Open letter to MP Robert Kyagulanyi
David Kayiira
Dear comrade,
I write to you as a noble Ugandan who has a stroke of our nation’s history in my blood. For every day struggle, victory and loss, I praise your courage and tenacity. Every life lost in this struggle is a light faded off the shores of time, into eternity, whose flash shines brighter every day in our hearts. I beseech you not be wearied by those enticed by the dictator’s guile. They named their price and wore an earthly crown.
The oppressive NRM regime is vulnerable, divided and void of ideas. Like pirates, they gamble their loot on the weak-heartened, now being hired as ‘advisors’ with daily duties to fabricate deceit and create propaganda with unconstrained vulgarity.
This is an old textbook tactic the NRA used against Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM) and Federal Democratic Movement (Fedemu) in the late 1980s.
Do not be troubled. The struggle to end President Museveni’s rule is much easier than the one of rebuilding Uganda and restoring hope to our people, and reclaiming the pride of this land.
I see you have placed much faith in overthrowing Mr Museveni by the vote. This is possible. Our comrades in Gabon and Nigeria have done it before.
I agree with you, but with some scepticism. Oppressors have mastered the art of ‘rule by law.’ With the law and State machinery on their side, it takes more than casting votes to uproot them. And they threaten any other option to the point of imprisonment and death. The day is coming though, and nears, when Mr Museveni will go, injustice and corruption will end, and the Ugandan people will live on.
It’s critical that we engage the young people in meaningful discussions about tomorrow. We must gather all the forces of change and organise regardless of tribe, faith, education, wealth or cultural extraction.
Our young people should see the change we envisage and share in our convictions. Never in the history of Mr Museveni’s rule has he ever been more weak, fatigued and off-balance as he is today.
Our cause should neither be anchored on money, propaganda or vulgarity, but it should be rooted in the marketplace of ideas. We must talk to our young people to transform their pain and frustration into strategy and tactics.
I know you have heard about the expediency of my father, the late Dr Andrew Lutaakome Kayiira; a man never out of controversy and whose legacy is in need of formal introduction in light of our country’s recent political history.
My pursuit for justice continues to hit dead ends but I know Kayiira was murdered because of his ideas.
He wanted the people of Uganda to have a democratic say in the political affairs of their country. This was as agreed upon in the Kikunyu agreement between Kayiira and Mr Museveni in 1982.
My father later regretted merging his forces with the NRA to form a national army, which later gave birth to the UPDF.
My father was murdered in cold blood a few days after he was released from prison, on March 6, 1987.
What keeps me going is that I know without doubt that the day to get justice for Kayiira and others who have fallen in the struggle is near.
Tuliyabala Engule. Your message in this song forewarns the authors of injustice that a time will come when there will be no place under the sun for them to hide.
Mr Kayiira is a lawyer and chairman UFM Empya political group.
