FROM DR KIZZA BESIGYE; My attention has been drawn to an opinion published by Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba. Its titled ten reasons why Col. Besigye must apologise to the people of Rukungiri and the President of Uganda. My immediate reaction was total disbelief that it could have been written by someone with the intellectual attributes of Prof. Baryamureeba. Ive never personally interacted with him but he certainly has an impressive academic profile. The opinion piece was not only written in poor English, but its content is nothing that can remotely be associated with a University Professor! Disappointingly, Ive discovered that the opinion is actually published on Prof. Baryamureebas Facebook page. The page has other publications; mainly, concerning Uganda Technology and Management University (UTAMU) of which the Prof. is the Vice Chancellor. Also found on the page are political opinion pieces that are consistent with a person determined to show support for whatever Mr. Museveni does or says, however wrong or illegal. He defends the appointment of Gen. Aronda as an NRM minister, while still a UPDF serving officer (offering outrageous reasons); he wants strikes and demonstrations to be strongly discouraged because they affect the economy (citing KACITA strike); he attacks the lack of internal democracy in UPC, DP and FDC (strikingly silent about NRM); he announces that he has been honoured by President Yoweri K. Museveni with a Golden Jubilee Medal during the celebrations to mark Ugandas 51st Independence anniversary on 9th October 2013 in Rukungiri. Ive previously opined that many intellectuals have betrayed our country by surrendering their souls to the dictatorship. Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba seems to distinguish himself as such. Being a University Professor, one would, at least, expect him to get some facts to cloth his boot-licking. He criticizes my actions as going against FDC policy; when he clearly has no idea what that policy is! The country deserves better from such “intellectuals”. Regarding the reasons advanced by the Prof. as to why I should apologize to Rukungiri people and to Mr. Museveni, I would like to offer the following information and observations: 1. The National function was held in Rukungiri but the people of Rukungiri were not hosts; they were invited like other Ugandans were. Thats why; even the MP of area where the function was could not be offered an opportunity to welcome guests to his area. The only marginal involvement in organising the function was by local NRM functionaries. This was in spite of the host Constituency being entirely led by FDC; that is the MP, Municipal Mayor, all Municipal Division Chairpersons etc. Some FDC District Councillors had volunteered to participate as ushers, when a call was made by the District Chairperson, but they were exclusively weeded out by the Kampala organising team without any explanation. Therefore, it was very clear well ahead of the function that this was, like all before it, essentially an NRM do; Rukungiri people only had to choose how to deal with it. Several options were suggested by our people, including that of holding a separate function for the non-NRM to mark their Independence Day. Some of us discouraged the idea of a separate function since this would not properly demonstrate the problem we had with the National function. We held a meeting with all our leaders on the eve of the function and agreed to attend the function and, once it proceeded as we expected, to walk out in demonstration of our displeasure. 2. Independence is about peoples power, freedom, and justice. Walking out of a function peacefully does not interfere with anybodys enjoyment of their own rights. Those who preferred to stay at the function would do so, as they did. However, those of us who preferred to leave were either arrested and later released without charge (as happened to me, the Lord Mayor Elias Lukwago and Hajj Mubarak Munyagwa) or forced to remain at the function by locking up the gates, as happened to very many of our people. Even people who had not been at the function were violently arrested. In the case of Ingrid Turinawe, she was arrested and driven at breakneck speed and detained in Ntungamo (60kms away) until night when she was thrown out of police cells and told to go! 3. The legitimacy of Mr. Museveni as President of Uganda is, at the very minimum, questionable. He did not come to power through a popular mandate but through the force of arms. He manipulated the Constitution-making process to entrench the NRM/NRA political/military establishment as the only political organization (this is what I exposed in my 1999 critique). The NRM is still fused with the State, nearly ten years after supposedly adopting a multiparty system of government. All LC 1s in Uganda are of the one-party (NRM) system; no elections have taken place under a multiparty system. Public Offices operate as NRM offices; e.g.: RDCs, office of Minister for mobilization, Patriotism offices; not to mention the Security Organizations. UPDF officers are now serving as NRM officials. Mr. Museveni fraudulently abolished Presidential term limits that had been unanimously approved as part of the 1995 Constitution. All Judges of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled (in election petitions) that Presidential elections were not conducted in accordance with the law and more crucially, that they were not free or fair- the only type of election allowed by our Constitution. Therefore, Mr. Museveni may be legal (according to Kelsens doctrine of revolution) but he cannot be a legitimate President of Uganda. As such, Ugandans do not have to accord him the respect due to the office of the President of Uganda. Thats why I refer to him simply as Mr. Museveni and cannot respect protocol arrangements attached to the Office of the President of Uganda when it’s occupied by an illegitimate holder. Respect annot be demanded or forced; it has to be earned. What we’re undertaking is a defiance campaign against a dictatorship. It is similar to the campaign Mr. Museveni himself undertook to remove the previous regime. The main difference is that Mr. Museveni used violent means while we deliberately and painstakingly employ non-violent means. I would be interested to know what Prof. Baryamureeba thinks of the respect that Mr. Museveni accorded President Idi Amin, or Dr. Militon Obote after being sworn in as President in 1980 or Gen. Tito Okello Lutwa subsequently. If he didn’t accord them respect, why would he expect any himself? Activists for Change (A4C) will continue to defy the dictatorship until it collapses and Ugandans forge a transition to a democratic dispensation. FOR GOD and my COUNTRY. Kizza Besigye
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 12:36:37 +0000
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