical of the
Museveni régime. That’s not only impossible in Ethiopia. It’s simply
unthinkable. You can take this as number one big difference. Their
similarity; both Meles and Museveni are self styled liberators who
emerged from the bush.
While the latter embraced nationalism, the former started out his
career in the bush as ethno nationalist who grudgingly donned
Ethiopian nationalism for the sake of assuming power over that
ancient land with untapped resources.
While, it’s the official policy of Meles to pit one ethnic group against
another under the pretext of “self-determination of nations and
nationalities” up to secession, Museveni, at least ideologically, tried
to create Ugandan nationalism that you don’t see in a day to day
activity like Ethiopia in the good old days. Of course, proponents of
the “national oppression thesis” may describe that era as
“colonization” by the Amhara ethnic group.
Well, we’ve moved on from “Amhara”colonization, a largest ethnic
group to “colonization” by a minority ethnic group called Tigre. But
this doesn’t mean that there is no tribalism in Uganda. On the
contrary, Ugandans, the educated and uneducated alike, identify
themselves with their respective tribe always remembering their
Ugandanness as an afterthought. Despite his nationalistic movement
then, Museveni too appointed people from his tribe, village and
family on key posts that require absolute loyalty to a ruler. So
Museveni shares a point on this one with his counterpart in Ethiopia
while departing from him by not championing ethnicity. The other
striking feature both of them were forced to adopt is pseudo-
democracy. Although, Museveni resisted multi party politics initially,
he granted free speech whereby private electronics media
mushroomed.
Meles, on the other hand, had to put off the Albanian style socialism
he envisaged for Ethiopians since his victory to the palace coincided
with the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
So he reverted to hoodwinking Western powers by coming up with
a transitional charter that incorporated the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Unlike Museveni, however, and knowing fully well
the impact of electronics media in Ethiopia, he never allowed for any
independent investor to go into that sector. He also made sure that
the circulation of the few independent print media will not go beyond
a minority section of the society in bigger cities such as Addis Ababa
and Dire Dawa.
While Ugandan journalists are routinely bailed out as they are
routinely charged, their Ethiopian counterparts invariably experience
incarceration without any due process of the law. Since the judiciary
is under the heel of Meles Zenawi, no journalist or dissident expects
to get a fair trial in Ethiopia. One hears news of Ugandan journalists
defeating the regime in a court of law to the extent of securing a
judgment to scrap unconstitutional provisions.
Ethiopian journalists, on the other hand, are thrown into the slammer
with life imprisonments and death sentences. So am I concluding that
Museveni is a democrat at heart? Not at all.
At the risk of sounding jingoistic, I would say that Ugandans are not
inquisitive enough to inform themselves despite having a better
opportunity by the region’s standard. Lethargy and deficiency of
thinking in terms of posterity seems to be the national character. To
their virtue, Ugandans admitted good-naturedly on BBC Network
Africa to this fact when a survey recently showed that laziness is the
norm in Uganda. I read in the Daily Monitor about a Ugandan lady
who survived the July 7, 2010 bomb blast. Until that fateful day, she
had no idea that Ugandan soldiers were sent as peace keepers in
Somalia. Had it been in Ethiopia, I wouldn’t have been surprised
since the regime keeps this sort of information with total secrecy.
Yet, in Uganda, whenever a Ugandan soldier gets hit in Mogadishu,
the local Medias themselves inform the public. To ferret out
information, an Ethiopian with the existing lousy Internet connection
had to go round to access the various blocked websites which is not
affordable to the majority of Ethiopians.
Despite being the seat of African Union with its rich history of anti-
colonialism in the background, it’s still a rare luxury to see or hear
live political debates and critical talk shows in Ethiopia. In 2005,
Meles Zenawi’s regime miscalculated in a typical delusion that
always characterizes tyranny, thus granted a wee bit space. He
thought, he had bamboozled and cowed the public fully and went to
the extent of promising a “flawless”election.
Hence, a few months before the May 15 polling day, live debates
were allowed to be televised once in a week. The public that were
fed up with the regime was not only receptive to messages imparted.
Since the opposition responded to its call to “join forces together, or
disappear altogether,” it overcame all intimidation and bribery alike,
irrespective of its background as a villager or urban dweller. The
brutal crackdown that followed after the polling day has not yet
been fully reported by the “international community.” Its effect that
turned Ethiopia into sheer totalitarian state once again, has also been
not appreciated. Notwithstanding the 2006 debacle that saw Dr.
Kizza Besigye briefly into prison and exile, Ugandans using the
space under the existing system could have transformed themselves
into a force of change for the better.
