Did the Fat Cats Yawn at Museveni's UN Speech?

At the recent UN meeting Gadaffi’s buffoonery was legendary. A Chinese diplomat was seen undiplomatically laughing at him. Venezuelan Hugo Chavez noticed the absence of the smell of sulfur sans Bush around! The octogenarian Mugabe had a shinny face and a noticeably colored pate to camouflage the white hair. What about Museveni who fancies himself as the chief spokesperson for Afrika? There was no creativity. He harped on his born-again capitalism mantras: Uganda’s economy is growing at a clip of 7 percent per annum; we (meaning the latter-day crop of Afrikan leaders) have discovered the secret to resuscitating our moribund economies; we shall manufacture our own raw materials instead of exporting at desperate poor man’s prices; if you can help us with our infrastructures, we are ready to take off; and yada, yada, yada.

When the ruling class of Afrika is shaken it screams about interference, sovereignty, neocolonialism, racism and the likes. While, most of them failed miserably, at least, the first crop of Afrikan presidents and prime ministers came up with bold, quasi-original ideas—Ujamaa, Move to the Left, Common Man’s Charter, Negritude, etc. The new crops of presidents show no creativity in solving the challenges of Afrika.

Can a Singapore be achieved without destroying communities and the environment? Can the unbridled quest for trinkets bring happiness and contentment? The president of Uganda boasted of having viable consumer population now. The last time around we were sold into slavery because the chiefs were excited about the trinkets shrewd European adventurers dangled in their faces. There is a need to go to the drawing table to redefine the premises of development and progress not based on greed, jungle laws and aping the West uncritically. The survival of the race depends on it.

Are Christians Cannibals?

Joshua (a.k.a. Jesus), the man, was a rebel against the Jewish establishment. He ridiculed the high and mighty Pharisees, with their haughty legalistic showmanship. His core message was about Love, which, supposedly, is the message of most major religions of the world. He was, however, one of the few teachers who recognized the mental component to liberate the masses: that what is important is what goes on in the mind—the outward show of animal sacrifices and piety is a dog without the right mindset.

Like many great men, Joshua was seemingly full of contradictions. Why the anger in cursing up a fig tree or beating up traders in the temple? We will never know why he was reluctant to help the Greek woman who had a daughter possessed by a demon just because the woman was non-Jewish. Then, his most enigmatic act was at the Last Supper when he blessed bread and wine and offered it to his disciples as his body and blood. The offering of animals and humans to the gods was nothing new as long as human conjured ways to communicate with the mysterious universe.

Ostensibly, he was going to be the “sacrificial lamb” for the sake of a world gone astray. When the missionaries, backed by the might of gun powder, snuff and trinkets, brought this message to the Afrikan shores, the idea of human sacrifice wouldn’t have been anathema to some Afrikan societies. What would have been problematical to some would have been the eating of human flesh and drinking of human blood, albeit symbolically. To achieve this the missionaries and their backers of force first had to debase the Afrikan and his practices, which were equally symbolic attempts to reach the Unknown.

The Afrikan practices, in their noble motivations, are generally attempts to work on the mind so as to reconcile, thank or ask—effectively, no less different from what Joshua preached. It boggles my mind when a highly western-trained Afrikan shuns certain Afrikan practices just because he is “saved.” In a piece in a local weekly, the elders recognized that the Afrikan had a problem after many years abroad where he sought refuge because of his participation and failures that resulted in many deaths and sufferings. He was asked to do certain things, but he refused claiming his allegiance only to Jesus. The question I ask is: if the said Afrikan labels our practices as the works of heathens, should we label him a cannibal for his eating the body and drinking the blood of a Jew?

What is NOT Wrong with Traditional Tribal Leadership

Imagine that the first foreign contacts with Afrika were gradual, peaceful and respectful. Afrika would now have a bigger population. The social fabric would have evolved rather than disrupted. Foreign religions would have blended with Afrikans', providing more meaning. Instead, the contacts were violent and traumatic, stripping her of her dignity, with repercussions that reverberate to this day.

