WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR GREAT LAKES REGION INSTABILITY? In the capitals of many developed countries, you often hear from officials and sometimes the public Museveni and Kagame being praised for bringing and sustaining stability in the Great Lakes region of Africa and for being reliable allies. But they decline to tell you what the situation was like in the region before Museveni and Kagame launched destructive wars starting in Uganda in 1981 to the present day. Broadly, stability exists when there are no wars. But Museveni and Kagame have been engaged in wars since 1981 that have destabilized the region and caused massive loss of life. In the Luwero Triangle alone some 700,000 people lost their lives. In the northern and eastern regions of Uganda the numbers are much higher. As noted above, Museveni and Kagame have worked together and are collectively responsible for the instability and its outcomes. There has been another kind of instability – a silent one – resulting from implementation of shock therapy structural adjustment program. Macroeconomic stability and export-oriented growth have resulted in high unemployment and the ‘new poor’, food and nutrition insecurity as food is exported to earn foreign currency to retire external debts, removal of subsidies on healthcare, education, agriculture and energy. High morbidity and mortality have been the result. Some children wards are now described as hospices. Maternal mortality is rising. Children are dropping out of school because Museveni refused to support lunch program. He had asked the World Bank to advise him but we have not seen the report. We hope the World Bank did not advise that Uganda primary school children should be denied lunch to save money and balance the budget. Everywhere in developed and developing countries where school lunch is provided attendance is higher and performance better especially for girls. Uganda children deserve the same treatment which NEPAD has already endorsed. Regionally, the situation was relatively stable before Museveni became president. Rwanda was described as a success story in economic and social development for emulation by other African countries. The RPF war with Museveni support from 1990 destabilized the country culminating in the 1994 genocide. Both sides in the conflict have been accused of committing genocide although so far only Hutu have been arrested and tried at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The UN Security Council decided that investigations should cover the period January 1 to December 31, 1994. Rwanda which was a member of the Security Council and initiated the resolution voted against it probably for fear that RPF soldiers might be implicated. But what choice does that leave with onlookers but to conclude that RPF were involved in crimes against humanity including genocide. Absence of street demonstrations does not mean stability. Rwanda is a military dictatorship that does not tolerate dissent – the human rights abuse record is pretty bad. You can’t even mention your ethnicity because that is considered divisive and therefore a crime. Burundi had free and fair elections in 1993 and elected a Hutu president and Hutu dominated parliament which did not please Museveni and Kagame. It is reported that plans to overthrow the government took place in Entebbe by Museveni and Kagame. The president and many senior officials were killed and Tutsi soldiers carried out genocide against Hutu people. Earlier in 1965, 1972 and 1988 massacres of Hutu by Tutsi described as genocide took place in Burundi. As if that was not enough Kagame and Museveni invaded Zaire, killed many innocent people and eventually toppled the Mobutu regime. Although many people had been impoverished, Zaire was relatively stable under Mobutu but has become unstable since 1996 when Zaire (now DRC) was invaded by Tutsi-led troops using Laurent Kabila as a shield. Many reports have clearly pointed out that Kagame and Museveni are the aggressors trying to turn the region into a Tutsi Empire, yet they continue to be regarded as champions of peace and stability in the region and as reliable allies while Hutu, the victims over the centuries, continue to be stigmatized as genocidaires including those born after 1994. Kagame and Museveni sponsors avoid calling them dictators but politely describe them as ‘bold’ leaders. Some commentators have even absolved Kagame and Museveni for the human tragedy by invoking Malthusian positive checks, meaning that war, disease and starvation in the region have been caused by more mouths to feed than the carrying capacity of the region. They call for birth control instead of removing the dictators from power to restore stability and individual security. Museveni has disclosed his real mission twice. In his book “Sowing the Mustard Seed”, Museveni uses the parable namely “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches”(Alec Russell 2000). What he probably meant was that the Tutsi are a small nation but through conquering and subjugating others in the region and arranging marriages between Tutsi women and non-Tutsi men who become tutsified they will become a large Tutsi Empire. In 1997, Museveni also announced that his main mission was to turn the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region into a federation of states. He has been trying to realize the mission through a combination of military and political strategies. He has already approached Kenyatta to work together on fast tracking the East African political federation. Based on seniority of presidents, Museveni would be the first to become president. That explains in large part why Museveni has already declared he will contest the 2016 presidential elections to buy time until the political federation is completed and he occupies a much bigger office than the one in Uganda. We in UDU want peace and individual security for all by democratic means because war begets war. We can’t achieve that goal alone without the solidarity of our friends and well-wishers. We therefore call on the development partners especially the United States and the United Kingdom to help create a level playing field so that the people in the region can elect their leaders on merit and hold them accountable for commission and/or omission. Rebranding Museveni and Kagame to stay in power longer will make matters worse. ERIC KASHAMBUZI Secretary General, UDU
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 13:46:56 +0000
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