** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
Never mind! Political vultures will one day eat their own flesh when
they suddenly realize that there is no one else to devour. Who knew
that IDI AMIN DADA would perish the way he did? Who knew that Mobutu
Sese Seko would die and be buried like a paria in another land? Who
knew that Ahmadou Ahidjo would die and be denied a decent burial by his
own political clone(Paul Biya)? The list is interminable. POLITICAL
TYRANTs ride to and fro on tiger back but they dare not descend for
fear of being devoured by their own tigers. Time will tell!
PETER W.VAKUNTA
DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
602 VAN HISE HALL
1220 LINDEN DRIVE
MADISON WI 53706-1525
U.S.A
Office 608 262 4067
Home 608 422 6089
Cell 608 381 0407
"The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of the wise man is
in his heart."
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
----- Original Message -----
From: Sam Jimba <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, January 26, 2006 5:56 am
Subject: Museveni's third term ambition
To: [log in to unmask]
> Museveni's third term ambition
> Editorial, The Guardian (of Nigeria), Jan 26, 2006
> FROM Cape to Cairo, African leaders with a tiny exception continue
> to manifest a desire to remain in power indefinitely. This
> weakness must be condemned wherever it occurs for it portrays our
> leaders as infantile, greedy and inconsiderate. This attitude
> undermines the main plank of democracy which allows a people to
> change what they do not like through a process of periodic free
> and fair elections. Democracy enables a nation to rejuvenate
> itself through the regular infusion of new ideas and new people.
> Sit-tight leaders, even when benevolent, are unhealthy for any
> polity. A man who sits long enough on the saddle of power will no
> sooner become a slave driver. Sadly in Africa, there are still so
> many sit-tight leaders.
> In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni has successfully changed the
> constitution of his country to enable him run for a third term.
> The main opposition candidate Dr Kizza Besigye who was persuaded
> to return from exile last year has since been arrested and dragged
> before a military tribunal for treason. Faced with hostile world
> opinion, Museveni has allowed Besigye to return to a civilian
> court where in addition to other misdemeanours, he is also accused
> of rape. The harassment of Besigye in and out of detention, is
> designed to dampen the latter's prospects at the polls. The
> charges against him are politically motivated. Museveni is
> employing dirty tricks to immobilise the opposition and impose
> himself on the long-suffering people of Uganda as a third term
> President.In an attempt to justify his manoeuvrings for a third
> term, he is promising the Ugandan people the earth and the moon.
> He is insincere. Curiously, his real ambition is to become the
> maximum ruler of East Africa. First, he would become the president
> of Uganda for another five years; thereafter he would contest an
> election with the presidents of Kenya and Tanzania. This would set
> the stage for his becoming the President of an East African
> Federation with the leaders of Kenya and Tanzania as his vice-
> presidents. Museveni's ambitions are larger than life and he is
> sadly showing himself up as a dictator who cares little about the
> wishes of his people or even the feelings of his neighbours. Those
> western leaders who had been singing his praise must by now be
> asking themselves whether they have not unwisely been nurturing a
> megalomaniac - the same mistake that was made with Idi Amin.
> President Museveni became the president of Uganda in 1986. He
> began his tenure by changing the violent political landscape of
> Uganda and brought in a period of relative peace in his strife-
> torn country. The western powers were so impressed that they began
> to see him as perhaps one of the most level-headed of African
> leaders. They supported him and extolled his economic performance.
> They credited him with bringing down the AIDS pandemic in his
> country from a high ratio of 30 per cent to single digit figures.
> But that was then.
> With the passage of time and world adulation, things began to go
> wrong for Museveni. He was unable to contain the Lord's Resistance
> Army that has perpetrated one of the world's worst humanitarian
> disasters with two million persons fleeing Northern Uganda.
> Surprisingly, rather than concentrate his efforts on stopping the
> insurgency, Museveni decided to send his troops into neighbouring
> Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). For his role in
> destabilising the DRC, the International Court of Justice has
> asked him to make reparations for violating the territorial
> integrity of the DRC. Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, a
> former admirer of Museveni, has recently reduced British aid to
> Uganda. Dictatorship remains a major problem in Africa.
> President Omar Albert-Bernard Bongo, 69, of Gabon, has been in
> power for an incredible 38 years. In 2003 he changed the
> constitution of his country to allow him contest as many times as
> he pleases. He has just been re-elected for another seven-year
> term. In Burkina Faso, Blaise Campaore who seized power in a
> military coup and became president since 1987 now wants to remain
> in power indefinitely. He is allowed to serve unlimited terms.
> In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak has been in power since 1981. In
> Libya, Muammar Gadaffi has been ruling since 1969. In Zimbabwe,
> Robert Mugabe at 82 is still running Zimbabwe since 1980. In
> Cameroun Paul Biya has been in power since 1982. And this is just
> a sample of a long list of deviant political behaviour in Africa.
> Even we in Nigeria have encountered this phenomenon more than
> once. General Yakubu Gowon reneged on his hand-over date. General
> Ibrahim Babangida had to step aside when he found it impossible to
> continue. General Sani Abacha wanted to continue in office until
> he died suddenly. It is remarkable that many Nigerians are
> currently seeking to persuade President Olusegun Obasanjo to
> extend his tenure beyond the statutorily allowed time limit of 2007.
> Altogether, African leaders are a bad example for their people,
> and the world. It is not, therefore, surprising that given the
> chronic insensitivity to the use of power in Africa displayed by
> many African leaders, the world's worst examples of almost
> everything can be found in Africa. President Museveni must know
> that a tree does not constitute a forest. He must know that Uganda
> belongs to the Ugandan people, including the opposition. In
> seeking to further his political ambitions, he must ensure that he
> is playing by the rules and that the constricting political space
> in his country is not monopolised by himself and his cronies.
>
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