Much Ado About Delusions in Garamba

If cute code names were the Midas touch of successful military campaigns, Kony would have been killed many times by now. Now, as Operation Lightning Thunder winds down, and Uganda’s vaunted “professional” army is on its way out of Congo territory, courtesy of young Kabila’s naïve government, it leaves sans the prize.

What was the core mission of the exercise all about? Was it rescuing the LRA captives? If 80% of the LRA forces have been demobilized, as claimed, it also implies that 80% of the captives were killed since the bulk of Kony’s forces were captives who had no clue what this madness is all about. So, we can surmise that rescue was not the primary motivation—honorable and heart-warming as it might be as we see some being paraded for PR.

Was the mission about capturing or killing Kony? If so, it has failed hands down. The man is somewhere calculating his next move, and some lazy minds will say with the connivance of the Diaspora, the perennial scapegoat of convenience.

Some say the mission was about a right of passage—a bar mitzvah of some sorts—for OB Muhoozi. Probably, if the thunder had struck on target, Mr. Muhoozi would have been front page holding Kony’s head for a trophy. Instead, we see a soldier debasing himself with Kony’s wig on his head.

On the whole the mission was about Museveni’s penchant for violence. He was itching for battle all along, and the delay and snag in the peace process gave him the excuse. Now, hundreds are dead. Does he and his countrymen even feel an iota of guilt or remorse? Nature has its way of rewarding all our deeds—good or bad. If we ever wonder why things never seem to go right in the so-called Pearl of Africa—Uganda—, let us look at what the leaders have done with the tacit consent of sections of the population. We will see that the past is not pretty; the present is murky; and the future is dark for we reap what we sow. If you sowed mustard seeds (no pun intended), you can't reap juicy mango fruits. But, in our perverted ignorance, we behave as if we could. That is the epitome of delusion.