In Afrika today, there is a small percentage of the filthy rich, few of whom have achieved wealth by dint of skills in industry and commerce. Many have looted the coffers of the state, leaving poor infrastructures and poor service deliveries for the rest of the taxpaying population.

What kind of people are these looters? They are the people who went to missionary or other related schools. Many of them profess to be Christians. Some who are serious about Christianity have but a perfunctory knowledge beyond claiming to be “saved.” Generally then Christianity is not a way of living but a social occasion on Sunday. A few of the “educated” class have read western classics, and may be aware of the genesis of how and why they think the way they do. Many, however, excelled in the utilitarian school subjects in order to earn a living in the new Afrika. This latter lot may not be cognizant of from whence their thought process originates.

All this is operating in a milieu in which traditional cultural wisdom no longer has leadership. The young person now looks to Europe and America as the source of what is good. Armed only with the natural ego-centric self, the desires of acquisition and the destruction of those perceived to stand in the way becomes the mode of operation. There in lies what ails Afrika. But it should not be that way.

If traditional African wisdom, through traditional leadership, were revived and practiced it could provide the umbilical cord to extend to the new way. We have many such models in Afrika—for examples Ghana and South Africa—and other parts of the world, such as Japan.

Now, let us take the case of Uganda in which Mr. Museveni is reputed to have fought for the revival of traditional tribal leadership. It is evident that his motivations were only self-serving to gain favors originally from mainly the Baganda population. Now the exercise has been extended to others for strategic political expediency. The next person who comes to power (the sooner, the better) should take the case of traditional tribal leadership as a matter of top priority. Genuine and honest debates should be devoid of political horse-trading. Let us put this dog to rest and attend to other business of living.


Acoli Paramount Chief, Rwot Acana II, on a Visit to Canada

What Does This Portend?

Is this the end of the love affair between Baganda and Dictator Museveni? It doesn't look good for the wily Museveni. Despite what he says about his regime, the unseen forces will take its own course. What are the thoughts that go on in the minds of many Ugandans? Do they go to bed wishing the president a long life? Or are they bewildered, wondering what the Universe has done to their country's fortunes? These are unseen and, collectively, will decide what are to come. Stay tuned.

Rioting, Uganda Styles

You will not Go Through!
Who Blinked First?
Is this a “Gift” to the Opposition?
A Bad Workman Blames His Tools

What International Connections?

Storms form only when moisture, pressure, and temperature dictate; wishing for rain before these conditions are met is a waste of time and energy.
A commentary on an I Ching hexagram

By now the highly media-touted return of Olara Otunnu is old news. Other than some of us, news junkies, and the aroused elderly UPC faithful, by all accounts, it has been a non-event for people like my uncle, Sabino in Mucwini, Kitgum.

One line that came up over and over in some reporter’s imagination was that Otunnu’s purported international connections would be a boon to the opposition. Just how this will be, my uncle, Sabino would want to know.

A leopard does not change its spots. We are generally so conditioned such that the past is an indication of what we will do in the future. Given, people change and circumstances change; however, in weighty matters such as choosing a lifetime mate or electing a leader, woe unto those who don’t look with a jaundice eye to the past.

So, what has Otunnu done so far with his international connections? Min Acan rotted in Museveni’s concentration camps. What mobilization did Otunnu engineer with his “connections” to rally the world to the plight of Les Misérables in the camps? Sure, he uttered some catchy phrases; so what? Instead, he wasted his energy vying for a UN post. How could he, with his heralded brains, not have anticipated that the Museveni government would not give him the time of day?

Somebody is selling us a bill of goods. Or somebody is smoking some herbs and hallucinating.

Out Of Tune

He came. He sang some religious song. He waved with arms wide open like a pope. And the safari jacket and West African attires were passé, a throwback to the sixties and seventies.

