Say no to hate-speech; opt for peace and reconciliation

If all people were mindful of their language, the world would be more peaceful, because there would be no incitement to violence or conflict. Unfortunately, the freedom of speech or expression has made some people think that they can say anything and get away with it.
Shortly after the tragic 9/11 incident in the US, President George Bush Junior told the world; “You are either with us or against us”. To me, this meant that regardless of who you were and where you were; and regardless of whether you were involved in the 9/11 attack or not, you were a target as long as the Bush administration considered you its enemy.
These and many other statements he used were interpreted differently by different people and before we knew it, Afghanistan and Iraq were in flames. Today, Al Shabab, Boko Haram, ISIL, Taliban seem to be using the same language by bombing, beheading or shooting whoever they feel is against them.

Uganda is still being haunted by statements made years ago. After the over throw of Amin, many Muslims were massacred because of hate-speech and the wounds have never healed. The Rwanda genocide happened in 1994 but prior to that, members of the Hutu and Tutsi tribes were hostile to each other due to hate-speech. The violence in Iraq is far from over because of the divide created long time ago by hate speech. In Burma, the Hindus inspired by hate speech are committing ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslims.
It is, therefore, high time that everyone dropped hate speech and embraced dialogue and respect for others. I have heard someone refer to our leaders as vampires. I have also heard certain people say they will celebrate the death of UPDF soldiers in Somalia.

I am therefore impressed by our Chief of Defense Forces Gen Katumba Wamala who has kick-started a campaign against people who incite violence and claim they are untouchable. Such people should be made to eat their words or face legal action. We have just witnessed bloody incidents which saw Maj Muhammad Kuggundu and many Ugandans killed here in Kampala and Kasese.
At such trying moments, we need to show maturity and patience. Maj Kiggundu was my personal friend and his death hurt me a lot but the best I did was to pray for him. Gen Katumba said he was saddened by the murder of his great soldier but he chose his words carefully during his funeral.

He was even forced to prevail on one cleric who had commanded Muslims to go to hardware shops and buy machetes and avenge Maj Kiggundu’s death; by ordering the cleric to retract his statement.
Let all security personnel be as vigilant as Gen Katumba. No one should get away with hate-speech because hate speech breeds hatred and hatred breeds bloodshed.
Haji Nsereko Mutumba is the UMSC spokesperson. [email protected]