Libarilism v Conservatism Undressed

Dr. Besigye, has little sympathy for authority. His forte are Compassion and Fairness which might explain why he first gravitated towards medicine. His rebellion against the NRM authoritarian and predilection to order under one man is a another testimony to his innate makeup. Mr. Museveni, has some trace for Fairness and Compassion but is more about Loyalty, Authority/Order and the Sanctity of conviction.

Researcher, Jonathan Haidt tells us that we are born with these five characteristics, which might also be swayed towards one group or the other by our experiences.

"The first one is harm/care. We're all mammals here, we all have a lot of neural and hormonal programming that makes us really bond with others, care for others, feel compassion for others, especially the weak and vulnerable. It gives us very strong feelings about those who cause harm. This moral foundation underlies about 70 percent of the moral statements I've heard here at TED."

The second foundation is fairness/reciprocity. There's actually ambiguous evidence as to whether you find reciprocity in other animals, but the evidence for people could not be clearer. This Norman Rockwell painting is called "The Golden Rule," and we heard about this from Karen Armstrong, of course, as the foundation of so many religions. That second foundation underlies the other 30 percent of the moral statements I've heard here at TED"

The third foundation is in-group/loyalty. You do find groups in the animal kingdom -- you do find cooperative groups -- but these groups are always either very small or they're all siblings. It's only among humans that you find very large groups of people who are able to cooperate, join together into groups, but in this case, groups that are united to fight other groups. This probably comes from our long history of tribal living, of tribal psychology. And this tribal psychology is so deeply pleasurable that even when we don't have tribes, we go ahead and make them, because it's fun. (Laughter) Sports is to war as pornography is to sex. We get to exercise some ancient, ancient drives."

The fourth foundation is authority/respect. Here you see submissive gestures from two members of very closely related species. But authority in humans is not so closely based on power and brutality, as it is in other primates. It's based on more voluntary deference, and even elements of love, at times."

The fifth foundation is purity/sanctity. This painting is called "The Allegory Of Chastity," but purity's not just about suppressing female sexuality. It's about any kind of ideology, any kind of idea that tells you that you can attain virtue by controlling what you do with your body, by controlling what you put into your body. And while the political right may moralize sex much more, the political left is really doing a lot of it with food. Food is becoming extremely moralized nowadays, and a lot of it is ideas about purity, about what you're willing to touch, or put into your body."

Can there be a resolution? There is need for recognition of where one comes from. That is the start, otherwise we end up tearing one another to the destruction of all.

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

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