One of the outcomes of UDU conference in Boston in October 2011
was recognition that there is an acute shortage of information about
Uganda’s history, its place in the Great Lakes geopolitics and domestic
political economy. It was decided that one of the main follow-up
activities of UDU secretariat be civic education within the framework of
the National Recovery Plan (NRP). I have consistently argued that:
1. You have got to identify the root cause(s) of the problem before attempting a solution;
2. You have to present research findings as truthfully and honestly as possible;
3. You have to study the actions of actors dialectically by looking
for that which is not said because that is where the main motive is
likely to be located;
4. You should not shy away from telling the truth for fear of hurting
someone’s feelings. For instance, a doctor would do a disservice if he
treated a patient with a sexually transmitted disease without disclosing
the cause of the problem to avoid hurting feelings. The right thing is
to tell the truth and ask that the partner also comes in for treatment
so that the disease is cured once and for all, assuming that the two
partners won’t engage in extra relations.
Before examining Museveni’s motives for dividing up Uganda into many
districts, let us refresh our memories about Museveni’s overall goal in
seeking the presidency and how he is using it. Some stuff is going to be
repeated because it appears that some readers have not quite grasped
the complex history of exploitative relations between pastoralists and
agriculturalists in Burundi, Rwanda and southwest Uganda that are being
extended to the rest of Uganda.
I am convinced beyond doubt that Museveni came to power with a hidden
agenda of turning the clock back initially in Ankole to a feudal system
of lords and serfs that existed in pre-colonial Rwanda where
pastoralists (Batutsi) stripped agriculturalists (Bahutu) of their
wealth including livestock and above all land ownership. Regarding land
ownership transfer from Bahutu to Batutsi Tom Marvel (1948) wrote that
“The Batutsi declared that all land was the property of their Mwami, or
king and that he would apportion it out among chiefs and sub-chiefs,
while retaining title to it, as his fief”. So, the king stripped Bahutu
of their land. Since chiefs and sub-chiefs to whom the king apportioned
the land were Batutsi, Bahutu were excluded and became landless. Bahutu
became serfs on land that was previously theirs. Bahutu deprivation of
land and cattle began the process that reduced them from riches to rags
and the poverty-stricken Bahutu exploded in the Social Revolution of
1959. This is a lesson that those who are impoverishing Ugandans today
must keep in mind because a similar social revolution could happen in
Uganda as no situation stays permanent.
A section of Batutsi from Rwanda founded Mpororo kingdom in mid 17th century which lasted under one hundred years to around mid-18th
century. It covered present northern Rwanda and parts of southwest
Uganda in present day Ntungamo district and parts of Kabale district
adjacent to Ntungamo. Batutsi declared Mpororo kingdom on land occupied
by Bantu speaking people who practiced mixed farming of livestock
herding including short horn cattle and crop cultivation. Indigenous
people were stripped of their grazing land and lost their cattle for
loss of pasture. They were reduced to crop cultivation mainly to feed
the new lords in exchange for so-called protection (it isn’t clear
against what). All the people became Bahororo but reverted to Bairu
(commoners) after Mpororo kingdom disintegrated and Bahima took over
parts of former Mpororo kingdom and incorporated them into Nkore.
Batutsi/Bahororo who stayed in Nkore under Bahinda dynasty didn’t want
to be referred to as commoners and adopted the name of Bahima until
recently, explaining why Bahima and Batutsi/Bahororo are difficult to
differentiate and are incorrectly used interchangeably. During
independence negotiations Batutsi/Bahororo demanded a separate district
to be carved out of Ankole kingdom. They didn’t succeed, probably
explaining why Ankole didn’t get the King restored because Museveni, a
Muhororo, who failed to get a separate district at independence might be
settling scores. If you add on the fact that Bahima who denied Bahororo
a separate district also refused to vote for Museveni in the 1980
elections, the situation might become clearer why former Ankole failed
to restore the king. This might raise the question as to who is stronger
in NRM government: Bahororo or Bahima. If the latter were stronger than
the former or had sizeable influence the kingdom would have been
restored. The fact that it hasn’t says volumes about the overwhelming
strength of Batutsi/Bahororo. Other reasons given for non-restoration of
the kingdom are just a smoke screen.
