----- Original Message -----
From: Elum aniap Godfrey Ayoo
To: Edward Mulindwa
Cc: [log in to unmask] ; [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 10:07 PM
Subject: Museveni is tired; he needs help
Museveni is tired; he needs help
By chris obore
September 29, 2003
President Yoweri Museveni is facing hard times. Since he overthrew the Obote government in 1986, he has been fighting wars.
museveni has fought rebel groups, including Force Obote back (Foba), the Holy Spirit Movement, Uganda People's Army (UPA), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF II), the Itongwa rebels, and the notorious Lords Resistance Army (LRA), among others.
Museveni has defeated most of these rebel groups, but the LRA are still kicking and hitting harder. The LRA rebellion in the north has now spread to the eastern part of the country, mainly the Teso sub-region.
It is daily news to hear and read that rebels have killed dozens, abducted children, burnt huts, raped women etc.
Museveni is a disturbed man. He is unhappy with the atrocities and is trying his best to subdue the rebellion. Despite his relentless military approach towards the rebels, success is elusive. He has camped in all the places that the LRA has been active, but the rebel atrocities continue.
Besides fighting rebels, Museveni's political house is on fire. Some of his cadres are deserting him. They are unhappy that he has taken too much wine of power and is totally drunk, to the extent that he does not want alternative centres of power to blossom.
Anything said against him is interpreted as a challenge to his stay in power.
As the political squabbles boil in his house, other cadres are busy mismanaging the economy. Museveni's rapacious cadres are looting public resources and Ugandans are very bitter.
Museveni wants to marshal popular support but Ugandans are increasingly getting impatient with him. I see Museveni in a serious dilemma. I see him torn between serving his ego and the demands of the people.
This now takes us to the question: What should we do to help Museveni as an individual overcome his dilemma and stress? What should we do to help the country get lasting peace?
My answer is that both Museveni and the army need to recuperate. Museveni is tired. Imagine fighting wars for 17 years!
So, our army should sort out the mismanagement and resolve to root out the LRA rebels. The brutal atrocities meted out by Kony continue to be our daily menu in newspapers, partly because our soldiers have either lost interest in fighting, or are simply working to humiliate Museveni.
I know the soldiers complain of lack of resources and they are right. We all know that some people treat the army as their personal property. But for the sake of saving lives, the soldiers should forget about the exploitation and theft in the army, and fight Kony. Our soldiers can't give up because that would indicate a loss of nationalism in many Ugandans.
When Kony kills, it is not Museveni or the army top brass that he kills, it is mainly the innocent Ugandans. I would beg the army to sacrifice a little more to save wananchi, then tackle their unscrupulous bosses later.
It's painful to see the army rolling heavy guns towards the enemy, but returning without rolling down the rebellion.
In addition, Ugandans need to keep in mind that the President is in a fix.
He has problems in his own political house, and yet he faces immense pressure from the opposition as well. The rebels too are giving him a headache. Though Museveni is largely responsible for his dilemma, Ugandans need to show him that they are intelligent.
Ugandans must not resort to violence in case the situation was to degenerate. Civil pressure should be mounted on the government instead.
Of course Museveni should help Ugandans to help him by recognising that Uganda is larger than him. He is not an anointed ruler. If Museveni believes that he is the only good leader for Uganda, he should be reminded that he came from the Ugandan society. And if he is good and came from society, then society made him good. If society made him good, then society can make another person a good leader.
By thinking that he remains the best, Museveni thinks society has stopped thinking, and he has arrogated himself the role of thinking for society.
President Museveni should thank the Ugandan society that elevated him.
He should give us the political space we desire for testing other people's leadership potential. It is wrong for Museveni to think that because he was elected, his popularity among Ugandans can't shrink. He should be reminded that his government is perhaps the only government in Uganda that has had so many rebel groups fighting it. So many people can't fight you for no sound reasons.
Nevertheless, Ugandans must be a little patient, not rushing to take up arms against the government because it is the innocent that die. Kony, for example, has killed thousands who knew nothing about Museveni's leadership style.
The author is Education Editor of The Monitor.
Contact: 265-77-593-745.
"And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, 'When will you be satisfied?' We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities (.) No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream". (Martin Luther King, 1964 Nobel Peace prize laureate, assassinated for his struggle)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