Mr. Otunnu, Ugandans have enough pastors who could have pulled for you some raucous old-time revival party for merely thirty pieces of silver! Many of us have had enough of the religious stuff waved on our faces from state house. There is no doubt about your faith, but get on with the program, man.

My brother, the English League football-watching Uganda population would mistake you for a porter if you wear those safari-cum-West African garbs. They like to see their masters in Armani suits and/or military fatigues. There is a guy who puts on military fatigues when he heads North. He sports swanky western suits and a ten-gallon hat to boot when in town or flies his sleek jet to Russia or Iceland. Take a cue from him.

What Goes On In Milton Odongo's Head?

An inflated consciousness is always egocentric and conscious of nothing but its own existence. It is incapable of learning from the past, incapable of understanding contemporary events, and incapable of drawing right conclusions about the future. It is hypnotized by itself and therefore cannot be argued with. It inevitably dooms itself to calamities that must strike it dead.

Carl Jung

There is a dubious office created by Uganda’s Museveni, dubbed the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), which harkens to the days of the all-powerful colonial district commissioner. The docket of the office is supposedly security which, in context, means ensuring the president’s omnipresence and self-perpetuation. From observations it seems the office is a dumping ground for election losers and the dumbos in the Museveni’s NRM fiefdom. Now, give such characters access to the coercive security apparatus such as the army, the police and other opaque state tools, and some of them will throw their weight around to the chagrin of those not in the government camp.
The Grotesque Milton Odongo Looms over Bewildered Peasants
The name Milton Odongo may not mean much, but in the minds of local opposition politicians in the district of Gulu, Uganda, he is the personification of the Anti-Christ. He is the overzealous and overreaching Gulu assistant RDC, who for the last few years has been such a prick. He has jailed, harassed, and disrupted many opposition politicians—all for what?

Here are some unskillful incidences of assistant Gulu RDC in action:
Ordered local radio station not to host Dr. Besigye, the leading opposition presidential candidate

Assaulted Betty Aol, an area MP

Kissing Museveni’s butt in Kaberamaido

Ordered that drugs at a public hospital be given only to members of his party, the NRM

Shoves Gulu mayor in jail

Arrests a local journalist

Each of us has perceptions on how things should be, but as soon as we come into contact with others, we find that they may have different perceptions of their own. Determining whose end will prevail is what leads to conflict. And conflict is not bad in itself because often the end results are greater than the sum of the parts if handled skillfully. Our particular action to achieve our objective depends on our view of the world and how we have been conditioned to act aggressively, passively or respond skillfully. Incidentally, Odongo uses the schoolyard logic of: my way or the highway; heads I win, tails you lose; winner takes all; zero-sum game. Unfortunately, this is the environment which is far too common in the African political dance. Stripped of any semblance of organic traditional wisdom for consensus, we have the dualistic and competitive consciousness we learnt in centuries of western schooling.

The west can open its market; vast wealth can be dug from the rich African soil, but without a collective change in attitude, Africa will continue to spin on its wheel on a journey to nowhere. Milton Odongo, the Gulu assistant RDC, a cog in this wheel, is a poster child of what is wrong with Africa.

Taking Whole*

Taking a company whole is superior
Destroying it is inferior to this.
Sun Tzu

He did it again. He likes to be the center of attention. He is the night dancer dressed in dried banana leaves with body powered in white ashes. Each time the world has to react to him. In less than three months: those mad Jaluos, Acoli MPs are in cahoots with a nascent armed rebel group, and now this. He pushes the envelop of some wacko notions only his head can conjure, and people react, to which he does the familiar foxtrot dance. It doesn’t matter what the idea—only that it benefits his cause—which is his personal interests.