Yet, they failed to do that despite the abject poverty, social
exclusion and rampant corruption. In the aftermath of February 18,
different analysts came up with different thesis while agreeing on one
point; that the election has been rigged long before people went to
the polls. Some journalists also lamented; solely holding the
opposition and the elite responsible for the failure to bring about
change. To the best of my knowledge except one journalist named
Timothy Kalyegira, none questioned the public’s readiness for
change from stagnation.
The way I see it, even if the opposition failed to traverse the country
to galvanize the public, which it didn’t, the public itself should have
taken a proactive stance to shape up the opposition for its own
sake. In Uganda, there are plenty of causes and serious issues to
move against the incumbent and vote him out of office.
Amazingly, despite their squalid living condition; you will find many
people rooting for Museveni.
These type of servility might be attributed to abysmal ignorance and
abject poverty. But there are other types of people whom you call
middle class and fairly educated. Some tell you that there is no one
who can manage Uganda better than Museveni.
Others despite having no running water in their home most of the
time, tell you that they have no beef with his administration. You will
also come across with people who have simply given up after
describing Museveni as a “colossus” who cannot be done away with.
Some Ugandans considered being pillars of the community amazes
you in the interview they give to social columns. One such person
when asked by Sunday Monitor what he despises most, answered
“all elevated thieves.” When he was asked whom he admires most,
he answered “President Museveni.”
Yet, it’s this same president who lacked the political will to deal with
big time embezzlers such as his big cronies who have been linked
with CHOGM fund misappropriation. Instead of encouraging the
Media to expose maladministration, inefficiency and injustice, the
Ugandan Human Rights Commission recently censured the media
fraternity for exposing that Ugandans are dying of jiggers in this 21st
century. In the “Human Rights” Commission’s assessment, that was
sensationalism.
All in all, the mood in Uganda reminds me of a myth described in
Frederick Forsyth’s “Dogs of War.” A British mining tycoon, who
was desirous of plundering a certain African nation’s mineral
resource, hired a mercenary to go down and assess the security
situation of the seating president so that he can have him overthrown
in a bloodless coup to replace him with his own stooge.
The mercenary reported back that security is so lax and it’s a cinch
to overthrow the seating president without much ado. But before the
tycoon warmed up to this news, the mercenary mentioned a snag in
the whole exercise. He told him how the Africans believe that the
seating president has a juju, i.e a spirit that made him immortal. So if
you just overthrow the president and banish him to exile, none of
them would submit to the new president who staged the coup. But if
he kills the seating president and displays the dead body, then the
people would say “this one has a stronger juju.” It seems President
Museveni has succeeded to inculcate this kind of aura about himself
among his subjects.
Also in the name of “democracy” he has translated into reality what
Idi Amin Dada only fancied; life presidency! Until the 1974
revolution burst the myth in Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie too
used to enjoy this sort of demi-god status. But then, there was no
independent media that questions authority. In this time and age,
how is this possible in Uganda?
Even the King of Buganda, a traditional leader of the largest ethnic
group in Uganda whose “wings has been clipped” by Museveni
congratulated him on his “re-election.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kiflu Hussain is An Ethiopian Refugee in Uganda, he can be
reached at: kiflukam@yahoo.com
16 March, 2011 | By Kiflu Hussain
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Since holding election under
a bogus multi-partyism has
become more of a fad in
Africa after the cessation of
the Cold War, Uganda too
has passed through one of
this ritual and held a
presidential and
Uganda since 2007, I happened to witness the politics of this
country from a close up.
Often times, I found myself collating situations in Uganda with that of
my country, Ethiopia. Having absconded from a fully blown tyranny
that no longer attempts to cloak itself with pseudo-democracy
wherein cold-blooded snipers were unleashed that didn’t even spare
children as little as five year olds on top of a sweeping arrest that
included opposition figures, activists and journalists in 2005, I was
dazzled by the apparent freedom of space in Uganda.
Among the high points that impressed me so much was the
numerous private TV channels and FM stations.Nonetheless, it didn’
t take me long to be nagged by questions such as why Ugandans are
unable to use this apparent freedom of the press to come up with a
cogent alternative and send the current degenerating system to the
dustbins of history. I do not pretend to have found answers to these
questions.
All I did is highlighting the opportunities Ugandans have unlike their
counterparts in Ethiopia and why I think they failed to use them for
the betterment of their future.
Similarities and differences between Ethiopia and Uganda
Before I point out the similarities and differences of the two African
nations, I would like to remind the few conscious Ugandans who
blew a gasket over the outcome of the February “election” of how it
could have been worse.
