Andrew Mwenda is a hard-hitting journalist. Some people in my circle hang on his every word for insights into the murky waters of Uganda politics. Take his latest, Uganda is bigger than Museveni, Besigye (7/8/11), which seemingly is an attempt to portray a balanced perspectives on the two protagonists, but, in fact, is a tirade on Dr. Besigye and his opposition, FDC. There is also a certain amount of self-pity in the piece: Oh poor me, harassed by Museveni’s goons, and maligned by Besigye’s people.
Mr. Mwenda puts on his Economist-in-Chief hat. He dissects how the economy came to be what it is and provides some prognosis. One wonders whether many of his audience understand what he is talking about. What they experience is high prices and intuitively know that there is something wrong with the economy, but whether or not it is a consequence flooding the economy with printed money in supplementary budget to finance campaign “brown envelops,” chais to MPs, or spending dollars to buy the spiffy phallic symbols, aka, fighter jets, they don’t give a hoot. Somebody is responsible for their plight, and not the opposition.
Having analyzed the problem and provided the solution, the “economist” then heaps blame on the opposition for wailing without giving any solution. What?! It is not incumbent on the opposition to provide detailed alternative solutions at this stage of the game. Theirs is to point a bird’s eye-view assessment of the problem and pound on the failure of the government to deliver. Theirs is to point out that “the emperor has no clothes,” otherwise we may as well go back to the “umbrella” dispensation.
The labeling by unnamed opposition members that Dr. Besigye’s rather combative stance in the walk-to-work as counter-productive is a framing that does not probe into intention. He leaves it to us, the readers, to assume. Coming from a premise that behind every behavior there is good intention (albeit maybe misguided from an observer’s point of view), what if the boorish behavior was intended to draw attention of a world where the killing of Bin Laden, the Greek economy, the tottering US economy, or the Arab Spring were front pages? On cue, the government reacted heavy-handedly and the walk-to-work in little Uganda filtered into BBC and earned some mentions in major US papers. Did it matter? Very little, but every scratch and dent in the dictator’s armor counts. This government would rather have horse-trading deals with governments in these locales rather than have its negative underbelly enters their public consciousness.
In the end, what is Ugandans “sick and tired” of? Might it be Mr. Mwenda’s abuse by Museveni’s operatives and the taking to task by Besigye’s hatchet loyalists? What Ugandans are really sick and tired of is a balding man clinging to power when he has no new ideas. And that is what Mwenda, if he is fighting for a change of course, should concentrate on rather than talking with two sides of his mouth and getting into trouble.
Freedom, Equality, Fairness, Progress and Happiness are some of the most important existential states ever recognized by humankind. The Liberal Manifesto seeks, supports and encourages all efforts of wo/mankind to those ends. It will oppose and fight against forces that work against these pentathlon principles.