In the wisdom of ancient China, this is not the Way of a sage general. It is not “taking whole.” Taking Whole is premised on the inevitability of conflict as the human condition and the interdependent of the universe. It is achieving victory with minimum bad blood. It portends a transcendent view, practice and action. It is synchronization of the heavens, earth and sentient beings for harmony that leads to progress and prosperity.

In Iraq there was no real victory because there was no Taking Whole. The wholesale dismissal of the Baath establishment ensured the continual quagmire and loss of lives. When the whole wasn’t taken in the settlements in Versailles, it spawned the white man’s second world war. Millions perished. It was also the root cause of the Iraq problem as the winners divided the lands of lesser beings among themselves. On the other hand, the rebuilding of the Axis countries was taking whole that gave unprecedented period of overall peace and human progress.

Taking whole is about enlightened leadership. The president is the Mind of the nation. If he is crafty, the people will be devious. He should be farsighted and appreciate the interconnectedness in the affairs of the nation. The latest contemptuous attempt at having only the indigenous natives of Bunyoro contesting for national elective offices in their respective locales is yet one among a series of snafus and unskillful acts. Another person would have handled the British Banyoro compensation moneys , if any, with finesse to the satisfaction of all concerned. But not our man—Mr. Museveni will screw this thing up. He will open up several fronts of weeping, anger and resentment with unpredictable consequences.

*The Rules of Victory (Gimian & Boyce, 2008)

The Unlikely Filipina Heroine

She was a house wife when her husband Benino Aquino was gunned down by a dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, a once-US client. Asked about her lack of experience, she said she knew she did not have the experience for stealing, corruption, etc. She became the emblem of mass opposition by the weak against oppressive state powers everywhere--the People's Power!

Speaking of Brands

In a local daily, one writer opined that Michael Jackson was a formidable brand. To him the creation of best selling records of all times and the sight of fans becoming unglued because of his death were enough to classify the MJ brand as all-enduring. But is it?

Music appeal, like most products goes hand in hand with the image of the creator—at least to the informed. MJ from childhood until early adulthood was a phenomenon of unsurpassed talent, whose creations sent the young and the young at heart into ecstasies. Peddlers of sugared carbonated water, which the young are prone to guzzling, gave him carte blanc checks for commercials. He was on a roll. They dubbed him “ The King of Pop.” But then all human constructs come laden with flaws. Soon the ass of a god began to leak—the effeminate voice, the gradual change in nose shape, the lightening of skin tone and the affinity for the company of children.

The general fan chorus was: Come on, MJ, we have grown; grow with us! That was not to be. And so many fans left him in his childhood where he felt most comfortable—a childhood many of us could never imagine. This same childhood projection was to become his Achilles’ heel in the morbid American sexuality and money. Soon he was milked of millions of dollars on conjectures of molestations. He lost many more fans and would-be fans. He was later to buy his own playmate kids produced from donated white sperms and eggs.

Amidst all these advertisers could not touch him with a long pole. Other than to his hard-core fans his music lost its appeal. Was the sold-out comeback tickets mere curiosity? If it were for his music, the fans would have been disappointed. MJ would have ended up in failure and humiliation that could have even killed him on stage. The gods spared him the ordeal.

So, speaking of brands; maintaining one requires skills, adroitness, ability and willingness to change and adopt with the times. For example, one might ask: What is the NRM brand—if any? Supposedly it was sold on being different from past regimes and getting rid of the Northern hegemony. It has achieved the latter and made many people happy. However the chief archtitect could have wished the North, especially Acoli, to come to its knees. Other than the random obsequiousness and confusion, that will never happen. The NRM has also contained several amateurish armed challenges to its authority which gives it credibility among the bewildered masses. But let us look at the so-called Fundamental Change.