Then around 1800, a group of Bahororo fled their former kingdom and
sought refuge in Rujumbura. With support of Arab and Swahili slave
hunters and modern weapons Bahororo defeated Bantu mixed farmers (Bairu)
with short horn cattle and were stripped of their grazing land, reduced
to cultivating food stuffs mainly to feed their new Bahororo masters in
exchange for so-called protection. Deprived of nutritious foodstuffs
especially animal proteins contributed to short height of many Bairu
people whose children who are eating well are tall.
Batutsi from Rwanda and Burundi (note that in Burundi there are
Batutsi and Bahima) entered Uganda since the 1920s for different
reasons. Those that came to Uganda beginning in the 1920s were looking
for work and settled anywhere in Uganda where cattle grazing is the main
economic activity. After the social revolution in 1959, Batutsi
refugees and cattle came to Uganda in large numbers. Many of them about
33 percent settled with their kith and kin in Kigezi and Ankole. Others
spread to all parts of Uganda because the British colonial
administration did not want refugees in camps. Batutsi adopted local
names and local languages. Thus many who today pose as Bakiga are
Batutsi. Many who pose as Banyankole are Batutsi. This is an important
distinction that must be kept in mind in trying to figure out who is
employed where in Uganda’s public service, private sector and especially
security forces and who is sponsored to study in good schools at home
and abroad.
On humanitarian grounds, the Kabaka of Buganda allowed Batutsi
refugees to settle in his kingdom temporarily. In mid 1960s there was a
severe drought in Ankole forcing many Bahima and Batutsi and their
cattle to migrate to parts of Buganda particularly in Rakai and Masaka
where they are now conflicting with indigenous Baganda for control of
the economy and politics. Ethnic disputes in places like Ssembabule and
Mawokota have become common. It is important to remember that because
Nilotic Batutsi people believe in superiority over Bantu, they feel it
is their God-given right to dominate politics in areas where they are
settled. In order to dominate Baganda, Batutsi adopted Luganda language
and Kiganda names but have avoided social integration because Batutsi
men don’t marry non-Nilotic women although Batutsi women have married
non-Nilotic influential and potentially influential Baganda men
primarily for political control.
Because of easy mobility within the Great Lakes region, some
Banyamulenge who are Batutsi settled in South Kivu in DRC have migrated
and settled in Uganda as well. To sum up, Bahima, Batutsi,
Batutsi/Bahororo and Banyamulenge are cousins of Nilotic Luo-speaking
ancestry. Because they don’t integrate socially they have remained
Nilotic in ethnicity regardless of where they reside. That is why it is
true that Uganda has been governed for the most part by Nilotic
presidents (Obote, Amin and Museveni) since independence in 1962 with
negligible intervals by Baganda (Kabaka Mutesa II with no executive
powers, Lule (68 days), Binaisa (less than one year) and Muwanga (a few
months) as chairman of the military commission). Therefore Bantu people
have been denied presidency of Uganda.
And since Museveni was installed into Uganda presidency by non-south
westerners, he doesn’t represent western Uganda. He started the war with
Batutsi mercenaries who in the end totaled some 25 percent of the total
guerrilla force and a few Ugandans. He was joined by Baganda under the
leadership of Lule (RIP) and reluctantly by DP supporters who happen to
be Catholics. As Kenneth Ingham (1994) observes “The leader [Museveni]
of the rebellion did not, initially, represent the wishes of the
defeated Democratic Party or of the Baganda leadership. … The support he
later gained from the DP and some Baganda came only after a campaign of
sabotage and subversion had led to reprisals by the ill-disciplined
armed forces at the government’s disposal”.
Pre-colonial conditions of Bantu exploitation were made worse under
the colonial indirect system of administration which employed
pastoralists as agents of colonialism. Bairu suffered more as they had
to continue pre-colonial exploitation plus colonial taxes and free labor
on public works such as public buildings and roads. This is the sad
history of southwest Uganda that Batutsi/Bahororo in power in Uganda
today would want to keep hidden because it resembles many forms of what
is happening in Uganda today.
