---Anonymous
Imagine you are in 2011 and the elections are over. Could you imagine five more years of the same man, Museveni, at the helm of the state? If you cringe, you are not alone.
Change is the basis of nature and human affairs. It is said to be the only constant. Ancient Chinese, in their wisdom, have codified the phenomenon of change in the I Ch’ing, the Book of Changes. For centuries the book has been used by rulers and commoners alike for divination. This is no different, in effect, from the African consulting spirit mediums although the practitioners have not revealed their arcane knowledge to the masses. Even if you don’t care about consulting the I Ch’ing as an oracle, it is a fascinating read with snippets of how to conduct oneself under various circumstances.
The present circumstances in Uganda call for change, long overdue. We cannot afford five more years of Museveni because of the following ten reasons:
1. Mr. Museveni has contradicted most of what he claimed motivated him to become a bandit in the bush and cost the lives of more than 300,000 in the Luweero Triangle.
2. Unlimited term in Uganda is equivalent to a life presidency because of the incumbent unfair advantage with state resources, including the coercive forces. Changing the constitution by bribing MPs was an act of treason and cynical disregard of the history of the country. Mr. Museveni is now the personification of the contemptuous Big-Man African politics.
3. Corruptions. Bribing MPs was an act of corruption. State-house scholarship is a form of corruption that favors a select group using state resources. Handing state moneys and vehicles to individuals is one way of bribing in daylight. Promising roads, water etc to groups instead of having national policies for such needs is a form of corruption. Having corrupt untouchables in government is a deliberate act of corruption. Is it any wonder that, from top to bottom, everyone tries to “eat” where he works contributing the high costs of doing business?
4. Lack or Poor Essential Services. Beggarly accepting World Bank/IMF term of Structural Adjustments has ruined the lives of millions. Millions, unlike the president’s daughter who can have the best German medical services in childbirth, can only do with unsanitary and ill-equipped dilapidated local hospitals. Roads, even those patched up for the CHOGM, have become death traps for motorists. Dependence on NGOs is not a sustainable way to run a government. The foreign NGOs should just pack up and leave so that people can use their heads to survive and prosper.
5. Police State. Uganda is a de facto militaristic police state. Venting citizen’s concerns by peaceful demonstration is one way of letting off steam. A wise, enlightened leader understands this and acts accordingly to realign himself with the Zeitgeist of the nation. To mow down demonstrators is an act of genocidal arrogance.
6. Lack of genuine press freedom. The press is not free if it can’t strive to peep through the opaque veil of machinations for self-perpetuation and abuse of power. There are still draconian colonial and Obote era laws in the books that punish journalists, who should be an independent estate but are sometimes compromised with “gifts.”
7. Tribalism. Mr. Museveni preaches non-sectarianism, but key posts in his government are filled with people from his region. Sooner or later the state-house scholarships will begin to skew what regions get the top jobs.
8. Opaque government. Citizens cannot have access to information on what the government plans to do with the expected oil revenues. Whose resource is it anyway? Those classified state-house budgets and military expenditures are causes for alarm and corruptions.
9. The Economy. The IMF structural adjustments have left millions in the dust without much chance of improving their lot. The World Bank’s directed fire sale of government-owned corporations has enriched a few but the effect has not trickled down. Mr. Museveni has played with all kinds of schemes to bring up the lot of the country, but nothing has made tangible change.
10. Twenty Four Years are more than enough. He is not going to do any better than he has already. All things point to the intention for the creation of a dynasty. That must be rejected by all means necessary. Change is the only option.
The Dictactor and Prospective successors: Minister, Missus Museveni, and Son, Muhoozi
Muhoozi eats big in PGB shake-up
[http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/870110/-/wj3vwq/-/index.html
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