The Fundamental Change clearly defines the NRM brand. There is the wild-wild-west capitalism defined by fire sale of quasi-government enterprises, neglect of public infrastructures and get-rich-quick greed manifested by obscene corruptions. Then, what about key government positions? The chief architect talks about non-sectarianism but, in broad day light, cynically packs key positions with his tribal people. That is change, indeed. More than anything, the NRM has refined the art of self-perpetuation through fear, double talks and bribes. Is this brand sustainable in the long run? Even the uninformed and unthinking masses will soon see through the charade and stop buying NRM.

War is Not What Acoli Needs Now

Mao had left his flash disk on an hotel computer. The disk finally found its way to the security authorities. Soon a bunch of local guys were nabbed one by one for being part of a nascent rebel group orchestrated by those in the so-called Diaspora. In the reasoning of the government such an activity could not go on without the tacit knowledge and approval of the area opposition MPs.

First, the premise that the area opposition MPs would be in cahoots with those in the Diaspora is false. I cannot see how the MPs could risk their political lives by joining some hairy, delusional scheme for war.

That such a file could find its way into the hands of Mao speaks volume about the quality of this Diaspora rebel group. I bet it will not be able to provide legal support for those already in jail, let alone bail them out.

War is costly in terms of money, organization and human lives. Where the Diaspora can find the money to wage a protracted war beats my imagination. Most out there are saddled with mortgages, schools fees back home and other basic necessities to have spare coins. If a document can so easily find its way into the hands of Uganda security operatives, what kind of organization does this rebel group have? Nothing substantial has ever come out of any Diaspora grouping. What prompts the characters behind this rebel outfit that it will fare any different this time around?

Acoli has lost so many lives. It is time to let us replenish in peace what has been lost. However flawed, there are options available at the ballot box. We must have the courage to resist anger and re-channel it into voting power. It is a longer avenue but, if we are true to bringing good, we should not fall prey to the nature of the “enemy.” Violence never got anything good. Let us not be fooled by his apparent success at using violence to get to where he is. In the final analysis he will pay for the ocean of blood he helped spill. If your intentions are noble, help those who are at the forefront win elections against the gangster ogre. Or go there yourself—stand for positions or help with organizing. Otherwise, stop confusing people with your weaknesses that passes for being warriors.

The Comeback That Never Was

We plan, God decides, so the saying goes. And the man kicked the bucket—never to be heard from again in this earthly realm—no concerts—no comeback.

I was introduced to the Jackson 5, hence Michael Jackson, by my urbanite, relatively sophisticated first serious girlfriend. Me, I was a village hick come to town! I had, of course, read about the slave trade and the Negroes of America, but never really connected to them emotionally. The Jackson 5 and Mohammed Ali were the primary connecting channels. My girl friend had a Jackson tape, and I played it over and over on my analog recorder-player.

Come the eighties, when I could see more clearly, the excitement about the man had waned just as he was hitting the mega stardom. Why? There was something that did not jive right about the man for me. Jackson lacked what Prince (as in The-Artist-Formerly-Known-as-Prince) had—raw unabashed manhood. That effeminate voice and the way he carried himself just wasn’t for me. The self-hate, projected in nearly fifty surgeries to Europeanize the contours of his face, spoiled it all.

Now, like a dream, he is no more except in our memories. What lessons can we, still around here, learn? The Grand Reaper can come at anytime. Now is the only time we have. So, we have to do our utmost best at whatever floats our boat—tuning our Adungu, not too tight, not too lose so that the music brings joy to all and sundry. There are rarely second chances. Hopefully, in the process, we will find the ultimate reality thereby spending the rest of our time beyond mere quest for power, wealth and fame.

I overheard a couple of elderly African-Americans at a neighborhood concert: It was time for him to go and rest.

So, We Covet What the Europeans Have!

The African village boy dies in a clandestine attempt at crossing the Sahara desert en route to a perceived better life in Europe. Even the powerful Museveni of Uganda declares that Africans want what the Europeans have. By this he means adequate electricity, excellent road and railway systems so that Africa can attract critical mass private investments (instead of relying on NGOs) that can catapult it into the 21st century consumerism, which is said to be indicative of the good life. He, however, leaves out the democratic culture which is part and parcel of the European experience that holds together what they have built and sustain.