Albeit late, Bairu were finally allowed to go to school in the 1940s
so that by the time of independence, there was a sizable number of
educated Bairu who championed the struggle for independence. Given Bairu
numerical superiority they were elected to public offices at district
and national levels replacing minority Batutsi/Bahororo and Bahima who
had dominated for centuries. Thus, agriculturalists replaced
pastoralists at the political level and increasingly economically (for
example, Bairu have more cattle than pastoralists). Museveni would have
none of it. He set about turning the clock back, initially aimed at
Bairu of southwest Uganda. The formation of an association at Ntare
School in the first half of the 1960s soon after independence by
Museveni was the first step. At that time there were many Batutsi
refugees in Ankole who had fled Rwanda starting in 1959 following the
Social Revolution that brought majority Hutus to power and achieved
independence in 1962, the same year as Uganda. Museveni wished to
restore pastoralist dominance over agriculturalists in Ankole and
Rwanda. That is why he developed an early interest in East African
cooperation project that would eventually accommodate Rwanda and
Burundi. That is why Batutsi refugees formed the core of his guerrilla
force that was transformed from FRONASA into National Resistance Army
(NRA) with Batutsi playing a central role in Luwero war and governing
Uganda since 1986.
Since Museveni could not use direct military power to subjugate and
impoverish Ugandans, he took a silent, deceptive and incremental route
using the tools provided by development partners in the form of
structural adjustment and decentralization. Museveni used structural
adjustment to destroy education and health systems. He crippled
agriculture, (not cattle herding which is his pet project) by
eliminating subsidies, destroying cooperatives and weakening extension
services. Through labor flexibility, he allowed employers to hire and
fire at will, pay virtually nothing for labor that work under sub-human
conditions especially domestic workers. Museveni has flatly refused to
address the mushrooming cloud of youth unemployment, support school
lunch for primary school children, support subsistence farmers that
constitute 68 percent of Uganda’s total population of 34 million.
Museveni has also exploited Uganda’s natural resources especially fish
and timber to accumulate foreign currency for the benefit of the rich at
the expense of the majority poor Ugandans. The outcome is rampant
poverty now at over 80 percent, unemployment of youth at over 80
percent, children wards that have turned into hospices, maternal
mortality that has gone through the roof and malnutrition that is
killing more Ugandans than malaria.
In preparation for political control of Uganda by Batutsi people,
Museveni preached a liberal immigration policy reasoning that Uganda had
plenty of arable land that Ugandans were not utilizing, thus began the
arrival of “bus loads” of Batutsi from Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Tanzania
with their cattle. Batutsi are nomadic people. To facilitate their
mobility and settling in various parts of Uganda, Museveni ensured that
the constitution stressed freedom of mobility and residence in any part
of Uganda and using local language. This has enabled Batutsi to settle
in all parts of Uganda speaking Kinyarwanda which they record as
Kifumbira because Bafumbira are “indigenous” as opposed to refugees and
immigrant Batutsi.
Apart from occupying large swathes of territory in all parts of
Uganda, these immigrants and refugees were assisted and have accumulated
wealth and are increasingly participating in politics at district and
national level. They represent people whose interests they don’t serve.
If anything they are impoverishing the indigenous people to dominate
them forever politically and economically. For example, Baganda are
complaining openly that while they are represented in strategic places
in government they have not benefited from NRM government (one wonders
the extent to which Greater Kampala has damaged Baganda interests). To
explain this situation one needs to find out who is actually
representing Baganda. Are these representative true Baganda or those
Batutsi who have adopted Kiganda names and speak Luganda but are working
for the benefit of Batutsi than Baganda.
Museveni has carefully identified indigenous men and women hungry for
power and is using them to demand more districts in areas where he
knows Batutsi will benefit the most. Originally Bushenyi was to be
divided into two districts; it ended up with four. Those who sealed the
deal have been handsomely rewarded. Have they done the right thing for
their Bantu people in the end? For some Ugandans becoming an MP or a
junior minister is more important than protecting the future of their
children. One may also ask whether people doing these reckless things
are greedy true Ugandans or Batutsi clandestinely taking over Uganda?
Museveni is now working closely with prime minister and NRM secretary
general Amama Mbabazi to seal the land transfer to Batutsi and control
district councils and parliament. That is why Museveni can’t let Mbabazi
go until this project is over. That is why Museveni is overworking
Mbabazi with two huge responsibilities because he cannot trust anyone
else. Museveni and Mbabazi are busy transferring Uganda from indigenous
control to foreigners. That is why they are keen to naturalize millions
of immigrants and refugees.
