Does Unity Mean Kissing Someone's Butt?

Abwoye was my childhood friend. He did not ask to be born in his family. Neither did I. We would visit one another's home or meet somewhere in the playground. Sometime we fought each other or ganged up against others. But we always made up and were tight. We were both different. Abwoye was an amiable guy, easy-going with an infectious smile. I was an aggressive and take-no-prisoner little tyke. At the end of the day we each retreated to our parent's house to re-energize. We later went on to different schools and colleges, earned degrees, and worked in various places and professions.

In Uganda we have many different families, tribes or groups. Just as Abwoye and I, no Uganda chose to be born in a family, tribe or group. That family, tribe or group is unique based on its experience and historical journey. Just as with Abwoye and I, we find ourselves having to interact with one another--sometime in play, work or conflict. At the end of the day we go back to the family, tribe or group to re-energize--not out of selfishness, hate or chauvinism but that is the way it is. In time, if we do it well, the family, tribe or group prospers and is strong--so are the others--and there is mutual respect. Overall the nation moves forward and prospers. This is the way it should be. Is it?

Unfortunately that is not the way it is in Uganda. We gain power and lord it over others in fear. The abused, in fear, now want to kiss the butts of the oppressor in the hope of some crumbs from the King's table. Meanwhile others go on rampages of tribal chauvinism of their group's greatness and superiority, all the while throwing Molotov cocktails of invectiveness towards their supposed inferior enemies, who also have nasty choice of words of their own. And the state of the nation that is not mentioned in the State of the Nation address flounders, but survives shakily by what my Christian friends would say, the grace of God.

Todwong's Message was a Dud in Luweero

Richard Todwong is a Minister Without Portfoliio in Charge of Political Mobilization. #$%&**6^! If you understand what that position is about, let me know. It looks like  it is a position that is paid for by the government for NRM party-related work.Talk of fuzzy accounting!  In addition he is also a helper to the elderly Amama Mbabazi in his hat as the NRM Secretary General---thanks to the go-getter NRM MPs who wanted to clip the Prime Minister's wings which were soaring a little bit too high for the comfort of the Godfather.
 

So, how has Mr. Todwong risen so high so fast  as a first-term MP from Nwoya in Acoliland? The simple answer is:  he is one Acoli warrior who delivered in 2011 to another fierce warrior of Nkore extraction, the Godfather of the NRM, Mr. Yoseri Museveni.
 

Todwong first met with elders of his clan of the Payira in Nwoya. He promised the elders that if they electd him as the NRM flag barer and sent him to parliament, he would be close to the President's ears to enable the flow of goods and services to the region. Mind you, he was talking to a people who had been dehumanized in Museveni's concentration camps and were grasping at any straw. He provided hope amidst squalor.

I am your son. I'll scratch your backs

The high-level talks of the opposition on human rights, land grabbing, or democracy fell flat. Mr. Todwong's message was reinforced by the military power exuded by his brother who was commander of the UPDF 4th Division in the area. Similar message was duplicated in cookie-cutter fashion throughout Acoliland. The rest is history.
 

Richard, here is kito kidogo. It should do it for us

 

In Luweero, Mr. Todwong swaggered to the podium and babbled the same message that brought him national fame: Send NRM Nalwanga to parliament and she will be close to the President's ears, and goods and services will flow your way. The guffaws of laughter throughout  the social media was deafening. Dude, the Luweero area has had a vast arrays of substantive ministers and, if they didn't deliver to the satisfaction of the natives, you think your girl was going to be any different? That was probably what went through the minds of his audience. And they gave him the finger with their votes.
 

The Musevenian Mind

Mheshimiwa Rais Yoseri Museveni has lettered a long-winded gobbledygook on the history of election fraud in Uganda since 1961. <Opposition Rigged Luweero Elections--Museveni >One must wonder: why now?

 

In 1980 Museveni went to war because he alleged that year's election was rigged and stolen by his nemesis, Apollo Milton Obote.  Being the master calculator that he is, he piggybacked on the disaffection of the Baganda with Obote and his Northern kinsmen. Moreover, the immediate post-Amin era was in a messy flux. The rest is history, and Museveni has been in power with several election cycles under his belt.

 

The recent by-election loss in Luweero to the opposition DP candidate, Nabukenya has hurt Museveni badly, hence the long letter to the newspapers. That seems to be an immediate obvious explanation. But Mr. Museveni is a complicated man. You have to look at historical behaviors to understand how his mind works. He wants to be in charge. He hogs credits for himself. He has a large ego. He struggles with being a savedee and playing hard-nosed dark politics. He is a very conflicted man.

 

Of late, the opposition has been on a nation-wide campaign for electoral reforms. As with all humans, when you do things together, you bond. Look at the fraternities among school athletes and you get the picture. The first mark of the opposition bond was manifested clearly at the campaigns in Luweero for Brenda Nabukenya. Her landslide win in Luweero, the epicenter of the Musevenian war of attrition, spooked the old warrior. He went back to basics: take control and get the credits.
 

So, the enumeration of election frauds and the blaming of the opposition, his own election commission and the NRM machinery is setting the stage for electoral reforms. I will not be surprised if the cabinet soon comes up with a proposal for electoral reforms

Sex in the Church

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God Loves Uganda

Beginning of Indepedent Uganda in Silent Movie

Listen to this Prof. and tell me if we need to rethink Uganda.

The name Nigeria was created by Lord Lugard and his girlfriend to define Nigger area. The Prof wants to change it to the United Republic of Songhai. Those who read or have studied African history know that Songhai was an empire at par with Ghana and Mali. The founding father of Ghana,Kwame Nkrumah, was far-sighted enough to change the name from Gold Coast.

The name Uganda is a British creation derived from Buganda. Since Buganda and purportedly others desire federalism, would it make sense to change the name of the country? While we are at it, we should also change the names of several waters and other natural structures to their original native names. This will be psychologically inspiring, and believers will not need some European names or Arab names to claim their religiosities.