Time to re-draw all these borders One of the assignments of the 21st century was to turn the world into one village using technological advancement, especially in media, trade and transport. But just 14 years into a century, the world seems to be disintegrating at a faster and worrying rate. The 7.5 million people of Catalonia want a referendum to secede from Spain. Scotland has just voted on secession from United Kingdom, and the 1.8 million people of Northern Ireland may be next. And some 2,000 lives have so far been lost in Ukraine, where a mainly Russian-speaking militia is battling for independence. Although currently at war with herself, the mainly-black, Christian South Sudan broke away from the mainly-Arab, Muslim-dominated Sudan three years ago, to become an independent country. Ethnicity and theology are ripping the Middle East apart, as some communities either seek to overthrow the established order there or carve out territories of their own. Each religious sect has raised an army of its own. The Kurds took advantage of the American invasion of Iraq and carved out their autonomous territory. I think Kurds will not settle until they have liberated areas in Turkey and Syria occupied by their kinsmen. Shia and Sunni Muslims will continue fighting until countries like Syria, Lebanon and Iraq are sub-divided. Just next door in Democratic Republic of Congo, the Tutsis, near the Ugandan and Rwandan borders, think of themselves as a distinct community deserving of independence from the large Congo. I have a feeling their desire to carve out an independent country will one day materialise. In one of my recent articles, calling for the disbanding of Uganda, I argued that such a move would even reduce the temptation to steal public resources. Part of the reason the Islamic State is fighting is to create a Caliphate that will be ruled by Sharia law. Of course, because of skewed media coverage, many people now think Sharia law means beheadings and amputations, which is far from the truth. And I think demonizing Sharia law and attempts by the USA to preach against it is what has partly fuelled terrorism and won ISIS, and similar groups, a lot of following. Of course some people will point to the marginalisation of Sunni Arabs by the Iraqi government. There is no way ISIS would have swept across Iraq without support from the local population. The Americans now struggling to put out the fire are responsible because they dismembered the political configuration in that area. This war in the Middle East will be a subject of another article. Today’s subject is about the new world order. Rather than becoming one nation or global village, we are breaking up, carving out territories based on our ideology or ethnicity. This is what is happening in Ukraine. Already Crimea has abandoned Ukraine and joined Russia. Before we get to the South Sudan versus Khartoum, Catalonia versus Spain, Scotland versus UK, Eastern Ukraine versus Ukraine, Shia versus Sunni, we need to have a genuine discussion as a country on these issues. It will be pretence for the rest of the country to accept it as normal to have most police and military commanders coming from one corner of this territory. And even in that corner, the majority are from one clan, if I can call it that. I don’t think it is pleasing for the rest of us to accept to be servants of this one group, or family. One of my saddest moments was the day the Kabaka of Buganda went to State House, Entebbe. Buganda officials continue visiting Entebbe as though we have been colonised again.My own view, and you don’t have to support it, is that the 15 nations that made up this republic called Uganda must be the ones meeting in Kampala to chart a way forward. It is these fifteen that met in London and surrendered their sovereignty. And the threat to secede has not been coming from Buganda alone. There was a time DP President Norbert Mao spoke of a Nile Republic, meaning a separate country for the people of northern Uganda. Self-determination is what motivated our grandparents to rise against colonialists. In terms of service delivery, I think the colonial agents were far better than the current regime. The colonialists built Mulago hospital and Uganda Railways, brought electricity, piped water and a functional road network. But still, our grandparents clamoured and agitated for independence. They never envisaged a situation where some group from somewhere would grab the country’s resources, preside over its plunder, and demand that we show it gratitude each time it throws something at us. Our generation may fail to rise up, but these injustices are a recipe for future confrontation. Who knew that an ethnic war could be waged in Europe in this 21st century? The solution doesn’t lie in acquisition of military hardware, but in equitable sharing of power and resources and establishment of honest federal states. observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34341%3A-time-to-re-draw-all-these-borders&catid=93%3Acolumnists
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 04:14:56 +0000
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