Did Olara Otunnu Desert Acoli and Uganda in Their Hours of Need?

Only a select few—inclusive, Charles de Gaulle, Ayotollah Khomeni, Apollo Milton Obote—could go home from exile and become rulers. Why only a few? How did they do it? These are the million dollars questions Olara Otunnu and his fanatic fans are probably chewing on. As if these were not enough headache, Mr. Olara’s perennial nemesis has thrown the gaunlet, accusing him of deserting Acoli and Uganda, and implicitly saying he (Museveni) is the one who brought peace to Acoliland having helped create the twenty-year hell in the first place. Can you belief this guy? Only a sociopath can look you in the eye and conjure such an argument.

Let us sort the shafts from the grains. Mr. Museveni has let the cat out of the bag. His headline accusation begs the question that many Acoli have been too timid to ask, or ambivalent about the twenty-plus years, or would rather sweep under the rug anything negative pertaining to Olara. Museveni is pointing to Acoli: Here is a man who ran from me like a rabbit. I messed you up and he did not have the wherewithal to fight for you. So, vote for Daddy!

Will this tack give Museveni some vote mileage in the region? Much as reasonable ones (to free themselves) have forgiven without condoning his past deeds or reconciling with him, he is only stirring bad memories not unlike that of Arab slave traders and the at-times-underhanded British rule.

Meanwhile: Did Olara Otunnu desert Acoli and Uganda in their hours of need? Leaders who went back and assumed powers maintained constant presence in their people’s hearts in the darkest hours. There in lies the answer to the question.