Beti Kamya and the Stockholm syndrome
Left to right: Kampala minister Beti Kamya, DP president general Norbert Mao, former DP president general Paul Ssemogerere and Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago at the opening of The Democratic Alliance offices in Kampala last year. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
For 18 years, Jaycee Lee Dugard was a captive of Philip Garido, her abductor. She had every chance to cry out for help or even flee from captivity. But she didn’t.
Her captor had a small business. Jaycee Lee helped run the business. She received orders via phone and emails. Sometimes she even met and greeted clients at the door - alone. But she never made the choice to escape. She even went out in public. But each time she faithfully returned to the tiny congested shed in the back of the home of the man who reportedly kidnapped her and repeatedly raped her.
Why? Carl Probyn, Jaycee’s stepfather said “Jaycee has strong feelings with this guy”. Why do victims tend to identify with those who victimise them? Is it because it keeps them alive? Is it because they think their wellbeing is embedded in the wellbeing of their tormentors? Is it about self preservation?
In January 2010 she fell out with FDC and founded the Uganda Federal Alliance becoming its first (hopefully not last) President. Her case was strong and she ran a strong campaign. As a believer in Federalism, I agreed with her that for too long many have paid nothing but lip service to federalism. I recall the day I shared a podium at the 2009 Buganda Conference at Hotel Africana. She spoke boldly about our traditional norms and urged participants not to be ashamed of tradition after all tradition and modernity can coexist.
By all counts, Beti Kamya knows what she is doing. After all she is a woman of substance. She is well-educated, articulate and knows the world of politics well.
She is now Kampala minister. And she has joined the fray with gusto. Many have speculated as to how she catapulted herself to the position. Some have even alleged that she was part of the sleeper cell embedded in the Opposition to spy for the Museveni regime.
In defence, she lambasted her critics saying she started as a child of NRM and only joined the Opposition out of disenchantment. And now she has been disenchanted by the opposition, no one knows to what extent, and that is why she has moved full circle to rejoin the NRM. She accuses the Opposition for being blind to her leadership ability and potential. She lauds Museveni for noticing her vast abilities.
Recently, in a teary-eyed emotional outburst in praise of Museveni, she just stopped short of singing Amazing Grace, namely; “I was once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see”. She abandoned her own presidential ambitions and declared that she would work tirelessly to ensure that Museveni wins 80 per cent in the 2021.
As infuriating as that about face is, it says something about Ms Kamya’s state of mind. She doesn’t give credit to the Opposition which gave her a platform from which she caught the eye of Museveni. Instead she seems remorseful that she didn’t see the light sooner.
That is the reason I started with the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard. Beti Kamya once called Museveni a “monster”. She now sees him as as a redeemer. What has happened? Has she lost her way the way she lost her way in the 2011 presidential campaigns ending up in Tanzania?
That is what psychologists call the Stockholm syndrome. The term Stockholm syndrome was coined in 1973. Two robbers stormed Kreditbanken in Stockholm, Sweden, and held employees hostage for about a week. In this period the hostages and their captors became very close.
They became emotionally attached and even defended them after the ordeal. The Stockholm syndrome is a “psychological response of a hostage or an individual in a similar situation in which the more dominant person has the power to put the victim’s life in danger.
Perpetrators occasionally use this advantage to get victims to comply with their demands.”
As Niccolo Machiavelli said “Men, when they receive good from whence they expect evil, feel the more indebted to their benefactor.” My advice to Kamya is that she should adjust with equanimity to her new role and station.
There is no need to fret and fume at every criticism. After all, there is a limit to how much you can defend yourself against being misunderstood by those who are bent on doing so.
