Our Image of the World Reflects on Who We are and What We Do

We create policies and situations based on our image of the world. If the image is false, the policies and situations will be false.

Let us look at the case of the Oga of Uganda, General Museveni. He lost an election. It was after a war to oust dictator Idi Amin. Everything was in a messy flux. Rather than work with others to civilly nurse the nation back to sanity, Mr. Museveni chose to go to the bush to fight a government that had hardly found its feet on the ground. Many starry-eyed homeboys followed him. Basically, it was a war of liberation from the Northern hegemony. Before, he could win and after, great carnage was done to the population.

On coming out, he could do no wrong. He claimed he was the personification of good governance and heaped insults (may be deservedly) on the past regimes. This, however, was a ruse to send people to sleep. He did not believe in anything he said. By the time the population woke up, he had his personal army, a parliament that jumps at his beckoning, basic safety-net services have gone to the dogs. All the while a few have become filthy rich, the national coffer has become his piggy bank, and the culture of corruption has become the order of the day.

Why would a leader have his hand in every details of national activities? Then, when things go wrong, he blames others. When there is a flicker of achievement, he hogs the credit. He is obsessive. He is a control freak.

What makes a leader stray in every armed conflict in the neighborhood? Is it to create a battle-tested military? What for? What are his major plans when the military absorbs a large chunk of the national budget? All the while those who need safety-nets the most sleep on the floors in public hospitals.

The man who once said that a major problem of African countries was leaders who overstay in power, has used all kinds of under-handed fiats to cling to power for nearly thirty years. By all indications he wants more of the same. All the while, any kind of serious opposition is brutally snuffed. The LC (local council)structure of his no-party days is the machinery to deliver down to the mud-and-wattle pit latrine huts. Throwing printed money in the right places, strategic appointments, and going easy on thieves in high places are the lifeblood that keep the system chugging along.

So, what is the Oga's image of the world really beyond the façade of a born-again Christian and the feted darling of the West for nearly thirty years? Deep down, the world is not a safe place, and nobody cares about you except yourself. Grab power, grab wealth, and grab people by any means necessary. This is how to ensure your own survival. What goes for a master politician is, in fact, a depraved instinct developed in suboptimum beginnings.

Fair is Fair

A lady on Facebook brought up a pertinent issue that has dogged African males of late: a viper over-dependency of our females on we males. ( Lamara's View) The fact is, this is a new phenomenon. Our grandmothers tilled the land. Our mothers worked in the professions. All were contributing without mine-and-yours. Now, a Ugandan MP claims abuse when the husband wants to know her income. ( Battered over Pay) Mind you, when she didn't have it, the man took care of things. Crazy stuff--figure it out!

No Woman, No Drive

In the tradition of The Liberal Manifesto, we like this message.

2008 Ghana Presidential Elections

The Elephant in da Room

We have heard that a new organization has been formed, headed by the literati of the Diaspora. Mention is also made of the General who ran away and has kept some of us amused and/or wondering for the last few months as he spitted fire against the wily dictator who has ruled Uganda with an iron grip for more than a quarter century. It is all well and good that this organization should be all-inclusive. The question is: how effective will it be in correcting what has gone wrong in Uganda, let alone having the wherewithal to oust the dictator?

Shake Hands with the Devil

The Museveni Tax on International Calls (MTIC)

The Minister of Finance, Ms Kiwanuka's 2013/14 budget proposal included a ding on telephone international calls terminating in the Republic of Uganda. It was dubbed as taxing "foreigners." I would bet that ninety percent of those calls are from Ugandans living abroad. So now, not only is  the diaspora increasing the economic activities in the country by its remittances, it is going to be taxed to fund a corrupt regime. And check this out; there is a proposal to float some diaspora bond to help finance the said government. All the while a legislation for dual citizenship lies idle on Mr. Museveni's desk and there is no facilitation for diaspora voter participation. 

Here is Telcom 101 on voice calls. When you call a wireless or a land line in Uganda, that call is directed to the receiver via a local carrier which charges a fee which is passed on to you by the carrier of origination. The Museveni government saw easy money here. It will add a tax to the termination fee and the local carrier will just write a check to Caesar. What a racket! Now, you will be paying more for your calls, and you thought digitization was going to lower your rates.

In the tax activists' world, taxation without representation is a farce. The rationale being that if you can't vote, you have no voice in influencing what goes on. Mr. Museveni can impose his greedy hands into your pocket and take away what you have so that he can ride his jets, throw sacks of money in bribery left and right, and, if you dare come to Kampala and demonstrate, you will be whipped by his policemen.