Although, it may sound a poor consolation, Yoweri Museveni too
could have claimed a ninety plus percent victory like his comrades
such as Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.
Since he is modest, he told his handpicked Chairman of the
Electoral Commission that he would be satisfied with any result that
ensures his “continuity” over “change.”
Also, we should never forget the fact that Museveni could afford to
taunt his Western backers more than Kagame and Meles who unlike
him don’t seem to have many cards to play against their donors.
Besides posturing as an ally on the “war on terror,” Uganda under
his watch has discovered oil.
Thus, in addition to bluffing over the withdrawal of his troops from
Somalia; he could also send terror on the spines of the gluttonous
Western business interest by striking a deal with the Chinese or with
the Persians. After all, Kagame scared the sh-t out of the
“international community” by threatening to withdraw his troops
from Darfur. Meles, for his part, refused to be bossed around by his
Western financiers over his total clampdown of press freedom. He
told them unequivocally that he would purchase Chinese technology
with their money to continue jamming VOA after equating it with the
infamous Radio Mille Collins.
In Uganda, on top of listening to VOA, BBC and France
International on FM stations, you can also watch live VOA Straight
Talk Africa, a call-in talk show that is invariably critical of the
Museveni régime. That’s not only impossible in Ethiopia. It’s simply
unthinkable. You can take this as number one big difference. Their
similarity; both Meles and Museveni are self styled liberators who
emerged from the bush.
While the latter embraced nationalism, the former started out his
career in the bush as ethno nationalist who grudgingly donned
Ethiopian nationalism for the sake of assuming power over that
ancient land with untapped resources.
While, it’s the official policy of Meles to pit one ethnic group against
another under the pretext of “self-determination of nations and
nationalities” up to secession, Museveni, at least ideologically, tried
to create Ugandan nationalism that you don’t see in a day to day
activity like Ethiopia in the good old days. Of course, proponents of
the “national oppression thesis” may describe that era as
“colonization” by the Amhara ethnic group.
Well, we’ve moved on from “Amhara”colonization, a largest ethnic
group to “colonization” by a minority ethnic group called Tigre. But
this doesn’t mean that there is no tribalism in Uganda. On the
contrary, Ugandans, the educated and uneducated alike, identify
themselves with their respective tribe always remembering their
Ugandanness as an afterthought. Despite his nationalistic movement
then, Museveni too appointed people from his tribe, village and
family on key posts that require absolute loyalty to a ruler. So
Museveni shares a point on this one with his counterpart in Ethiopia
while departing from him by not championing ethnicity. The other
striking feature both of them were forced to adopt is pseudo-
democracy. Although, Museveni resisted multi party politics initially,
he granted free speech whereby private electronics media
mushroomed.
Meles, on the other hand, had to put off the Albanian style socialism
he envisaged for Ethiopians since his victory to the palace coincided
with the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
So he reverted to hoodwinking Western powers by coming up with
a transitional charter that incorporated the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Unlike Museveni, however, and knowing fully well
the impact of electronics media in Ethiopia, he never allowed for any
independent investor to go into that sector. He also made sure that
the circulation of the few independent print media will not go beyond
a minority section of the society in bigger cities such as Addis Ababa
and Dire Dawa.
While Ugandan journalists are routinely bailed out as they are
routinely charged, their Ethiopian counterparts invariably experience
incarceration without any due process of the law. Since the judiciary
is under the heel of Meles Zenawi, no journalist or dissident expects
to get a fair trial in Ethiopia. One hears news of Ugandan journalists
defeating the regime in a court of law to the extent of securing a
judgment to scrap unconstitutional provisions.
Ethiopian journalists, on the other hand, are thrown into the slammer
with life imprisonments and death sentences. So am I concluding that
Museveni is a democrat at heart? Not at all.
At the risk of sounding jingoistic, I would say that Ugandans are not
inquisitive enough to inform themselves despite having a better
opportunity by the region’s standard. Lethargy and deficiency of
thinking in terms of posterity seems to be the national character. To
their virtue, Ugandans admitted good-naturedly on BBC Network
Africa to this fact when a survey recently showed that laziness is the
norm in Uganda. I read in the Daily Monitor about a Ugandan lady
who survived the July 7, 2010 bomb blast. Until that fateful day, she
had no idea that Ugandan soldiers were sent as peace keepers in
Somalia. Had it been in Ethiopia, I wouldn’t have been surprised
since the regime keeps this sort of information with total secrecy.
