Goldino Nyamugabwa
Whenever I go to the microblogging site, X, formerly Twitter, the first thing I do is to check for Arsenal transfer updates - soccer fans can relate how significant this period; transfers - is in preparation for the forthcoming season, but this time was different.
I was notified by X that Mzee Museveni had tweeted or Xed, whatever it is called, and I browsed to see what it was about.
Forget the condescending language of referring to us Ugandans as his “bazzukulu”, his second paragraph read “I want to congratulate the Armed Forces and Security Forces …….. for foiling or not participating in the bad demonstration...” It was at this stage that I realised that I did not have to read whatever was in the subsequent paragraphs.
However, imbued with rage after seeing peaceful young Ugandans being brutally arrested, I was prompted to read the entire statement. By the time I read the last word, I was angrier with myself than I was with the author of the post.
Fast forward, Mr Museveni and his ilk wedged a guerrilla war between 1981-1986 to fight what they called a bad government. Hundreds of thousands of Ugandans died and others were orphaned during that war.
A man with such wealth of experience should have understood better that when times like these come, where citizens feel that the government is non-responsive to their demands, there is no might, neither of weapons nor of propaganda, that can deter their resolve.
I have been active in our politics for some time now and I was surprised that many Ugandans, most of whom had never made a single post about politics nor participated in politics, came out loud to say: “Enough is Enough”. To this extent, I am inclined to agree with my brother @iamBarnet who posted, saying: “Hello @AnitahAmong [Speaker of Parliament, unlike many who castigate you, I am here to give you some credit. Your insatiable greed has inadvertently solidified a voice against corruption. Ironically, you’re the bad example society needed.”
Maybe we needed such a bad example to wake up. But before I get lost here, let me return to the essence of this article; the anger with myself for reading Mr Museveni’s post.
In the post, President Museveni recounted the 2019 anti-corruption march, which, for all intents and purposes, should have been called a pro-corruption march. He contrasted that march with that July 23 and he concluded by characterising the latter as unpatriotic, foreign-funded and anti-people.
While the President might be genuinely angry with these foreigners, he must recall that our most recent demographic figures illustrate a completely different situation.
About 38,2 million of the 45.9 million Ugandans were born after he had taken the reigns of this country and a paltry 699,891 Ugandans fall in the same age bracket as him and if there was anyone to blame for fostering economic exploitation and neocolonialism in Uganda over the last 38 years, then he should take the biggest blame.
This is not by any means to say that we are oblivious of our history but rather to emphasise the fact that 38 years is too long a period for any serious leader to have elevated the socioeconomic and political standards of a country.
The President probably thinks we are people who are either incapable of studying trends or much less, as people whose cognitive faculties are in deficit. I can’t help but blame myself for reading such ill-intentioned views.
The President, in the post, also seemed to suggest that he was ready to participate in an anti-corruption march provided it falls on a Sunday and is sanctioned by the police.
Wow! The President, after losing the 1980 elections went to the bush. He neither sought police permission nor used peaceful means to resolve the bad governance issue then. If a stolen election catalysed the Luweero Bush War, why does the President think that the stealing of public funds by a few privileged individuals is not reason enough for a generation whose future is being altered, to peacefully protest?
The President shouldn’t be marching against corruption. He should be incentivising those marching while punishing those stealing from the public. He has both legal and institutional frameworks to deal with corruption, if he so wished. But it seems the President has decided to criminalise peaceful protests and jail peaceful Ugandans while protecting the corrupt with all his might.
Mr Goldino Nyamugabwa is a teacher.