There is no question that Africa needs to improve her populations’ material welfare, health and basic infrastructures. But here are my questions to those clamoring to improve the lot of the Africans:

1. Do we need the level of European consumerism even as many insightful Europeans are now reevaluating their consumption habits?

2. Do cultural norms, such as high trust index and/or entrenched spiritual (not necessarily religious) compass, influence a people’s ability to develop and progress?

3. Is autocratic governing necessary to build economic base for a take-off? Can that occur concurrently with liberal democracy? Why do we desire western Armani suits, our children to get the best western education money can buy, western Lear jets, sleek western cars and yet shun liberal democracy, and are quick to label it “foreign” when it has all the ingredients of universal humanity?

4. Who in this world gives and have no expectations of the use of the object of giving? Apparently Museveni expects a largesse from Europeans and their American cousins, but does not want to be told what to do by mere school kids out of college! And the Africans at the gathering in Germany were ecstatic to hear this mundane childish utterance. The man himself gives his brown envelops and expects certain behavior, like MPs voting in a certain way in his rubberstamp parliament.

A Woman After My Heart

1991 Noble Peace Laurette


The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of a need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation’s development. A revolution which aims merely at changing official policies and institutions with a view to improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success. Without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produce the iniquities of the old order would continue to be operative…. It is not enough merely to call for freedom, democracy and human rights. There has to be a united determination…. To make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths, to resist the corrupting influence of desire, ill will, ignorance and fear.

Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who keep on trying. So free men are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities…. Which will maintain a free society…. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom From Fear

The Sine Qua Non of Uganda's Heroism

As with any fancy-named scheme coming out of the NRM government, there is the ever creative Museveni behind it. And so on the heels of the Martyrs’ Day—a day in remembrance of a mass murder—there is the Heroes’ Day, effectively, a day in which the NRM congratulates itself. For all intents and purposes, it is about celebrating violent, mostly, men. The list of those “honored” speaks for itself. The subtle message is: have a gun to enforce your will and you might become a hero too. Is that the message we want to give to the youth and leaders of tomorrow?

The oft-quoted NRM one-liner: We are not here by accident. If violence is the message, it is neither by accident that we have spurts of violent outrages: a soldier goes on a shooting spree, a husband stabs a wife for ownership of a house, a husband forces a wife to suckle a dog, a jealous fiend splashes acid on the face of another, ad infinitum.

Heroes’ Day is the creation of a violent mind. On his list he will not have those who gave support from such places as Nairobi or London. He just doesn’t see the vital connections of those out-of-bush king makers who were equally violent by intent. But, Aaah! He would contrive and fabricate a long-ago violent tribal king into his hero list. As the great fabricator, he would assert that the NRA was “inspired” by the “heroism” of Kabalega. Give me a break. Of course, now the Luoness of Kabalega’s ancestry is unmentionable as it was done in the Luoing of another great tribe that was beginning to be a crab in the groin. The heroism of Kabalega is simply meant to garner some Bunyoro votes.

And so, his heroes are not my heroes—neither should they be yours. Our heroes are the doctors, the nurses, the teachers and other workers who work for pittance. The mothers and fathers who sacrifice the little they have to raise families are our heroes.

The Otunnu Factor

Miria Obote fired Okello-Okello and his gang, and maybe rightly so. The Okellos-Okellos were the ones who likely engineered her ascendancy to inherit her husband’s UPC leadership. Her husband died in a foreign land, unfulfilled with, maybe, sadness. So, there is an emotional tie to the party that many of us ordinary mortals have no clue about.

“ How dare these characters to go behind my back?,” she might have furiously asked.

Okello-Okello is a fighter for many causes I care about. However, it is time to let the past go. Change is the only constant. UPC is a spent force. The only energy of the party is nostalgia among the old diehards and Langi tribal loyalty.

