Letter to a Ugandan Journalist

You obviously want to hit back at the West. That was my thought process some time back too. While my strategic attitude towards the West’s hegemony has not changed, I see the need for a more refined tactical approach.

First, let me correct a piece of history. The people behind the killing of Joshua ( a.k.a, Jesus in Greek) were the Jewish religious establishment which saw its power base dwindling against this upstart of a rebel. Even Pontius Pilate washed his hands off the blood of the man he saw as essentially innocent, but had to give in because he was fearful of a Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire . So, even if your line of reasoning is tenable, both the Jewish religion and the followers of Joshua are still in existence in the third millennium, and does not give evidence to the efficacy of an outright confrontational approach to any establishment in majority of situations.

Sure the West was in cahoots in the case of Amin and, definitely, in the current case of Mugabe’s economy. What do you expect? Nobody gives up power on a platter. And such powers are used against opponents who try to undermine. Tactics may differ, but the end results are always the same in banana republics as well as the most enlightened democracies alike—retention of power. The only difference is that in the West individuals cannot go on fooling people for long, and the onset of serious deprivations will not come in our life time.

In politics (which is a major part of everybody’s life), truth is not the deciding factor on who survives and who does not--unfortunately. Many endure oppressive and unfair work environments in order to feed families. What do you say about that? On the other hand, one can cleverly sabotage the work system or use measured challenges in order to change things without causing undue sufferings to those one is responsible for.

Similarly, Mugabe could have used the international systems, such as the United Nations and the Courts first. If that failed, he would have had developed friends and an international support to do what he did with less trauma. Even the US had to court the world before invading Iraq which, if it had succeeded, George Bush would be smelling like roses.

The continued suffering in Uganda has not been about being cozy with the West for the benefit of the Uganda people. Rather, cozying with the West has been a tactical tool for strategic raw need to hold on to power by one cynical dude.