Yet, in Uganda, whenever a Ugandan soldier gets hit in Mogadishu,
the local Medias themselves inform the public. To ferret out
information, an Ethiopian with the existing lousy Internet connection
had to go round to access the various blocked websites which is not
affordable to the majority of Ethiopians.
Despite being the seat of African Union with its rich history of anti-
colonialism in the background, it’s still a rare luxury to see or hear
live political debates and critical talk shows in Ethiopia. In 2005,
Meles Zenawi’s regime miscalculated in a typical delusion that
always characterizes tyranny, thus granted a wee bit space. He
thought, he had bamboozled and cowed the public fully and went to
the extent of promising a “flawless”election.
Hence, a few months before the May 15 polling day, live debates
were allowed to be televised once in a week. The public that were
fed up with the regime was not only receptive to messages imparted.
Since the opposition responded to its call to “join forces together, or
disappear altogether,” it overcame all intimidation and bribery alike,
irrespective of its background as a villager or urban dweller. The
brutal crackdown that followed after the polling day has not yet
been fully reported by the “international community.” Its effect that
turned Ethiopia into sheer totalitarian state once again, has also been
not appreciated. Notwithstanding the 2006 debacle that saw Dr.
Kizza Besigye briefly into prison and exile, Ugandans using the
space under the existing system could have transformed themselves
into a force of change for the better.
Yet, they failed to do that despite the abject poverty, social
exclusion and rampant corruption. In the aftermath of February 18,
different analysts came up with different thesis while agreeing on one
point; that the election has been rigged long before people went to
the polls. Some journalists also lamented; solely holding the
opposition and the elite responsible for the failure to bring about
change. To the best of my knowledge except one journalist named
Timothy Kalyegira, none questioned the public’s readiness for
change from stagnation.
The way I see it, even if the opposition failed to traverse the country
to galvanize the public, which it didn’t, the public itself should have
taken a proactive stance to shape up the opposition for its own
sake. In Uganda, there are plenty of causes and serious issues to
move against the incumbent and vote him out of office.
Amazingly, despite their squalid living condition; you will find many
people rooting for Museveni.
These type of servility might be attributed to abysmal ignorance and
abject poverty. But there are other types of people whom you call
middle class and fairly educated. Some tell you that there is no one
who can manage Uganda better than Museveni.
Others despite having no running water in their home most of the
time, tell you that they have no beef with his administration. You will
also come across with people who have simply given up after
describing Museveni as a “colossus” who cannot be done away with.
Some Ugandans considered being pillars of the community amazes
you in the interview they give to social columns. One such person
when asked by Sunday Monitor what he despises most, answered
“all elevated thieves.” When he was asked whom he admires most,
he answered “President Museveni.”
Yet, it’s this same president who lacked the political will to deal with
big time embezzlers such as his big cronies who have been linked
with CHOGM fund misappropriation. Instead of encouraging the
Media to expose maladministration, inefficiency and injustice, the
Ugandan Human Rights Commission recently censured the media
fraternity for exposing that Ugandans are dying of jiggers in this 21st
century. In the “Human Rights” Commission’s assessment, that was
sensationalism.
All in all, the mood in Uganda reminds me of a myth described in
Frederick Forsyth’s “Dogs of War.” A British mining tycoon, who
was desirous of plundering a certain African nation’s mineral
resource, hired a mercenary to go down and assess the security
situation of the seating president so that he can have him overthrown
in a bloodless coup to replace him with his own stooge.
The mercenary reported back that security is so lax and it’s a cinch
to overthrow the seating president without much ado. But before the
tycoon warmed up to this news, the mercenary mentioned a snag in
the whole exercise. He told him how the Africans believe that the
seating president has a juju, i.e a spirit that made him immortal. So if
you just overthrow the president and banish him to exile, none of
them would submit to the new president who staged the coup. But if
he kills the seating president and displays the dead body, then the
people would say “this one has a stronger juju.” It seems President
Museveni has succeeded to inculcate this kind of aura about himself
among his subjects.
Also in the name of “democracy” he has translated into reality what
Idi Amin Dada only fancied; life presidency! Until the 1974
revolution burst the myth in Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie too
used to enjoy this sort of demi-god status. But then, there was no
independent media that questions authority. In this time and age,
how is this possible in Uganda?
Even the King of Buganda, a traditional leader of the largest ethnic
group in Uganda whose “wings has been clipped” by Museveni
congratulated him on his “re-election.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kiflu Hussain is An Ethiopian Refugee in Uganda, he can be
reached at: kiflukam@yahoo.com
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