A political party is like a raft. You use it to cross a river. Once you have crossed the river, you may discard it at the shore. To cling to it and carry the raft on your back everywhere you go is to look foolish and ridiculous.

Equally, other than nostalgia, going to beg Olara Otunnu to lead the party was not based on any hard cold calculation. Sure, Otunnu is a once-wiz-kid who was a star debater even from primary school. Testifying in his father’s Mulokole gatherings may have given him a head start advantage in honing his oratory skills. And sure, he rose to hold very high profile positions, which few Ugandans remember. Some who do may recall that he had a similar journey to his uncle’s 6-month government where he was bamboozled and out- maneuvered by Museveni in Nairobi.

Now, the question is: What does Otunnu have that should make me vote for him? So far, there is nothing and, I suspect that many Ugandans will see no reason to vote for him come 2011. Let him stand for a parliamentary seat against people like Hilary Onek—now you are talking! Or will that be below him?

K Ssemogerere, the Colonial Visitor from the South

Mr. Ssemogeree’s narration of his “safari” through the Eastern and Northern frontiers is not unlike that of a colonial adventurer of the 1800s. True to form, a colonial traveler worth his salt must be carried by native guides to negotiate the dangerous primitive terrains. And so Ssemogerere’s guide—and he never fails to get one as in “I always find one”—showed him businesses affiliated with the dangerous terrorist, lest he be kidnapped and made to carry sacks of potatoes. Believe it or not, there have been kids from Kawempe, Entebbe and what-have-you who “escaped” Kony and sought asylum in desirable locales.

Of course, a “civilized” colonialist must dispense unsolicited advice to the natives to save themselves against themselves: “There is no reason to prolong this funeral” and follow the young who are free from past memories. But one must ask: If the dethroning of a tribal king could engender orgies of revenge killings twenty plus years later, don’t other have the right to mourn their murdered kin as long as they wish?

And speaking of murder, we have just celebrated the act of a macabre mass murderer at the dawn of a concept, called Uganda. Vacuous, grand standing speeches were made. Even the President threw in a few banal biblical quotes he does not believe in and, if he does, he is far too gone in the service of the devil to help himself.

For those of us who subscribe and believe in the Newtonian law of action and reaction—cause and effect—, could the karmic fruition of that single dastardly act not be the one haunting the Pearl? If we cannot talk and face truth in order to exorcise the past, the funeral must go on lest we forget and be caught flat-footed and be victimized once again in the next round of orgasmic violence.

NRM Acoli Style

The office of the RDC is purportedly for the coordination of a district's security issues. It is answerable only to the President. Since there are elected district officials and the Police who could handle most security matters, this is yet another fail-safe redundancy control mechanism that props the President at unnecessary costs to the taxpayers. The appointees are often election losers who obsequiously and shamelessly advance the NRM (a.k.a. Museveni) agenda beyond the security docket.

Take the case of one assistant RDC of Gulu district—one Milton Odong. (The Milton probably originated from parents with some admiration or connection with another famous or infamous--depending on your persuasion--Ugandan). To say that Milton Odong is over jealous would be an understatement. One time there was some donation of medicine to the local Gulu government hospital. Odong had the gall to edict that the medicine would only benefit NRM supporters. This is no joke. The same Odong also issued an order stopping an opposition MP from recruiting from a local teachers’ training school. Again, the same Odong locked up the Gulu town mayor who had some office misunderstanding with a man who was transferred or fired from the town’s administration.

Then take the case of one presidential assistant-cum-adviser—a Toodwong. There are countless advisers—some who would starve but for the presidential largess—throughout the country, but you rarely hear from them. But not our Toodwong. He is known for his strident support for giving Acoli land to the so-called investors—chief among them, the Indian Madhivani. Recently Mr. Toodwong went to the elders of Payira clan in Anaka, urging them to support his MP quest in 2011.