To understand Museveni, don’t read him at face value. Try to find out
what he is hiding which is the introduction of a feudal system of
Batutsi lords and the rest serfs laboring twenty four hours a week
(24X7) for the comfort of lords. The only way to stop this development
is to have a transitional government that brings in enlightened elements
from UDU. The National Recovery Plan (NRP) was drafted carefully to
counter what Museveni is doing – bottom up approach instead of NRM top
down, supporting small holder farmers instead of NRM large scale
farmers; producing food for domestic consumption first unlike NRM that
produces for export first; protecting Uganda industries unlike NRM that
has opened up trade that has trampled domestic industries, etc.
UDU urges Ugandans to be vigilant and honor the memory of the late
Adimola by implementing NRP so that “the children of his two sons and
two daughters and all young Ugandans would live in a better country
after fifty years of independence”. Adimola’s wish is similar to UDU
message in our article titled “Uganda in the next fifty years”. Those
who are calling for defeating Museveni and NRM in 2016 are Museveni
agents trying to divert attention from the transitional government
project. Don’t listen to them.
Let us not deceive ourselves. There is no way NRM can lose an
election in 2016 in prevailing Uganda political and economic
circumstances. Therefore let us focus on making Uganda ungovernable
through legitimate means of non-violent resistance and force formation
of a transitional government. The walk-to-work demonstrations worked but
were stopped prematurely. Look at the outcomes. Last year the economy
grew at 3 percent from the projected seven percent. Opposition parties
have won all the by-elections. These are indisputable facts. Let us
build on the momentum by acting strategically and smartly as part of
advancing the date for the establishment of a transitional government.
Opposition parties should field one candidate to improve chances of
defeating NRM but at the same time avoid placing a wolf in a goat house.
In other words make sure you know whom you are voting for to avoid
disappointments.
To root them out, we have first to accept that Uganda has been
infiltrated by foreigners who are in all political parties and
organizations working hard to take over Uganda. We must stop being naïve
and act pragmatically in national interests. We must overcome
parochialism which has handicapped Uganda national unity and cost us
dearly. We must develop a sense of putting Uganda first ahead of
regional, religious, ethnic and individual interests. Let us stop
Museveni who has successfully used patronage to corrupt real Ugandans
with ministerial and other posts and then use them to destroy the future
of our children. UDU provides an umbrella framework for all opposition
parties, organizations and NRM progressive supporters to act
collectively and defeat NRM. Please embrace UDU, support it and you
won’t be disappointed. For more information, contact
erickashambuzi@yahoo.com.
Kenya’s KANU was finally defeated only after opposition parties
pooled their resources and agreed on a candidate with a good chance of
winning the election. Zambia’s UNIP party was finally defeated only
after opposition parties pooled their resources together and agreed on a
candidate with a good chance of winning the election. The liberation
movements in Zimbabwe finally defeated Ian Smith illegal government by
pooling ZANU and ZAPU resources. Africans finally defeated the apartheid
regime in South Africa by pooling their political, trade union, women
and youth organizations. Uganda opposition needs to do the same or it
will stay out in the cold for a very long time.
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This article originally appeared in the Daily Monitor
The State Minister for Health (General Duties), Ms Sarah Kataike, has
said the ministry is overstretched by demand for health services due to
the creation of new districts.
Ms Kataike said Parliament was never mindful while passing
resolutions for creation of new districts, which has left some without
health workers. “The problem is that we have too many districts and each
district is supposed to be having a well-equipped health facility but
they (districts) are too many,” Ms Kataike said.
The minister said this during the commemoration of World Cancer Day
in Kabwohe, Sheema District, last week. Sheema Woman MP Rosemary
Nyakikongoro had earlier said the district lacked health personnel. The
district has a population of 120,000 people, with only two doctors.
The minister said this was an alarming situation because the two
doctors could not be sufficient, promising to inform the Ministry of
Public Service. “There is need to recruit more health workers. Public
Service should be informed that what they are doing (recruitment) is not
yet enough,” she said.
The minister urged people to take cancer tests early enough so that they can receive treatment.
“We are raising cancer awareness among the population and trying to demystify the myths that have surrounded this disease,” she said.
“We are raising cancer awareness among the population and trying to demystify the myths that have surrounded this disease,” she said.
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