Toodwong Woos Acoli Payira Elders
Generally clan support is part and parcel of Acoli politics, but to ask for it openly and bluntly is a new one. Even then, some have in the past bucked the trend. NRM Onek, who is said to be a Sudanese Acoli (and there is no problem with that, but with the caveat of correct allegiance), beat up UPC Lucima, who relied on his maternal and paternal clans to deliver him to Parliament. In the sixties the late Alija Latim, whose father was a Jonam and mother an Acoli from Mucwini, Kitgum was a formidable DP in the Gulu area, beating up clan-based candidates on the two parliametntary elections.

Generally, however, Acoli allegiance is to family, followed by clan. The idea of corporate Acoli is a new emerging phenomenon—thanks to the Amin and NRA atrocities. For long an Acoli man was for himself, his family, and maybe his clan. Thus he served the British faithfully and loyally. He again served Obote faithfully and loyally. For all that Amin butchered him at will with no one to rally for his cause. When the NRA came there was no Acoli structure and organization against the determined and organized NRA forces. The efforts by some elders to rally the Acoli were simply delusional. The Kony phenomenon is just a sad case of Gipir-Labongo curse of anger and stubbornness that is still the pervasive collective unconscious of the Acoli.

So then, it is not surprising if we find Acoli NRM party apparachiks who are willing to fall on swords for the sake of the party. If history is any indication, the number will increase as young men and women seek their individual fortunes and clans are willing to lend their supports. Mr. Museveni knows what he is talking about when he says he will win support in Acoli come 2011 despite leaving the region to the dogs for nearly a quarter century. It will be a test as to whether Acoli society has evolved or regressed to the same old, same old.

Integrity

Amin would have probably asked: Who is this man, called Integrity?! If he is a real man, I want to challenge him to a boxing match!

Integrity is one of those words that are rare in the Uganda common lexicon. It is about personal wholeness, consistency, authenticity, and commitment to values and principles in all daily interactions and activities. (Koslow 1999).

In His bargain with Abraham, God promised that He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if He could find 10 good people. In a similar vein, can one find 10 people in Uganda with integrity? Hardly. However, in the political realm people like Bidandi Ssali, Amanya Mushega and Besigye can be counted as authentic and capable of correcting the tortured legacy of the nation. One would wish that the first two could have more fire in their bellies. On the other hand, the man heading the NRM has no integrity at all. Many of the rest of us would also as easily compromise our integrity for short-term gains as he has done on many occassions. This is because we have a deluded sense of “self” as we look for happiness in all the wrong objective realities.

Here are some tidbits on Integrity by Koslow.

1. Always keep your word. If a change in circumstances means that keeping your word would be life threatening or otherwise devastating, renegotiate with the intent of maintaining integrity

2. Integrity requires consistency between your public statements and your private thoughts

3. Highly effective people never blame circumstances for their lack of results. Instead, they accept responsibility and recommit to the actions necessary to produce intended results.

Who Can Judge Good from Bad?

In a Taoist story, a farmer's horse once ran off into foreign lands. The neighbors all said it was terrible, but the farmer shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." Later, the horse returned with a foreign horse of fine breed. The neighbors all said it was wonderful, but the farmer shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." The horse mated, and the farmer became a wealthy horse trader. One day his only son was riding and fell and broke his hip. The neighbors all said how horrible, but the man shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." Next year, foreigners invaded. All able-bodied young men were drafted. Almost all died in battle. The army had taken all the man's horses, but his son, because of the broken hip, was spared.

The moral: you never know. The other day a good friend of mine asked whether I thought a certain African dictator was grooming his wife to succeed him. She wanted a definite answer, and didn't like my wishy-washy one. You never know; the universe has its own laws. In the chaos theory and complex theory the results of interactions between A & B is dependent on the environment C, plus factors D, E & F.